Letters From Participants
 Dear Moose:
Just a quick thank you for a well run workshop.
Your passion for nature is inseparable from your passion for photography.
This came through loud and clear during the last four days. You have
selected a varied staff that complement each other well. ... Laurie,
Ken, Annie and John were great and unconditionally helpful. Sharon
made it all possible (especially for me by offering me a spot in the
last moment). Adam and I have enjoyed the camaraderie, the park and we
learned a lot. I am going through the notes and handouts and realized
that the workshop opened up a unlimited potential for future endeavors
("impossible is not an
option"). The sky is the limit (blue sky that is; LAB will bring
it out the colour; get rid of a color cast, etc). Thank you for the
privilege.
Please complement all your staff on our behalf.
Looking forward to my next DLWS.
Peter Birek
 Dear Moose,
Having now returned safely back to England may I take this opportunity
to thank you and all the team for a marvellous workshop.
- Yes it is rocket fuel that you provide,
- Yes you and the team provide
great inspiration,
- Yes you and the team provide superb teaching and encouragement,
- Yes you do need a vacation at the end and finally
- YES it was worth travelling nearly 6,000 miles to attend !!
I am not sure when I shall attend again, it won't be next
year unfortunately but I can assure you that I will, that is of course
if you let me back!
Please pass my thanks on to everyone involved in making it such a superb
time and may I wish each and everyone one of you a wonderful Christmas.
Regards,
RICHARD LONG
 Hi guys,
I have to say, I was very emotional at the end of the evening Wednesday
night. I thought for sure my "moon" shot would be chosen as the
grand prize winner! Actually, I was very emotional for REAL reasons. First,
it was very sad to have another DLWS event come to a close. I look
back, and there never seems to be enough time to spend with each of
you. But
it is extremely important for you to realize the impact you've had
on my photography, and me as a person. While I may not be that vocal
with questions, never doubt that I listen to every word I hear you
speak. From
that, Ive taken my photography many levels higher than I thought possible.
Each one of you are very special to me, and I truly consider you my
friends. Moose, your criticism of my work is invaluable. I
am now in the top one percent of mediocrity! (Another DLWS or two,
and I will branch into the lower 98 percentile of excellence!) You
never settle for anything less then excellence in your own work, and
I certainly wouldnt expect you to settle for it in mine. For that,
I THANK you! You push me into accomplishing great images and to
really SEE whats in them. ... you have opened my eyes to endless
possibilities and I will never look at the world the same again. You
truly see beauty in all you behold with an almost childlike awe. Oh,
if I were that lucky. Laurie, I dont know how you keep a smile on
your face through all you deal with. Then on top of it, you shoot
wonderful images! You always manage to give me some of your time;
that then pushes me to better photography. How cool is that?
I've done
a lot of things and been a lot of places in my life, but I consider
the times weve spent together some of the best. I look
forward to our next time together, and will miss you all terribly until
then..
Your friend always and in all ways,
Randy
 I've been pondering for a month now how exactly to express to both you
(and Ken and the rest of the staff, too) just how much I appreciated
DLWS, and how much it is changing how I look at my work.
Before DLWS, I didn't print many of my images, and I certainly didn't
do much post-processing aside from some global color and contrast
changes -- brute force, caveman-like work! The printing I did do was
of the "File|Print" type, and I thought I was printing terrific
images. That is, until I hit DLWS.
If I had one primary thing that I came away from DLWS with, it was the
attention I need to pay to post-processing, and working appropriately
for exactly how my image is going to presented (for example, online
vs
print). This was a huge eye-opener for me, and has been a terrific
addition to my tool-belt. I've been going back through old images,
and applying the things I learned. This has breathed new life into
these older images, and has made them so much better than I could've
imagined.
I just wanted to thank both of you wholeheartedly for the impact DLWS
is having on my work, and let you know that I'll back next year [2006]
-- likely for Vermont or Arches.
Thanks!!!!
Colin Wright
Colin Wright Photography
Hi Moose,
I attended the Yosemite DLWS event and have been meaning
to write this to you to express my appreciation for a job well done. You,
Sharon and the team you assembled put together a great event. With
the outstanding instructions and documentation I took home, my photography
has reached to new levels as I had hoped. I assessed a lot of workshops
during the year prior to signing up for Yosemite and there were several
that seemed worthwhile, however, your style of teaching was well beyond
what anyone else is doing. I have to admit, your course is intense,
it's hard work and there's the competition to be the 'best of show, a
true honor.
This event was a humbling as well as inspiring experience for me, something
I will never forget. You were right, I didn't want to go back to work.
I just wanted to continue taking pictures, just one more setup to make
one more perfect shot. Well, life goes on for some of us in less glamorous
ways than yours. The stop and go traffic on I-5 put everything in
perspective. I definitely have to work so I can buy more equipment
to feed my addiction to this passion. Thank you for a great
adventure. Yosemite 2005 will live on forever.
Charles Simmons
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