Travel photo bootcamps take you outside your comfort zone
By
Mike Tomkins
(Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - 16:38 EDT)
At the Imaging Resource news desk, we often receive notice of photography bootcamps that see participants housed in luxury hotels or pampered on cruise ships, combining a vacation with a chance to hone their photographic skills.
A new bootcamp series being conducted by freelance photographer and travel expert Steven Frischling - better known as "The Fish" - grabbed our attention with a totally different approach. Frischling's two "Travel-Photo BootCamps" taking place from New York and San Francisco late next month, promise a whirlwind experience aimed at taking photographers outside their comfort zone, with all the pressures you might expect a pro to face on a daily basis.
Founder of the Flying with Fish blog and travel consultancy The Travel Strategist, Frischling claims to have racked up over a million miles of flying since he started keeping tabs in 2005. This is said to include a 4.5 day stretch which saw him circumnavigate the globe 1.5 times. Impressive if perhaps rather unenviable achievements, given the fabled comforts (or lack thereof) of airline seating.
Participants in Frischling's photo bootcamps will be pre-briefed on what equipment they're allowed to bring, with an emphasis on packing light and bringing only the essentials. Finding out where they're headed only upon checking in at the airport, they can look forward to a "fairly long" redeye flight giving them less than twelve hours at their eventual destination. Arriving without a chance to prepare, they'll be presented with their assignments, and as well as facing a strict deadline they'll be required to use public transportation between assigments and the airport. Once checked in for their return flight, they'll receive a critique of their work, and take part in a Q&A session.
While perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, Frischling's bootcamps sound like they'll present ample opportunity for learning how to work under pressure - not only in terms of time, but also with constraints on local knowledge and available equipment. Participation is limited to five individuals per bootcamp, and participants will receive a free Mountainsmith camera bag. The East coast bootcamp will leave New York "at the crack of dawn" on June 22nd, and is priced at $750. On the West coast, the bootcamp will cost $800 and departs San Francisco at "around the time you want to start getting to bed" on June 28th. Fees include airfare, and are valid until June 1st.
If you're interested, further information can be found on the Flying with Fish blog.
|
