Workshopping in Berlin
Recently, I was attending a workshop, and while I am a person who 99.9% of the time loves to go out and shoot alone, I was enjoying this from the beginning.
First, a personal opinion. It is not worth paying for a group workshop until you are able to operate your camera reasonably well. Of course, no rule prohibits this, but if you're still not sure how to use different modes, how to quickly adjust ISO, shutter speed, etc., you're going to struggle to get great shots. And eventually, you'll miss many great opportunities. On the other hand, as soon as you know your equipment well, it is a great idea to attend workshops.
A few practical notes
Always check the weather before the workshop starts, and dress accordingly. Wear comfortable clothing, you'll be going to walk, squat, stretch a lot! This is necessary to get the best angles. If the weather is cold and you're freezing, you won't be able to focus on photography. Probably the most important thing is wearing comfortable shoes. Bring spare batteries and spare SD cards. You don't want to be the one who cannot take any photos in the middle of the day because you only had one battery with you. I'm a bit of a maniac, so I have more spare batteries with me, and a bigger power bank, so in a coffee break, I can charge my camera via USB-C if needed.
Price/performance ratio
The first thing everyone should understand is that it is not a race. You cannot measure a workshop by the number of pictures you took. The workshop is still a day in your life filled with photography, sometimes you'll get more great shots, sometimes you learn from missing the shots. Of course, in that environment, there's a much higher chance that you'll get many more great shots. Simply being in great locations, getting help and ideas from the tutor helps tremendously.
This is just a reminder that there's going to be scenes where you will still struggle with how to get a great shot, what to look for, and even with all the help, the whole scene might not get your creative mind finding the anchors and ideas to execute your vision.
The real worth
So while some real banger shots lift your spirit after, the real worth of a workshop is in the mindset. How to see, how to work a scene with creativity, how to build a shot that has potential, how to recognise potential shot opportunities faster, and be a photographer who gets the best shot possible under the circumstances. The goal is to almost forget all the technicalities and concentrate on vision. Of course, there'll be situations when you won't be able to create what you've imagined.
But if you pay attention and actively try to put what you've learned into practice, with time, you'll see more great opportunities, and eventually you'll improve as a photographer. When I say almost forget all technicalities, it's mixed advice. You need a good understanding of the technical side: knowing when and why to underexpose a shot, when to use shallow depth of field, when to use higher ISO, and when to use f1.4, for example. The best is, if you already know these before you try to photograph the scene. This way, you can be much quicker, which means more great shots.
Berlin
Recently, I attended a workshop held by Mark Fearnley in Berlin. As I mentioned at the beginning, I don't usually enjoy shooting in groups most of the time. With that said, I enjoyed every minute of these two days. The opportunities, the ideas, the conversations and most importantly, the great guidance by Mark. I think it's not an easy task to guide 6 adults who try to get all the shots all the time. Someone might inevitably have more experience than others, and some get the shots faster or slower, some need more opportunity to catch the right moment. With this great guidance and humour, I think everyone got plenty of space to learn and apply it in different places. At the end, I might change my mind about shooting in groups.
The atmosphere Mark maintained during the workshop was great, because from the beginning, I've never felt the pressure to grab everything perfectly. Everything happened organically, so even while we were in the middle of the first day, I realised I had so many potentially great shots. It was ok to be slow, it was ok to make mistakes. The whole vibe of the workshop was to enjoy photography.
If you like some of these shots, check out the workshop opportunities: Mark's webpage