How do you manage the process of editing thousands of gorgeous pictures as they are unloaded off dozens of little plastic memory cards, while the creators of these images run off to their next assignment? Where do you begin when the photographer wants to take the story in one direction and you think it needs to go in another direction? How do you make good choices about content, layout and design across multiple platforms while keeping true to the story? This is where the editing begins.

With a coach-to-student ratio of approximately 1:4 the Mountain Picture Editing workshop participants, along with some of the best visual editors in the country, help guide a team of photographers through the storytelling process. They select photos, craft them into visual narratives and design the layout for a book publication.

To complement your days and nights of editing and collaborative production, each evening there are inspiring presentations by the coaches from all forms of visual journalism. Any downtime you may have is spent soaking up the knowledge of your passionate coaches and maybe getting a few hours of sleep.

Each October, a group of visual journalists set up shop in a different community in Kentucky to document life and culture in a unique way. 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 three options for the week. Photojournalism, Video Storytelling and Picture Editing. Three 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.