Grey Salt Collective Community . JOIN IN

I taught my very first in person food photography workshop in the summer of 2013 focusing on natural light, storytelling and hands on food styling and composition. I created multiple ‘assignments’ with multiple ‘stations’ for the photographers to practice with food/props/light and story. After that workshop a few things that I had not considered became very clear to me, namely:

That even though I had thoroughly explained, with a plethora of visual examples, certain techniques and concepts in the presentation part of the workshop, that those concepts didn’t completely compute until the photographers were actively ‘doing’ the work, putting into practice what they had just been taught. The amount of aha moments really made me understand the power was in the ‘doing, the practicing, the putting into practice all of that information.’

When it was time to wrap the workshop up, no one wanted to stop. They wanted to continue working on their shots, talking through their ‘stuck points,’ celebrating their breakthroughs, their final images, asking their neighbor what they thought, or if they had a better approach, or just for help in general.
We had created a tight knit little family.

I went on to teach online classes for a few years afterwards. That platform allowed for working on certain skills one at a time, with assignments that corresponded. As the photographers finished, they posted their final images to the entire group, where feedback and community were essential parts of the education and benefits.
Again, as each workshop came to an end, there were the same types of comments about continuing on, and the same about creating a community.

So, in 2014, I created a facebook group, Grey Salt Collective, as that place where that community could continue on after a workshop. A place to keep practicing through prompts/challenges/themes that I came up with to push all of us to grow, get out of our comfort zones, to have conversations, to create community, and of course to keep us working on our crafts, thus #workyourcraft + #greysaltcollective

I eventually opened the group up to not only those who had taken a workshop or mentoring session with me, but to any food photographer who was passionate about working on their craft and wanted community around it.

Well, here we are, and I am inviting YOU to come join us and be part of a passionate group of food photographers who have made a commitment to growing their skills, thus growing their businesses; within a community driven environment.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

• This particular group is not about teaching the basics of using your cameras, so it is open to all FOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS, from beginner to advanced intermediate, who already have a knowledge of their cameras, and is shooting manually. If you need help with this area, I can personally and highly recommend you look into Andrea Ferenchik’s Online Course, The Big Girl School, where everything is thoroughly covered in this topic.

HOW DO YOU JOIN IN?

Become a Grey Salt Collective Insider by subscribing to my email list where you will initially receive 3 emails over the first week containing 3 free downloadable resources to get you started, and to give you a pretty clear idea of what you can expect moving forward. After that, you’ll see me in your inbox bi-weekly(ish) sharing more valuable content all things food photography related.

• Subscribe to the Grey Salt Collective Newsletter, here, and find out more about Grey Salt Collective on the website, here.
• Next, go to the Grey Salt Collective Facebook Group, here, answer 3 quick questions, and I’ll add you to the group.

WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT?

• Take your time, look around the group page, introduce yourself, add your information to our group members page in the ‘Files’ section on the left side bar, and either start working on the current prompt or look back over past prompts and choose one that makes sense to you and your business.

HOW DO THE PROMPTS + CHALLENGES WORK?

• New challenges are posted 2-3 times a month, depending on how in depth they are.
• There is typically a window of a week – a week and a half to work and post your image(s).
• You are free to jump in and out as your schedule allows.
• You are free to choose a past prompt to work on if it more suits your needs or schedule.
• You are free to slightly alter the prompts to make it relevant to your business, skills or needs.WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
• This particular group is not about teaching the basics of using your cameras, so it is open to all FOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS, from beginner to advanced intermediate, who already has a knowledge of their cameras, and is shooting manually.
• This group is a community and works best when everyone participates, leaves helpful comments and feedback, inspires on another. This is not a group merely to post images mindlessly.

WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED?

• Having a DSLR is ideal as you will be working to improve your skills, at any level. Having said this, I wholeheartedly believe in working with the equipment that you have now.

CAN YOU SHARE YOUR IMAGES TO INSTAGRAM?

• YES! In addition to sharing your images to the group page, I strongly encourage you to share to your own instagram account, as well.
• When posting on the Grey Salt Collective Facebook Group page:
  Use the #hashtags corresponding to each prompt.
• When posting on your insta account:
  Add #greysaltcollective, so that all of the posts remain together and we can see what everyone is creating.
  Also please tag me at both @gina_weathersby / @greysaltcollective so that I don’t miss your post.
  Lastly, please briefly share about the prompt in your caption, as it’s a great way to share what we’re doing, and excite others to join in! PLEASE BE SURE to use the tag #greysaltcollective in your comment section so that it will be collectively added to the page’s hashtag.
• I will also share images from what the community creates from the prompts (that have the #greysaltcollective hashtag) to be featured on the @greysaltcollective feed! That means YOU!

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions at all, reach out to me at gina@ginaweathersby.com / dm me via my insta account / or via fb messenger.

I look forward to seeing you in the group.

Till then,