Photography Workshop Student Testimonials

Robin has every characteristic that a mentor should have. They need to know what they’re talking about, they need to understand what you’re trying to achieve, and they should really care about helping. Robin has all three of these characteristics. For me, it was trying to find a sense of style, and develop a cohesive set of images. Before Robin, I just had a hodgepodge of images. None really fit together, though taken individually they were better than OK. Robin found within me a style I could call my own and I feel great about what I’ve been able to accomplish thus far. She encourages you to find yourself in image making and she’s honest about your work and her critiques are spot on.

Robin – You are an inspiration and I appreciate our thoughtful and insightful conversations that get to the heart of what makes every day energized and fulfilling, whatever we are pursuing, Your broad view of life and art and purpose make me so happy. You are in the right role to help others find their way, and you have had a positive effect on my faith in the whole process of creating art. I will continue to be fueled by our session in France!

Thank you so much, Robin, for such a beautifully organized workshop and for your thoughtful insights. And to Mathilde for her substantial, successful efforts in helping to make this a first-class experience. Truly a trip of a lifetime with a highly compatible, newly found group of friends.

Anyone that wants to explore their own creativity and ways to liberate it from the little prisons that we humans have a tendency to put it in, will most definitely come away from one of Robin’s workshops very happy. Photography is just the tool, but the unleashing of one’s own personal creative spirit is the true reward in these courses. Thank you Robin, for being who you are, for being the incomparably kind, insightful, and inspirational person and teacher that you are.

Robin’s workshop delivers a unique combination of individual guidance, inspiring principles of how to see and hone one’s vision, exposure to special locations that incorporate elements for all to explore, a happy balance of true professionalism and relaxed camaraderie, not to mention compelling conversations that invite individual perspective. Overall, the takeaway for me is a feeling of deepened awareness, knowledge and renewed delight in picking up the camera to see with fresh eyes. Robin’s talent and experience are naturally effusive. The daily atmosphere is one of discovery and joy!

Thanks for stretching my thinking! I really enjoyed everything about the workshop. I appreciated that you worked with everyone based on their interests and equipment. Even though I was surrounded by professionals, I never felt like the odd man out. I also appreciated that you encouraged our strengths and also pushed (gently) for us to move outside our comfort zones. I’m more interested in photography than ever and beginning to think about how to use it more in my daily life, whether professional or personal, or both. Thank you for an excellent week! And Cortona is really special. I’m already trying to think about how I can get back there.

There is a timeless and ancient energy that surrounds Cortona…..you feel it the moment you arrive in the hilltown.  Robin was able to help me tap into this energy from a creative standpoint and translate it into a unique photographic style. Over the course of the workshop I was able to refine this singular perspective, as if looking beyond the veil of real time, into a complete photographic series.  Robin provided the necessary encouragement and advice that lifted my work from mere “vacation photos” to my first solo exhibition.  I promise you…..this workshop will take you to a whole new level as an artist.  You will walk away with more photographs, more friendships and more memories than you have ever dreamed!  I HIGHLY recommend.

Dearest Robin, Molto grazie per tutti!! What a marvelous week. How it sped by! I will treasure and continue to learn from our time together, for years to come. You took us to the most marvelous places which took on even greater depth and meaning through the personal connections of the people you know and love and are loved by. Thank you for sharing your gifts of insight about intention, photographic prowess and the mystical spiritual reality that weaves through all. I am SO grateful for you! Love Katie

Until you have been on one of her workshops, it is probably impossible to understand the level of personal attention Robin channels to each of her students. Our little group had some pretty unique experiences and many happy “coincidences” that would seem to just easily happen when we arrived somewhere new – little surprises that Robin and her wonderful network of Cortona friends (now my friends!) had set in motion to inspire us. I was bringing a dear friend along who was not a photographer, but also really enjoyed the perfect mix of larger towns, tiny villages, and the in-between forays into the classic Tuscan landscape, on over into areas of Umbria that we never would have found on our own.

Whether at a friend’s farm, a villa, local restaurants and wineries, we were always greeted with a warm, family homecoming like welcome that was so generously rolled out to us. It was the relaxed adventure that I enjoyed the most, and also the great photos I got of a wide variety of Italy. Robin you should blow your own horn more about the unbelievable finds you shared with us! We will be back for more.

I had a wonderful time. I felt that I extended myself in my photography and it helped me to overcome my fear and feeling of incompetence. Robin, you helped me see what was actually in the photograph. Thank you for passing on your knowledge and being inspirational and also lots of fun.

This is much more than just a photographic workshop. Thanks to Robin’s many decades of visiting Cortona, it is more like an insiders’s look at life in a Tuscany hill town, complete with festivals, favorite restaurants, art galleries, open air markets and photographic opportunities that the casual visitor would never experience. If you are looking for a varied menu of photographic challenges, thoughtful instruction and critiques, and want a fun-filled 10 days meeting the local people and enjoying good food & wine, then I cannot imagine a better experience. Thank you, Robin – it was great.

Robin opened my eyes and my mind to the immense possibility that exists in photography. Working with her for 10 days in Cortona was challenging, informative, inspirational–when I left I knew that photography was something I had to pursue, she helped me make the life-changing decision to change my major to photography and has continued to help me during every step of this transition.  She translated her own creative thoughts in ways that made sense for me personally, and gave me new ways to observe my individual approach to photography. I am forever grateful for her sensitivity and memorable approaches to invention.

A trip of a lifetime… I got so many amazing shots and made some lifelong friends…. and great food too!… Will never forget it.

My #1 advice when selecting a workshop? Pick one with an instructor whose work you really really admire. Robin’s eye and techniques that she uses for her fine art photography blew me away and she has been a terrific teacher, inspirer, and friend, going above and beyond to make sure that I get it, and we always have a great time too. She never failed to fully answer my many questions, and openly shared all of her secrets and vast knowledge and experience.  My photographic abilities have not only improved, but I have experienced what I would describe as a real “Quantum Leap” in understanding photography as a true art form and the self expression I have been searching for all of my life. Thank you thank you Robin for continuing to be my teacher, and I will come to every workshop that I can in the future!

With Robin’s guidance I’ve created much stronger images that show what a place really FEELS like… so much more than just a snapshot!

Before attending Robin’s Workshop in Cortona, I had the opportunity to attend a number of week long photo workshops in Cities and National Parks. Compared to Robin’s, I found them to be exhausting (16 hour days) and unproductive (after a week – lucky to find 20 photos that I thought were special). Attending Robin’s Workshop in Cortona was an amazing experience – A very relaxed atmosphere with a small group of students. Her knowledge of Cortona/Tuscany and friendships with many of the local people made us feel very comfortable taking photos anywhere. At the end of one week I had over 200 photos that I loved. Almost a year later I’m still working with these photographs (printing, framing and exhibiting), and I am returning for Robin’s workshops again and again.

Robin showed me how a photograph is not just about the subject, and that in a great photograph, there is always a thread to a deeper meaning and mystery, something special that just “sings”! By using her camera bonding techniques and learning to see light and shapes in my compositions, I have a whole new take on what photography can be. I am having my first show this year!

Freedom to explore     Time to contemplate     The transference of energy     The capture of light
To commune with Robin is an open door to our creative spirit.

Robin’s workshop and the location (and food!) were amazing. With most workshops I’ve been lucky to get a few shots that I like. With Robin I had 100’s of amazing images… And I am having a show!

Being with Robin during our time in Cortona was so enlightening. She went way beyond her knowledge of Photography with her stories, rich history and experience in this corner of the world.

Unlike any other workshop I have attended. Far beyond just the technical, Robin worked with me on a personal level to develop my own inner eye and create photographs that I never thought possible.

To be with Robin is a pleasure. We were invited into the inner world of Cortona and have made lifelong friendships. It was an experience of a lifetime.

This workshop was a major “next step up” for me and my photographic journey. I was interested in pursuing a personal series of work, with specific subject matter and while still working within the structure of the small group, Robin was key to making this happen, and now I am having a show from this amazing experience, and a published piece!

I was inspired by my time with Robin to examine my photography in a different ghostly light. I was inspirited to create work based on a whole new photographic principle.

A life changing experience way beyond just a photography workshop and I will never forget all the funny coincidences!… Truly a photographer’s dream with such a nice variety of subject matter from street photography, portraits, architecture, landscapes, and LIGHT, LIGHT, LIGHT!

I signed up for Robin’s workshop because I am a big fan of her work and her unique approach to photography. Since then, I have tried to attend every workshop she has offered! Robin has been an amazing teacher and mentor to me, eager to share all of her techniques, experience and discoveries… and in a way that makes sense to me, with clear directives that I can apply to my own vision for photography. She has also been instrumental in helping me edit, print, display and market my work, and to have my first gallery exhibition.

Since your workshop last year I keep looking for opportunities to attend any you lead. I learned so much at that workshop, it really changed how I take images. Although it was a tough day for me using new and different techniques, it was the most I came out of from any workshop I attended.

Looking forward to the next workshop.

I was feeling a block… a real impasse with my professional photography, but my time spent with you in Cortona was a major wake-up and a much needed breakthru not only in my work but on an emotional and even deeper spiritual level. You are a great listener and very intuitive, and your insights have been most helpful. I feel a new awareness with my sense of sight and visual understanding, almost as if I can see again, even the appreciation of light on everyday objects… the awareness of motion and rhythms of time in an amazing Italian Hilltown… if you learn to take the time to stop and see and listen!