Plate to Page Weimar: May 2011 (closed)

© Julia House

Twelve participants who had never met. Eleven nationalities. Four instructors. Three days of pretty intense writing and photographing, and living in close quarters with one another. Sixteen people who arrived as strangers but left as friends; with heads humming with inspiration and ideas, and hearts full of affection. That pretty much sums up the the first Plate to Page food writing and photography workshop which took place in Weimar, Germany 20-22 May 2011. Here are a few impressions of the weekend, in words and pictures. To hear what people are saying about the Weimar workshop click over to our Workshop Reviews page.  

For the full run-down and more pictures, click here. 

DAY 1

The four instructors Jeanne, Meeta, Ilva and Jamie welcomed the participants from around the globe:

• Ken and Mitch from New York;
• Julia from Canada;
• Ishay from South Africa;
• Deborah and Jenn from Switzerland;
• Simone from The Netherlands;
• Jasmine from Italy;
• Astrid from Austria;
• Arthi from the UK; and
• Mona and David from Ireland (who had won their places on the workshop in a competition run by our wonderful sponsor Bord Bia in conjunction with the Irish Food Blogger Association).
  
  
  

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The serious work of the day kicked off after lunch with a discussion on the difference between good vs. bad food writing and photograph; presentations from all four presenters; some very intense practical writing and photography sessions in small groups of six participants with two instructors each; and a presentation on low-light photography in restaurants. 

DAY 2

Saturday morning bright and early, we were back at the Kipperquelle and raring to go with the distribution of the goodie bags.  Soon it was back to work and the morning flew by once again, taken up by a photography presentation and a writing workshop that saw the participants playing word association games to kick-start their post inspirations.

 Lunchtime saw participants heading out into the sunshine to put into practice what they had learnt and style food for a picnic shoot, using the gorgeous vintage props sponsored by Paula Walters, and edible treats brought by each of us from our home countries. We spent a good hour in the dappled sunlight under the trees, arranging food, photographing food, rearranging food (on our knees in the gravel at some points!).

After all participants had a chance to present their work, the school was over for the day. People were quickly divided into teams to work on starters, main course and dessert for the evening's meal.  Dinner, eaten al fresco at a long table under the stars. 

  

DAY 3

The morning's writing exercises were all about choosing your words carefully and putting the reader in your shoes; while Meeta and Ilva unlocked the secrets of Lightroom, Photoshop, and working effectively with Lowel Ego lights. From there we moved onto some tips for selling your work and getting published, which took us neatly to lunchtime: honeyed goat cheese & pine nut salad; mustard-crusted beef fillets; and baked pears with zabbaione and fresh berries.

© Junglefrog Images

After lunch, calm descended as participants wandered off in pairs to complete a magazine article with pictures documenting the lunch, and presented their pieces to us. Once everybody had presented and discussed their articles and photos, it was time for a quick wrap-up and then it was all over. Our farewell barbecue dinner was at Gasthaus Taubach where we did the lucky draw that saw two lucky winners walk away with Lowel Ego lights kindly sponsored by Prokit - congratulations Astrid and Jasmine! 

© Junglefrog images