F/Stop - October, 2004

Today was awesome! We went to Starbucks before going to the Dallas Arboretum for a few workshops. One of them—an engagement photo shoot—was led by Will Thornton. It was incredibly well-done. I was very impressed with his (and the others') God-given talent. God has done such a work in all the instructors' lives!

The rest of the day was incredible, too, but this is all that I have time for.

—Prizewinning Photography Student Andrew Smith

Wow! What an awesome day!

It all started out with a stop at Starbucks on our way to the arboretum. Mmmm, a great way to top off breakfast!

At the gardens we divided into three groups. Our group got the chance to watch as Katie showed us how to take bridal portraits. We had a real live model who graciously donned a white dress and posed for us.

Next, our group found our way to the other corner of the acres of gardens to where Cassidy was taking children's portraits. They were so cute and very well-behaved. Excellent models!

Our set of workshops concluded with Will demonstrating for us his style for taking engagement pictures. Great way to see how it's done and not just hear about it.

After a group picture, we spent the next few hours walking around and taking breathtaking pictures…and some not-so-breathtaking. Aperture, shutter speed, composition, metering—wow! a lot to remember! But when we get it right, it sure looks good!

Do you want to learn how to take better pictures? IPS is the place for you!

—Prizewinning Photography Student Jason Sommers

Today was an excellent opportunity to apply all the knowledge we have gathered during the week. Building on the teaching, critiquing, and experience of the rest of the week, we set out for the Dallas Arboretum.

We learned about portraiture through three short sessions: couples, bridal, and children. There was not only an engaged couple and three children, but there was also a "bride" to pose for us.

The remainder of the time was spent wandering the arboretum striving to correctly expose, meter, focus, and compose our daily ration of 96 frames.

The beautiful flora and surroundings were a fabulous place to finish up shooting pictures for the week. I actually shot 130 images! And while I may have permanent squint lines, I was able to apply the new things I learned to create some images that I will always treasure.

—Prizewinning Photography Student Hunter Pittman

Today was another extremely packed but fun day. We started off with Cassidy sharing what God has been taching her and it really struck me. Sometimes we feel as though God isn't doing anything. Matthew 5:8 says the pure in heart will see God. So pure-in-heart = see God. Not-pure-in-heart = can't see God.

We then set out for our photo shoot at the Dallas Farmer's Market - very cool for pictures! Bright colors, cool textures, and neat people. We got a chance to shoot black & white and play around with that. By the time we loaded up to go back to the training center, we felt as though we might have a few keepers.

After a much-needed lunch we settled in for a session on portraiture. What kinds of face shots are there, what constitutes the different poses you should have, and so much more! Will had a lot of fun teaching us and it was fun to learn.

Next we had a new instructor. Peter told us about the expensive equipment involved with macro photography, and the really cool filters to create special effects… and then he told us some nifty tricks that work just as well for a minimal price - paper towel tubes, colored cellophane, even vaseline!

Katie showed us how to use our flashes and no sooner had we wrapped that up then Rowan came in with our pictures from that morning. It was hard but we forced ourselves to go through the food line first. When we finally opened our pictures, many of us were excited to see such a difference between Monday's pictures and Wednesday's. What was even more incredible was seeing the mistakes as the pictures flashed up on the PowerPoint before the instructors pointed them out! Everything is coming together and making sense, and all of us are thrilled with our new found knowledge. IPS is amazing and I wish everyone could come!

—Prizewinning Photography Student Megan Crenwelge

What a wonderful day! Yesterday's rain went away and the sun came out–praise the Lord! Our first stop today was the very cool bronze cattle drive and then we went to Thanksgiving Square. We took pictures of our four assignments: blurred motion, stopped motion, long depth-of-field, and short depth-of-field. It took a lot of concentration to make sure we got it just right!

We also had two contests: tombstones and lonely. Lonely was much harder to find than tombstone because of the graveyard right beside the cattle drive.

That was just the morning! In the afternoon we had sessions with Will, Cassidy, and Rowan on lighting, composition, and black & white. These were full of very good and even more wonderful information. Tonight we had our first grading… aaah! A nerve-racking experience, at least for me, but praise the Lord, I think we all made it.

Well, now it's on to bigger and better things! I can't wait until tomorrow and the great things we'll learn! Come to IPS… you'll love it!

–Prizewinning Photography Student Emily Hatfield

It's raining, it's pouring…

Well, today was our first full day! We learned a lot about which buttons do what, and all of the other complicated functions necessary to capture good photos.

We braved a downpour for our first photo shoot in downtown Dallas. Everyone was soaking wet, but we made the best of it.

After our photo shoot we came back, dried off, and learned even more about photography! It was an extremely long day, but it had its exciting moments. When dinner was finished, we got our photos back from the lab. We were then split into groups to have our pictures critiqued by an instructor. The most interesting part of the evening came when, as a group, we viewed our photos taken in each of these categories: 1) Patriotic, 2) Urban, and 3) Favorite.

It was amazing to see how diverse each of the photos were, even though some of us took photos of the same object. God has created each one with such unique and creative eyes.

Although this entry may seem dull and not super exciting, nothing is boring over here! I have enjoyed getting to know everyone, and the instructors are so patient, encouraging, and knowledgeable!

Please pray that the rain will go away for the entire time that we are here. It was fun playing in the rain, but once was sufficient for me!

God is so good… all the time!

–Prizewinning Photography Student Caryn Werner