Photojournalism

Do you think your images lack that “special something?” After all, you understand exposure, composition is a skill that is becoming second nature, and light is something you see and use whenever you can. Yet your images still do not stand out. This is where we come in. With a coach-to-student ratio of approximately 1:6, the Photojournalism Workshop can bring you to a new level of story telling, one you never thought you could reach. You will get closer to your subject than you could ever imagine, get up early and stay out late, get down in the mud with the subject, and ultimately climb into his or her heart.

Mountain is all about building relationships and using meaningful photographs to tell a story. If you want to be a photojournalist, your coaches – some of the best visual professionals in the nation – will give you a motivating push in the right direction. To complement your days and nights of shooting and editing, each evening includes inspiring presentations by the coaches, as well as critiques of a selection of images taken that day. If you find any down time it will be spent soaking up the knowledge of your passionate coaches and maybe sleeping a little bit.

There is a spirit here that lifts people up and pushes them toward successes in their photography that they might not have achieved on their own.

Rick Loomis, Independent Photojournalist | Photojournalism Coach

What we do

Each October, a group of visual journalists set up shop in a different community in Kentucky to document life and culture in a way that is rarely attempted. Raw and live, it’s all about the people and their stories, not the institutions. It’s called the Mountain Workshops, and dozens of students and professionals from around the country swoop in for a week every year to garner new skills and fresh inspiration.

It’s a crash course in visual journalism.

Participants can choose from one of five options for the week. Photojournalism, the original workshop at Mountain, has always been a big hit, but Video Storytelling is increasingly in demand. If you wish to increase your knowledge in other visual skills, the Mountain Workshops can deliver. Picture Editing pushes a traditional skill set of image selection and book design into the digital age, while Digital Storytelling takes us into a world of multiple forms of media and collaborative cooperation on a single topic.

A special workshop for K-12 educators is hosted by Dataseam, a Louisville-based nonprofit that provides resources for Kentucky educators. The K-12 Educators workshop is designed to help high school teachers looking to develop their students’ communication skills to tell their own stories.

Five workshops held in one location, in one week, with a constant flow of new ideas and one-on-one guidance by the top professionals in their fields, all add up to an intense five days of high-octane education in visual communication and storytelling.

A sneak peak behind the Mountain

Housing

You are required to provide your own lodging and dinning arrangements during the Workshops.  Because of the remote location of the Mountain, there is a low abundance of housing options available so we recommend that you reserve your room as soon as possible.

• Our headquarters, Rough River Dam Resort State Park has a limited number of rooms and cabins available for workshop participants. To reserve a room, contact the resort directly by calling (270) 257-2311 and indicate that you are a PARTICIPANT for the 2020 Mountain. You cannot book these rooms online, the resort has blocked off the entire resort for our use.

• If you are into rustic camping, the Rough River Dam Resort State Park is also offering tent-camping opportunities along their airport runway for $10 a night. You will be able to make use of the pilots lounge and shower facilities. 

• Just a few miles away, there are rooms and cabins available at the Falls of Rough Resort. This country resort has multiple cabins and bed-and-breakfast type options available.

• In Leitchfield, about 18 miles from our headquarters, the Hatfield Inn has approximately 30 rooms. 

• There are many AirBNB and VRBO options available. Search "Falls of Rough".

Once you have been accepted AND paid to the workshop of your choosing, you will be invited by your registration email to join a PRIVATE facebook group for all the 2020 participants. It is in this social space that many of our workshop attendees coordinate hotel arrangements. 

PLEASE NOTE: This area of the state is a popular destination location. Although October is typically considered "low-season" for tourism, rooms in the area can sell out.

The headquarter location has a dining hall and will be offering buffet style dining options as well as order from menu for all our participants at their regularly published rates.

Travel

The nearest airports are Louisville (SDF), a 74-mile drive or Nashville (BNA), a 127-mile drive. We have noticed drastically different rates depending on where you are coming from, so be sure to shop around for the best deals.

You will need to have a vehicle for the workshop and there are car rental places at the airports.

If you are in the Picture Editing workshop you may be able to share a car rental with others in that workshop.

Once you are accepted to the Mountain and you pay to secure your seat, you will be invited to a PRIVATE Facebook group where you can coordinate with others about the possibility of car and hotel room sharing.

Keep in mind that the video, photo and digital storytelling workshops will require driving and it is mandatory to have your own car during the week.

Headquarters location and tentative schedule

Rough River Dam Resort State Park

450 Ic-1003, Falls of Rough, KY 40119

GOOGLE MAP LINK

Tuesday, October 13 (all times are CDT)

• 7:30 AM Registration opens
• 8:00 AM Vendor’s tables open
• 9:00 AM Session #1: Large group introduction: Overview of workshop and small group assignments
• 10:00 AM Production and workflow tutorials
• 10:30 AM Session #2: Break into small groups with coaches
• 11:00 AM Lunch Buffet opens (provided)
• 12:30 PM Session #3: Opening ceremony for all participants and hat draw (story ideas)
• 1:30 PM Meet briefly with coaches in small groups; fieldwork
• 6:00 PM Dinner on your own
• 7:30 PM Session #4: MWS evening presentations (all participants)
• 9:30 PM Session #5: Meet with coaches in small groups
• 11:00 PM Lab closes for the night

Wednesday, October 14 (all times are CDT)

• Morning Fieldwork, shoot features and story; meet with coach during the day  
• 12:00  Lunch on your own
• Afternoon, PM Continue shooting features and story; write story and captions; meet with coach
• 6:00 PM Dinner on your own
• 7:30 PM Session #6: MWS evening presentations (all participants)
• 9:30 PM Session #7: First story critique (Photojournalism workshops participants only)
• 10:30 PM Session #8: Meet with coaches in small groups
  Midnight Lab closes for the night

Thursday, October 15 (all times are CDT)

• Morning Fieldwork, shoot features and story; meet with coach during the day  
• 12:00 Lunch on your own
• Afternoon Continue shooting features and story; write story and captions; meet with coach
• 6:00 PM Dinner on your own
• 7:30 PM Session #9: MWS evening presentations (all participants)
• 9:30 PM Session #10: Second story critique (Photojournalism workshops participants only)
• 10:30 PM Session #11: Meet with coaches in small groups
• 1:00 AM Lab closes for the night 

Friday, October 16 (all times are CDT)

• Morning Fieldwork, shoot features and story; meet with coach during the day  
• 12:00 Lunch on your own
• Afternoon Continue shooting features and story;; write story and captions; meet with coach
• 6:00 PM Dinner on your own
• 7:30 PM Session #12: MWS evening presentations (all participants)
• 9:30 PM Session #13: Second story critique (Photojournalism workshops participants only)
• 10:30 PM Session #14: Meet with coaches in small groups
• 2:00 AM Lab closes for the night  (first draft of story/final presentation edit due)  

Saturday, October 17 (all times are CDT)

• Morning Fieldwork, shoot features and story; finish written story and captions
• 8:00 AM Building opens 
• 12:00 Ceremonial close of content and group photo, lunch on your own
• 4:30 PM All photo story edits, captions, story and headlines complete; checklist review with coach
• 5:00 PM Dinner on your own
• 6:00 PM MWS closing ceremonies and presentation viewing
• 9:00 PM Vendor sponsored pizza party
• Midnight Workshop closes