“Hannibal” Smith  in the 1980′s TV series, “The A-Team” used to say “I love it when a plan comes together”.  All I need is a cigar in the side of my mouth and I could be Hannibal Smith today because the Angkor Photo Workshop did just that, it came together – perfectly. Sunday was the culmination of many months of preparation and two weeks hard work by the leadership and instructors Karl Grobl, Gavin Gough, Marco Ryan and myself. The timing, the place and of course the people make for a perfect event and this couldn’t have been more perfect.  The idea to take four instructors and team them up with 14 students and give them both in-depth classroom instruction as well as field-based coaching was Karl Grobl’s. He chose Gavin, Marco and myself to help realize this vision.  I think I can speak for the three of us and say we are very grateful to have been a part of it.

The first part of the week we taught the students how to create a photographic essay. We explained the components of what makes up the essay as well as how to use the software that they would put it together with. This was the first time that any of them had used Soundslides Plus or Audacity. I think you will be just as impressed as we were by the results. We ran a small competition for the best essay and awarded prizes to the winning team from the workshop sponsors: F-stop Gear,  Soundslides Plus, X-Rite and Spider Holster. Below you will see the fruits of their labour. Each project was stunning and shows the talent available at this workshop.

1st Place: Lisa Brockman & Scot Sargeant
F-stop Adventure Rucksacks & a copy of Soundslides Plus each

Joint 2nd Place: Ursula Wall & Carl Johan Ragnarsson
X-Rite Color Checker Passport & Spider holster each

Joint 2nd Place: Ayn Brown & Chris Choulos
X-Rite Color Checker Passport & Spider holster each

4th Place: Catherine Wisner & Jenny Krasner
Light Modifier Softbox each

Gavin Gough instructing some of the students at Beng Melea ruins.

I am currently in one of the most amazing places on the planet, Seim Reap, Cambodia, the home of Angkor Wat. I am staying at the wonderful FCC hotel – classic French colonial mansion restored to make a comfortable, classic and luxurious place to stay. But, as with so many of the places I travel to there is a limited amount of  high speed internet. However, I have fought the urge to wait till I return home to post images and will try to upload a few images from this amazing workshop.

The fourteen students participating in the workshop are all getting a lot of qualify time with the four Amigos instructors, Karl Grobl, Gavin Gough, Marco Ryan and myself. This is not your average run-of-the-mill photo workshop: four instructors of this quality in a location like Angkor Wat makes this an exotic treat.  The mornings and afternoons are spent out working on photo stories whilst the mid-days are in a classroom with Gavin teaching Lightroom, Marco instructing the class in blogging and social media and myself teaching Soundslides Pro. Much of the photography coaching is done either in small group critiques sessions or out shooting at places like small village schools, orphanages or at Angkor Wat itself.
Here is a sample of what I am seeing.

A young school girl caught in the sunlight of her class.

A young girl recieves coaching from her sister through the school window.

 

Two children on a bike outside Beng Melea. (Look close and you can see Gavin's instant photo in her hand.)

 

A girl waits for her friends at lunch break.

 

This monk awakes from a nap to find a room full of photographers visiting his monastery.

Download your June 2011 Wallpaper

I think you will enjoy this wallpaper this month. It is one of my favorites. This was shot in Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest city at a monastery called Tashilhunpo. These workshops are really a joy to run and I as you can see below our participants really feel they get their money’s worth.

Adventure of a lifetime…another notch in the bucket list! Matt, Brian, and Jamin were knowledgeable, approachable, and perpetually concerned about everyone’s well being. This trip was an incredible value in all parameters, I would highly recommend entrusting your hard-earned vacation dollars with this trio. ~ Jim M.

This trip was everything and more. Learning so much about photography, mechanically (in all situations of lighting and fast paced street moments) and humanly (connecting with the locals) in such an incredible landscape and culture, such as Tibet will be hard to top… A true trip of a lifetime, which will always leave me feeling warm and rewarded. Thanks is not enough! ~ Simon S.

Brian, Matt, and Jamin provided us with a such an amazing, perhaps “once-in-a-lifetime” experience that will not soon be forgotten. Bottom line: I wouldn’t go to Tibet with any other folks, folks. The expertise on the area, the choice of accommodations and food, the willingness to help when needed, and the overall friendliness of these gentlemen made the trip. Thank you again, guys, and maybe I’ll see you next year! ~ Nicole R.

But more importantly, I believe I learned and improve and I thank you both. I think that it is important to note that all of you saved no effort to make it a great trip and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I believe your approach and attitude positively affected the group in its formation and the overall friendly environment. One “small” request – can you add some greenery to the plateau’s desert? All the best and thanks again. ~ Ruti

 

These are the typical of the responses we received about this workshop. If you would like to join me on a workshop this year, you have one last chance. I will be teaching with three heavy weights Karl Grobl, Gavin Gough and Marco Ryan July 11- 25th at Angkor Wat.  Angkor is one of the most culturally and visually exciting places in the world. I love shooting there. In fact Gavin Gough is at Angkor right now and is posting some amazing images. Check out his posts HERE and HERE.

Let me introduce you to the talented instructors that I will be teaching alongside.

Karl Grobl is a humanitarian photojournalist specializing in the photographic documentation of relief efforts and development work of NGOs worldwide. His images have appeared in publications such as Newsweek, CNN, Geo, Town and Country magazine and The Chronicle of Philanthropy, but the largest majority of his photos appear in the annual reports, newsletters and communications materials of his humanitarian organization clients. Karl’s non-NGO work is represented by Zuma Press, the premier international editorial picture agency and wire service. His 2005 Haiti photo-story “City of God” was nominated for a World Press Photo Award.

Gavin Gough is an independent, freelance travel photographer. Originally from England, Gavin is currently based in Bangkok, Thailand, from where he travels extensively, working on assignment, on commission, creating stock images, writing and teaching. He has been commissioned by a variety of NGOs, humanitarian and charitable institutions and has completed commissions for organisations as varied as Sony, Vanity Fair magazine and the Vietnamese Tourist Board.

Marco Ryan is originally form the UK but moved to live and work in Cairo in 2008. He is a lecturer and author on Digital Media and how businesses need to react to the increasing disruption caused by the web and digital media. He is also a passionate photographer. He founded the popular Cairo Photo School and is the joint owner of the Cairo Photo Studio. His love and passion for travel and humanitarian photography has taken him all around the world, and he has a vast network of Professional photographers, editors and enthusiasts that he regularly keeps in touch with through social media and his blog.

The Angkor Photo Workshop is limited to 15 participants and we only have three spots left! This small enrollment provides each and every participant plenty of face time with our 4 instructors during the workshop portion of the trip and with 3 instructors during the “road trip” portion of the tour. This workshop is unprecedented, you will have one-on-one with four of your favorite photographers.  If your interested and would like more information about this workshop you can simply visit this link HERE. You will find all the information you need and email links for even more. Join me, Karl, Gavin and Marco for a great time at Angkor Wat!

Just quick FYI about a new workshop opportunity. Karl Grobl, one of the most prolific humanitarian photographers out there, has put together what has been called by one tweeter a “dream team” led workshop. I don’t know about it being a “dream team” but there are some very talented photographers converging at Angkor Wat in July of this year. Karl corralled, cajoled and did whatever it took to gather me, Gavin Gough, Marco Ryan (and himself) to lead this amazing workshop. This is not just a “lets go out and shoot together” style workshop..oh no.. this is “study in the classroom, get the know-how and then go out and shoot” type of deal. OK, that was a confusing sentence. Let me rephrase. For this workshop, participants will gather in the mornings and listen to lectures and have group interaction over new techniques and concepts. Then, in the afternoon, when the light is great, they will all go out and practice what they have just been taught.

This workshop is not limited to just Angkor Wat–as if that would have been a bad thing. Participants will also be exploring and shooting the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. So as you can see this will be an amazing opportunity for 15 people. For more information click HERE and HERE. Hope to see you there!

Click on the an image below to view larger.

I’m going to go down a bit of a rat hole. I’m even going to give it a name: value.

You’ll already be wondering why a post that begins “I’m going down a bit of a rat hole” might have anything to do with Focus for Humanity – a newly launched foundation aimed at giving grants to aspiring photographers and to help under-funded NGOs afford world class photographers  – but stay with me for a couple of paragraphs and hopefully you’ll see why.

I’ve never quite understood why photographers struggle to sell the value that they bring to organizations. Well perhaps it would be more accurate to say I have never really understood why organizations won’t pay for the value that photographers can bring to their organizations.

That’s value with a capital “V” by the way – the intrinsic benefit that we recognize that great images can bring to a brand – and also value with a small “v” – because I think most photographers are undervalued and charge too little for what they do.

Why is it that an organization will pay an IT technician $70 an hour or a lawyer $200 an hour but not pay a photographer $100 an hour?

Perhaps it is because there is an association between complexity or certain required qualifications or proven experience and a market price.

Or perhaps it is that, for a profession such as a photographer, the need for creative vision, emotional intelligence and expressive story telling often outweighs the need for bachelor, graduate or professional qualifications. Yet because those qualifications are optional it becomes – especially for the uninformed buyer – more difficult to arrive at that market price or critically, to measure the value delivered.

It is of course further complicated by the proliferation and pervasiveness of digital cameras that mean many organizations don’t even to begin to create a business case for an assignment because its just too hard, right? Instead that same organization will thrust a Canon Ixus into the hands of the nearest intern and say, “get on with it”. (though I’ve nothing against Interns or Canon Ixus’!)

Now let’s add a layer of complexity. Let’s go further down that rat hole.

Imagine now that you are a business that is underfunded or does not make a profit, like an NGO. How do they afford someone like Matt Brandon or Gavin Gough? Or what happens if you are a talented semi-pro photographer looking for your first proper client and someone approaches you. How much do you charge without losing that first job or undermining that all-too-difficult-to-judge market price?

Many of the larger more established NGOs have multi-million pound marketing budgets and regularly use the likes of Karl Grobl, Matt Brandon, David duChemin or Ami Vitale on highly structured and well funded assignments. And long may that continue.

But the issue is more with the new, fledgling or underfunded NGO and also with that individual semi-pro photographer who is wanting to make the leap to full time – both of whose activities are more localized or more specific to a particular campaign.

Often, that new NGO’s need is greater, but their budget is smaller, resulting in a prioritization of funds away from hiring that top photographer. In the case of the semi-pro, they opt for doing pro bono work in the hope that it will strengthen their portfolio, but all that happens is that it undermines their value with the client going forward.

The first stage of resolving this is that the NGO needs some form of Damascan road experience to help understand how to budget and monetize the value of the photographer’s work and the semi-pro photographer needs the courage to value their own work and stand firm on their price so as not to undermine the market.

So how do we break this vicious circle? How do we climb out of this rat hole?

Well, one answer it to try and remove the barriers that are stopping each of them. In the NGO’s case that barrier is usually a lack of funds. In the semi-pro photographer’s case it is often a mix of lack of confidence, lack of knowledge in how best to price or a lack of experience with customers.

And this is where an organization such as Focus for Humanity (FFH for short) starts to make a difference. We see our role as bridging these two communities who have shared needs and common goals but perhaps different perspectives.

So as to not leave you hanging, here is a brief summary of how we tried to create a solution to help everyone climb out of that rathole!

Focus for Humanity created assignment grants to allow underfunded NGOs to win the services of established photographers such Matt Brandon, David duChemin, Gavin Gough, Karl Grobl, Jeffrey Chapman or Edoardo Agresti. For free. The NGO gets a full assignment undertaken by a world-class photographer with no strings attached. Well, actually a couple of very minor strings, like agreeing to budget for the following years for similar services; being willing to take some mentoring from FFH on digital marketing and acting as a reference for future NGO applicants. The established photographer gets a new client and is paid the right market rate for his work.

And for the semi-pro looking for that final leap to full time photographer?

We have an annual scholarship that provides the funding to allow them to work with their first client – probably an NGO – and to be mentored into how to approach and further educate clients in the value of images. In addition the grants cover travel, upgrading their equipment and some project expenses.

And for those of you still a few years away from being ready to apply for this scholarship there will be a series of mentoring and workshop grants that will help you to work on your craft and vision.

We fund the Foundation solely through donations, and we run the organization as a virtual online foundation to minimize the costs. Our current target is to allocate 93% of funds into grants each year.

But we can do with your help in three ways:

Firstly tell everyone one about it. Add a blog badge to your site HERE, follow us on twitter HERE, join us on Facebook HERE but, most importantly, become our advocates within your own network and get others to sign–up or donate.

Secondly we need your pledges and donations and those of your friends. It can be a one-off donation of $10 or a monthly recurring donation of any amount you like. But if, for example, we got a thousand of you to give, say, $50 each we would then be able to meet all our commitments for this year. So if you want to help, then help us to reach more than a thousand people willing to give just that little bit.

Thirdly, If you work for a company in the photographic industry then you can help with sponsorship too – although we prefer to use the term partnering as we believe that this is a two way relationship and we need to give those partners equal benefit in return for their support. Every lens, body, bag, filter, tripod, plane ticket or item that we don’t have to buy for our grant winners, is money that we can re-allocate into another grant. We’ve got great ideas on what else we want to add to our grants in the coming months and years, and sponsorship or partnering is one way of making that happen.

“Be the change you want to see in the world”, said Mahatma Ghandi. Perhaps you can help us make real change in how NGOs and other organizations value the work of photographers to help humanitarian causes.

Our thanks to Matt for allowing us the platform of his blog to reach out and share with you all about Focus For Humanity. Thank you for reading this far and for showing an interest in what we are trying to do. You can read more detail about Focus for Humanity, our grants, how to apply and how to help by checking out our website, http://www.focusforhumanity.org.

Marco Ryan was born in the UK, but now lives in Cairo, Egypt with his wife and young family. His professional career as an eCommerce Strategist, Digital Marketing expert and speaker is covered on his work blog, www.marcoryan.com, but it ensures endless travel but sadly insufficient time for one of the more creative forces in his life – photography. Contact him through this blog for commissions or prints.