Reasons to Participate in Sharon Tenenbaum’s Destination Workshops:

1. Let Sharon do all the legwork to find the best locations and vantage points to photograph.

2. Open your eyes to new and artistic ways to capture familiar scenes.

3. Elevate your peer level - Workshops bring these geographically divergent people together. It is the best way to meet others who are as dedicated and committed to the craft as you are, no matter what your dedication or commitment level. At the workshop you will likely find “kindred spirits” who share your perspective. These can, and often do, develop into significant friendships.

4. See how and what Sharon sees. Throughout the workshop, Sharon will share with you her images, the good ones as well as the bad. See numerous case studies of pros-processing and ask as many questions as you like!

5. See fellow students’ work. Learn and be inspired by fellow participants. All of Sharon’s destination workshops are accompanied by four Zoom sessions in which you get to have your own images reviewed as well as other participants.

6. Develop additional resources of other photographers and influencers to follow.

7. Produce more work. As in every of Sharon’s workshops, you will be assigned to submit images post workshop applying the techniques taught.

8. See perfectly valid and sophisticated approaches and styles, especially ones different than your own. We are creatures of habit. Nothing is so deadly in personal growth and to creative art than a habit that prevents creative vision. It is a natural tendency for artists to advocate their own approach as the Approach and the Vision. It is good to be humbled by seeing someone’s work that is both very accomplished and very different than our own. Who knows, it might even open a door.

9. Find one’s own work. At first we all learn by imitation, however, as you let go of “master imitation,” it will become easier to find your own imagery and purpose. The critique feedback and introspection that take place during the workshop and the blank wall that follows are progress and a natural part of the creative system. They may not feel like it, but they are.

10. Increase one’s visual literacy. Photography like literature, has a historical backdrop. Ideally, a photographer should be familiar with the work and workers that predate them. This “visual literacy” can help you learn without “reinventing the wheel,” as it were. Workshops can be very helpful in expanding your knowledge about historical trends, fads, and movements as well as specific images and current ideas.

Pitfalls To avoid (from Brooks Jensen Blog):

• Pitfall #1. Don’t go to make great photographs. Long workshops are often, of necessity, scheduled during one’s vacation time. There can be a certain pressure to make great images. The temptation might be to plan to attend a workshop so a certain learning and artistic production can be squeezed into the same vacation trip. This is almost always a mistake. If the workshop is a place to learn, it is a place to experiment. It is a place to try and fail and then try again. It is a place to listen. It is a place to imitate. It is a place to socialize and network. Unfortunately, most creative photography is a lonely act. There are, of course, exceptions. Nonetheless, most photographers find their best work comes when they work intensely and with great focus. This is rarely possible in the teaching atmosphere of a workshop. Use the workshop to learn, and specifically to learn from other people. You will have the rest of your life to create great art and learn from experience, hopefully using some of the things learned at the workshop. If you spend your limited and valuable workshop time trying to make great images, you will likely fail to make great images and fail to learn much from the workshop opportunity.

• Pitfall #2. Getting sucked into a dominant participant’s agenda. Photography is, for many, an ego bound arena. Every workshop has at least one or two people whose primary agenda is to impress the instructor and fellow students with his or her accomplishments. Their agenda does not focus on learning because they feel (or want to feel!) they have already “arrived.” A look at their work is enough to demonstrate to everybody that they have not. It is easy to get sucked into their need for attention — both positively and negatively. You may find their agenda fascinating and allow them to dominate the conversations. You may find them narrow and become angry at their selfishness. Either way, you will have allowed them to spoil your opportunity. I’ve come to appreciate these people. They are searching for some “rite of passage,” an institution which is sorely lacking from the independent artist’s life. It can be effective to quickly help this person “graduate” and they will often turn into a workshop asset. Try talking about this “rite of passage” business and you may find a ground for mutual understanding and quick bond with your fellow participants.

• Pitfall #3. Field session independence. Often an enthusiasm can build during a lecture or image review session that yearns to explode when you arrive in the field. Filled with this enthusiasm, the immediate temptation is to go off in search of the great photograph. If you give in to this temptation, you eliminate one of the great reasons to attend a workshop — contact with other photographers. Again, don’t waste time during the workshop doing art. You will have the rest of your life to create great works after the workshop is over. Instead, use your time at the workshop to observe, experiment, ask, probe, and develop contacts, friendships and resources.