‘COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS’ with Laura Twining
In the first of our Community Conversations we interview Laura Twining, or ‘Dr Marm’ as she is lovingly known! Read on to discover how Laura first got interested in photography, where her interest in Lensbaby began and how Gather Academy has played a part in her photography learning journey…
Q. Thankyou for taking part in our Community Conversations interview Laura! Can we start off by asking where you are currently based?
I’m in Northern California, near our State Capitol, Sacramento. I’ve lived here for about 25 years now. Definitely, a California Girl, born and raised in Southern California and transplanted here after attending college out of state.
Q. You have been a Gather community member for just over 4 months now, but you have already successfully completed a number of workshops and are also undertaking a 365 project. How did you come to find Gather Academy?
Gotta love connectivity, especially after the challenges we have faced worldwide over the last year and a half! I attended a Virtual Photography Conference, from Lensbaby, called: Shoot Extraordinary, in early December 2020. When I saw the session Ute Reckhorn did, I found her online @CaliforniaLover on Instagram. Her information referenced a course called, Learning to Bend Your Vision with Gather Academy. I was so excited to find a class on shooting with Lensbaby Lenses and Optics, and even more so when I saw April Milani was also teaching this course. So, this class featuring one of my greatest passions was the first official course I signed up for with Gather Academy.
Image @Laura Twining
Q. Your photography practice came to you a bit later in life, as it often does for many of us. Can you tell us a bit about your personal photography journey thus far?
I really learned about photography with Digital Cameras. When I started off as a teacher--which was a mid-life career change, I wanted a camera to take pictures of my students and their activities. Never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted what an interest and passion I’d find through photography. (Nor the expense over the decades to be truthful!)
As my interest and commitment expanded, so did my desire to learn more about photography. I started with a Nikon “Point and Shoot” camera and decided I really wanted a DSLR. Since I already knew the Nikon menu I stayed with Nikon. Over two decades later, I still am a Nikon shooter.
In my beginning, I understood the concepts of photography, but more in the scientific aspect and not the artistic piece. My first DSLR, was the D40X. Truthfully, I was pretty much still pointing my camera at something and shooting. I’d advanced from Auto to Program Mode on my camera, which meant the camera was still doing all the work for me. Took classes through Ritz Camera and spent a lot of time there. On one of my visits I saw a book on display that had a Peacock on the cover and the most vibrant beautiful tail. What caught my eye and interest was the blur in the tail. I picked it up and learned there was a lens that would allow me to create images like this.
I immediately contacted Lensbaby by email and was impressed with their customer service and patience with my many questions. Did more research and found that the lens was indeed compatible with my camera. So, I ordered it and was so excited when the white Priority Mail box arrived on my doorstep. While I knew my camera would work with my new Lensbaby, I didn’t realize it wouldn’t work in Program Mode, so my choice was either Manual or Aperture Priority. Not honestly having a clue about the relationship between ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed there was a lot of trial and error and deletions.
Image @Laura Twining
I was so determined to use my lens, it gave me the motivation to keep trying. What an incredible gift I got through my Lensbaby lenses and optics, it was the piece I was missing with my photography. The art of an image! Being able to see something with my eyes and transform that same scene through my viewfinder, into my creation. To this day, I know I owe my artistic results to my first Lensbaby.
A favorite activity of mine is to introduce others to the joy of using Lensbaby lenses and optics. I invested in a used Canon Mount so those shooting with a Canon can use my optics which are not camera specific. I frequently loan out my personal gear to other Nikon shooters that are friends and enjoy going in the field with them and letting them explore for weeks at a time.
Through my 365 project which about 98% of my images are shot with a Lensbaby, I’m often asked questions about my images and the lenses I use. Was able to connect with folks from a local Facebook Group and meet up (properly social distancing) in person. It’s fun when they get that spark in their eyes and want to explore more with the Lensbaby lenses. I am always happy to share the Lensbaby Love with others.
Q. As we touched on before, you have successfully completed a whopping six workshops with Gather already (wow!!!), and are signed up for another one to begin soon. How have you found the workshops you have taken so far and what keeps you coming back for more?!
In Learning to Bend Your Vision, my first class with Gather, April and Ute created a safe environment where students could share what they were learning and connect with others. I was truly shocked that an on-line course with students literally from all over the World felt more like a family! Having Zoom Meetings in addition to the course content allowed us to really unite as a group. The opportunity to discuss and share needs was tremendous, In one of our sessions the subject of Lensbaby Omni Wands came up. I had a “love hate” relationship with my Omni Wands which are made of multiple mediums such as crystals, glass, and gels. These Omnis are placed in front of the lens to create various effects in camera. Due to the interest, April and Ute created a course solely based on Omni Wands. As a retired educator, I was genuinely impressed with this interest met immediately. In addition to the class content, Ute and April created videos during the course to meet learning needs. Quite impressive! So, of course I signed up for their new course!
In reviewing additional courses offered by Gather Academy, I found, “Flower Portraits” taught by Kathleen Clemons. I greatly admire her work and was thrilled I could attend the course. Her course content blended concepts and even months after this class, I still hear her “voice” every time I am shooting and not just flowers. For example, “Work your Subject” meaning move around, get different compositions, try multiple apertures, and create various results. This technique really applies to all genres. Another valuable concept was looking for a single flower--compose your image in camera and avoid distractions before your shot so you have less work in post. These techniques and many others are actually gifts to bring along on our photographic journey. Due to my lack of knowledge in Photoshop, her critiques were immense learning opportunities. She opened our images in Photoshop and showed us what could be done to enhance our work. Kathleen’s ease of using tools within Photoshop made it seem less intimidating. This motivated me to sign up for another course-- Photoshop for Beginners.
True confession—I had taken other Photoshop classes and dropped out. Just too overwhelmed by such vast concepts. The fact the title alone described me, it was only 4 weeks and offered a short time after my current Gather Academy class I took the risk and signed up. Another inviting aspect was the fact Natalie Finney and Helen Whittle instructors for this course gave access to the course material a week before class started. This simple action greatly diminished my fear of Photoshop!
I really enjoyed the Omni Filters Unplugged Course. It was wonderful to see the creativity the Omni Wands could bring to images. Keeping in mind that April and Ute developed the course in such a short amount of time--it was designed well and the content was excellent. There are SO many Omnis and they each differ in their results. One of the best tools from this course were the Digital Place Cards. The Place Cards and numerous videos showed the effects of each individual Omni. Exactly the resource I needed and continue to use. Another manner Ute and April met the needs of course content was giving us input on concepts. They took time to add to their course subjects that came up during our Zoom Meetings and Daily Discussions. These were included in our eBook.
Actually had a week of an overlap of my Gather Academy courses, the last week of Omni and the first week of Photoshop for Beginners. I’d signed up for the Photoshop course previously, but when April and Ute added the Omni class I didn’t want to miss it, so doubled up for one week, not a problem.
Helen and Natalie’s course was phenomenal for me. Learned so much. No more fear of Photoshop for me! Their design of Photoshop for Beginners content was brilliant. The written lessons and videos side by side for every concept really made Photoshop accessible to me. Their critiques were extraordinary, they too opened our images in Photoshop and provided step by step individual feedback for each image. Truly impressive to see slight changes that made a difference to my pictures.
Gather Academy offers a 365 Community Project. I was already doing my first ever 365 this year. It seemed ridiculous for me to join this class half way through the year, but I did. Why? The community and being able to once again connect with my Gather Family. Such a great opportunity to meet even more students and learn together. I feel this course will continue to motivate and challenge me throughout the remaining time of 2021. Already hoping this class will be offered in 2022, I would look forward to a full year of learning!
Gather Academy continues to inspire me with additional courses. Currently learning so much from April Milani about the history of color and the individual aspects of a painting and images via The Colour of Emotion class. Excited to learn even more and add to my skills. In my future, I get to attend Kathleen Clemons Sequel to Flower Portraits and a course on iPhone Flower Photography a short time later. Looking forward to learning a lot and having fun while doing so.
Upon completion of these questions, I realized I missed another exemplary action of instructors meeting student needs regarding future course content. During our final Zoom Session in Photoshop for Beginners, Helen and Natalie asked us specifically what worked and how they could better meet the needs of future students. There was great dialogue, we provided concrete examples for subject expansion and where changes could enhance learning opportunities in the future. Shortly after this conversation, we were invited to a Zoom Meeting to explore next steps for our learning. We were also given the option to share thoughts via email. In my experience, it isn’t often that instructors go to such lengths wanting feedback.
This example is the reason I’ve taken so many courses offered by Gather Academy is that the knowledge I gain from one course is transformed to the next. To be able to learn and build on skills, to take an image from one class and further develop my talents as an artist has been fabulous. Equally valuable has been the connection of classmates and instructors. Having relationships that expand to additional sources, such as Instagram, Messenger, Texting to name a few is invaluable.
I’m now looking forward to expanding my knowledge of Photoshop in a sequel course offered this fall. Four months ago, I could never have imagined any enthusiasm for a Photoshop course. Thanks for making this possible!
Image @Laura Twining
Q. Lensbaby lenses play a big part in your photographic practice, as do flower and nature photographs. Can you share with us what you love about these and how you like to work with them?
As I shared earlier, Lensbaby lenses really gave me the means to create more artistic images. Over time, Lensbaby has developed a plethora of amazing lenses and provides so many opportunities for photographers. As their products have expanded, so has my interest in learning and growing as a photographer. For me, it is always exciting when they release a new lens to see what others have created and learn what I can achieve. They continue to bring me great pleasure whenever that lens is on my camera! Each Lensbaby has a distinctive characteristic that varies the options I can create. It is amazing to shoot the same subject from exactly the same spot and change my Lensbaby and get an entirely different result. This is the magic that keeps me connected with my photography!
Living where I do, there are so many local aspects of nature just five minutes away by car I reach the American River and the American River Parkway. This parkway runs parallel to the river and is 23 miles long. I gained a passion and respect for nature growing up and attending Girl Scout Camp Mountain Meadows for 9 summers, from a camper to a counselor. So, it is natural that I’d gravitate towards and celebrate nature through my photography.
In retirement, a friend recommended a local photography class through the Renaissance Society. It is so delightful to meet others and celebrate concepts new and old together. The topics vary and change every two weeks. This class has really inspired me to expand and improve my own skills. Equally valuable are the amazing friendships that have developed and provide hours of fun shooting together. I am so thankful to know and learn from such talented photographers and be able to call them my friends.
Image @Laura Twining
My interest in shooting flowers has always been there. To be able to isolate a feature of one aspect of a flower or capture the beautiful shape in its entirety is true beauty to me. What has really enhanced my desire to shoot flowers and create macro images has been the 365 project I began this year. Sharing an image every day via social media has made me more dedicated to shooting and allowed me to progress as an artist through my images. There are so many subjects within flower photography, it is inviting and a single bouquet can captivate me for hours.
Q. A big congrats on your recent involvement in the group exhibition ‘Art Walk’ at Filoli House. That must have been a thrilling first experience! How did you come to be involved in this, and what did you have to do to prepare?
Thank you greatly for the congratulations, I was honored to be part of the Art Walk at Filoli. A little information on the Historical Estate and Gardens…it was built for the Bourn family in 1917 as their country estate about 30 miles south of San Francisco. The name was derived by William Bowers Bourn II “by combining the first two letters from the key words of his personal credo, Fight for a just cause. Love your fellow man. Live a good life.” Filoli is pronounced Fie-Low-Lee. (Source: Filoli Family Home Historic Garden Living Museum, Shire Publications, 2017.)
Years previously, on my first visit there, I was immediately captivated upon entering Filoli and seeing the plaque that gives credence to the name and how it was developed. There are so many incredible gardens with such diversity that surround this estate. During our “lock down” I was on-line to become a member of Filoli and exploring their website. In doing so, I found a “Call for Artists” and decided to apply for this annual Art Walk. To my pleasure and honor, I was accepted to share my images. This meant having a booth at the event and selling my pictures.
Image @Laura Twining
Honestly, I had no idea how much work would be involved to achieve this! Originally, I simply thought it would be fun to be there. In preparation for the Art Walk I continued shooting my 365 and started reviewing images on my laptop (7,000) and my external drive (3,000) to select those to have printed and sell. Ironically, this coincided towards the end of my Photoshop for Beginners Couse. Many images I’d shot prior to this course were additionally edited in Photoshop to fine-tune their appearance. Very timely knowledge I will admit.
Decided that I wanted to use an outside company to provide a better quality of print for the images. I asked other photographers who they used and sent a few “test images” to a couple of them to compare their results. Once I decided on the company, I then had to finalize the images and sizes of prints. It was about this time that I realized—basically, I was starting a business! Knew I needed a website, business cards, and a price list. My greatest roadblock in this entire journey was establishing prices. I took the images for me and to share with family and friends on social media, never had given any thought to their worth. After a lot of stress and research I had one price list developed. As part of getting my website together I had to establish and publish prices. I decided to make a new price list for the Art Walk that was lower than my initial one.
So, on the first day of the Art Walk, a few hours before it began, I was still indecisive about my prices. Fortunately, at this time I was in the “Colour of Emotions Course” with April Milani leading and many of my Gather Family members. April gave me the chance to get feedback from others earlier in the week. I’d been so busy matting the images and placing each one in an acid-free plastic sleeve I hadn’t been back to our class thread. Decided I should take a minute to get grounded and go to our Gather Academy class. My classmates gave me the confidence I needed to use the price list that reflected my value. Nothing like a last-minute decision, but knowing I had support and wasn’t alone in this made a tremendous impact.
During the Art Walk, I had friends from my photo class that drove 150 miles each way! They stayed in a hotel to help me get my images, booth gear there, set up, tear down and then loaded up and drove them home. My car wasn’t big enough for everything.
Image @Laura Twining
I am so thankful the Art Walk was 2 days long from 10-5. The first day was really rough, things beyond my control! Had issues with my car alarm at the hotel and at the Art Walk. Let’s just say that when an alarm system offers a “kill switch” to prevent the car from being stolen, it also prevents the legal owner from driving it as well when in this mode. Far from ideal when you need to drive somewhere within a time constraint. Another wrinkle was the fact my Square Credit Card device I’d set up a week prior that worked fine from home didn’t work at the Art Walk. I was in a tech chat with them, asked other vendors near my booth that all used Square, and no one could get it to work. After much time spent on this, finally got it to work for my only charge of the day at 4:40 p.m.
Want to commend the guests that visited the Art Walk. Those that wanted to purchase prints really did want them. I shared with folks that it was the first time I’d ever done this and was working with tech support to get the issues resolved, offered free 5 x 7 images to celebrate my first sales and to accommodate their inconvenience. These kind customers were very patient and understanding and did eventually made their purchases with cash or using Venmo.
I am so thankful this was a 2-day event. If Saturday would have been the only experience, would have really questioned my abilities and talent to move forward. Thankfully, Sunday was incredible! I had greater confidence, enjoyed visiting with guests, no car alarm issues, could accept credit card purchases, and quite a few guests will enjoy my images in their own homes.
One of my friends helped set up my displays for Sunday and what a difference that made. There were featured images that caught interest as folks went by which they then wanted to see up close.
In order for the Art Walk to have been a success, I know it was truly a “village” that helped me get there. My local friends and my Gather Family. Know I am indeed fortunate to be part of a community of photographers.
Q. To wrap things up, can you share with us any future plans for your photography or any long term goals you are hoping to achieve?
I answered another “Call for Artists” at Filoli for their Orchard Days in October and hope to return for Art Walk 2022.
As far as immediate plans…continuing my 365 Project, working on my website, shooting as often as possible, and enjoying the beauty around me with my Nikon.
One of my Bucket List items will be met in October when I attend Death Valley National Park for a weeklong photography class. It’s ridiculous to know I have never been there and have lived in California for most of my life. Really looking forward to it! I hope to visit Iceland on a photo tour in the next couple of years.
Another certainty will be continuing my learning journey through Gather Academy and having fun with my Lensbaby Lenses and optics.
Each of my images are a result of my Gather Academy Classes or created while in a class.
