Elkhorn Ranch Digital Photography Workshop

From January 22-29, 2012, I will be teaching a digital photography workshop at the Elkhorn Ranch southwest of Tucson, AZ. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the workings of your digital camera, ideas on composition, how to keep track of all those wonderful images, and what to do with them besides residing on your computer's hard drive.

Plus the Elkhorn Ranch is a delightful place to spend a week. Most guests come primarily to ride so the workshop has been designed to accommodate this aspect. As a matter of fact, the horseback rides become part of the photographic experience.

This is a workshop for photographers of all abilities but especially for those new to digital cameras including point and shoots. These so-called simple cameras have amazing capabilities and most pros carry at least one with them to capture those unexpected photogenic opportunities.

I hope to see you at the Elkhorn. If you have any photography questions beforehand please zip me an email at swa@infomagic.net. For ranch questions and to make a reservation, contact office@elkhornranch.com or call (520) 822-1040. By the way, click on the above image for a better view. Thanks.

Another Sky Correction

At the American Cemetery in Normandy, France was this lovely statue. I tried to shoot it so the sun would be in its hand. But as you can see that gave me a backlit image. Here is another approach to correcting a dark foreground with a bright background. In Adobe Lightroom, I increased Recovery to 100% to tame down the sun and sky. Then to open up the foreground, I dragged the Fill Light slider. This however makes the overall image a little washed out. To correct this, use the Black slider. To add "pop" to the image, I also used the Clarity and Vibrance sliders. I thought the sky still needed some work, so I used the digital Neutral Density Filter to darken the blue. What do you think? Better?

Lights and Darks

Another photographic challenge while in Europe was getting a good exposure when shooting dark buildings against bright, washed-out skies. Remember that the human eye can see a range of about 11 F-stops whereas the camera sensor can only "see" about 5. This presents a dilemma when attempting to capture a scene with very bright highlights and dark areas. A general rule of thumb is to expose for the highlights and let the darks go darker, just like in the film days.

There are a couple of tools that can improve photographing these situations. One is to use a graduated neutral density filter. This is a rectangular piece of glass that is dark at one end and gradually becomes clear at the other end. The filter is held in front of the camera lens with the dark end covering the bright part of the scene. This may help reduce the range of brightness and allow the camera to record all parts of the scene better.

A second option is using digital neutral density filters, such as found in Adobe Lightroom and some other photo editing software. The image is brought into the program and the digital filter placed over it and sliders are used to brighten or darken areas as needed. Keep in mind though that if there are overexposed areas in the original capture, there is probably no data for the software to work with. Always check your histogram and "blinkies" in the field to make sure that no important elements in your image are totally blown out.

A third option is to use High Dynamic Range software. HDR allows you to combine several images, each taken with different exposure settings, and combine them into one perfect picture. A few cameras, such as the Canon G12, have this feature built in. You push the shutter button, the camera takes 3 exposures in rapid succession and automatically combines them in the camera. This feature is still rudimentary but I believe it will become better and standard in future camera models. Probably not too far down the road, these new technologies will equal the seeing ability of the human eye and worrying about the range of light in an image will become less of an issue.

In the top image, the sky was very bright, but I was able to tone it down using a digital neutral density filter. In the second image, again the sky was a little too bright, but I brought out some detail with the filter. I also used the filter tool on the foreground flowers and then vignetted the corners to bring the viewer's eye more to the center.

Removing the Present

I am back home in Flagstaff after visiting 15 countries over the last six weeks aboard the National Geographic Explorer. One photography challenge was capturing interesting images of historic features while excluding contemporary objects. One example was this replica of the type of sailing vessels used by the Hanseatic League during the Middle Ages. Unfortunately it was moored in the industrial part of the Lubeck, Germany harbor with cranes and other modern machinery near and behind it.

I made the image and then in Adobe Lightroom cropped out what I could and vignetted the corners to further hide unwanted features. You can also see that I changed it from color to sepia to give the image a vintage look. I may go back and do additional work on this image such as cloning out the building and crane that are still visible.

Baltic Sea

I am currently on the National Geographic Explorer sailing through the Baltic Sea with visits to many of the Hanseatic cities established during the Middle Ages. One of the main highlights occurs in Gdansk, when Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Poland, Lech Walesa comes on board to speak to our group.

My role on board is to help guests with their digital cameras so that they can take home better vacation images. It can be quite a challenge considering all the different models of cameras and varying photographic abilities. But it is fun.

Flagstaff Photography Center Show

Hope to see you at the exhibit, which runs until September 24th. The Flagstaff Photography Center, located on Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff, is open Wednesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 pm and by appointment. Call 928-774-2544 or visit their website: www.flagstaffphotographycenter.com for more information.

The End is Near

With help from some Bluffoons (or is it Bluffites), I finally have the major adobe clay coat on the inside walls of the strawbale shed. Ann spent her time being very creative on the exterior walls, including "painting" on a beautiful lime-clay slip and greatly improving the outside niche complete with a heart-shaped rock. The loft is ready for guests and is accessed by a ladder I built using directions off Youtube. The ladder's slope is such that a person can carry something in each hand (e.g. beers) without using a hand rail. Sweet!

Adobe Dreams

We were back in Bluff in July and did some more work on the strawbale shed. We also got up on Cedar Mesa to have a walk-about and look at some centuries-old clay work. A couple of wonderful rainstorms managed to blow through and one produced a great rainbow. Another trip in August and most of the adobe clay work should be done. Ann is having fun (at least, I hope that it is fun) trying some different clay and lime slips on the outside walls.

La Plata Mountains

Ann & I recently enjoyed some day-hiking along the Colorado trail in the La Plata Mountains of southwestern Colorado. The wildflowers were amazing and having a camera (Canon G-12) with an articulated LCD screen made picture taking very easy. No groveling in the dirt to get those low down shots.

San Juan River

We were back on the San Juan River on Memorial Day with friends from Flagstaff and Bluff and new friends from Montana and Washington. We lucked out in that the terrible winds that have been raking the Southwest calmed for a week plus the river flow increased. The daily floats were easy, putting us in camp early to explore, nap, or read. We did not even scout Government Rapid, which was a piece of cake at around 3,000 cfs.

North to Alaska

In late April, I boarded the National Geographic Sea Lion in Seattle for a voyage north to Southeast Alaska. I was the Lindblad photo instructor for a series of three trips. National Geographic photographers Kim Heacox and Ira Block joined me for portions of these.

On the way up, we stopped at Alert Bay, a native village in British Columbia. The locals treated us to traditional dances and a snack of smoked salmon and fry bread.

Although April is considered quite early to visit these northern waters, we were awarded with mostly sunny weather and great animal sightings, including being surrounded by orcas in Icy Strait along with fantastic views of the snowy Fairweather Range.

The spring melt was just beginning when we entered Tracy Arm-Ford's Terror Wilderness and dozens of waterfalls plunged down the granite cliffs...spectacular. It was great getting back to Alaska, where I had done one of my first Lindblad Expeditions back in 1981.

Seeing the Invisible

I always get a thrill out of discovering rock art. Sometimes the pictographs and petroglyphs are quite clear and easy to see and photograph. However, more often than not, the images are faded and difficult to decipher. I recently became aware of some software programs that help to enhance photos of rock art.

One program is called DStretch, which can be found by doing a search on the Internet. But first, you will need to download another program called ImageJ. DStretch is a plugin for ImageJ. I am still learning how best to use these programs; but in the meantime, here is an example. Check these programs out, have fun, and send me some of your results at swa@infomagic.net. Thanks.

Near Bluff

Last week, Ann & I backpacked into the lower end of one of the many canyons sliced into the western edge of Cedar Mesa. As many of you know, this entire region is littered with the ruins and relics of the Anasazi. We witnessed some very well-preserved cliff houses and pictographs that looked remarkably bright and fresh, especially some hand prints. Last year was an exceptionally "good" year for tumbleweed, which gave the dog some difficulty. Does someone make sticker proof booties for Labs? On the drive to the trailhead, we found a wonderful "log" of petrified wood eroding out of the Chinle clays. Just another great hike in the Bluff area.

Kate's Paintings

Our daughter Kate has been spending the winter in Arroyo Hondo, not far from Taos, working as the personal assistant to renowned painter Alyce Frank. One of the benefits of this arrangement has been Kate's opportunity to learn how to paint. Alyce Frank's style is called Magical Realism, in which she makes use of brilliant oil paints to imaginatively render landscapes of the American Southwest and occasionally portraits.

Above are two of Kate's first works. The portrait is of Alyce. The landscape is near Arroyo Hondo. I am very impressed (even if I am the Dad). I am looking forward to more beautiful art from Kate's brush.

Egypt

What amazing things are happening in Egypt. In May, 2009, I was privileged to be on a Lindblad Expeditions trip that included the Suez Canal, Cairo, and Alexandria. We boarded the National Geographic Endeavour at the south end of the Suez Canal and joined a parade of ships steaming north. Part way through the canal, the ship was stopped and the captain informed that an "extra fee" was required to proceed. We had already paid a hefty sum to traverse the canal. Luckily on board was a retired American ambassador, who called a friend in Washington, D.C., who then called someone in Cairo, and soon we were on our way.

In Alexandria, a similar incident occurred when we told that the ship could not leave the harbor. But more phone calls were made and off we went.

While touring the cities, it was a little disconcerting to have armed guards on the buses and armed vehicles in front and behind us. But one of the highlights for me was a visit to the New Library of Alexandria built atop the site of the legendary Ancient Library, which was destroyed in 642 AD during the Muslim Conquest. The new library, opened in 2002, is a futuristic 11-story structure designed by Snohetta, an international group of architects based in Norway. We witnessed a machine that could digitize a book in a few minutes and visited a reading room where up to 2000 people could be seated. The room was bustling with students doing homework (and probably checking their Facebook pages) at dozens of computer terminals.

Near the end of our visit to Alexandria, Massimo Bassano, the National Geographic photographer traveling with us, asked the local guides if the more "serious" photographers could walk the last mile or so back to the harbor. The guides did not like this idea but Massimo persisted; and finally, about 10 of us with our big, expensive cameras dangling around our necks were let off.

Massimo immediately headed up an alley teeming with people. We were obliged to follow. Stern faces stared at us. One man wagged his finger and shouted, "No photos!" But then someone asked me, "Canadian?" I timidly replied, "No, American." Suddenly the locals began to shout, "Obama! Obama!" Smiles spread across those dark faces and hands were thrust out with thumbs up. What a relief! Everybody wanted their pictures taken and soon a parade of men, women and children were following us.

And now it's goodbye to Mubarak. Other dictators? Beware. Exciting, remarkable times.

Elkhorn Ranch 2011 Photo Workshop

This year's photo workshop at the Elkhorn Ranch was the best yet...many participants, photogenic cowboys and cowgirls, and thundering herds. Remember that these workshops are not just for experienced photographers with expensive equipment. We teach digital newbies how to get the best out of their point and shoot cameras, which are amazing. Next year's workshop will be January 22-29. Come with your camera ready to aim and create outstanding images. Check out the Elkhorn website: www.elkhornranch.com.