Real Life Connections: The Tremont Workshop Junkies

This addition to Real Life Connections is actually a collection of people. But, as a collective, they’ve greatly impacted yours truly and totally qualify for inclusion. And yes, it has been a long time since I’ve inducted anyone so why not go big and just add a bunch at once right?

What’s the deal?

Well, I’m still absorbing the awesome of the Spring Photography Workshop at Tremont that I snuck off to a couple of weeks ago. Since that particular post is really just not writing itself at the moment, I thought I’d start with a separate, quick shout out to the people who really made this workshop amazing for me.

But first, what are Tremont Junkies?

There are the folks who attend a fall or spring workshop from time-to-time, then there are the junkies…the ones who attend a lot. Now, I’ve only attended the last two photography workshops but since I’m now visiting Tremont on a semi-regular basis to complete the Naturalist Certification as well, I need to fess up that I am indeed a Tremont junkie too. The true sign though is that I don’t intend to miss any future workshops and now arrange my rather considerable travel plans around them.

The inductees…

So without further delay, here are some of the characters who will always keep me coming back to Tremont for more…(going left to right) Pat Kennedy (AKA The Butterfly Whisperer), Bill Lea (Spring Workshop Head Honcho), Sue Milinkovich, Dan Thompson, and Steve Zigler.

Without going all sappy on you, how about I just say that, first of all, these guys just make the workshop fun. They have great energy that feeds the atmosphere. Second, they’re all enormously talented. Just being able to watch them work and create is fun and educational from a photography standpoint, but for me they also embody the fuzzier traits I’d like to emulate in terms of perseverance and vision. The Junkies’ willingness to share and collaborate is much appreciated.

Granted, these are not the only people who filled out the experience for me. All the participants were wonderful, it’s just that these are the ones I spent the most time with. I do want to give a tip-o-the-hat to the not-pictured instructors though…Tom Vadnais, Todd Moore, and Jeff Miller. I’ll have to induct them next time around…

The take-away…

The real point in sharing these people with you is that you just never know when and where you’ll meet some one who influences you in some way. If you stop to take notice, there’s mad talent all around you. Soak it up!

Anyway, obviously I’m quite inspired by these people and I thought they deserved the Val version of a thank you note. And of course, if you come to a workshop, you’ll get to bask in their awesome too. I promise I’ll share them with you.

And now for your moment of green…