Home > Laurie Thomas Winter School 2008 Kaikoura Report

Laurie Thomas Winter School 2008 Kaikoura Report

This year's LTWS was held in Kaikoura at Donnegal House, about 5 minutes north of the township itself. What a fabulous venue - the conference room was the perfect size, the ambience in the bar with it's Irish theme and roaring open fire was superb and the rooms were extremely quiet and comfortable. So far, so good - now what about the program for the weekend?

The theme for the weekend was “Do it in the Camera”, the aim being to get things as perfect as possible in camera by using your camera to the best of its design thus saving time spent in front of the computer afterwards. Our tutors, the three 'fellows' - Bevan Tulett, Ron Willems and Newell Grenfell - introduced themselves on Friday evening with a combined slideshow which presented their work from their first acceptances through to the present day. If anyone didn't already know them and wondered about their credentials then this first presentation established not only their depth of skill and knowledge but also their approachability. They set the tone for the whole weekend - well run, well organised, and well presented with style and good humour. Dr Phil Schroeder was MC for the weekend and kept the whole operation well oiled and us entertained.

Some participants had taken the opportunity to drive up on Friday to take advantage of the huge seas created by the tropical storm moving down the country, but for most the first hands on session was the next day.

Saturday morning it was up before dawn and out in the field to catch the morning light. Being winter this wasn't quite as intrepid as it sounds - dawn came at about 7.30 a.m. so being in place before the first rays wasn't quite the same mission it is in summer. We were divided up into three groups, each group lead by one of the tutors, all heading for various vantage points around the waters edge. Although the day was cloudy my group headed out to the end of the peninsula - I was very pleased about that - the light out there was reflecting off the water and gave some wonderful soft light and shadow contrasts. I had a great time - and also managed to learn how to use a few more features on my camera, thanks to Newell and my camera manual.

Back to Donnegal House by about 10 a.m. for scones with morning tea followed closely by the first lecture, “Do it in the Camera”, which was given by Ron Willems. As usual Ron was informative, entertaining and was able to connect with people on all skill levels. Excellent stuff.

After devouring lunch we then moved on to something completely different - Newell presented “Why and How I Shoot People” in which he shared his knowledge of and passion for photojournalism. Amusing, informative and inspirational.

The afternoon was DFO but we set off in our groups to try and practice some of the skills we had learned - Pete & Frank got down and dirty on the main street of Kaikoura and photographed anyone who would give them the time of day, PJ in action, other groups went to South Bay Marina and practiced working on depth of field and still others headed off to photograph some of the magnificent waves which were crashing ashore along the coastline.

Back to the venue, sit around yakking, eat a huge roast dinner with pav, then get to continue the learning curve by dividing into groups of 3 and showing each other what we took, how we took it and how the back of our cameras displayed what we took and why we used the particular camera settings we did. Very interesting and a good learning curve because everyone had something new to contribute. The three tutors were floating between groups to add their advice and expertise. It doesn't get much better than this.

Then the rugby was on and the majority headed for the bar and the big screen. Bugger! Aussie won - at least their coach was a Kiwi!!

Sunday - the weather was perfectly dreadful for photography, raining and windy with lots of cloud cover but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the tutors had planned for this possibility. We split back up into groups, each with a different tutor, and had an open discussion and answer session. Topics were wide ranging and it was amazing the diversity and depth of knowledge shared within the groups.

Bevan Tullett gave a slideshow on “Catching the Light”. This presentation of beautiful images rounded off the weekend's tuition very nicely. By now all of us were fizzed up, ready to go out into the big wide world and do it in the camera.

Congratulations to the organising committee and the tutors on a wonderfully well run and inspirational weekend. Can we put our names down now for next year please???

Cheers

Anne Lamb & Pete Tyree

If you haven't already, view some of the images taken by some of the CPS members attending the LTWS.