On Saturday, May 22, 2010, I attended a workshop put on by local photographer Dave Brosha. The workshop was based on scenes around Yellowknife, so the workshop was appropriately titled Yellowknife Scenes – A Field Workshop.

I had taken one of Dave’s workshops before and was very excited about taking this one. Reading what he had planned for this workshop, on his website, told me this was exactly what I needed. It was a full day workshop design for all skill levels, covering many photographic techniques and styles. The workshop would take us all over the city and cover many questions and pre-defined topics, such as low-light techniques, using flash, portraits, landscape photography, abstract/detailed images and so much more.

Arriving at Tim Hortons at 7:30am we all had the chance to introduce ourselves and bring to light any pressing questions we would like answered throughout out the day. It was great to see such a variety of skill levels throughout all the participants. Some who wanted to apply photography to their jobs, some who were beginners and others like Lee Sacrey and Geoff Fandrick, who want to pursue photography as a profession.

The first place Dave took us was the Frame Lake Trail, just behind the hospital. At this location we worked on taking landscape photos. Dave being an excellent instructor had no problems teaching us the basics about taking a good landscape photo and what to look for when doing it. Although everyone ideas of a good photo various, he explained that you should look for lines, and flow in your shot. He also said that by adding a person, or some sort of item in the photo, can add another level to it.

After an hour and a half we went off to our next location. The location being the hill behind the old Johnson’s Hardware Building, the one with all the hand prints. At this location we focused on Portraits. This was one of the topics I was excited about. As we were gathered at the bottom of the hill, Dave spoke about Aperture and the F-Stop, what contributes to a good portrait and some suggestion about where to stand, kneel, or lie when taking the photo. He mentioned that you shouldn’t be afraid to get down on the ground to take the photo and that more often than not, interesting photos are from angles we don’t often see. Some of my favorite portrait photos are one with a blurred person in the background.

After a hardy lunch we all reconvened at the Giant Mine Docks. There the Mine Historical Society has a great display of old equipment used when the mine was in production. Here we focused on getting the detail in our photos. Getting up close and showing what is really there.

Our final destination for the day was the underpass in front of Co-op. This was and is an excellent location to learn how to use flash and long exposures. We all got right in to it, literally, all 11 of us in the underpass at once with cameras and flashes going. By adjusting setting like, exposure, aperture, and ISO we were able to get detailed photos of the graffiti art. Of course by doing this we are making our cameras stay open for multiple seconds. You can also see in some of my photos on flickr, that by adding a person and bouncing the light from the flash can give an amazing look. This was also one of my favorite techniques and I hope I can remember how to get back to it.

At the end of the day I felt enthused and confident about my newly developed photography skills. I only hope I remember all the information Dave taught us throughout the day. I can’t think of anything I would change or critique about the workshop. Dave is, again, an amazing instructors and does a fantastic job are making sure everyone understand what he is teaching. He makes sure that everyone understands him and gives everyone the chance to ask any questions they have. Along with Dave, it was an honour to take this workshop with everyone attended. It is great to be able to just talk and discuss photography with others who also have an interest in it.

I can tell you now that I plan on attending another one of Dave’s workshop and I definitely think they are worth checking out whether you are a pro or beginner. To find out when his next workshop will be, Like his Facebook page Dave Brosha Photography.