Sammon in the Sunshine State

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My Florida Photo Caravan begins with a special shoot: Horses on the Beach.

I have eight Florida events schedule for January 2012. I hope you can join one . . . or two!


St. Augustine
Free Seminar - Exploring the Light. Not part of the Photo Caravan. Not a photo shoot.
January 21 – 4 - 6 PM. Sorry Full!
Hilton Garden Inn
401 A1A Beach Blvd.
St. Augustine, FL
Register by email

Lots of birds to photograph at Merritt Island.
Florida Photo Caravan!
January 21 - 28
One of my favorite hands-on workshops!
St. Augustine, Merritt Island, Delray Beach, South Beach
Click here for info. Full but you can get on the waiting list.

Cool HDR photo opportunities in South Beach.
Ft. Laurderdale
Free Seminar - The Camera Looks Both Ways (People Photography). A cool, two-hour talk.
February 1 - 7:30 to 9:30 PM
1350 East Sunrise Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL


Master HDR on my workshop.
Delray Beach
Digital Delray Days
Hands-on Workshop.
January 30, January 31 and February 2
Colony Hotel
595 East Atlantic Ave
Delray Beach, FL
Click here for info
Orlando
Seminar and Workshop - Two events.
February 4 - 5
See poster at the end of this post.
Click here to register.

Tampa
Free Seminar. Sorry Full!
People photography: Lighting and Photo Philosophies
A cool two-hour talk.
February 6. 
7 to 9 PM. Doors open at 6 PM for book signing.
Hilton Garden Inn
Tampa Northwest/Oldsmar
4052 Tampa Road
Oldsmar, FL 34677 

Email to register.

Need a hotel room at a discount? Use this code - Sammon Seminar -  at the Hilton.


Oldsmar 
Rick's On-location and In-Studio Lighting Hands-on Workshop.
 February 7 and 8
Produced by Dave Cross workshops. Yes! Dave will be there, too!


Vero Beach
February 11
Seminar and Book Signing 10 - 3
Indian River Photo Club
Address:
Kight Center (V-Building ~ On 35th Street On Campus)
     Indian River State College
     3209 Virginia Avenue
     Fort Pierce, FL  34981
Email to register and then just show up!

I hope to see you in the Sunshine State. If not, click here for my other USA workshops.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. For my Florida Photo Caravan and Digital Delray Days, you need Photomatix or HDR Efex Pro. Get a discount here.

Tips for Photographing Running Horses

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Photograph © Rick Sammon
I felt like horsing around today.... so here are some tips on how to photograph running horses.

Try to get a shot with all the hooves off the ground. Set your camera on the fastest frame rate and fire away. Set your shutter speed to at least 1/1000th of a second to freeze the action. And . . . watch the background!

Plan your shot in advance. Work with the rider. This is key.

I took the opening image for this post at the California Photo Festival. We'll be photographing horses running on the beach in 2012, too. Join the fun!


© Rick Sammon. Click here to purchase a print.
Set your camera on the focus tracking mode  - which tracks the focus right up until you press the shutter release button.

Photograph © Rick Sammon
When photographing several horses, try to have some separation between the horses.

Photograph © Rick Sammon
Shoot with a zoom lens for maximum composition flexibility. My two favorite lenses:
- Canon 100-400mm IS
- Canon 70-200mm IS

Speaking of composition, my latest Kelby Training class is on composition.

Photograph © Rick Sammon
Use plug-ins to add an artistic touch to your images. Here I used the Duplex filter in Nik Color Efex Pro. To see all the plug-ins that I use, click here.

Photograph © Rick Sammon
Location, location, location. Light, light, light. 'Nuf said :-)

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. All these photographs were taken on my workshops. Join the photo fun. Yes, we horse around, but we also take our work very seriously.

Sammon Session in Switzerland

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Photograph courtesy Swiss Photo Travel
I have traveled to more than 100 countries in my career - but never to Switzerland. So I can't wait for my workshop and seminar in Lucern this summer!

I am currently planning the event with photographer Tomasz Trzebiatowski of Swiss Photo Travel. Tomasz lives in Switzerland, so I know that he and his fellow club members will put together a well-organized and fun-filled event.

Photograph courtesy Swiss Photo Travel
The main event will be held in picturesque Lucern during the July 14-15 weekend. If enough folks sign up, we'll do a 3 to 4 day workshop before the weekend, too. Yes, we'll shoot the lake! :-)

Photograph courtesy Swiss Photo Travel
Shoot me an email to get on the info-list. Also contact Tomasz.

See you in Switzerland - I hope!

Explore the light,
Rick

Follow Up: Pros, Please Be Kind

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Photograph © Gaurav Mittal

Last week I ran a post: Pros, If you have the chance to be right or kind, be kind. Read the comments on that blog post, some of which are brand new.

The amateur photographer, who took the stunning photograph in this post, was the photographer who got bashed by the pro.

Here is the "amateur's" response to my post.

Harmony. Unit. Commitment. These were the words that resonated with the images I was making at the Bosque del Apache photography workshops with Rick Sammon and Juan Pons.

It was an experience of a lifetime, learning to photograph a variety of magnificent birds. Watching and photographing the majestic Sandhill Cranes gliding and landing in groups just made that message all too clear.

I was lucky to be in the company of some wonderful people and talented photographers, who made the learning process fun and a fulfilling experience. As an amateur photographer, I could only hope to be in the company of such folks and teachers who would guide me to be a better photographer and a better person.

Rick Sammon recently underlined an issue faced by an amateur photographer on his blog, “Be right or kind,” when younger photographers are treated harshly by pros, and I don’t mean constructive criticism because the essence of a true photographer of any skill level is the willingness to take adversity head on, weather it be criticism of their work or photographing in adverse weather conditions.

Growing up, we may all have experienced teachers in our schools that either left a positive impact or a negative impact, I’m sure you could relate to this well. I had teachers in school that scared the heck out of me and then there were those who I absolutely loved. This is the same situation: make it or break it.

The pros have to be responsible, not just in their art but also when it comes to imparting knowledge. I feel that it is one thing to punch someone in the gut to outright hurt him or her - and another to set the photographer on the right path. The amateur in question never got a fair review or least even a criticism, but got told to trash their work. That must have been a hell of a day in the photographer’s life! 

It was a heart-warming experience to see the outpouring of support and comments on Rick’s blog and on Google+. I would particularly like to point out comments coming from an “anonymous” writer as immature and no thoughtful.  On the contrary to claiming that a pro could be tired of constant stream of poor work, I feel it is a pro’s job to go through every photographer that comes to them and give them a constructive critique.

I don’t care what anyone says, but if you can’t do that, then you are not a pro! I can also assure you that the amateur is not a “Wuss”.  To come this far and have passion to learn is a work for a “committed” and not “wuss” photographer!

All that being said, it was a life changing experience for me to be in this workshop or I should really say a journey. We got good “constructive” feedback, which has taken my photography to the next level.  Our group was a dedicated group working together, helping each other and battling the extreme weather elements, each of us committed to be a better photographer.  It is only fitting for me to say that like the cranes our group had a strong sense of harmony, unity and commitment. 

My name is Gaurav Mittal and this is my story.

Create a Painterly Quality Image

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Photograph © Rick Sammon
For what ever reason, I find that I am playing with plug-ins more and more - with the goal of removing some of the reality from the scene, and with the hope of creating a more artist or painterly-quality.

Many of my friends are doing the same thing.

Here I used the Crisp filter in Topaz Clean to soft the image and to subdue the colors.

I added the frame in Photoshop's CS5's Actions.

Click here to see all the plug-ins that I use - and to save a few bucks.

I took this shot with my Canon 7D and Canon 100-400mm IS lens.

Explore the light,
Rick