Chuck Arlund Photo Retreat In The Ozarks
The Chuck Arlund Photo Retreat at The Lake Of The Ozarks.
When I first read Chuck was holding a retreat, I wanted to go and check out what he had to offer. I have followed Chuck’s work for a few years now and have always been very impressed by his style and his way to bring out the subjects personalities in his photos. If you don’t know what I am talking about then go check out his work. http://www.chuckarlund.com
My expectations going in to the retreat was not what I got out of it. I expected to learn a little, meet some new photographers and to see how others worked with clients. What I got out of the retreat was a whole lot more and then some. When you put 10 talented photographers in a lake house for a few days you come out with endless creative ideas. I learned so much more than I expected to!
Some things that I got out of the retreat were…
- Finding better light. If you can’t find better light then create your own.
- Bringing out the clients personality more in the photos
- New posing techniques
- Took my style back to the basics and simplified things
- Slowed things down and let the photo happen instead of forcing it
Now Chuck is more of a fashion and music type photographer; so how will all of what I learned help me since I mostly photograph weddings and kids? For weddings this will give our time with just the bride and groom an added push to get over the top images. For kid photography, this helped me slow down and watch a child interact in their own environment and big tinges happen when kids connect with the camera in their fun environment.
I am excited to introduce a lot of what I learned in to my work and I feel this was a great learning experience. Everyone I met there was awesome and taught me something or re-introduced something to me I learned a long time ago. I highly recommend you go to a Chuck Arlund workshop or retreat in the future. Even if what Chuck does is not your style or way of working, you will walk out of it with something. One thing that photographers that have been in the business for a while forget… You never stop learning. If you ever do stop and feel content with what you do then you just failed and will be out of business soon. If you keep pushing yourself and keep thinking your work is bad, even when people tell you how great it is and you keep having new clients book you. Then you will continue to evolve and improve and become an even better photographer.
Thanks Chuck, for having this retreat! I learned so much; more than I thought I would. I wish you the best and hope to see you around at other conventions and workshops. Maybe work together one day on a cool project.
Here are a few photos from the retreat.
We wish your family the best