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Marc Keogel / Participant – The Fine Digital Print Expert

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My workshop participants are always interesting. they come from all walks of life and bring a lot of life experience with them. It was a pleasure to have Marc Keogel recently attend The Fine Digital Print Expert.
Marc Koegel was born in Germany and currently lives in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Marc’s both accomplished and versatile; commercial and fine art photographer, educator, writer, and director of the Vancouver Photo Workshops. Marc produces dramatically stark high contrast black and white landscapes, architecture, and nudes, often involving HDR and motion.
Here’s what Mark said about his experience in the workshop.
“I travelled to JP’s studio for several reasons. Considering myself
an advanced technical printer, I was looking for more than just
technique; I was looking for a point of departure, a unique
perspective and creative inspiration. I wanted to experiment making my
own large prints, without worrying about hardware availability and
cost. Last but not least, I also wanted to use the opportunity and
photograph the beautiful and unique maine land and seascape.
I found all of the above, and more, during my week with JP. “Big
enough to do the job, small enough to care”, describes my experience.
Where else will you find all the creative inspiration, technical know-
how, equipment to experiment and complete any task (including the
Epson 11880)? How about fresh home-baked pie, and a wine and cheese
while looking at master prints with Paul Caponigro in attendance?
JP has assembled one of the most competent and enthusiastic teams to
support workshop participants. The moment you walk through the door
and step into his personal gallery and exhibition space, you know you
are in for a fantastic week.
I walked away energized and inspired to photograph new work to add to
my existing series. I discovered how much creativity can be unleashed
just before an image goes to print. And yes, I don’t consider soft-
proofing a chore no more!
Thank you JP for a truly unique workshop experience.”
“This has been the most professional workshop facility I have ever attended!
Find out more about Marc Koegel here.
Tell Marc what you think about his work. Leave a Comment.
Learn more about The Fine Digital Print Expert workshop here.
What’s it take to get ready for The Fine Digital Print Expert?
Find out here in The Fine Digital Print Advanced workshop.

Kevin Ames / Workshop Special Guest

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I love having special guests in my workshops! So, I invite special guests to attend them. Past guests include Vincent Versace, George Jardine, and Kurt Markus to name a few. You never know who’s going to show up! It makes my workshops even more exciting for everyone.
Photographer/author/trainer extraodinaire Kevin Ames participated in my recent The Fine Digital Print Expert workshop.
Kevin presented a great Photoshop session on “Lighting Without Lights” and made some elegant prints during the week as he explored developing a personal project.
Here’s what Kevin had to say about the week …
“My week at the Fine Digital Print II workshop at Caponigro Arts was filled with discovery, camaraderie, good food, conversation, critique, skill building and so much more. I’ve always known that print making (darkroom or digital) is a skill set developed over time. What I learned was it is also another way of seeing. Up until now I’d not connected to seeing from the perspective of the print. I have always envisioned how a scene, portrait or product set up would translate onto film back then or will be recorded into a digital file today for reproduction on press. I hadn’t realized how much more a print can be coaxed to share until now. The tranquil, wooded location in rural Maine is near lakes and the ocean. The solace of the place added to the creativity all of us experienced. Most exciting of all, a whole new body of work opened up for me within a week of finishing the workshop. Kudos of the grandest kind to John Paul and everyone at Caponigro Arts!”
Find out more about Kevin Ames here.
Learn more about the workshop here.

Moose Peterson – Artists On Art

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moose peterson wildlife photographyAcclaimed wildlife photographer Moose Peterson speaks in this in depth conversation.
“Our travels and experiences translates into having one of the largest collection of images of threatened and endangered critters on the planet. While we’re very proud of our own efforts that have made this possible, we’re sadden to think that six species can only be seen in our files. That’s because they are now extinct.”
“Very early on it was obvious we couldn’t go this task alone, of saving our natural world through our photography. We needed to enlist the help of other photographers. While some won’t see it this way, I fight for photographers nearly as much as I fight for the critters. My sharing of what I’ve learned is a desire for other photographers to get out and make a difference sooner, faster and better than I by taking what I’ve learned and moving forward and not having to waste time reinventing the wheel. Finding solutions to problems comes from what my students want to learn as my own desire to improve my photography. In some aspects, they are as much a driving force to my learning as my own needs.”
Read more here …

Welcome!

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Welcome to the official blog of John Paul Caponigro. You’ll find a lot of unique content here in the coming days.
How is my Blog different than my enews Insights? Insights is broadcast periodically (usually monthly). Insights subscribers get access to free resources and special discounts. Insights let’s you know what new content is posted on johnpaulcaponigro.com. Members can get over 100 free downloads. New content is added every month.
My blog will be updated much more frequently – sometimes daily. My blog will have very different kinds of content. You’ll find Events, Product News, New Work, What’s on Press at Caponigro Arts, Artist’s Statements, Artist’s On Art excerpts and follow ups, Interview excerpts, Reading Reflections, Viewing Reflections, Artist Review excerpts, Workshop Highlights, Workshop Participant Profiles, Seminar Highlights, Destinations Highlights, Technique, Creativity, Special Guest Appearances, and much, much more. While my blog will also alert you to some of the useful resources on my website, my enews Insights will be comprehensive. Many of the discounts I’m able to offer you are only available to Insights members.
So sign up for both! They’re free! And, if you like them, tell a friend!
How do you sign up for Insights? Simply go to my website and sign up. It’s free! Click here.
How do you sign up for my blog? Subscribe to the RSS feed. You can use software like Google Reader to track activity on all of the blogs that interest you in one place. Log onto that page and you’ll find lists of posts on all the blogs you add to your customized Google Reader page. Or, you can bookmark this page in your browser and check it periodically.

Be Open to New Opportunities to Learn

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Be Open to New Opportunities to Learn
Receptivity is an essential quality necessary for creative success. There are many kinds of receptivity and many ways to become more receptive. Versatility increases the number of opportunities available to you. Practice makes success more likely.
While you can prepare for success and increase the chances that success will happen, you can’t force a breakthrough. Breakthroughs are often unexpected and come in unexpected forms.
Highly creative people are open to new opportunities. They understand that being open minded means being open to different opportunities to learn.
Don’t pass up opportunities to learn. Be open to new opportunities. And realize, they may come from unexpected sources at unexpected times.

Rule Your Tools, Don't Let Your Tools Rule You

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Rule Your Tools, Don’t Let Your Tools Rule You
“When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Beware of tools driving your process. Relying on the same tools is predictable and can be efficient; but it can also be limiting. Be aware that introducing new tools into your process can be creatively stimulating. The challenge is to know when to rely on the tried and true and when to try something new. To further your growth and still be productive in your chosen areas of concern you need to do both. Major corporations allocate resources to research and development. You should too. Make an action plan to consistently try new things, making sure that you don’t allot so much time to exploration that you become scattered and end up not producing work or producing nothing but novelty. You’ll see benefits from your time spent if you select experiments that have a higher likelihood of success and are aligned with your personal goals. Make a list of possibilities. Rank them. And get started with the highest priority you’ve identified.

Make a Bucket List

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Make a Bucket List
Currently in theaters there’s a movie entitled The Bucket List. A bucket list is a list of all the things you’d like to do before you die. Have you ever made a “bucket list”?
How many people do? Those who do, usually do it far to late. It’s not macabre; it’s actually enjoyable and extremely useful.
How many people actually follow through and do one or more items on the list? There are several things you can do to make the list more useful. 1 – Prioritize it. Find the most important things on the list. Find the things you can accomplish readily and with the least amount of effort. 2 – Make a plan. List the steps necessary to accomplish specific items. (You might do this for all of the items, but just doing it for the most important and easiest will get you started.) 3 – Act on it. 4 – Repeat the process.
How does this apply to creativity? You can make a bucket list with a specific theme – your creative life.
So what’s stopping you? After all, it’s your life. Take an active hand in living it your way.

Passive and Active States Are Equally Important

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Passive and Active States Are Equally Important
The origin of ideas is one of the great mysteries of the mind. Though they can identify many of the processes involved, classic patterns, and mechanisms for triggering them, modern psychology and even the great spiritual traditions cannot fully explain them. It’s said that Mozart and Shakespeare wrote their masterpieces fully formed without editing. Their art was in them already. All they had to do was listen. And write. This was as much a mystery to them as it is to us.
If mystery isn’t present your process isn’t inspired – a living breathing thing. Mystery opens the way for discovery, insight, and breakthroughs.
So, how do you develop what you can’t define? Celebrate it. Cultivating curiosity will help you become ready for discovery.
Attention reveals. Non-judgementally, be aware of your process as it unfolds. You may even want to make note of essential components and processes as you become aware of them. Become aware of and develop your awareness of your creative process. Make a lifelong study of this profound mystery that you are a part of.
“Being” receptive may not seem like “doing” anything but there are times when the most important part of your creative process.

Identify the Core

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Identify the Core

“If you had to eliminate all of your images save one, which one image would you keep?” This is a question I frequently ask my students and myself. It’s not something I recommend you actually do, but answering the question, hard as it is, is always very revealing. Identifying one image that most embodies your vision helps clarify your visual identity. List the strengths of this image. It’s likely these strengths will be present in a majority of your work. These core strengths often provide a foundation you can rely upon and develop further to make your work even stronger. These qualities can also be used to identify your particular passions and concerns. After you identify the image, ask yourself why you chose it. Did you choose an image because it fits other people’s criteria of success? Did you choose an image that has a particular relevance to your personal history? Did you choose an image that evokes a powerful emotion? Did you choose an image that symbolically represents something important to you? Strike up a dialog with your work. You’ll get to know your work and yourself even better.