Meeting Of The Masters - Day 2

Day 2 started out with one of the most inspirational photography speakers I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, David Hickey. Although he came out with us for drinks last night and was a wild and crazy guy, I was not at all prepared for the guy who walked into the room the next morning. Instead of a crazy photographer, we all met a photographer who really takes the time to personally connect with his models, who develops energy and keeps it flowing during a shoot and who gets choked up while talking about his dog who just died, his wife whom he misses or how his photos have changed peoples' lives.

For all of the theory, technique and war-stories I knew I'd hear at this meeting, hearing David speak was exactly what I was hoping might happen. He cut through anything and everything having to do with equipment, technique or education and instead focused on the relationship between the photographer and subject. How simple is that? If you get along with the person you're photographing, if you have some sort of a connection, your photos will show it and will have that extra something that can't be achieved through camera, lights or Photoshop.

Now, I'm not saying that he isn't still a wild and crazy guy. He most certainly is. Hearing his stories about run-ins with the police and photographing at the Playboy Mansion, you know that he's lived quite a vicarious life as a photographer. Fortunately, there's a lot more to David Hickey and he was happy to share it with us.

The end of the day was spent with an open discussion period where the class had the opportunity to ask the Masters anything they wanted about photography. Some questions really got a variety of answers and sparked debate while others were turned into big jokes and had everyone laughing a lot. Hearing five photographers with decades of experience answer your questions is quite a treat. I grabbed many pearls of wisdom and learned that there really is no right answer to any given question. With Day 3 quickly approaching, I can't wait to see what's next...