A workshop testimonial I wanted to share

Richard Charpentier Notes from Rich, RLC Design, Workshops Leave a Comment

You know, I think I’m really going to enjoy the workshops this year. For the first Vulture Workshop John Randall came along. He’s been in the professional image developing business for decades, and when I found this out I wondered, “Why is this guy coming along for the workshop?”  During our time together a few weeks ago I found that John also had some great information to share with me, so I made sure to listen close while we went through the weekend workshop.

John recently sent along a testimonial regarding his experience on the Vulture Mine / HDR Workflow workshop we did the other week, and I thought I’d share it with readers here.  Of course, I’ll be adding it to the main site where folks can sign up for workshops as well.  Alright, enough with me typing, here’s John’s experience on the inaugural Vulture Workshop…..

I have been following Richʼs blog for at least a year and recently I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with him attending his HDR workshop. I have been involved in the photo industry for over 40 years, and have owned a Pro Lab for 30 years. But like the Cobblerʼs kids and their shoes with holes, I seem to get very little time to work on personal projects.
My wife and I are on an extended RV trip and are spending the winter in the southwest. When Rich announced his Vulture Mine HDR workshop I changed our plans so that we could be in Prescott at that time.
I met Rich a couple of days before the workshop and was very impressed with his gallery and print facility. Rich went out of his way to make sure we found our way around Prescott and helped us find great places to eat and shop.

Early Saturday morning we met and headed south to Vulture Mine. Fortunately for me, Rich also shoots with a Canon. I have a new Canon 5dmk11 but was feeling a little overwhelmed with all of itʼs features. Rich quickly put me at ease and helped set up the custom functions to make bracketing and metering work for HDR. Unlike some workshops I have been at where the instructor gets you started and then goes off by himself, Rich explained each site we were at and possible setups. Even if I had been comfortable with HDR, it would have been worth it just to have Rich as a guide.
Sunday morning we were suppose to shoot in downtown Prescott in the morning, and work on Lightroom and Photomatix Pro in the afternoon. However,unlike Saturday, the weather did not cooperate. (Note to Rich…if I wanted snow I would have stayed back in Michigan!!)
We did however do a few setups and by mid morning settled in at our computers. I have been using Lightroom for a while, but have never got the hang of all the library functions. In less than a hour Rich had me headed in the right direction. I really appreciated his hands on approach and willingness to even get off track with a few odd ball questions.

After lunch we started in on Photomatix Pro and ended the day with a good overview of Topaz. Again just the walk through on both these programs was worth the price of admission.
If you are looking for a fresh hands on approach to learning HDR and Lightroom, and want to work with someone who will take a personal interest in your photography and growth I can highly recommend Rich. Now if I could adjust my schedule so that I could go with Rich to White Pocket….

John Randall

Thanks for the wonderful comments John!  I hope that as the workshops move forward each participant gets as much out of our time together.  I love showing people how to do new things, teaching for me is extremely enjoyable!  Hopefully this fall you’ll be in the area for the second White Pocket Trip, or the Grand Staircase Escalante Workshop.

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