FIND. Film Is Not Dead. Park City, Utah.

or is it find your vision?  or find yourself?  or faith is not dead?  or?  all that and more?

i like to be original.  as a photographer, i’m encouraged to be original by those around me, by those who have gone before.  it is in fact the only way to distinguish “you” from the crowd.  be yourself.

so, when i sit down to write a review of Jonathan Canlas’ Film Is Not Dead (FIND) workshop, i stop.  and i can’t seem to move past this mental block.  you see, it’s all been said before.  “… it’s great … life-changing … phenomenal … thinking about it?  do it … it’s film and so much more …”  you can read all those wonderful reviews at the FIND workshop website.  and they are all true.  FIND is all that and more.  i wholeheartedly agree with all the written reviews for FIND.  and i’ve read them all.  FIND is a big investment.  and i don’t just spend that kind of $$ willy-nilly.  i did my homework.

i justified attending FIND because i loved what i read on Jon’s formspring site (i knew he was super knowledgeable and no-holds-barred open and honest and straight-forward), i love his work (seriously, how could you not?), i knew he was successful (repeatedly published and sought-after), and i knew he was genuine.  my research paid off in dividends.  attending FIND was the right decision for me, for my photography, and for my soul… because if i’m not right with myself, my photography suffers.  of course, if you’ve read my blog over the past week and a half, this isn’t anything you don’t already know about me.

so, at the beginning of October, on my birthday actually, that’s how i arrived at FIND.  on a bit of a quest for the troubles in my soul, looking for some peace from the daily noise that comes with a house full of four children and a dog, and just wanting to be.  to sit.  to learn.  to practice.  to expand my vision.  to grow.

Jon is an incredible teacher.  know that from the start.  not only is he an open book (the only stupid questions are the ones you don’t ask), he cares.  he wants every single one of us who has attended FIND to be successful in our business and in our lives.  he has created an environment where we all love each other.  i know that sounds corny, but it’s true.  even the FINDers i’ve never met.  we share a love, of film; a respect, of jon; and, a common philosophy of hardwork, sacrifice and discipline.  we support each other with honesty, and really, would go out of our way to help another FINDmate.  once you pay your deposit to FIND, you are allowed admission to this Club (really it’s an online forum), and that is where you can find me almost every night.  the workshop just keeps giving back through the FIND forum and its members.  and Jon?  completely approachable and continues to be willing to help.  and guess what?  he’s on the forum every day too.  but you should know though that Jon is more than just a great teacher.  he is a good person.  a “good people” kind of good person, you know?  i am fortunate to call him “friend.”

and the workshop?  wow.  i attended in park city, utah which is just fabulous even without an incredible workshop.  you can read all about my utah journey (outside of FIND) here.

FIND is three days of absolute goodness.  great setting, incredible cooking (by Jon’s culinary-talented lovely wife Callie, assisted by Callie’s fun sister Camille), gorgeous models, fabulous workshop attendees, tons of information, opportunities to shoot side-by-side with Jon, and just the right amount of breaks.  the workshop ran 9 to 5 without fail.  and then it ended each night.  i needed that time to process.  down-time, get-my-head-together time.  i mentally processed, had time to read, got enough sleep, and woke up ready to learn more the next day.  it was a perfect schedule.

this is FIND in action.

see that smile on Jon’s face?  it’s always there.

Jon in action ~

i loved all the rad models.  so cool.

these people, however, are not rad models.  they are really cool photographers pretending to be really rad models.

you decide.

when i think back to FIND, i think about all the friendships i’ve formed.  fellow photographers whom i can call up or email, and know that i have a friend who will help me out, whether about my polaroid backs (hey Ryan, how do you…) or focusing the Contax when your subjects are toddlers running all over the place (answer: you don’t.  use a different camera.).  i think of my FIND family, and as cheesy as this will sound, i just love them.

i have loved film since, well, since forever.  i resisted digital for a long time.  and then in the summer of 2006, i converted to digital.  i have spent days, months, many long nights, trying to make my digital images have the depth and feel of my film images.  i can’t do it any longer.  there is an ease to digital on the front end for sure, but it’s the back end that kills me.  i do not enjoy editing my images.  that is not my strength.  i love photography.  i love connecting with the people whom i’m shooting.  i love the stories.  but even more than that, i love the look of film.  it is in that medium where i can best capture my vision of the stories i hear.  will i still shoot digital?  yes.  will i now shoot a lot more film?  you betcha.  will i phase out my digital shooting?  yep.  eventually.

the first day shooting at FIND, i took this image.

taken on my Hasselblad 500 cm with the polaroid back.  fuji FP 100-C.

it took a lot of tries to get a decent image with it.

why?

because i had never really practiced with it.  (practice, practice, practice ~ remember, hard work?)

but my heart sang when i nailed it.

i can’t wait to show the rest of my FIND images throughout this week.

this place…

i will carry with me forever.

thank you Jon and thank you my FIND family.

until tomorrow and my FIND Day One images ~

xo

A

edited to add:  Jonathan stresses over and over the importance of personal work.  it was only after posting recently of my favorite images that i’ve shot that say “me” to me that i realized that each of those images was from personal work and NOT client work.  going forward, one of my goals is to bring more “me” to my client shoots, and next year maybe having some client images in my 2011 collection of top favorites.