My first trip to onsite and I was hell excited. Not because I was travelling to a totally unknown country within 1 year of my professional career but more because of my prospect of earning some disposable cash and be able to afford a good digital camera for me. My passion for photography was just kicking in and it was a damn good opportunity for me. After much online research I zeroed on Canon S3is which I felt was the best choice for me at that point of time (Year 1996). Later I regretted my decision of not buying an SLR but I had my reasons at that time. I had a history of losing my interest in something sooner than I start building it up and I did not want to spend some obnoxious amount on a SLR which I might not have used after buying it. 
Cut to 2009, my passion for photography only increased with time as against my other interests (Thanks to my friend Soumyo as well) and now I feel it is the right time to graduate to a SLR. But wait do I need a formal lesson in photography before I embark to a more complicated equipment. I thought NO. In past 3 years I have read a lot about photography ranging from the technicalities like Aperture Settings, Shutter speed, ISO etc to composition details like rule of third, positive and negative spaces, frame with-in a frame and what not, all thanks to vast resource available on net. And photography is something no one can teach you, it has to be felt and understood.
Once while surfing through net, I stumbled across this site by Kalyan Verma, a wildlife photographer from Bangalore. What made me interested in his site was his honesty towards the skill. No frills attached to his calibre and a sober way of exhibiting his works. I have seen many photo blogs where pictures are great but somehow you do not relate to them. There is an air of arrogance associated with those sites which says ‘See how great an artist I am’. I respond humbly, you may be a great one but what to me?
From his site I came to know about the workshop he conducts in Bangalore every month. Although I am not that interested in wildlife photography or rather put it this way I am more interested in fine art/people photography, I thought of giving it a shot.
I reached the venue almost on time that is 9:30 am on a Saturday morning. Some passion drives you to do what you felt would be totally unimaginable otherwise. Getting up early on a Saturday morning is one of them. Attired in starched white shirt and trousers, Kalyan was standing at the gate of hotel. Seeing him so fresh early in the morning I also kicked my sleep away and that set the tone of the two day workshop that was going to start.
It all started with basics of photography. How camera works, how to play with aperture, shutter speed and ISO. What is an exposure and how to get the correct white balance? Even though these were all theoretical in nature but his enthusiasm in the class and an interactive session made sure that everyone has there eyes wide open.
We had a great buffet lunch (Includes in the package) and then started off with the most interesting journey for any photographic workshop or at least for me. Understanding the composition, or to put it simply learning what makes a photograph great. It is good to know the technicalities, but the camera is and should be just a tool at the end of the day. What you click is more important than at what camera settings you click. I felt this was the most informative session of the day where I learnt how small things make all the difference between a normal shot and a great shot.
All in all a great and tiring day with lots of learning to chew.
For me Sunday started at 6 in the morning all thanks to Kalyan. We had to take a field trip to Lalbagh. Needless to say I had never been to Lalbagh that early in the morning and was totally baffled to see the crowd even at that time. People do not sleep even on Sundays. Huh.. Anyways we had great time trying out different things with our cameras and had couple of small sessions on portrait and flash photography. We came back to the hotel and then started with the rest of the session where Kalyan asked everyone to get 5-6 of there best shots and reviewed them. I personally felt it was very informative as only when you review your work you learn about the mistakes and can correct them. 
We had a session on post processing and couple of small sessions on cameras gears, which all gears to buy, how to sell your work etc. My biggest takeaway from the workshop was learning how to take my work forward. It gave me a great push towards my passion and will soon have my first SLR. It was awesome interacting with people who share same passion and gave me a great high. I hope my enthusiasm continues. All in all a great workshop and two days well spent.
You may find more details about the workshop at : http://kalyanvarma.net/workshops
Sourav's Weblog 