{"id":1601,"date":"2011-01-03T15:47:19","date_gmt":"2011-01-03T23:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/journal\/2010-in-retrospect\/"},"modified":"2011-01-03T15:52:13","modified_gmt":"2011-01-03T23:52:13","slug":"2010-in-retrospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/2011\/01\/03\/2010-in-retrospect\/","title":{"rendered":"2010 in Retrospect"},"content":{"rendered":"

I feel kind of funny\u00a0 writing this post. I\u2019m feeling that this end-of-the-year, beginning-of-the-next band wagon is awfully crowded.\u00a0 But it\u2019s something I want to do, if for no other reason than to reflect on the year just passed and learn what I can apply to the new one just started.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve worked on my website over the past year and compared the work I\u2019m doing these days to the works from four and five years ago I see definite signs of growth.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had many powerful influences over the years who I\u2019ll not attempt to list here, except for my brother Roger<\/a>.\u00a0 One doesn\u2019t learn photography in a vacuum.\u00a0 While each of us is striving to find our own voice there is a long period of gestation where we are best served when we learn from and let ourselves be influenced by other photographers whom we respect and admire.\u00a0 I feel that after five years there have been a few brief flashes of individuality where my personal style is just beginning to express itself.<\/p>\n

\"Partridge<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Workshops<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been involved in teaching in one way or another ever since my college days when I was a chemistry lab assistant at Texas Lutheran College (now University).\u00a0 I\u2019ve always felt that teaching was in my bones.\u00a0 So it\u2019s natural that I would conduct photography workshops.\u00a0 Teaching is about sharing what you\u2019ve learned, not keeping it to yourself.\u00a0 And photography workshops provide an opportunity to give back the things I have picked up along the way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had the very good fortune to be able to work with Jack Graham<\/a> over the past two years, another photographer who is passionate about sharing what he\u2019s learned.\u00a0 His fifteen years of leading workshops has been a shining example for me of how they ought to be run.\u00a0 With Jack as a model and my own teaching experience and training I have developed a unique approach to working with the fine photographers who attend my workshops.\u00a0 Jack and I will no longer be doing workshops together in 2011; it\u2019s time for me to leave the nest and fly on my own.\u00a0 But he and I will continue to get together in free moments to do what we enjoy the most, shooting together.<\/p>\n

Death Valley<\/h3>\n

The 2010 Death Valley workshop saw a second year of flooded playas.\u00a0 When I first saw the shallow lakes in 2009 I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes.\u00a0 They were six inched deep and spread out over literally miles of salt pans.\u00a0 I thought 2009 was a once in a lifetime experience.\u00a0 Then it happened again in 2010 and with the rains we\u2019re having this winter it just may happen once more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"telescope_peak_winter_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Eastern Sierra<\/h3>\n

The Eastern Sierra workshop of 2010 was a very special group of people.\u00a0 The delight of the group was 12 year old Meghan who not only kept up with our grueling schedule but relished in the photography and captured some beautiful photographs.\u00a0 The photography was great and the bonds of friendship that formed were particularly strong.<\/p>\n

\"bristlecone_dusk_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Utah Super Workshop<\/h3>\n

The Utah super workshop consisted of two back to back workshops \u2013 3 1\/2 days in Zion followed by 3 1\/2 days in Bryce.\u00a0 This was probably the most fun group I have ever had the privilege to lead.\u00a0 If we went a half hour without someone in the group making a wise crack, well, the photography must have been pretty intense.\u00a0 More strong bonds of friendship grew from those seven laugher-filled days.<\/p>\n

\"sunrise_thors_hammer_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Napa Workshop<\/h3>\n

We wrapped up the year in Napa Valley and the Central California Coast.\u00a0 As with most workshops we had a diverse group of very talented photographers from all across the country who made the most of the many beautiful opportunities we had, photographing the vineyards of Napa Valley and the rugged California Coast both north and south of San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\"pigeon_point_lighthouse_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joshua Tree Gathering<\/h2>\n

Every year I like to really give back to the local photography community by hosting the Joshua Tree Gathering.\u00a0 It\u2019s a weekend of photography, camping and friendship in Joshua Tree National Park.\u00a0 One of the highlights is the pot luck dinner Saturday night (besides the obvious \u2013 the photography).<\/p>\n

\"jumbo_rock_1_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Minnesota<\/h2>\n

My brother Roger and I try to get together once a year for a weekend of photography.\u00a0 It had been five years since I was back with him in Minnesota so that was where we planned the 2010 shoot.\u00a0 We were joined by his good friend Travis Novitsky<\/a> up in Grand Portage on the North Shore of Lake Superior.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve ever felt as connected with Mother Earth as I was up there.\u00a0 It was really a remarkable feeling.<\/p>\n

\"superior_twilight_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What Lies Ahead?<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ll be returning to most of the same workshop locations of 2010.\u00a0 These locations are so incredible that returning year after year never gets old or stagnant.\u00a0 There\u2019s always something new to discover.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m very excited about a new workshop I\u2019ll be adding.\u00a0 I was asked by some teacher friends to hold a workshop in mid-summer.\u00a0 I gave some thought to locations that would be appropriate for a July or August workshop and came up with that amazing stretch of California Cost along Highway 1 \u2013 Big Sur,\u00a0 That\u2019s shaping up to be a fantastic experience.<\/p>\n

\"Mc<\/a><\/p>\n

As for my own personal growth I continue to study with the photographers that I admire. This spring I\u2019ll be taking a workshop in the Eastern Sierra out of the Mountain Light Gallery in Bishop (Galen and Barbara Rowell\u2019s gallery).\u00a0 The workshop leader is none other than David Muench.\u00a0 I\u2019m very excited.\u00a0 David is a master of capturing the essence of a place and I\u2019m hoping to absorb some of that.<\/p>\n

Photography can be a personal journey of discovery and in 2011 I\u2019m asking the question, \u201cWhat am I really about?\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll be striving to not only understand the answer but searching for ways to express it in my photography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

May 2011 be a year of glorious light for you.<\/p>\n

(1120)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Join me as I look back on the accomplishments of 2010 and look forward to the promise of 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,24],"tags":[199],"class_list":["post-1601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal","category-photographer-as-artist","tag-photography-workshops"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Nl7-pP","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1602,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions\/1602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}