May the Fourth Be With You

Last night saw me in a parking lot with a lot of crazy people...like minded people who will do almost anything for a photograph. And..that is where Creative Photo Workshops comes in. We are just about crazy enough to come up with the ideas. Last night was one of them.

With yesterday being International Star Wars Day, we thought a Star Wars Workshop would be perfect to kick off our Winter Series of evening events for photographers. So, we gathered in parking lot under the South Lawn of Melbourne University to begin an interesting process called 'make something out of something it isn't'. That's what we do at Creative Photo Workshops.

My friend and fellow CPW loony, Glynn Lavender, decided that he would be the Dark Lord last night. Yes, he donned the Darth Costume and became Dude of the Dark Side. He was very convincing actually. Perhaps it is because I am used to feeling his grip around my neck when he isn't even touching me. Star Wars fans will know what I mean. Me? I was just my incredibly lovable self. I am not as brave as my offsider. He probably would have suggested that I don the Leia outfit anyway and I just don't have the legs for it. Don't anyone make any cracks about my hair either, ok?!

Our Anakin was well played by my nephew, Jared, who has often been told that he looks very much like Hayden Christensen, who, of course, played Anakin in two of the three new prequels of Star Wars. He was more than happy to come along and have some photographs taken of himself in that role. I suppose it will be a new Facebook profile pic for him. We also had a Wookie and a Princess Leia, complete with bread roles for a hairstyle. It was too cold for the Jabba the Hut outfit...

Glynn and I understand that photographers are looking for something to create, an event, en experience. So, we make them happen. The interesting thing about workshops and events like these is that we prove that interesting, dynamic images can be produced anywhere if you acquire a greater understanding of the aspects of photography that really matter - light, composition, perspective, metering and a strong understanding of your subject and its place within the frame. With these understandings in hand, a competent photographer can use The Force (that's what we Jedi's use to take great pictures) to create beautiful photographs anywhere. Last night was no different. We were in a parking lot and yet I know that I am very proud of the images that many in the group extracted from their cameras. If you have a look at the Behind the Scenes images in this blog, you can see what the realities were.

We chose Melbourne University's unique parking lot because of its oddly shaped pillars. This was no doubt the reason that it was chosen thirty years ago as the location for a scene in the post Apocalyptic world of a young Mel Gibson's Mad Max. For us, it could be used as a place in a galaxy far, far away. With some gels on some strobes, we were able to make it happen.

This is at the heart of our events. You don't need French Castles filled with supermodels and 20 flash heads and softboxes. While all of that sounds very tempting, it is certainly beyond the average enthusiast photographer to ever have the opportunity to do. However, a light, a subject, a lens and a camera in manual mode can do almost anything - if you know how. Last night we used yet another parking lot to prove that point.