EAW XXII

Hey everyone, I'm back on the radar! I spent a week and a half up in Jeffersonville, NY, for the annual Eddie Adams Workshop. For the past several years, Andy and I have donated our time and manpower to the cause. It's a great one too. EAW is a tuition free workshop for photojournalism and 100 students are accepted a year.

Photo editors and top photographers from our nation's top magazines and newspapers come to the barn to help out too. Everyone involved is a volunteer!

I took the next few pictures with my i-phone, so don't hold the quality against me. I was just having fun.

The weather was chilly, so I put on every fleece I had in my arsenal and topped that off with a jacket and gloves!

This year I was assigned to help the National Geographic team's David Griffin and Gerd Ludwig. Despite their rock-star status in the photo world, they were both very easy going and fun to work with. Watching their approach to editing was an eye opening experience. Gerd looked at images from a poetic point of view in my opinion. He noticed subtleties in images, which I would not have thought twice about. David would breeze through 500 pictures in no time and have the edit locked down. He is a master at the art of editing I can assure you.

EAW is more than students going out and making a story. There are also several lectures throughout the workshop. Photographers you would only dream about meeting share their tales and pictures. Photographers such as Gary Knight, Carolyn Cole, Howard Schatz, Nick Nichols and Clay Patrick McBride. The room is packed with students from wall to wall and what space is left is filled by other famous photo-folks.

When you look around the farm you are bound to see something interesting. In this case, Andre Constantini and Geoffry Rittenmeyer set up a rig with Nikon cameras. The concept was to fire all of the cameras in succession and then do a flip-book style presentation. The end result was a "Matrix" looking 3D effect. Totally blew my mind. The guy posing for this picture is Mac Group's Cliff Hausner.

The biggest sponsor of EAW is Nikon. Each year Nikon sends there very best Nikon Professional Services technicians to share and demonstrate their excellent cameras and lenses. What is NPS? If you are a Nikon user, you should be an NPS member. Click HERE to find out more!

The rest of the pictures I am going to share with you were taken by NPS representative Mark Suban. He's been a longtime friend and I always turn to him for techie advice.

These wonderful folks were the EAW NPS crew this year. Some of you had the pleasure of meeting Anne Cahill (lady on the right) when she came to Charleston, SC, this past May. She's a smart cookie who knows her stuff and happens to be married to another talented guy, Joe McNally!

The NPS crew sets up shop at EAW and provides equipment for students who need it. They also repair minor damages and clean any Nikon gear that needs it. Wonderful! Here is Melissa Debartolo and Anne Cahill doing there thing.

The food is excellent and I never missed a meal. This is a shot of me looking slightly guilty as Irene Colton (wife of the late Sandy Colton) gives me a hefty portion of yum-yums.

100 students arrive to the sounds of cheers and clapping. It's awe inspiring to see there tear filled eyes and enthusiasm.

Even though we are all sleep deprived, we managed to have as much fun as humanly possible. I am known to whistle while I work too!

The workshop is held in an old restored barn in Jeffersonville, NY. It's a beautiful scenic site and makes for a really great backdrop.

Every year, hundreds of hours are spent prepping the barn for the annual EAW. It's a labor of love by many and I am proud to be a part of it.

Soups up!

EAW was established by Eddie Adams. What an amazing man. Even though Eddie is no longer with us, he lives on through the workshop. His wife, Alyssa Adams, keeps the dream alive. Thank you Alyssa. There is also Mirjam Evers who is the workshop producer. She's an amazing gal who keeps the machine running. She also has her own company, Photo Quest Adventures.

I purchased this book at EAW and think it's fantastic. You can get it through Amazon right now for $31.50. It's definitely a book you want for your collection and would even make a great gift. Check it out.

Well, that's about it for now. If you like the idea of EAW and would like to be a student or even volunteer, simply check out the EAW website or drop me a line. I can help you in the right direction.

- Stacy Pearsall