by Mike Derzon
Armed with a borrowed camera and tripod, I stepped out of my rental car into the cool evening air of Death Valley, CA. I was embarking on my first photography workshop ever, and it had been twenty-five years since I’d taken my one short high school photography class. I was wondering if I could keep up. I was wondering who the leaders would be. I was wondering if I could figure out how to work all the buttons and wheels on the digital camera that hung around my neck.
During the first evening meeting at Furnace Creek Ranch, we met our leaders, Moe Witschard and David Middleton, who I would soon learn were tremendously capable and approachable experts in their field. Introductions and itineraries were followed by a short lesson on how to approach our first shoot. Talk of foregrounds, depth of field, and “leading lines” swirled about. Cookies were passed around. The playful banter that characterized our four-day workshop began. By the end of the meeting I felt excited to get underway, even though our meeting time was an early 5AM the next morning.
