It took place in the warehouse you see above. The guy in the plaid shirt is Rolando Gomez, leader of the Glamour, Beauty and the Nude workshop that lured me to Troy, NY in May.

I've been interested in photographing the nude for years now, and haven't had much success enlisting friends & acquaintences as models. So what about a more formal approach? I'd go to a workshop on nude photogaphy.

I did a Google search for "nude photography workshop" and this one sounded promising: two days of shooting in a big warehouse, models would be provided, and free coffee & donuts in the morning too. What more could you ask for? It was relatively nearby, the timing was good, and the price seemed reasonable.

I should have known by the name of the website, GarageGlamour, that this would be more Playboy than Edward Weston, more Maxim than Imogen Cunningham. But I didn't let that stop me. The fact that it was open to photographers with all levels of experience fit me just fine. I've taken lots of photos, some pretty good ones, I think, but I have very little training or education in photography.

So I showed up on Saturday morning with my old Nikon 4004. Immediately I realized I was the most amateur of the "amateurs" there. Besides having the oldest and least-expensive camera, I didn't have any of the other tools of the trade that people began pulling out of bulging equipment bags: light meters, tripods, lights. I began to feel inadequate. And to top it off I had the smallest lens in the place. I began to feel that size might indeed matter.

-> Comparing equipment: does size matter?