A weekend at the races program July 21-23 2017
A Weekend At The Races
Join Nikon Canada, multi-award-winning photojournalists John Lehmann and Andy Clark for a unique workshop in Vancouver, Canada designed to help you take your documentary photography to a higher level and to ensure you get the most out of your gear.
Students will document a weekend of horse racing at Hastings Racecourse. After two days of competitive horse racing, you will walk away with your own professionally curated, visual story, guided along the way by a seasoned pro as your instructor and editor
From the beauty and speed of the horses to the excitement and intensity of the crowd, photographers will find a bevy of rich opportunities. Hastings Racecourse offers an incredible chance for students to learn visual storytelling. The weekend workshop will offer a comprehensive understanding of documentary photography through the power of strong images and good editing.
Students will receive instructions, guidance, photo assignments and one-on-one photo editing with unprecedented special access arranged for behind-the-scenes before the races and around the track during the races.
Some of the topics we’ll cover during daily lecture time
•Content, composition and creativity
•Photojournalism and visual story telling techniques
•Developing a photo narrative
•Building rapport with subjects
•Conveying mood and emotion
•Basic toning and post-processing workflow
What to expect
You will be part of a journalist team, endeavouring to document your story around a central event. Participants will be encouraged to bring ideas to the group while also working individually to develop their own narrative.
Shoots will take place through the day, with classroom instruction and critiques between assignments.
Being located in a major city, travel will be required to go between the hotel and the racetrack. We'll have a common room at the track where classroom and editing sessions will take place.
Some walking will be required in order to fully cover the racetrack and good comfortable shoes are a necessity. Students will also be required to sign a waiver.
Weekend Masterclass Schedule
Friday:
5-9pm (location TBA)
Meet and greet
Overview of the weekend
Presentation on visual storytelling
Working dinner
Saturday:
Group A
9-11:30am (location TBA)
Photo tour behind the scenes
Group B
9-11:30am (location TBA)
Workflow
Group A & B
11:30am Meet at racetrack
Overview of the rest of the day
Assignments handed out
Break down of the racing times and starts
Tour of the different shooting locations
1:00pm free shooting time
1:50 First race
5pm
Group B
Editing with students
Sunday:
Group B
9-11:30am (location TBA)
Photo tour behind the scenes
Group A
9-11:30am (location TBA)
Workflow
Group A & B
11:30am Meet at racetrack
Overview of the rest of the day
Assignments handed out
Break down of the racing times and starts
Tour of the different shooting locations
1:00pm free shooting time
1:50 First race
5pm
Editing with students
7:30pm
Group slide show.
(location TBA)
About John Lehmann
John Lehmann is one of the top photojournalists in North America. He was, most recently, named Canadian photojournalist of the year in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and 2015.
Lehmann brings an array of talents to his work: the insatiable curiosity that marks all the best journalists; an artistry that sets his images apart from the billions of other pictures; a quiet intimacy and flair for inventiveness, which is what brings his work to life. Most of all, he is not simply a photographer, he is a visual journalist. And the principal that underpins everything is accuracy and honesty, both to the people he reports on and the readers to whom he reports.
Since 2001, Lehmann has been based in Vancouver and his bailiwick is Western Canada, vast ground he has covered from the Arctic to the remote reaches of British Columbia. His focus is vast. He covers breaking news and sports, and develops many short-term and longer-term feature visual projects. He has covered five Olympics, summer and winter, and international news such as the Boxing Day tsunami in Southeast Asia. Major projects include month-long assignments in both China and Russia.
Among his many awards, Lehmann was named photojournalist of the year in 2012 and 2013 by the News Photographers Association of Canada, and in 2014 and 2015 by the Canadian Association of Journalist. His images have won a variety of prizes, including a National Newspaper Award for news feature photography in 2007. In 1998, he was named photographer of the year by the Canadian Press.
Before The Globe and Mail, Lehmann worked in Canada for Reuters, the National Post, and the Canadian Press. In the early-to-mid-1990s, he began his career in Asia, first at the South China Morning Post, the daily newspaper in Hong Kong, and several publications thereafter. Lehmann studied photojournalism at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, where he received his diploma in 1991.
Since leaving the Globe and Mail in the fall 2016 Lehmann has set up a very successful photography company shooting editorial and commercial assignments around the world.
Lehmann lives in the Vancouver suburb of Steveston with his wife Winnie and their two children.
About Andy Clark
Andy Clark has, over the past 40 years travelled extensively around the globe covering famines, disasters, world summits, major sporting events, the first Gulf War and conflicts in the Balkans. Mr. Clark’s work has garnered many photo awards including twice being named Canadian Photojournalist of the Year.