Vestal and Weber Workshop

I am registered for the Photographer's Formulary Al Weber and David

Vestal Workshop later this month. Class information from PF has been

lean. I would appreciate suggestions on how to benefit most from this

workshop from those who have attended during the past three years.

Thanks in advance.

Ken;

 

It was outstanding.

 

Be prepared to do a lot of shooting and darkroom work. We mainly used B&W and worked all day on one thing or another including the lectures by both Al and David.

 

I guess that really summarizes it. It is a photographic workshop with lots of hard work with two excellent instructors.

 

Be prepared with B&W film, paper and a notebook. I took color film but had no chance to process any of it. Format is optional. There were cameras of all sorts represented. The Formulary supplied all B&W chemistry and darkroom equipment including tanks, reels, trays and enlargers.

 

Bring a portfolio for critique by the instructors and other students. This is a very useful part of the class.

 

The lab facilities and the food are outstanding. Watch out for bears, cougars, coyotes and other beasties. Go over to the stable and meet the horses.

 

Enjoy.

 

Ron Mowrey

Thanks, Ron. I'm really looking forward to the workshop. I'm an old B&W hand, so it should be just my cup of tea. I haven't ridden a horse since high school; that should be fun, also.

Ken;

 

I'm not sure you will be allowed to ride. Meet, yes. Kazoo likes his head scratched (well, I guess they all do).

 

If you want more info, e-mail me.

 

Ron Mowrey

Brooks Jensen from LensWork has compiled a series of essays in a paperback published under the title "Letting Go of the Camera". The book is available through LensWork. In "How to Make a Workshop Work", which is based on his experience teaching a dozen + and attending more than two dozen wokshops, he lists 13 reasons to attend, 4 pitfalls, discusses photographers as teachers and things to take/prepare. A good read but with the start date so soon may not be much help for this trip.

Rick, thanks for the suggestion. I will try to locate a copy of the book after I return.

 

I tried a search on this forum for information on this workshop. No wonder I couldn't find anything, I typed in "Vestal" and "Weber" instead of the correct keywords such as "camera" or "notebook". Please excuse my ignorance; I don't understand the keywords concept.

I have not attended this workshop, but I have Known Al Weber for more than 20 years.

Al is a true teacher - where other workshop leaders are often just highly paid tour guides,

Al teaches. He was a mainstay in Ansel's workshop for many years and was in fact the

person whom Ansel would often have explain his lectures.

One can learn more from just listening carefully to what he says in general conversation

than from formal presentations by most workshop leaders.

Thanks, James. I sense from his writings that he loves to teach. That's what I want in a workshop. The scenery is optional.

I took a workshop with DV 20 years ago and am still happily using lessons that I learned then.