I recently did a Love Your Camera workshop with Angie Baxter and I can't even begin to tell you about the journey I went on that Sunday. I've been trying to write the post for almost two weeks now and I'm still not sure if I'll be able to share what I learnt in just one post, but I'll try. First and foremost, Angie is really nice, I mean super nice. She's bubbly, friendly and totally approachable. She was in amongst the 'students' and got hands on with each of us, she didn't just stand up the front and preach to us with a powerpoint presentation.
That said she did compile a great presentation of key images, examples, reference links and easy to learn tricks. The first half of the day was focused on the technical side of photography, getting to know our cameras better and finding out what all the buttons and dials do. I was quite embarrassed at this point because although I knew and studied photography and understood ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed, I had trouble locating the manual controls on my camera and getting used to them was weird. I'd gotten lazy and relied on Auto for so long but I'm proud to say it's been set to manual ever since and that's the whole point to the workshop. I'm also a bit sad to say I didn't have my "blogger" hat on and forgot to take photos of the little details of the day, I was too caught up in being a student.
The workshop was conducted at Rydges Hotel in Parramatta which was great as it meant I didn't have to lug myself all the way into the city. The workshops are conducted right around the country, see the website for details. They put on a great lunch for us too but it didn't last long as we were all so caught up in the mood of the day, we just wanted to get our cameras out and learn new tips. We spent some of the day outside, practicing what we had learnt. Angie came around to each of us individually which was really nice and we got some one on one time, no one felt left out.
We practiced with our own special 'babies' the ducks. We concentrated on lighting, backgrounds, composition and our own artistic flare. Everyone in the group was really nice and friendly, all helping each other out and talking about their gear and aspirations. Two of the girls there owned my highly desired camera bag, an Epiphanie. After having a closer look at it I've decided that Santa will be bringing me a "Belle" for being such a good girl... I can hope anyway. It was great to hang out with people just as passionate as me about what they do, whether it was from a professional stand point or just purely domestic.
This workshop was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence, in my photography as well as how I handle business and clients. I was inspired, informed and quite possibly have made a new friend in Angie, what more could I ask for?
If you're interested in her upcoming workshops they are $225 (includes lunch and a DVD copy of her workbook) you can check out her newly revamped website HERE.

























