Learn From Hal "Bull" Schmitt On Our 2014 Alaska Adventure

November 17, 2013

Hal "Bull" Schmitt is one of my favorite digital photography instructors - which is one of the reasons why I am looking forward to our Alaska Digital Photography Workshop in 2014.

Schmitt reminds us of important things to consider when it comes to our photography:

S - Situational awareness – be aware of everything that is going on around you.
C - Create a checklist. (Check out Hal's checklist for you.)
H - The Histogram is your camera's built-in light meter. Use it. Always.
M - Master the Manual mode. It is the best way to learn about exposure.
I - Import into Lightroom carefully. Always know where you photos "live."
T - A good tripod is one of your best photo investments.
T - Learn technology, but don't let it get in your way of having fun. If you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong.

The idea of compiling photo concepts from the letters in Hal's last name was generate by Peary Spagth, one of my Iceland photo workshop participants. Peary put together the following piece on my Iceland workshop. As Perry says . . .

Rick reminds us of......

Being Aware of the Quality of the Light - The "AQ" of Light.

When we are about to photograph a scene or a subject, we remember to slip our favorite CD into our mind's CD player.

Our favorite CD, of course, is "CD-RICK".

"CD" reminds us of the two most important elements of light:
CONTRAST and DIRECTION

And "RICK" reminds us of the other important elements of light:
Reflection
Intensity
Color
Kinetics (Movement)

Speaking of light, you can learn more about light, and composition, on my two Kelby Training classes: Light - the main element in every photograph, and Composition - the strongest way of seeing.

• • • • •

If you can not join us in Alaska, all my workshops are listed on my 2014 Workshops page.

This post is made possible by my sponsors. Please visit their web sites.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. When I asked Hal to send me his best photograph of an eagle, he sent me two: the one that opens this post and the one below. Both great shots!

Day 5: Alaska Photo Workshop Week

October 25, 2013

Click images to enlarge.

In preparation for my Alaska Adventure digital photo workshop, listed on my 2014 Workshops page, I designated this week on my blog as Alaska Photo Workshop Week. Each day I posted a few images, taken on my previous adventures, along with some tips.

Today is the last day in my series. Scroll down to see my previous posts.

Hal Schmitt, my friend and lead instructor at Light Photographic Workshops, and I are co-leading this photo adventure. We will help you make and process wonderful images in Lightroom and Photoshop - and have a ton of fun.

Day 3: Go with a great guide/naturalist.

You may be there greatest photographer who ever lived, but if you don't have a good guide/naturalist, you may miss many great photo opportunities, and probably will not maximize your shooting and processing time when visiting a new location. This is why, wherever I go, I always work with the best guide/naturalist/tour operator.

Our guide/naturalist/boat captain on our Alaska Adventure is Captain Dennis Rogers. Dennis knows the waters, and he knows animal behavior. Those skills help his guests make great wildlife and scenery images, from dawn to dusk.

Get a good guide/naturalist and you are on your way to making good photographs.

Hal and I hope to see you in Alaska.

I hope you enjoyed this series.

Explore the light,
Rick

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Day 4: Alaska Photo Workshop Week

October 24, 2013

Click image to enlarge.

In preparation for my Alaska Adventure digital photo workshop, listed on my 2014 Workshops page, I'm designation this week on my blog as Alaska Photo Workshop Week. Each day I will post a few images, taken on my previous Alaska adventures, along with some tips.

Hal Schmitt, my friend and lead instructor at Light Photographic Workshops, and I are co-leading this adventure. We will help you make and process wonderful images in Lightroom and Photoshop - and have a ton of fun.

Day 4: Set Goals

I am big on setting goals, which is something I talk about in my recent interview on Kelby Training. When you set a goal, you'll have a greater chance of making meaningful images.

For example, my goal one morning on a past Alaskan Adventure with Hal was to get a full-frame shot of a bald eagle complete with its reflection in the water. Setting that goal, I only framed my shots in a relatively small, very calm section of the bay in which the boat was anchored. Shooting in one section of the bay reduced the number of variables, mainly differences in light, exposure, rippled/calm water and the background. Once the correct exposure was set, all I had to do was point, focus and shoot . . . in that small area.

While the bald eagles that I were photographing were landing in that section of the bay, many other bald eagles were flying around the boat. There were flying against different backgrounds, in different light and at different distances. Sure, I missed a few shots, but I did achieve my goal.

Of course, you can have image processing goals, such as creating dramatic black-and-white images. All the plug-ins I use to create black-and-white images are listed on my Save on Plug-ins page.

Set goals my friends. It's kinda fun.

I hope to see you here on my blog tomorrow - and Hal and I hope to see you in Alaska.

Explore the light,
Rick

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Day 3: Alaska Photo Workshop Week

October 23, 2013

Click image to enlarge.

Day 3: Get the Eye in Focus

Check out the eyes of these birds in flight. They are sharp, as are the eyes of the bald eagles in my previous posts in this series.

In wildlife photography, if they eyes are not sharp and well lit, I feel as though I've missed the shot. Of course, there are exceptions to that philosophy, but that is my general feeling.

Here's what I do to get the eyes in focus:
• Set my Canon 5D Mark III camera on the AI servo mode, which tracks the subject right up to the moment of exposure.
• As a general rule, set a shutter speed of at least 1/1000th of second. I sometimes shoot at a slightly slower shutter speed to get a bit of motion/blur on the bird's wingtips.
• Stop down two stops from the minimum aperture, which gives me more depth of field than if I were shooting wide open.
• Choose the fastest frame rate.
• Set my focus point on the subject, so that the subject, and not the background is in focus.
• Take lots of shots :-)

I hope to see you here on my blog tomorrow - and Hal and I hope to see you in Alaska.

Explore the light,
Rick

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Day 1: Alaska Photo Workshop Week

October 21, 2013

Click images to enlarge.

Hal Schmitt, my friend and lead instructor at Light Photographic Workshops, and I are co-leading this adventure. We will help you make and process wonderful images - and have a ton of fun.

Day 1: Lens recommendations.

My reco is to take lenses that will help you "tell the whole story." Following are the main lenses I recommend, and why I recommend them. (I pack other lenses, such as a fish-eye and macro, but these are my top recos.)

100-400mm IS zoom - This lens is my go-to lens for photographing bald eagles. The bald eagles often come close to the boat and move fast. This lens allows me to zoom in on the action.

70-200mm f/4 - When the BIF (birds in flight) come very close to the boat, I switch to this lens. The birds sometimes come so close that you can get fill-frame shots at the 200mm setting.

400mm DO - I use this lens when the birds and whales are a bit further away from our boat. I often us a 1.4x teleconverter when shooting with this lens to get me even "closer" to the subjects.

24-105mm IS zoom - I never leave the boat without this lens. It is great for scenery and fun shot. The 24-105mm IS zoom is my main "storytelling" lens - everywhere I go.

17-40mm zoom - For landscapes, this Canon zoom lens can't be beat. Yes, it's slower than the Canon 16-35mm, but in bright light, you do not need the faster speed.

I hope to see you here on my blog tomorrow - and Hal and I hope to see you on the Northern Song (pictured in this post), our boat for the Adventure.

Explore the light,
Rick