Greetings From Dusseldorf
13/02/2018
Herbert Pfennig came over from Germany for a four day course in early February. Here's his review...
Looking back at my stay in Cornwall Chris, I'm still surprised at what I experienced and what I could learn. Of course I'd high expectations. Your website is very promising and I have studied many images by British landscape photographers. I was dreaming of owning photos which are at least a little bit similar.
We had 4 days together. It was a perfect mixture of introduction to your philosophy and technique, as well as photographing at a number of stunning costal locations and processing the images in your perfectly equipped studio. Up to now I'd just a shallow experience of Photoshop and had never worked with a computer from Apple. On our location excursions I also learned a lot about using filters. Particularly your instructions to use ND and ND grad filters, choosing the perfect aperture and exposure time lifted the quality of my images to another level. I never thought that this was possible so fast.
The next surprise was working with you in the studio. The work flow you've showed to me is simply spectacular! Sometimes it was hard to believe that I took the pictures myself. So I tried it again, immediately after my return at home. Of course I used the notes from our sessions, but it worked perfectly. The workflow you've showed to me is logical and not complicated. I can now reproduce it myself easily.
It was a great joy to spend the days in your house. Accommodation was very comfortable. I enjoyed so much the hospitality, you and your wife Sam rendered to me. It was like visiting good friends and the food was so delicious. During your cooking we had inspiring conversations and I was also impressed by the miracles you can do not only in photography but also in the kitchen.
Hopefully, there is a chance to visit you for another workshop. We photographed in wonderful locations and I'm sure you know many more interesting places. Apart from this, I hope that we can stay in contact. I consider it as a gift to have had the opportunity to meet people like you and Sam.
Best regards from Dusseldorf
Herbert
We had 4 days together. It was a perfect mixture of introduction to your philosophy and technique, as well as photographing at a number of stunning costal locations and processing the images in your perfectly equipped studio. Up to now I'd just a shallow experience of Photoshop and had never worked with a computer from Apple. On our location excursions I also learned a lot about using filters. Particularly your instructions to use ND and ND grad filters, choosing the perfect aperture and exposure time lifted the quality of my images to another level. I never thought that this was possible so fast.
The next surprise was working with you in the studio. The work flow you've showed to me is simply spectacular! Sometimes it was hard to believe that I took the pictures myself. So I tried it again, immediately after my return at home. Of course I used the notes from our sessions, but it worked perfectly. The workflow you've showed to me is logical and not complicated. I can now reproduce it myself easily.
It was a great joy to spend the days in your house. Accommodation was very comfortable. I enjoyed so much the hospitality, you and your wife Sam rendered to me. It was like visiting good friends and the food was so delicious. During your cooking we had inspiring conversations and I was also impressed by the miracles you can do not only in photography but also in the kitchen.
Hopefully, there is a chance to visit you for another workshop. We photographed in wonderful locations and I'm sure you know many more interesting places. Apart from this, I hope that we can stay in contact. I consider it as a gift to have had the opportunity to meet people like you and Sam.
Best regards from Dusseldorf
Herbert