Rick's List: Death Valley Photo Gear

January 14, 2013 in Canon gear, Death Valley, Lowepro gear

I'm planning for my Death Valley Workshop (Feb 22 -24) with pros Randy Van Duinen and Jeff Leimbach, the dudes who run the digital photo workshops. How cool . . . and how hot! We still have a few spots open on the workshop. Hope to see you there.

We will be getting up early and staying out late to catch the light. We'll also have plenty of time or downloading and working/playing in Photoshop/Lightroom - and group slide show.

Fun dinners and happy hours? You bet!

Here's my gear list – Rick's List - for the workshop. You can also use this gear list for most landscape photography.

If you have any questions about the workshops, shoot me an email.

Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 15mm lens (my lens) or Canon 8-15mm lens (getting it soon) - for fun fish-eye shots.
Canon 14mm lens - for an extremely wide view.
Canon 17-40mm lens - my basic landscape lens.
Canon 24-105mm lens - for closer views in landscape photography.
Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens - to isolate elements in a landscape.
Canon battery chargers - so I have power.
Arctic Butterfly - for cleaning my sensor.
Tiffen Polarizing filter - to darken the sky and to whiten clouds.
Lexar 16GB cards - for recording your memories.

Induro CT 214 tripod
Induro BHD1 ball head
MacbookPro loaded with Photoshop, Lightroom and all my plug-ins.
Head-mounted flashlight and hand-held flashlights - for seeing in the dark.
Lexar card reader - for fast downloading.
Lacie 500GB portable hard drive - for storing my images.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. For in-the-field and on-location learning, check out my apps.

The Four Levels of Learning

January 14, 2013

Recently, I read something on the Web that caught my eye. The pro 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.

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 in the Comments section, rather than on twitter and facebook or Google+ or Twitter, so others can see - and learn.

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

Also, I can help you with learning photography. Check out my on-line classes.

Explore the light,
Rick

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My Latest Quick Tips - From Iceland

January 13, 2013

Hey Gang - I don't know if you follow my Rick's Quick Tips on You Tube, but my latest Quick Tips video - shot in Iceland - are on my Google+ page.

Look closely at the above image. It's an HDR shot. The water is so clear that you can see through it!

Iceland is all about Landscape Photography. Here are the lenses I use for my landscape images:
Canon 8-15mm zoom lens
Canon 14mm lens
Canon 17-40mm lens
Canon 24-105mm IS lens
Canon 70-200 f/4 IS lens

I hope you can join me on my 2013 Iceland Adventure. Info on my Workshops page.

Explore the light,
Rick

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The Camera Looks Both Ways

January 12, 2013

The camera looks both ways - in picturing the subject, you are also picturing a part of yourself.

Remember this tip when photographing people. Realize that the mood, energy, feeling and emotion that your project will be reflected in your subject's face and in his or her eyes.

Photographs:
Top left, India. Natural light.
Top right, Panama. Refecltor used to add light to the eye.
Below, Papua New Guinea. Flash used to add light to the eyes.

Speaking of the eyes, most of the time, if they are not well lit and in sharp focus, you've missed the shot. This goes for close-up wildlife photographs, too.

When I photograph people, I always carry a speedlite and a reflector/diffuser kit with me add light to the subject's eyes if necessary.

Note that if you shoot eye-to-eye (at the subject's eye level) the person looking at your photograph will relate more to the subject than if you are shooting downward or upward.

Screen Shot 2013-01-12 at 6.40.20 PM.png

My two favorite outdoor portrait lenses:
Canon 2 4-105mm IS lens
Canon 70-200 f/4 IS lens

My reco for a refelctor/diffuser kit.

Explore the light,
Rick

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