Spend A Little Extra Time

Photography, Workshop  Comment
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bosque4
bosque2
Whenever you can, spend a little extra time before and/or after a workshop (or any business trip for that matter). You go to great places. You always want more time. You might want to see a location again. Or you might want to see a nearby location that you didn’t get to. Stimulating as groups can be, sometimes you want to work alone and at your own pace. There are so many reasons to spend a little extra time.
On the way back from my White Sands, New Mexico workshop my wife and I visited the Bosque Del Apache bird sanctuary. Every year this marsh is filled with Sand Hill Cranes, Snow Geese and countless other birds. They fill the sky at dawn. The sound of the waking birds is wonderful.
As you can tell, I’m no Arthur Morris (one of the world’s premiere bird photographers). I hear he was at the Bosque at the same time I was.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.
Find out about my Illuminating Creativity field workshops here.

Photography – My Favorite Form of Exercise

Photography, Workshop  Comment
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walkinginwhitesands1walkinginwhitesands
Photography is my favorite form of exercise. Sometimes you walk a lot. Sometimes you walk in challenging terrain. I love walking in dunes. It’s great exercise. Low impact. Lots of climbing. You lose your breath by the time you reach the top of a dune. But you’re so excited to make the next photograph, you forget about it. By the time you’re finished making the photograph, you’ve got your breath back. There must be another great picture just over the next dune. So you keep walking further. Just when you think you’re finished, you turn around and realize you get to do it all over again on the way back.
Find out about my field workshops here.

Stay tuned for more 2010 workshop dates.

Walk a Mile – Join the 1% Club

Photography, Workshop  Comment
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soloinwhitesands
Want to feel like you have a National Park all to yourself? Join the 1% club. Rangers say less than 1% of visitors walk more than a mile. This can make a big difference when you’re photographing. For instance, when you’re photographing sand dunes, near parking lots and trail heads you’ll see more footprints than wave patterns, but one mile out, you won’t see a single footprint. So if you’re seeking solitude and pristine nature, walk a mile.
Find out about my field workshops here.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.

Take Inventory

Creativity, Creativity - Storytelling, Workshop  Comment
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arabesque19
When you first approach a subject it can be helpful to take an inventory of all of the components available to you.
At White Sands, New Mexico, I made a short list of all the elements available.
It quickly became clear that I was most interested in the sand dunes.
So I listed all the possible components of sand dunes.
Peaks
Valleys
Baselines
Crests
Ripples
Indentations
Slides
Wind blown sand
Hard pack revealed
Hard pack lines
Hoodoos
Shadow shapes
Light shapes
I quickly had a list of all the essential elements I had to work with.
I could search for one image that had them all.
I could gather one of each to tell a story of the composition of the place.
I could focus on just one element and find many meaningful variations.
I could look for images that had combinations of two (or more) interacting with one another.
Or I could look for them all to build an extended photo essay.
At this point, with so many ideas to pursue, it’s hard to get blocked creatively.
By taking notes, I was sensitized to and more conscious of my subject. I quickly gained many insights into how to best approach the subject, where to go, and when to be there. When you take this approach, you make visual search more efficient and focussed, saving time and energy for depth of perception. Being focussed doesn’t mean you can’t also work intuitively at the same time. There are always many surprises along the way if you just stay open to new discoveries.In fact, being focussed may help you realize more quickly what’s truly new and what’s the same old story. It’s easy to get fixated on a few things and miss other essential elements and creative opportunities.
Making notes on site can really pay off. And this is just one kind of note you can make.
Find free Creativity ebooks here.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.

Time the Light

Technique - Exposure, Workshop  Comment
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ArabesqueVII_2003_5
During my White Sands, New Mexico workshop, we’ll be photographing in the same area for the next four days. On our first sunrise shoot, I timed the light and how it affected subjects.
5:45    Color on horizon
6:00    Color in sky
6:15    Color bright on horizon
6:30    Highlights on dunes
6:45    Strong texture    Large areas of shadow
7:00    Less            Less
7:30    Less            Less
8:00    Less            Less
8:30    Dark sides of dune affected by substantial fill light
12:00  No shadow
3:30    Long shadows
4:00    Substantial shadow
4:30    Fifty percent shadow
4:40    Highlights are accents only
4:50    Sun below horizon, definition falls, pink mountains to east
5:00    Color in sky blooms
5:30    Color in sky largely gone
5:45    Dim light in sky
Now I know what the light will do and when. I’ll use this information everyday for the next three days. So will everyone else. Making notes on site can really pay off. And this is just one kind of note you can make.
Find free Creativity ebooks here.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.

FADP Highlight – Print Presentation

Printing, Workshop  Comment
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website_print
Print presentation is the final aspect of fine art printing. Mounting, mats, framing, portfolios, bodies of work, environment, light. All of these things affect the way a work of art is perceived by viewers. They might seem like incidental after thoughts but they’re actually integral components of making artistic statement – and it often provides necessary protection ensuring a work of art endures. The most beautiful prints in the world will become more beautiful with appropriate presentation – or fade away without it.
Check out my series of articles on print presentation in Photoshop User and on my website.
Learn more at Brooks here.
Be the first to hear about the next FADP workshop.
Stay tuned to Insights for the upcoming release of our Fine Art Workflow DVD.
Check out Mac Holbert’s website.
Find out more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

FADP Highlight – Special Guest – Chris Orwig

Workshop, Workshop - Special Guest  Comment
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visualpoetry
Chris Orwig shared many insights in an inspiring lecture during our FADP workshop at Brooks. Chris collects great stories from photographers and shares them in his new book Visual Poetry.
In one story, a man has written a novel and decides it’s no good so he throws it out. As she’s taking out the trash, his wife discovers the manuscript and reads it. She goes to him and says he needs to finish it – it’s good. He does. It becomes a best seller.
Chris thinks we all need ‘trash can buddies’. I agree.
Find out more about Chris Orwig here.
Learn more at Brooks here.
Be the first to hear about the next FADP workshop.
Stay tuned to Insights for the upcoming release of our Fine Art Workflow DVD.
Check out Mac Holbert’s website.
Find out more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

FADP Highlight – Svetlanda Tepavcevic – It's Printmaking Not Just Photography

Printing, Workshop  Comment
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svetlanatwave
Svetlana Tepavcevic makes abstract black and white images of waves that look like ink paintings.
We discussed the importance of scale and presentation agreeing that classic photographic small scale matted approaches reduced the impact of the images. A larger scale with a different presentation format will highlight the more painterly concerns of these images. So will appropriate materials – something matte and fibrous.
The source files aren’t super high resolution, but that’s a non-issue because the treatment of the subject supports substantial upsampling. It’s another case of how the “rules” are only useful guidelines that identify significant considerations and raise important questions but there are always exceptions. They say “Exceptions prove the rule.” And, there’s an art to knowing when to make them.

See more of Svjetlana Tepavcevic’s work here.
Learn more at Brooks here.
Be the first to hear about the next FADP workshop.
Stay tuned to Insights for the upcoming release of our Fine Art Workflow DVD.
Check out Mac Holbert’s website.
Find out more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.
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Fall Foliage Workshop Highlights

Alumni, Images - Photographs, Workshop  Comment
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fallfoliage2009-1
The participants in my recent Maine Fall Foliage workshop discovered many creative solutions that helped them focus on their personal vision. The inspiration and new perspectives they found are ultimately more important than the images they made; these new insights will influence all the images they’ll soon make. They found some very nice images too.
What can you do to find more inspiration for your images?
What new perspectives can you find to enrich your images?

Learn more about my field workshops here.
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