Digital Delray Days - A Great Way to Spend the Day

I am happy to announce the launch of my Digital Delray Days – a series of one-day, fast-paced and fun-filled digital photograph workshops in beautiful Delray Beach, Florida. 

• Dates: January 30, January 31 and February 2, 2012. (These sessions will be held after my Florida Photo Caravan.)

• I'll be giving a free lecture on the evening of  February 1.

• Each session is one day long: 8 AM to Noon and 1 to 5 PM. The same workshop will be given each day. (Hang out after the workshops for happy hour!)

• I'll be your photography and Photoshop instructor.

• The groups are limited to 8 – for up-close and personal shooting and training with me.

• I'll teach HDR, model, street, outdoor, flash, reflector/diffusers, and beach photography. Yes. You will leave the workshop with a very good understanding of your flash.

• In December, I will review your portfolio on line and give you feedback. I'll need a link.

• We'll have a digital darkroom session, so you'll see how to enhance your images. I will offer some tips, tricks and techniques.


• Cost is $149 and includes: Workshop fee and a copy of two of my books: Exploring the Light and Field Guide to Digital Photography.

• All meals, hotel and transportation are on your own.

• We'll be based at the Colony Hotel in Delray.

• Skill level: All... but you must know how to find your pictures on your laptop.

You'll need:
• Your camera, lenses and flash.
• Tripod.
• Laptop with card reader.
• Loaded on your laptop (in addition to Lightroom, Photoshop or Photoshop Elements): Photomatix or HDR Efex Pro. Also: Topaz Adjust. For a discount on Photomatix and HDR Efex Pro, see my Creative Plug-ins page.

To learn about HDR photography, check out my iHDR iPad app.

I hope you can join the photo fun in Delray.

If you have any questions, shoot me an email.

For an application, email Susan Sammon.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. Here is a behind-the-scenes shot taken in the room where I took the opening pictures for this post. Ahhhhh, the wonders of HDR photography!

Have a Heart

Have a heart: If you have the choice to be right or kind, be kind.

And speaking of hearts, here are two of my "heart" shots. I photographed the heart on the sidewalk in Amsterdam, and I photographed the upside down heart in St. Augustine.

I used Topaz Adjust/Spicify on the bicycle shot. I used Nik Color Efex Pro/Photo Stylizer on the pier shot.

For info on the plug-ins I used, click here.

Be kind,
Rick

P.S. If you have a heart shot, please share.

Are Two Light It Apps Better Than One?

Last September, my friend Scott Kelby introduced Light It, a cool digital magazine that's available through iTunes as an iPad app. I'm lovin' it!


Scott's app/digital photo magazine is geared toward serious photographers who want to master their lighting techniques. 


Last year, I launched my Light It! app. I have an iPad and an iPhone version. 


Although I teach advanced techniques on my Master Your Flash workshops, my app is geared more toward the novice who is just getting into lighting - flash, strobe, natural and so on. So, Light It! is a basic lighting app - which is why basic is in the title :-)


So... light it your way!


Explore the light,
Rick

For all my apps, click here.

Around the World with Nik and Rick: 12/16 1 PM Eastern

I hope you can join me on December 16 at 1 PM Eastern for my live/free Webinar: Around the World with Nik and Rick.

In the one-hour webinar, I will show you how I apply some of my favorite Nik Software effects to some of my favorite photographs.

Above: I used the Detail Extractor in Color Efex Pro to create the image from the photograph below.

I'll show you how I use Nik's Silver Efex Pro to create a dramatic black-and-white image.

Above is my Silver Efex Pro image, below is my original image.

I'll touch on Nik's iPad and iPhone app: Snapseed.

I used Snapeed to crate the image above from the image below.

And.... much more - or at least as much as time will allow.

I hope to see you on the Webinar. Sign up today. Space is limited. 

You can save 15% on all Nik plug-ins by using this code - RSAMMON - upon check out from the Nik site.

Explore the light,

Rick

Packin' Up for Shootin' in Bosque

Heading to Bosque del Apache this year for the world-famous "blast off?" If so, you need the right gear to capture the action. Here is what I'm packing for my 2015 and 2016 workshops.

My camera gear and laptop are shown above:

- Macbook Pro

- Canon 5D Mark III

- Canon 7D

- Canon 400mm DO lens

- Canon 100-400mm IS lens

- Canon 70-20mm f/4 lens

- Canon 24-105mm IS lens

- Canon 17-40mm lens

- Canon 1.4x telecoverter

- Tiffen polarizing filter

- Two memory card wallets packed with 16GB and 32GB Lexar cards

- Head-mounted flashlight

- Small flash light

- Wireless mic set to record sound for some videos.

All of that gear fits snugly in my Lowepro Pro Roller Lite AW. The AW stands for all-weather, as the bag has a built-in "raincoat". On site, I transfer my gear to my backpack.

 In my other carry-on bag, my briefcase, I have:

- Charger/power supply for my laptop

- Chargers for my camera batteries

- Two 500GB G-tech portable hard drives

- Two Lexar card readers

- Extra 5D Mark III camera body

- Airplane power adapter.

I'll pack my tripod in my checked luggage, along with plenty of hand warmers.

We all look forward to shooting with our workshop participants next week. It will be great fun! Stay tuned for posts.

Explore the light,

Rick