AWAI Stock Photography Workshop, Paris, Day 1

 Ah, Paris!

I've just spent a wonderful 5 days at the AWAI Stock Photography Workshop in Paris. On the first day, we made an early start and headed over to an apartment near our hotel, to meet our instructors. We were shown the way by Bonnie, who organised everything for us. The apartment belongs to freelance writers, John and Mimi, who work from home, and are thus able to live anywhere in the world they choose.

This American Diner was right by our hotel. We were amused to

see the never-ending queue outside. It was immensely popular!

Our instructors were Lise Gagne, the Queen of stock photography, accompanied by Louis Leblanc, who makes awesome videos, and Shelly Perry, an iStockphoto inspector, and a famous photographer in her own right. Our first session was on travel photography for stock, what we should try to capture, and what settings are best to use.

We saw this long row of public bicycles for rent

Montmartre was the site of our first photo shoot. We spent a happy afternoon roaming around the quaint streets and the artists' quarter. The crowds were a problem, though, and we had to find ways of capturing our images without having people stepping across our line of vision and ruining the shot, just as we clicked the shutter.

Our group on the streets of Montmatre, waiting to start

There were street artists strutting their stuff

We passed this man several times and he never moved once, 

not even a twitch!

We thought this might be someone important, 

then found out he was advertising wine!

Barbara stopped to have a cartoon drawn of her

I didn't even try to go into Sacré Coeur, 

it was far too crowded

After the shoot, we rushed back to the hotel to dowload our images and select 3 for a critique session, back in John and Mimi's apartment. The critique session was a feature of each day. Shelly took these sessions and was very patient with us, kindly pointing out small improvements. She always made us feel we were doing a great job, and we were spurred on to try harder so as not to disappoint her.