The blogger conference The Hive has been full of interesting keynotes and speakers but my absolute highlight of the past weekend was the workshop with German stylist Dietlind Wolf. I admire her work, she has a very unique signature in my opinión, and I was very curious to get to know her in person. What I found was a down to earth and very lovely woman eager to share her knowledge and help.
Dietlind is an amazingly creative person who emphasizes on working always with a concept. That is the first step in her work. She says: “No concept, no story! But you have to be very flexible during a shooting too and think out of the box. Stay open minded, end totally focussed.” Nice!
Today she produces her own props such as beautiful ceramics and backdrops from painted canvas and shaped linen fabrics which she finds in vintage shops.
For this styling session, she took different mostly white summery pieces (because summer is what we all need now, right?), bones, shells, stones and lots of other props with a common organic, kind of beach feeling.
And for the base she choose a Morocco theme she made out of plaster.
Dietlind does the whole production on her own, meaning concept, styling, photography, editing (in Capture One) and texting . With other words: she delivers the finished photo story.
Here you can see Dietlind styling, putting together a life vignette for us during the workshop…
shooting…
…and finally explaining how to edit. And this is the finished picture (taken by my camera, not hers which probably would have been a different result):
And to finish, a last thought: “Creativity is. It’s like air. You just have to see and unveil it”.
He aquí va el texto en castellano:
Lo que más me gustó el fin de semana pasado de The Hive, (la conferencia de blogueros de Berlin), fue el taller con Dietlind Wolf. Admiro su trabajo, creo que tiene un estilo muy único y tenía mucha curiosidad de conocerla en persona. Nos encontramos con una persona humilde y encantadora muy dispuesta a compartir sus conocimientos y ayudar.
Dietlind es una persona muy creativa que tiene claro que hay que trabajar con un concepto. Es el punto de inicio de todo proceso de su trabajo. Ella comenta que “si no hay un concepto, no hay nada. Has de ser muy flexible durante la sesión de fotos y no poner demasiados límites. Manten la mente abierta al principio y acaba muy enfocada.” Me gusta.
Su atrezzo lo produce ella hoy en día como son sus cerámicas o visuales que utiliza desde un lienzo pintado o tejidos de lino alterados que encuentra en tiendas vintage. Dietlind se encarga de toda la producción incluyendo el concepto, el estilismo, la fotografía, los retoques (en Capture One) y los textos. Con otras palabras: ella entrega el producto final.
Y para terminar: “La creatividad es. Es como el aire. Sólo la has de ver y desvelarla.” G, x
33 Responses
very nice! Have fun in the conference. I wish I could be there:)
Tijen, the same organization is preparing something in Copenhagen still to come this year. You might want to follow The Hive, so you don’t miss anything :-)
love the objects she picked, so fresh and bright, and the final shot gives a complete different point of view to the whole styling. Thank you for sharing this! I would have loved to come to Berlin, the speakers and the topics sounded so interesting, I cross my fingers for the Copenaghen event this Autumn. xx
Hi! They said it will probably be one day full of workshops and less key notes which I believe is great!Let’s see what they are coming up with.
Cuanta belleza!
Me encanta! Yo no soy nada paciente y me admira la gente que cuida, analiza y no se estresa con la belleza. Un 10!
un abrazo
ene
Oh I would have loved attending Dietlind’s workshop, but I was behind that curtain listening to the amazing Kat and learning everything about video. It was so nice to see you and C again, Gudy! Bisous!
HA…Du warst schneller!!! :))) Wunderschön hast Du den Workshop aufbereitet und fotografiert! Yes – er war auch mein absolutes Highlight! Es war nett, Dich wieder mal zu sehen – sag Bescheid, wenn du noch mal Lust auf einen Kaffee in H hast…Liebste Grüße, Anette
Beautiful! I’m so sorry I missed it, been reading rave reviews of Dietlind’s workshop from everyone. You are lucky to have seen her in action!
You know, she was the reason to sign up for The Hive. There are many other good reasons too, but she was my cherry on top! Weren’t you supposed to come to, Deepa? I thought I have read it somewhere…Hope all is well!
I bought a ticket, but my daughter’s passport didn’t come in time… still waiting for it in fact :(
Fabulous photos. I tried listening to what Deitlind said from the other room but didn’t manage to hear or see anything (so many people!). So I’m extra happy to have read your re-cap!
Jillian, you lucky woman to be there! I look forward to hearing about it, whether on your blog or via email.
Funny, I was just editing my pics from the Dietlind Wolf workshop when I hopped over to read your post with almost the same images, just from a slightly different angle! It’s a fab recap of her workshop, I was so happy to be there, too. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay and came back to better weather in Barcelona!
That looks so inspiring, I’m so sad that I couldn’t make it. I hope to see you soon though, to catch up. Very curious about your book and what you’ve been up to.
Although I didn’t catch all of the workshop, meeting Dietlind was the absolute highlight of my weekend too. What a beautiful, natural and totally inspiring lady. Hope she’ll be back at The Hive next year!
Fab recap, I soooo admire Dietlind’s work. I didn’t get a chance to speak with you in Berlin, although I am a fellow German blogger living in Barcelona!
Falls Du irgendwann mal Zeit und Lust auf einen Kaffee hast, würde ich mich seeehr freuen!
Oh, wow, that’s you! Yes, let’s meet in Barcelona when I am back. Will contact you!
Great! Thanks!
Thank You Gudy this is great recap. I ‘d really like to meet her one day and see her working. You guys were so lucky! Thanks for sharing !
found this link on deborah beau’s fb and it’s sooo amazing inspiring! love the morocco theme clay hands with bird and star… beautiful work!
I would love to see any recaps of Dietland’s workshop. I live too far away too attend (Vancouver, Canada) but love her work. So inspiring in composition and styling. She definitely plays with the food styling conventions and pushes the envelope.
Hi Gudy, I loved the few bits of Dietlind I could see and hear from outside – unfortunately the workshop was way to packed, and us in the back didn’t really get so see much – such a shame as that was (meant to be) the highlight of my visit :) But thanks for the recap – I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you in person, and look forward to much more in the future – online or Cph or Barca,
Take care my friend,
Axx
At a certain point, I missed you. Sorry for that! She will come back next year I have been told though…
And Yes, please, to much more in the future, Anya!
It’s so wonderful to be able to see and read more about this true styling and creative talent. Thank you, Gudy!
reading your lines,/seeing your pics just make me nearly speechless , thank you! it means so much for me and it sets a huge smile in from one ear to the other. i really admire as well the comments, and i am happy to reached out, make it public for the first time, i would have missed this gorgeous time with all of you and the knowledge of how much interest is there, so be ensured, as soon i will continue i let you know.. its also so great having real memory of your faces whenever i see and read a comment :-)
all the best for you,
Liebe Dietlind, there has been much buzz about your workshop already with so much positive feedback on the net. I guess there will be a popular demand of having you back next year:-)
I really appreciated the knowledge you generously shared with us.
Thanks for doing this write up Gudy. I was particularly interested in how this workshop went. Great insight – thanks. xx
Ah, you had a much better position in that crowded room than I did! I didn’t seem to be able to capture any photos without having someone’s legs, feet or face in the back, so I ended up leaving in the middle and going to the food styling session instead.
Thank you for this great recap!
Thx you for this nice review post about the very special styling workshop by Dietlnd Wolf!
Thanks for writing such a useful account of Dietlind’s workshop – I was sorry to miss it – but I’m another who was on the other side of the curtain listening to Katrina’s equally great video presentation.
Great re-cap of this fantastic workshop. Was also my top highlight at the conference. Very much like the photos you’ve taken. You kind of captured the unique creative spirit Dietlind is able to create with her amazing talent which made us even more adore her person and work afterwards. Thank’s for sharing!
Hi Gudy! This is Lauren from The Hive. We didn’t properly meet but I was the girl in the stripy top sitting next to you on the floor! This is a great post!! Feeling so lucky to have been apart of it and having had shared it with you and all the other wonderful bloggers. See you again here, soon! Best, Lauren xx
Hi Lauren, nice to meet you again! I have just discovered your wonderful blog. You take really beautiful pictures. Nice to see you around!