It’s not a coincidence that the day of this post (June 3rd) is the last day for students to apply to the 24th annual Eddie Adams Workshop.

These are the photos I made as a student on The Brown Team. Anyone who gets accepted and is reading this post, heed my advice: keep your notes! I lost mine and, embarrassingly, I can’t remember the name of my subjects.

But here’s the breakdown…

Each Team thinks up a different theme. The Brown Team’s was “Farm Families.”

There’s a bunch of them out in the greater Jeffersonville, NY area, so why not do a bunch of little weekend documentaries on ‘em, right?

My subjects owned a tree farm. Most of their bread & butter was from Christmas Trees, but the weekend I was there had nothing to do with trees. …well, not with their trees.

The first day I arrived, we went to pick apples in an orchard …which was a good hour and a half away. I might’ve spent more time in their car than anywhere else. On Friday I spent about five and a half total hours with this family, 3 of which was in their car.

On Saturday, the husband ran the Steamtown Marathon, which was in Pennsylvania, AND also an hour-and-a-half away.

Saturday was also the little boy’s birthday. They did a little bit of shopping for him at Wal Mart and we ate at Wendy’s for lunch. And in typical little boy birthday he was a bit more volatile when things didn’t go his way on his birthday. I could totally relate.

They didn’t really do too much birthday stuff while I was there. His party was later on that night. I couldn’t attend because, of course, I needed to get back to the barn so I could dump my cards. After all, the teams were presenting their photos later that night.

Admittedly, it was kinda tough to flesh out a solid, interesting story. There was no real story ark to be told, and both days had two totally different themes. But I made some pretty nice images and I found some pretty nice moments.

…unfortunately, they were all made with a “brand new” D2h and most of them were shot through a crazy wide 12-24mm f/4 lens. Nikon is the main sponsor of the workshop, so we get to test out their newest gear. So, the files are tiny, somewhat noisy, and there are too many “conehead” photos for my taste. But for me, this weekend was all about playing. …and playing hard!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Jeffersonville is a magic place for me. And every time I’ve gone back as a Black Team member it’s been rejuvenating. I hope I get to go again this year. It’s been a while.

So, if you’re an eligible student get your stuff in!

And if you want to know what a good Eddie Adams Portfolio consists of? Here’s the easiest answer: It’s filled with images that most genuinely reflect YOU as a photographer.

If your best body of work is of your family… that should be your portfolio. Don’t think you have to put together a traditional photojournalism portfolio for entry — even though, that’s what I entered. At the time, my mindset was geared towards community newspaper photojournalism! The best stories are the ones in your backyard! My portfolio was all naturally lit moments. That’s how i was then. But that doesn’t mean you have to be. If you take amazing photos of bugs, make that your portfolio. If you’re a portraitist, why show them that cruddy spot news photo you shot for your PJ class?

Do you see what I’m getting at? It’s all about your vision!

And, of course, it’s a great place to network, too. The “heavies” as their called, are there to meet young talent. So, don’t be shy. They’re away from the city. introduce yourself. I’ve gotten work from the workshop. What’s to say you won’t?

Good luck to all those applying!

Click here to see more photos on my photoshelter page from the 2004 Eddie Adams Workshop.

Ducks swim through early morning fog in Jeffersonville, NY, October 9th, 2004.

I gotta be honest, 2004 was a pretty amazing year for me. I toured the US playing drums in a DIY thrash band. I landed some choice regular freelance clients (The Atlanta Journal Constitution, and The Associated Press) considering my lack of experience. The Patuxent Publishing Co. took me on as their second Fall intern — which, as some of you know, later turned into a staff job.

AND I was accepted to The Eddie Adams Workshop!!!

…and after looking at some of my fellow students’ portfolios I’m not too sure how.

Some had, for example, a substantial body of documentary work from Afghanistan, others were already in the celebrity portraiture world, while some on Bill Frake’s team seemed to be cut from the same Sports Illustrated cloth as their team leader.

Me? I had a funny picture of a redneck golfer and, aside from 3 photojournalism classes, an almost complete lack of “journalism school” education. I made a point in my letter to explain that at this point in my career I needed to educate myself in the real world, with internships, newspaper freelancing opportunities and workshops. After every year it always seems like a complete mystery as to why some people were accepted and why some weren’t. I’m assuming my “uncarved block” bend appealed to whoever had my portfolio.

No sense in looking a gift horse in his mouth, right?

That October weekend was magical.

I met new friends, became inspired and, got to try out the “new” Nikon D2h, abuse a 12-24mm lens (as you’ll see in my EAW student story post), of course, learned stuff. I also won an award — an assignment with the Associated Press. It wasn’t the $10,000 Nikon Student award, but I got to stand on the stage with all the other award recipients. I couldn’t stop smiling. Literally. I tried calming my smile down but it stayed up. I probably bounced a little bit, too. …I’m such a nerd. ha!

It was a sad year, too. The “sweet 16″ as it was so ironically called, was the first Barnstorm without Eddie. Our year was also the only year Peter Jennings spoke at the workshop. He said Eddie was always trying to get him to come up to the barn so he could inspire the students. And he told this amazing story about a portrait shoot he had with Richard Avedon. — an experience which I think left Peter Jennings a little star struck. After all, it is THE RICHARD AVEDON! I can’t remember the specifics, but the image Peter Jennings got (maybe it was the polaroid? maybe it was legit print? Either way, Avedon ended up signing it. Aside from being a SIGNED AVEDON, it was a photo he really liked of himself. So, At this time in his life, things were happening for Peter Jennings. He was climbing the ranks in the news world and he was recently married. If I remember correctly, he his wife moved into a new home and he left the home decorating to his wife while he was over seas (Vietnam I think) on assignment. Well, when he came back to their newly decorated home, he noticed the photo Avedon made, positioned somewhere prominent — probably the mantle — encased in an elegant frame. His wife, expecting Peter to be overjoyed with the decorating and her choice of frame was taken by surprise by Peter’s state of shock. The photo was a bit smaller than it was before he left. When he asked what happened to the photo, his wife said,”well, it wouldn’t fit in the frame, so I just cut off the writing at the bottom.”

Needless to say, the entire audience recoiled. Peter Jennings, knew how to work a crowd. He was the only speaker who chose to sit when he spoke. It felt cozy, comfortable, deliberate. He had no photos to show. He just told stories. Little did any of us know that he, too was sick. I think he sat because of all those reason and because his body was riddled with cancer. And as we all know, he died the following August.

Since 2004, I’ve gone back to the Eddie Adams Workshop a member of the Black Team a few times. During those October weekends the energy in Jeffersonville is something I’ve never felt anywhere else. Sure, the leaves are changing colors, and the light is always gorgeous outside — except for the torrential downpours.

But my first weekend at Barnstorm felt like an induction ceremony …the photo culture’s rite of passage. It was as if the photo industry was welcoming me.

Click here to see more photos on my photoshelter page from the 2004 Eddie Adams Workshop. And click here to go see my blog post detailing my student story.

Al Paglione takes reprise from cooking during the 2006 Eddie Adams Workshop to chomp on a Cuban cigar…This is Al Paglione. He and his son help cook at the Eddie Adams Workshop. Meeting him was pretty great! I was shooting him with my 17-55mm and he was totally jockin’ me about my zoom. He was talking up the Nikon 50 f/1.4 — which I have — and so, I decided to take that lens out of my bag and snap it on my camera for a spin. So, everything after this photo are shot with the 50mm. He was right, that lens is awesome…I gave a print of this photo to Al’s son Jerry, and he started crying and gave me a huge hug. Those two bicker like the Jersey boys they are, but there’s so much love between the two of them…The Eddie Adams Workshop in Jeffersonville Saturday, October 7, 2006.

The 10am Update is a regular blog feature showcasing the best work from my archives. enjoy!

Monica Lopossay, in early morning fog, while arriving at the Eddie Adams Workshop Barn in Jeffersonville, NY, for the Black Team pre-workshop clean up.

For all you newcomers to the professional photo biz, The Eddie Adams Workshop is now accepting applications. May 28th is the application deadline.

Stay posted for more images from my time as a student and as a Black Team member.