Paying It Forward: FDL™ for the PPA Fall Workshops - Pennsylvania, USA
Updated: Sep 4
There are some workshops you teach, and there are some workshops you share.
This year, we had the privilege of presenting an FDL™ (Focused Diffused Lighting) workshop as part of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) Fall Workshop season. After many years of photographing some of the world’s most beautiful and significant automobiles, we feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn, experiment and refine our craft alongside generous collectors, owners and curators who have trusted us with their cars. This workshop was our way of paying forward some of those blessings. We presented the workshop not as a commercial assignment, but as an opportunity to share the knowledge and techniques we have developed through our journey in automotive photography—and in gratitude to everyone who has allowed us to photograph their cars and helped us hone our skills.
Our venue was the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, in Pennsylvania. The museum provided a truly inspiring setting for our workshop, surrounded by a remarkable collection of beautifully preserved vehicles that made the perfect backdrop for exploring light and the art of automotive photography. (Read more about the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles here.)
Jerry Keefer (you will find his art here) was our assitant extraordinaire - our collaboration comes since before the pandemic. Jerry shared his knowledge and experience, with both FDL and lightpainting, in his usual generous and passionate manner.
What made this workshop particularly special was the room: the participants were all working professional automotive photographers, with years of experience behind the camera and a deep understanding of the craft.
We came ready to teach FDL™. We left having learned a great deal ourselves.
That is one of the things we love most about photography. No matter how long you have been doing it, there is always another perspective, another approach, another way of seeing a problem. Sharing ideas with photographers who work at this level made for some fascinating conversations—and plenty of laughter along the way.
Of course, we taught them FDL™, exploring the principles behind the technique and putting them into practice. But the workshop became about much more than simply demonstrating a lighting method. It became a genuine exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas.
And that was exactly what we hoped for.
A huge thank you to PPA for creating the opportunity, and to everyone who joined us with such openness, curiosity and enthusiasm.
We came to teach.
We had a lot of fun.
We are going home having learned so much too.
That, to us, is a successful workshop!
What the our new friends had to say:
“I came away with new ideas, new inspiration, and another valuable tool that I can incorporate into my own creative work. More importantly, I enjoyed meeting people who are genuinely passionate about photography and willing to share their knowledge so openly.” - Vasil Kuyov (Canada)
“I’ve taken many workshops over the years, but seldom have I experienced the tireless, patient, and humble presenting of information, instruction, and advice as you two have done. It was a great workshop!” James Swartley (Pennsylvania)
“I feel blessed to receive your experience and knowledge and get to watch your skills in action and in person, plus the opportunity of direct back and forth is very valuable, so many thanks for that. “John Gayler (California)
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