Florida Photo Caravan: Merritt Island – 6th Shoot

Photograph  by Rick Sammon

Photograph by Rick Sammon

Our photo caravan will be heading out to Delary Beach in an hour or so. More photo fun awaits the workshop students.

Here are two shots from yesterday. For the top photo, I used a shutter speed of 1/800th of a second to free the action. For the bottom photo, I used a shutter speed of 1/40th second to blur the background while panning.

Stay tuned for more pix, from me and from our talented student.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. Speaking of staying tuned, in my downtime, I am working on my HDR app with Dr. Dave Wilson. So . . . stay tuned :-)

Florida Photo Caravan: Merritt Island – 5th Shoot

Photograph Rick Sammon

Today, only the second full day of my Florida Photo Caravan workshop, brought our dynamic workshop group to Merritt Island. No rest for the weary. We hit the ground running, heading off to take scenic and bird pictures. As you can see from this post, reflections were the name of the game.

Photographs by Rick Sammon

Photographs by Rick Sammon

Special thanks to Reinier Manguia for guiding the workshop participants (and me) on our photo quest . . .  and for giving us a knockout presentation after a fantastic seafood dinner. 

Tip: When shooting into the sun, remove all filters to avoid ghost images of the sun in the shot. In Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture, use Vibrance to saturate the colors in an image that are not already saturated.

For the wide-angle shots you see here, I used my Canon 17-40mm lens on my Canon 5D Mark II. For the telephoto shots, I used my Canon 100-400mm IS lens on my Canon 7D.

Stay tuned for more images from the photo caravan. Delray Beach and South Beach to come.

See below. These images just in!

Photograph by Glenn Taylor

Photograph by Glenn Taylor

Photograph by Tom Baker

Photograph by Glenn Taylor

Photograph by Tom Baker

Photograph by Tom Baker

 

Photograph by John Davis

Photograph by Donnette Largay

Photograph by Claudia Cohen

Photograph by Rona Zevinsiding

Photography by Byron West

Photograph by Byron West

Joe Barranco

John Davis

John Trottnow

Photograph by Donnette Largay

Photograph by John Trottnow

Photograph by Byron West

Photograph Diane Darnielle

Byron West

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. Seeing the light - and properly exposing for the light - is one of the keys to a good image. For more on light, see my book:

Be My Guest Monday 1/24/11: Lee Varis

It's "Be My Guest Monday," the day of the week that's turned over to a talented guest blogger for a quick tip - or (as in this week's post) a series of tips, tricks and techniques.

Today's guest: Lee Varis


In this post, Lee talks about Lighten Skin with Channel Blending.

Thank you Lee!

Explore the light,
Rick

Florida Photo Caravan: St. Augustine, 4th Shoot

We're just back from  our sunrise shoot. That's it for beautiful St. Augustine. 

Our next stop is Merritt Island. We are dashing off, but here a few shots from this morning.

Tip: You snooze you lose! Get up early and and catch the light.

And yes! I enhanced the last two images in this post with Topaz Adjust/Spicify.

I hope you can join me on one of my workshops someday. Great fun . . . and great photo opportunities.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. These images just in from some of the workshop participants.

Photograph by Chip Bunnell

Photograph by John Davis

Photograph by Glenn Taylor

Photograph by Glenn Taylor

Photograph by Glenn Taylor

Florida Photo Caravan: St. Augustine, 3rd Shoot

HDR Efex Pro Plus Topaz Adjust. Photography by Rick Sammon

Man o man, what a day in St. Augustine ... from horses running on the beach to the Alligator Farm to Old Town.

In Old Town, we focused on HDR, using Photomatix, HDR Efex Pro and Topaz Adjust on our images. What fun!

HDR Efex Pro. Photograph Rick Sammon

We had a lot of fun making HDR pictures. See below!

Original image - crying for HDR!

HDR Efex Pro to the Rescue! Photograph Rick Sammon

HDR Efex Pro Plus Topaz Adjust. Photograph Rick Sammon

Tomorrow after our sunrise shoot, we are off to Merritt Island. Stay tuned!

Tip: When making HDR images that include people, ask them to hold perfectly still (as we did here).

For discounts on HDR Efex Pro and Photomatix, and info on Topaz Adjust, click here.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. These cool images just in:

Photograph by John Davis

Photograph by Rona Zevin

Florida Photo Caravan: St. Augustine, 2nd Shoot

© Rick Sammon

The Alligator Farm was the site for our second shoot in St. Augustine. Good photo opps of birds . . .

© Rick Sammon

 . . . and gators . . .

© Rick Sammon

. . . and patterns (Topaz Adjust/Spicify used on the right) . . .

Photo by Susan Sammon

 . . .  and of some of our talented photographers, including photo-newbie Erin Masters, who head up the Florida Birding and Photo Fest!

Tip: Expose for the highlights, checking your camera's histogram to make sure you don't have a spike on the right. Also check your camera's overexposure warning.

Stay tuned for photos and tips all week!

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. Click here for info on Topaz Adjust. Save a bundle by ordering a bundle.

Florida Photo Caravan: St. Augustine, 1st Shoot

© Rick Sammon

My Florida Photo Caravan workshop, with stops in St. Augustine, Merritt Island, Delray Beach and South Beach, is off to a great start. The group's first assignment, at 7 AM today, was to photograph horses running on the beach. We all got great shots - thanks in part to a fantastic sunrise. Good job group!

© Rick Sammon

I talked about the importance of seeing the light - looking for shadows and highlights, and getting the best in-camera exposure. Tip: Light illuminates, shadows define.

© Susan Sammon

Speaking of great shots, below is one from Bryon West.

© Bryon West

Stay tuned for daily updates.

For info on all my workshops, click here.

Explore the light,

Rick