Photographing. It’s my favorite form of exercise. You walk, climb, squat, bend, reach, stretch and more – much more. You lose track of time and how far you’ve gone. You just keep going. You always want to go farther. It’s exhilarating! At the end of it all, you feel great and you return with something to show for it. I recommend it to everyone.
This image shows a participant at Zabriskie Point during my recent Death Valley workshop.
Seth Resnick and I are organizing a new Arctic (Iceland, Greenland, and Spitsbergen) digital photography workshop/cruise during the end of August or early September 2012. Our itinerary will be similar to this voyage but customized to maximize photographic opportunities. Geothermals, glaciers, fjiords, icebergs, whales, walrus, and polar bear are only a few of the trip’s highlights. Creativity, exposure, workflow, and post-processing are only a few of the topics presented.
Our Antarctica 2011 digital photography workshop sold out fast!
You can be among the first to reserve a space and get your choice of cabins by requesting to be placed on our pre-announce list.
Simply email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
Your contact information will remain confidential.
We’ll alert you with more information as soon as details become firm.
Stay tuned here for more.
One of the most valuable aspects of a workshop is getting feedback on your work. You get it from a respected authority. You also get if from diverse participants. The combination of both is powerful. You’ll see your work more clearly, see it through others eyes, and find new ways of looking at your work.
One helpful approach is to ask a lot of questions.
Polls quickly give consensus on key issues. Which image is most memorable? Which image is strongest? Is it a 3, 4, or 5 star image?
How good is an image? First, identify the best thing about it. Then, to rate it, compare it to other images (your best or a respected artist’s) with same strengths.
Compare images. How do different images work together? Find formal echoes. Find thematic consistencies. Find shared stylistic traits. Sometimes, two images paired together are stronger than either one alone.
Identify outliers. Which image doesn’t fit with the others?
What could be done now to make it better? Crop? Adjust color? Dodge and burn?
What could be done in the future to make similar images better? Reframe? Return at a special time? Introduce a new element?
Read more in my Creativity Lessons here.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.
Here are a few of the keepers participants made during last weekend’s White Sands 2010 workshop. Sunrise and sunset locations were complemented by midday reviews. We’ll do it again in 2011!
“Enter to win a complete South African Photo Safari Experience and thousands of dollars worth of best-of-breed products and services from the biggest names in the photography business!
Led by famed photographer John Paul Caponigro (Sept 26 – Oct 5, 2011), this private photo safari will take you on a wide-ranging exploration of South Africa. The safari will focus on photographing wildlife in the world-famous Sabi Sand Game Reserve and the many landscapes of the Cape Town region (world class vineyards, botanical gardens, and seascapes) by land and by air.
Sponsored by Artsy Coutre, Blurb, Datacolor, Graphic Authority, Lowepro, Nik Software, and Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and organized by renowned tour operator Eyes on Africa, you’ll experience some of Africa’s finest wildlife photography opportunities, great accommodations, and expert guiding. These two locations have been selected to create a private safari geared specifically toward serious wildlife, landscape and scenic photography.”
Plus runners up win fabulous prizes too!
Enter the sweepstakes today!
Only 9 spaces are available in this unique workshop. Register today!
Plus, you can be one of only 5 people to join a special workshop extension to Sossusvlei, Namibia.
Here are a few of the keepers participants made during last weekend’s Santa Fe 2010 workshop. We had great locations – Tent Rocks, Red Rocks, Ghost Ranch, Echo Amphitheater, White Place, Taos Gorge, and Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Sunrise and sunset locations were complemented by midday reviews. We’ll do it again in 2011!
There are only 9 spaces left in our Antarctica 2011 workshop. We expect this workshop to sell out next week so if you want to participate register today.
November 29 – December 10, 2011 we’ll explore the highlights of the Antarctic peninsula – Deception Island, Half Moon Island, Neko Harbor, Paradise Bay, Lamaire Channel, Plenneau Bay (the iceberg graveyard), and more.
The workshop will be lead by world renowned photographers – John Paul Caponigro, Seth Resnick, Andy Biggs, with special guests Eric Meola and Arthur Meyerson, and surprise new guest David Duchemin.
Learn more about this once in a lifetime opportunity here.
My assistant, Charles Adams, spent this years Maine Fall Foliage Workshop photographing with the iPhone. Below he talks about his experience.
“Making images with an iPhone can be a terrific creative exercise. If you regularly shoot with a DSLR, the iPhone can simplify things and offer a new experience. I found this to be the case during this years fall foliage workshop. I left my Canon in the car along with all of the photographic requirements and responsibilities that I usually attach to it. It was a freeing experience. Suddenly the pressure to make the best photographs of my life was no longer there. I was free to play.
Being able to process your images seconds after shooting them is also key to the iPhone experience. The many apps available make it possible to shoot, edit, share, and get feedback before even getting back in the car. In my case, apps had a direct effect on which pictures I chose to make. I knew I was going to apply water color and oil painting filters to my images, so I tried to shoot accordingly. I set out to find good compositions with strong “bones.” “Bones” meaning solid structure that could benefit from the addition of dramatic effects.
The resulting images were fun to create. Changing the tools you use to make your images can offer new insights into your own photography. I strongly recommend allowing yourself to play.”
Visit Charles’ website here.
Find out about my digital photography workshops here.
Here are some of the selected images from this years Maine Fall Foliage Workshop.
Find out about my digital photography workshops here.
