Story by Johnny Bivera
The 2024 season of the DC Stills and Video Shoot Off Workshop that transpired at the nation’s capital last year was a great success. Attendance numbers had come back to near normal for the post pandemic period.
Let’s go back to 2019 at the time of the Covid outbreak. As news that New York City was getting its first signs of Covid, we were just days away from kicking off the stills shoot off program, and the staff and I were in flummox as to what we were going to do. It’s not like things were getting shut down, but hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers were making its way through the scuttlebutt, and each day closer brought more and more restrictions, one to include that if you didn’t have to fly, please don’t. We immediately started calling on folks from out of state that would be flying in to reconsider that possibility, but most had already arrived early and were here. It was a hard day when I had to call Chip Maury to say that he couldn’t come and teach, we couldn’t take the risk of our most precious faculty member to end up on the sick list.
The night before the start of the shoot off, Bob Houlihan and I were on the phone talking this out. Do we cancel and eat the cost, or do we create an alternative? Again, nothing was being shut down, everything was just a cautionary note. So, we decided to call all our local peeps and say please unless you are part of the working staff, monitor and participate the workshop online at home, and that only working staff and out of towners that had flown in be allowed to come in as foot traffic. We cut down the on-scene attendance numbers in half, and the program happened just fine. The crazy part was that the next day after everyone from out of town had made it back home, the official call to shut down the east coast happened. And we went silent for the next three years.
In 2023 we made a last-minute call to hold the still shoot off program in March and video in early September. No matter if we were successful or not, if the program was to continue, we had to get back on the horse. But more like getting on a bike, everyone came back riding high, and while we had the lowest numbers turnout ever, there was enough participation to still influence a great number of many new military photographers, and that alone counts for success.
And all this following last year’s program, where we had a full staff of volunteers and every seat taken, the program that NANP supports from inception was back! And this year we plan to do so again, now mark your calendars for 27-29 March for the stills program and 21-24 August for the video program to happen in Arlington, Va. We look forward to having anyone that can come and be with us, but if not, support us in any way possible. And no, the workshop is not just a competition, it’s a learning environment and networking tool but most importantly, a time for leadership, mentorship and friendship.
2024 DC Shoot Off Photojournalism Workshop Gallery
Photographed by Toby Marquez, who challenged himself by showing everyone the power of capturing moments with one lens, a 50mm f/1.8 while using his feet as the telephoto device.


















DC Shoot Off Video Workshop Gallery
Photographed by Todd Frantom, who used his patience and decisive moment to capture timeless imagery, giving us the feeling as if we were there. Todd always produces great event imagery, but if you haven’t seen his wildlife captures, hit his gallery up for a wonderful viewing experience.


















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