Participant Reviews

Brad Gilliam: I was very impressed with the caliber of the instructors. They presented us with terrific portfolios, great examples of the kind of work we should be striving toward! The one-on-one photo review sessions were very beneficial, providing me with plenty of direction to grow well beyond the "point and shoot" mode of operation. There was quite a variety of themes in which to shoot scenes. I am looking forward to the next workshop with Jay Dickman and his colleagues.

Digital Photographer Article
I cannot rave enough about my joyful experience at the FirstLight Photography workshops, held over a week in September 2005 at the scenic Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge, Maryland. The event brought together 15 amateur and professional photographers to exercise their inherent creativity, aided through constructive criticism and expert guidance to produce outstanding images.

The workshop is the brainchild of Jay Dickman, a Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer and frequent photographer for such notable publications as National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveler, Traveler Overseas and 15 of the “Day in the Life of” series books. He and his wife, Becky, produce and run the workshops. His charismatic exuberance set the tone, instilling a sense of community among the participants along with the confidence that everyone was capable of taking great pictures if only they applied a few simple rules…and then broke them!

It was fascinating to watch the subjects of the photographs walk into the gallery exhibition. The images indeed had the air of a National Geographic feature and you could sense the swelling pride of the community as they walked past the pictures on the walls, usually not once, but twice. Pride was also evident in the participants. They had changed from dabblers to serious artists, each one fully realizing that they had the talent and the potential to take great photographs.

Barb Bent: It is amazing when so much prep work leads to 4 days and it's over. Of course, it is the reason the classes, instruction and show went so well. There is no free lunch.  It was a top-notch job. You've definitely got another career.

Walt Hubis: You've given me the opportunity to discover and access these skills, and then helped to develop them and allow me to take them forward on my own. This has been a major impact in my life - one that's allowed me to grow far beyond my expectations. Thank you.

Ray Johnson: I promised I would write, a bit delayed because I'm still reveling in this great experience, this because the First Light experience is still ongoing!  I'm so impressed at how you and the staff view life and people. Your world experience has brought you to show reverence and awe for those of different cultures, how people struggle, working hard to put food on the table, all shapes, and quirks in personality, etc.
 
What a marvelous format you have with the workshops, very conducive to being immersed in the experience. Perhaps the most amazing part of it all is how all of you, while editing, would thumb along until a photo would stop you. “Wow”, a slight drop of the jaw, or “you've got to come see this one” would leave those around in amazement. Telling of how you/Bert love to get into the flow with a photographer even after thousands upon ten thousands of experiences in editing.  Being such a great photographer is what gives you the advantage in editing; you know as a photographer what looks good. The enthusiasm showed, inspired us all.

David Hayden: I want to thank you for the enormous effort that went into organizing the Chesapeake workshop and for your making it a great success. I don't think there was a wasted minute. I benefited from your planning and execution and from meeting all of the participants.

Park Terrell: There is no way I can adequately express to you what this workshop meant to me or what vision it opened my eyes and heart to. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!

Humberto Guglielmina: WHAT A WEEK!! Despite the late nights and early mornings (I think I averaged less than 4 hours per night -on the good nights-and only two the night before the workshop), I had a wonderful time! It was FANTASTIC! Thank you for a putting together such a GREAT Workshop!! I was also VERY impressed with the quality of the pictures at the gallery! Incredible work! I don't think I have ever seen a collection of photographs of the quality I saw there! WOW!! The highlight of my trip, though, was meeting YOU, John Isaac, Jay Kinghorn and of course Bert. Leave it to you to put together such a group of ultra high quality professionals!   THANK YOU! You guys are inspiring!

John Harvey: I was very pleased with the workshop, staff and meeting the participants. The real world of photo critiques certainly benefits everyone, and I really did take away with me some good pointers that I'll use in the future-in fact some of Bert's admonitions are still ringing in my ears-and that's a good thing.

You, Bert, John and Jay have a plethora of photojounalistic experiences and I will say that your respective work presentations were one of the highlights of the workshop for me. Also, I gained much insight on the use of the SLR that you furnished just as I had hoped and the real power of such cameras is now much more obvious-especially with the long lens. It was also a nice experience with some quite serious and accomplished participants as evidenced by the quality of the submissions. Originality and creativity were ever present and the critique sessions were entertaining as well as informative making the learning just that much more enjoyable.

Fred Zuill: Your workshop was excellent. You and your team are definitely at the top of your game with this workshop business.

John Robinson: I can't begin to describe what a positive experience Firstlight Chesapeake was for me. As a novice "wanna be" photographer, I discovered a whole new world of light, composition and technique. I've learned so much and I am deeply indebted to you, John Isaac, David Harp, Bert Fox and Jay Kinghorn, for such a rich experience.

Jim Starr: Thanks for putting on an excellent workshop. I think your formula - great place to shoot, superb instructors, demanding instruction, high-energy gallery show - really works well. I learned a lot, and came away form the workshop really pumped up.

I've been to a number of workshops where more than half the students were working professional photographers. None of those workshops produced student photos of the breadth and quality of the photos produced at FirstLight Cambridge. One long-time Cambridge resident said to me at the gallery show, "This is Cambridge. You've captured us!"