Please Join Me in Portland On 10.17.12


I am preparing a new slide show for my presentation for Pro Photo Supply in Portland, OR on October 17!


I'll be there for you, so please bring your questions!


I'll be sharing a few of my favorite photographs from my Oregon Coast Photo Caravan (pictured above), as well as some very recent photos, like the one below that I shot this week.


Shoot me an email if you are interested in my Oregon Coast Photo Caravan or any of my workshops.

Explore the light,
Rick

Action Shots at the Black Hills Photo Shootout

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It's day two at the Black Hills Photo Shootout. This morning: action photography.

Again, we had great light, a great location and great riders! Thanks Les for setting everything up for the group.

Basically, we had two technical choices: freeze or blur the action. I tried both.


Les and I are doing a private workshop here next year. Shoot me an email to get on the list. I'll show you how to make images like the one below. If you can't wait, check out my post on motocross.


If you like the lighting in these images, I think you'll like my class on Lighting. Same goes for  Composition.

Scroll down for previous posts from the Shootout.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. All my events - workshops and seminars - are listed on my Facebook Events page.

Cowboy Portraits at the Black Hills Photo Shootout

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This morning at the Black Hills Photo Shootout: Cowboy - and cowgirl - portraits.

Les Voorhis took the group to a cool ranch where we encouraged the workshop participants to see the light and to compose carefully. After all, combine a good subject with good composition and a good exposure, and you have the making of good image.

And talk about great subjects, we had the best!

The opening picture for this post is a hand-held Canon 5D Mark III in-camera HDR image. I boosted the ISO to 4000 and still got a clean shot in the dimly-lit barn. That says a lot about the image sensor in the camera.

If you are new to HDR, check out my article, HDR Must Know Info.


We arrived on site early to catch the light, and Les knew exactly where to position the subjects so we had great light. For the shot above, I underexposed the scene a bit for more saturation in the sky. I shot at f/22 to create the starburst effect. Directing the cowboy to interact with the horse helped make the photograph . . . and as those who attend my workshops know, there is a big difference between taking a photo and making a photograph.


In my keynote talk last night, I talked about the importance of seeing the light. The beautiful side-lighting here created a flattering effect on our cowgirl model. I toned my color file with the Paper Toner filter in Nik Color Efex Pro. See all the plug-ins I use, and get a discount, on my Plug-ins page.

Les and I will be doing a workshop here in 2013. Shoot me an email to get on the info list. We hope to see you in the Black Hills, pardner.

Explore the light,
Rick

My First Shoot at the Black Hills Photo Shootout

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I arrived yesterday here in Spearfish, South Dakota for the Black Hills Photo Shootout, where I am the keynote speaker tonight. 

Early this morning, Les Voorhis and Jason Hahan, organizers of the event and two of the talented instructors on the shootout, took me to Spearfish Canyon for quickie photo shoot. Hey, they don't call me the "shoot and scoot" photographer for nothing!

Les and I are doing a waterfalls, HDR and cowboy photography workshop next year. Shoot me an email for info.


What a location. What light. What wonderful photo ops. What nice guys.

My first thought: I need to come back here and spend some time.


Above is a quick "jump out of the car and shoot" shot.


All the images this post are 5D Mark III in-camera HDR images. The shot above is a hand-held HDR that I grabbed on the way to breakfast.

I need to give Les 75 percent of the credit for the first two photos and the photo below, because he invited me to the Shootout, took me to the locations, and loaned me his tripod. Thanks Les!

I hope to post more pictures here from the Shootout. Stay tuned.

Explore the light,
Rick


P.S. Left is the average exposure for the scene and right is the Canon 5D Mark III HDR image. Kinda amazing that technology can do for us! For more on HDR see my iHDR app on my Apps page. I also teach HDR on my photography workshops.