Announcing My "Patagonia for Photographers" Adventure

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Patagonia • November 5 to 15, 2011

Travel with me and my good friend (and good photographer/Lightroom instructor) Cesar Rivera to the magical land of snow-capped mountains and cool blue water: Patagonia. 

As you will see, this is one of the best-priced Patagonia photo workshops on the web. It will also be one of the most fun-filled workshops – as Cesar and I both like to have fun with photography.

Located in the southern tip of South America, this specialty tour will take participants to the most coveted photo locations in Patagonia including Los Glaciares National Park, Laguna Torre and Torres Del Paine National Park. The focus will be on taking landscapes, HDRs, panoramas and refining the techniques to capture the rugged, natural beauty of the area.

This photo adventure starts with a local flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, Argentina, where participants will enjoy of welcome dinner and folklore show. The next day, the group is off, by private coach, on a guided excursion to the top photographic destinations in Patagonia. The workshop’s unique itinerary will allows participants to trek in the famed national parks of both Chile and Argentina. 

 
Cesar and I will bring our extensive photography and travel expertise to the workshop. I will be teaching photography, HDR photography and Photoshop. Based on his previous trips to Patagonia, Cesar will bring his knowledge of the best shooting locations, and share his practical tips for working images in Lightroom. Both of us will instruct in the field and in evening processing sessions. 

This workshop promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Be sure to pack your tripod and extra memory cards!

What’s included: Workshop fee, local flights to/from Buenos Aires and Calafate, Argentina, 10 nights hotel, welcome and farewell dinners, breakfast in the field, lunches in the field, local transportation, local guide and park fees.

Not included: International airfare to and from Buenos Aires, airport transfers, dinners in the field, some lunches, arrival taxes/fees in Argentina and Chile (estimated at $230), tips and incidental expenses.

Cost - Compare prices for similar trips. We can offer this great price because we have some special contacts :-)
$ 4,760 per person for double occupancy
$ 5,940 per person for single occupancy

For information, application and reservations contact: susansammon@me.com.

Just for Fun . . . Photoshop Fun, That Is

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If you wanna have some Photoshop fun tonight, try the swirl technique on one of your images. Here is how to do it.

Open an image in Photoshop. Above is my original shot (enhanced with Topaz Adjust/Spicify to make the colors pop).

Go to: Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates > Polar to Rectangular.

Next, go to Image > Rotation > Flip Vertically

Next, go to Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates > Rectangular to Polar.


That's it.

If you want a square image (opening image for this post), make the height and width even in Image Size.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. My original picture was taken at the now-closed Magic Beach Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida.

Four Levels of Learning

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Recently, I read something on the Web that caught my eye. The person was criticizing the work of novice photographers. Well, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, for sure. What's more, what makes a good picture, or any piece of art, is subjective.

Also, when I hear someone needlessly criticizing the work of others, I think about what my mother used to tell me: If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything. (Want a good laugh? Click here to listen to my friend's Trey Ratcliff's dramatic readings of his negative book reviews.)

So, the negative comment got me thinking. Hey! We all had to start somewhere. Right?

When I think about starting out in photography (or any creative effort), I think about the Four Levels of Learning:
   
1.  Unconscious Incompetence.
We don’t know we are not good.

2.  Conscious Incompetence.
We know we need help.

3.  Conscious Competence.
We know we are good.

4.  Unconscious Competence   
The level we all want to reach in the things we care passionately about. We don’t really have to think too much about what we are doing . . . we just do it!

On my workshops, in addition to thinking about a photographer's learning level, I think about something else: the person's feelings . . . and what their photography means to them, that is, how very important photography is in their life.

So here is my question to you: At what level are you at in the learning process? Post your comment here, rather than on twitter and facebook so others can see a a whole.

Talk about what your photography means to you. Share your goals. Talk about your frustrations. Go for it.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. If you need some photo inspiration, check out my friend Dr. Richard Zakia's book:

HDR: Go Wide, Go for Great Depth-of-Field

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Here's an HDR image and tip for today. Enjoy!

Title: The Venetian

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Exposures:  0, +2, -2 EV


Processing: Photomatix 

Tip: Go wide and go for great depth-of-field. That means shooting with wide-angle lenses set at small apertures. This image was taken with my 17-40mm lens set at 17mm – my favorite lens for HDR photograph. My f-stop was f/11. I focused 1/3 into the scene for maximum depth-of-field.

Camera/lens: Canon EOS 5D, Canon 17-40mm lens @ 17mm.

Explore the Light,
Rick

P.S. Like HDR? Ceck out my book:



Quick HDR Tip: Experiment with Creative Color Variations

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Here's a quick HDR tip: Play with colors to create a different feeling of an HDR image.

My standard HDR image (below) was OK, just OK.


To make the image pop, I used the Color Blast filter in Topaz Adjust (opening picture for this post).

For a more subdued feel, I applied a Pastel Filter in Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro (below).

Below is some info on the photo and the HDR process and plug-ins that I used.

Title: San Blas Resort

Location: San Blas Islands, Panama

Exposures:   0, +2, -2 EV



Processing: Nik HDR Efex Pro, Nik Software Color Efex Pro/Pastel filter, Topaz Adjust/Spicify filter.

Gear: Canon 7D, Canon 17-40mm lens, Induro Tripod and Induro ball head. 



For more info (and discounts) on HDR plug-ins and programs, click here.

Yes! I took this picture on my recent Panama photo workshop. Scroll down to see previous post about the workshop.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. Which image do you like best? Standard HDR, pastel or color blast? Also, would you like to see more quick tips like this? Let me know by posting a comment here.