Get Connected: Attended a Night Photography Group Shoot

Saturday night and well into Sunday morning, I attended a free night photography group shoot hosted by Illuminate Photography Workshops in Denver. BTW, that's me in the back row of the photo above! I can't tell you how much fun it was to be apart of this creative group of people. It was fun to shoot with friends and professional colleagues John Freeman and Tiffany Trott. Plus, working alongside other talented photographers is very motivational and its fun to see how different "eyes" see and capture a similar topic, such as the Denver Millenium Bridge. I felt safe traveling around the city at night with so many other people around me. And nothing compares to getting to see and experience your hometown as it lives and breathes in the darkness.



Workshop director Efrain Cruz (directing students above) plans to host these events each month, offering former students an opportunity to learn new techniques and shoot on location with workshop instructors like Armando Martinez. But I also think it's a great way to grow Efrain's business. He's creating a sense of community among current and potentially new students in a non-threatening and fun way. Plus, people who attend the event are encouraged to post up their images on Flickr, another great avenue for getting your photography out to a public audience.

Up until now, I have to admit I've loathed my tripod and rarely used it. To be perfectly honest, that contraption scared me and made me worry that my camera wasn't attached correctly and would eventually end up crashing to the floor. But you can't take long night exposures without a tripod keeping your camera steady, so I couldn't avoid the Bogen any longer. Everyone seemed to understand my initial aversion to the tripod and thankfully no one laughed at me (to my face anyway) when I needed to be schooled on how to work it. Hey, cut me some slack, at least I had the bloody damned thing! But before the morning came, I was confidently lugging my camera attached atop my tripod just like everybody else, and my respect and confidence for the Bogen has grown tremendously. Especially since it helped me take amazing shots like these:








See more images from the night's adventure on the Illuminate Workshop Flickr Group pool.

If you are in the Denver area and you want to join us this coming month during our next night shoot, subscribe to Illuminate Photography Workshops newsletter here.