Jul 25, 2012 | WRP Ed Zone
Photoshop World is just over a month out and we can’t wait. There simply is nothing better, funner or down right more energizing then PSW! I’ll be there doing all sorts of fun. The PreCon will be a ton of fun, it was sold out the day it was posted. Be sure that you make it to the Art of Digital presentation where eight of us share nothing but our photographic passion with you. Emails have started to come in asking what I’ll be teaching, here ya go.
Dang, I want to Get Started in Wildlife Photography!
If you read my book, Captured, you probably got disappointed when you read my statement, “If you want to play with the big boys, you gotta have 600mm!” But I started with a 400mm and that was my longest lens for my first 5 years. That focal length taught me all the main lessons I depend upon today to be successful. You have a basic DSLR and a 70-300 or a 100-400. I’m going to share with you all that my 400mm taught me, permitting me to get where I am today. These are all techniques, tricks and tips you can apply to your photography to get you way beyond “started in wildlife photography.”
The Art of Aviation
There is an art of flying metal. These speed machines that defy gravity bend light just as gracefully. But how do you take these gas fueled machines and make them a piece of art? This is basic photography of light, exposure, focal length, moving the viewer’s eye around the image, manipulating it while you tell the story. The subject might be “just” a plane, but the techniques, tricks and final results must make the heart fly. Don’t let the title fool you. There is a lot more to this than just airplanes, we are talking romance!
I’m very grateful to all of your who get up early and join me in class, I have new programs and plan on entertaining you at the very least. I’m really excited to play Santa as I’ll be giving away subscriptions to our BT Journal iPad version during the entire Photoshop World as well. In fact, the entire Peterson Herd will be in Vegas, I can’t wait! But more importantly, I’m there FOR YOU! SO if you see me, stop and introduce yourself, say hello and if you have a question, ask it. Look forward to meeting you all!
Jul 24, 2012 | WRP Ed Zone
I had the honor of being asked to be on Shutter Time with Sid & Mac last week. It was fun to and Sid & Mac got me a talkin. In fact, it’s a L O N G interview, so grab a couple bottle of Merlot and give it a listen. Thanks again Sid & Mac!
Jul 13, 2012 | WRP Ed Zone
(c) Dave Hunter
Dave already came to the Short Lens Wildlife Course with talent, but to say he capitalized on what he learned so quickly is an understatement!
Dear Moose,
Thank you so much for a wonderful workshop. I feel like I learned several things and most importantly it made me look at my photography and my practices and evaluate what I do. So yes, it made me think!
I appreciate your advice on the owl pictures. I have learned several lessons from that photo prior to coming to your workshop and you helped confirm for me other things I had been suspecting. In truth it is the oldest picture in my portfolio, so I do believe my abilities have changed since then. In that spirit I submit to you my newest photograph taken yesterday with my new D800. I listened very carefully to what you said and evaluated what I needed for my photography and decided it was the best fit for what I wanted to do. Considering I’m coming from a D200 I feel it has been quite a leap. I tried very hard while shooting yesterday to keep the things you taught me in the workshop and through your books at the forefront of my shooting and think it greatly helped.
I don’t think the photo is quite in the uncommon realm yet, but I feel like I’m getting there.
Again Thank You.
PS…By the way, no cropping, I zoomed with my feet!
Incredibly well done Dave!
Jul 11, 2012 | WRP Ed Zone
Posted this on my FB & G+ walls yesterday so we only have one opening. The dates are 6-10, Feb 2013. You would arrive on the 6th for our evening get together and plan on leaving after sunset (dark) on the 10th. The price is $1495 which includes the workshop packet, transportation once you at Death Valley and instruction. We’ve not decided on which lodge yet, once signed up you would get more info in those regards.
We are talking about a lot of photography (not a bunch of hiking) and some of the best and least known locations. If we’re really lucky, we’ll have the rains for a great wildflower display and a winter storm blow by for great clouds. We’ll photograph everything from rocks, mud, sand, ghost towns and critters, whatever stops in front of our lenses. We’ll spend time in the digital darkroom answering those kinds of questions and hopefully we’ll get an opportunity for star trails.
Hope you can join us, we look forward to sharing our decades of wanderings with you. To register, call Sharon at 760.924.8632 / 661.204.1506 (9-5) PST. You will need to pay a deposit of 50% to reserve your spot!
Jul 11, 2012 | WRP Ed Zone
I think so and I want to help you find out if you can. Having just adding a new segment to our business, aviation, I have a fresh perspective to the old realm of business. The business of photography, it seems to mystify, frustrate and baffle most. This is especially true for editorial, magazines like you see above. I can understand why, there is a ton of really bad information out there! For a long time, we held a business course in our office but the response died so it stopped. Then with the web getting hot, the “need” seemed great again so we offered a class but it too soon died off. Now in the first half of this year we’ve been pounded with the question, “DO you offer a photography business course?”
We have help we want to offer you! The price will be $695 (the written materials you’ll take home are worth the price alone!) for two days of incredibly intense class time. You will have to come with a 1500 word article and 20 images to illustrate that piece. You will have to come with a list of 10 questions. Understand that the biz starts with the editorial market so we’ll be covering that quite a bit. It will have nothing to do with fine art, weekend craft show market. You will need an open mind and a willing heart because the business of photography is not for the faint of heart. If you really, really, really have a passion for photography and think you want to learn about the business, this is the place for you. The class will be limited to 20 and will be held Nov 17-18, 2012 in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Want to sign up, call 760.924.8632 / 661.204.1506, NOW!
Jul 10, 2012 | WRP Ed Zone
As I see it, when you pay for one of my workshops, you’ve paid to have your questions answered. The problem though is you don’t know (or remember) the question to ask to get the answer you need. So when you comes to our classes in Mammoth, you’re required to bring written questions. Here’s a sampling from the questions I received this weekend at our Short Lens Wildlife Course. It was a great weekend with great folks and we covered a lot of ground.
How many days does it take to get an animal familiar enough to you?
-If only there was such a formula! The best example I can think of are hummingbirds. You might find one that will have nothing to do with you, one that will tease you getting so close and another that will land on your lens, all in the same hour! Habituating wildlife is not a good plan. The best plan that you can apply over and over again is learning Basic Biology. This is something we go over quite a bit in class.
When using a flash on small animal, what is the optimum distance between the animal and off-camera flash?
-Flash is an essential tool in wildlife photography! One of the first basics we learn is the Inverse Square Law in which all flash, no matter size, model of make operates. Once we have a handle on this basic, you have your own answer. This is something we delve into, practice and put into action and solve during the weekend.
Is there any particular advantages to “camo” attire and accessories?
-You’re fashionable, to someone? Critters don’t seem to know the difference between a photographer in camo or out (we’re not talking hunting here). You basic critter could care less so spending hard earned money on this when Basic Biology knowledge that you can gain for free will get you closer, makes the most sense to me.
My equipment is capable of much better focus than I seem to be getting, can you speak to settings and techniques that might lead to better results
-You’ve gotta start with providing your camera a stable platform to operate from. Handholding is an essential tool! Then you have to maximize the settings for your particular camera body and lens to YOUR style of photography. This something we go over, practice and put into practice in class.
Do you recommend a sensor cleaning kit, if so which ones?
-I sure do, that from Copperhill!
I have a 300f4AFS and a TC-20eII, Would you use that combination? Is the TC-20eIII worth the investment?
-The 300f4AFS is a great lens I still use a lot! While it works well with the TC-20eII, the TC-20eIII rocks! The TC-20EIII is one of the finest teleconverters I’ve ever owned! What happens though to your f/stop and effective f/stop when you attach a converter? That is something we go through thoroughly in class because if is such an important tool.
A word on cropping would be appreciated
-That is easy for me, I don’t crop. Doesn’t mean you have to adopt that standard but for my, getting it right, right in the frame is what it means to be a photographer. It’s also how you obtain the highest quality from your file. How to you photograph critters and not have to crop? That’s why you’re here in class.
Interested in fill flash primarily for birds
-this is a primary and great tool for photographing birds, flash! But we’re not using flash for exposure the majority of the time but for color. The exercises we do in class help you find the answer to this question for your photography which might not be the same for myself or other participants. Even better, you’ll leave with the tools to constantly improve on your own settings.
Would love to see a demo of flash feathering
-and that you will! The basics though is real simple, we don’t use the center hot spot of our flash, but just the edges. Understanding of the inverse square law permits you to use this essential technique with confidence.
On your blog you were talking about the no-brainer that was the D800E when it was first announced, yet you seem to have gone with the D800, what changed for you?
-darn good question! If you’re going to have a damn big ass file camera, might as well go all the way! That’s until you have that big ass file camera and you realize you don’t even need that much. While the D800e is a great tool and for its application, rocks, I just don’t experience in my photography that application so I saved the extra pennies and went with the D800.
