Photography On-line Workshop (Retreat)
This spring of 2022 I had the opportunity to enroll in an on-line photography experience. I had questioned what type of photography I liked and what my style was. I found Karen Hutton on-line as a Fujifilm Pro photographer specializing in Landscape and travel photography. I love landscapes, travel, and portrait photography and wanted to find my voice in photography, what it is that makes my photography unique and "me."
The class had 6 members from New York to LA. I'm in the Salt Lake City, Utah area, Karen lives in Lake Tahoe, Kim is in New York, Scott in Massachusetts, Tom in LA, Mark in Arizona, and Jane in Manhattan. We had different backgrounds with the same goal: to find our artistic voice in photography.
KAREN HUTTON
Karen Hutton is an International Landscape and Travel Photographer, Artist, Speaker,
Author, Educator, and Professional FujifilmX-Photographer.Karen's signature "Artist's Voice
Photography Retreats" in Europe and the U.S.A. have been enthusiastically attended
by participants from around the world. Her written articles have been translated into multiple languages. Karen’s fine art prints have appeared in shows and installations within the U.S.A. and Japan.
Through stunning imagery, humor, thought provoking ideas and a genuinely positive outlook, Karen inspires people to not only discover their artistic voice in photography- but in life.
Here are Karen's words about the Artist Voice Retreat: I held my first “Artist’s Voice Photography Retreat” in 2015 at Julia Child’s summer home (La Pitchoune) in Provence, France. The notion was born of a
vision I’d had for leading small, intimate groups of people through a process
of creating photographic art -- doing so from a place of authenticity and
joy -- in their own unique voice, as individual as a fingerprint. Imagine the
love child born of a “spiritual retreat” and a “photography workshop,” and
you’re there. I wanted to offer full immersion into a singular experience … one filled with
wonders and surprising delights. La Pitchoune and the Riviera certainly
delivered!
It called for people with an open mind, open heart - and an unabiding desire
to find their true artistic voice. They came … and amazed me with their
bravery, creativity, and heart. The results were astounding; each person
finding a new level of storytelling, creativity, and photographic expression
that they never expected.
“The Artist’s Voice” has traveled to France, Italy, and the U.S.A. Each
experience was unique, but the breakthroughs were consistent. Each one
was awe-inspiring, as much for me as it was for my amazing participants.
Then … 2020. Travel stopped. Planning new trips stopped. Life as we knew it
stopped. I thought my heart would stop too.
But, in 2021, a NEW idea nudged and wouldn’t leave me alone; how about
holding “The Artist’s Voice Retreat” online? At first, I thought it was a bad
idea. After all, my retreats were about the locations, the food, the filling of
senses with wondrous experiences. Weren’t they? Without those things,
WAS there an Artist’s Voice Retreat?
Turns out -- not only was the answer a resounding YES! -- but this new
format took each person deeper than I imagined possible in just a few short
weeks. We could hone each of the system’s concepts in a much more
focused way. The results were truly jaw-dropping. Awe-inspiring. It changed
each of us, myself included.
But how do we share such an experience, held privately and out of sight?
So many people were curious about what we were doing, how it was going.
It was impossible to explain in mere words.
Hence this ebook. I thought … What better way to share the essence of our
adventure than by creating a gorgeous book? Better yet, I thought, let’s
collaborate and write it together!
That’s exactly what we did. Each person wrote their own chapter.
We worked together between two platforms which allowed for full
transparency, group input, and a beautiful design. As a result, this book has
its OWN voice … and how perfect is that? A book about Artistic Voice,
exquisitely spoken in a unique collective voice.
These are some of my fall nature photos
An Artistic Voice is the expression os what you see and how you see it. It's highly personal, for it is your unique view of the world.
Every creative wants her work to be unique and recognizable. When you look at Monet's paintings his style is prominent and you instantly know, yup that's a Monet. His work is impressionistic, lots of blobs of paint, not super detailed. When you look at a Rembrandt his style is dark and moody. He has huge contrasts between the light and dark in his images. Their style is known right away.
Fiery Fall
So what is the artist's voice?
The Artist’s Voice is a system, a process for finding one’s artistic voice,
which, at its heart, is quite simple. Once mastered, it can be applied to
any situation to create personal, unique, awe-inspiring images in YOUR
voice (not mine or anyone else’s).
What’s more, a common by-product tends to be more calm, peace, joy,
and delight in your own creativity, life, and expression. #delicious
Like I said, I pledged to only teach photography my way.
This was it.
Inner Game
What Do You Love?
Storytelling
Planning & Prep
Post Processing and Implementation
Seems simple enough, doesn’t it?
The best systems ARE simple.
And deep.
There There are a few things you should know about before going into the rest
of this book, like Mind Weasels*... or Weezils, as we fondly refer to them.
These are un edited Fuji images I took
Mind Weezils
Do you ever doubt yourself, second guess
your decisions, imagine "I'm not good
enough?"
We all grapple with them. Those nasty,
nattery, limiting voices in our heads. Our
friend and voice coach, Katie Crooks,
refers to them as "Mind Weasels." We've
nicknamed them "Weezils."
Mind Weezils are sneaky. Seductive.
Up to no good.
They seem benign at first. Helpful, even.
They speak truth, right? We should listen,
for our own good, and to stay safe. Just
remember - the best lies call you by name.
MiND
WEEZiLS
Dealing with Mind Weezils can be a full
time job. The best neutralizer? Humor.
Being kind to yourself. Understand Mind
Weezils for what they are - little liars,
whose running commentary is designed
to keep you small and afraid to live your
dreams. Don't be!
Once called out and recognized with
nothing left to sink their teeth into, Mind
Weezils will melt like butter. But they sure
give creatives a run for their money!
In Search of Awe
It’s a biggie.
Awe is typically described as that sense of Divine wonder we feel in the
presence of something vast. It transcends our understanding of the
world, it happens in an instant, and nothing is ever the same afterward.
We are hard-wired for Awe.
Researchers now call it the eleventh emotion.
In the presence of Awe, Mind Weezils evaporate. Doubts vanish.
A sense of peace and of the Divine descends.
Your inner eye opens.
You wonder why you can’t live like this all the time.
An invitation for Awe is baked into every single thing we do in “The Artist’s
Voice.”
Our biggest hope is that, by the end of this book, you experience even a bit
of the Awe we experienced in creating it for you.
The Best Part of the eBook is it's FREE!
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