Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Early Bird Price Extended to January 14th for Introduction to The Photo Essay with David Wells!

© David Wells
If you missed out on the Early Bird pricing for David Wells' Introduction to The Photo Essay workshop February 28-March 4, we're giving you a second chance! We've extended our Early Bird pricing to January 14th. This is an incredible opportunity to work with one of the most respected photographers in photo journalism.

David will define and guide you through the necessary steps to creating a powerful visual narrative.You'll then be set loose on your own assignment with David by your side to provide valuable input as you go.

Join a master of the photo-essay for a one-week exploration of the simultaneously disciplined strategy and magical process that turns a bunch of simple pictures into a powerful photo-essay.

Take a look at David's current project "Foreclosed Dreams" 
and visit TheWellsPoint.com to learn more about David and his incredible adventures!

We love to have David here and are so excited to be offering this course Register Today!


Fiat Lux!

Glaciers Up Close

Still 1/2 mile from the glacier face!

I was putting together a new PDF for our upcoming Alaska cruises and came across this image.  The staff had never seen it and thought it was pretty cool.

I took the shot from a small zodiac-like boat as I headed to shore for some different vantage points.  The shot below is a quick pano I took from the bluffs overlooking this glacier and fjord.  I am sometimes prone to hyperbole but this experience was life changing.

The yacht isn't even in the image.

It seems as the boat is right next to the glacier in the background but is, in fact, about 1/2 mile away.  The face of the glacier is over 500', just an unbelievable scale up there.  As you might expect it is not at all safe to get any closer to the face.  There are huge calving events and also ice launching up from the depths as well.  We normally only think about the glacier calving above the water but it also splits below the water line.  When the submerged ice breaks free it shoots to the surface and sometimes launches airborne.

Fiat Lux!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy New Year!


© Hal Schmitt
 We're just three days into the New Year and already our 2011 January and February workshops are filling up!

We've got some great beginning courses scheduled for anyone with a new camera. We're also bringing back two of our most popular workshops Coastal Discoveries and The Best of Light! These courses are designed to get you out shooting all day on the beautiful Central Coast.

This weekend is Sea Pines Golf Resort's 3rd Annual Snow Day. The Crew from Light Workshops will be there taking some fun family portraits and enjoying the festivities. The fun goes from 3-8p, bring the whole family and get a great picture to take home!

If you want to stay up-to-date on all the great events happening at Light this year sign-up to receive our monthly newsletter. Get free tips from Director Hal Schmitt, special offers, and all the updates on the events happening at the Second Annual California Photo Festival October 12-16, 2011!
Check out lats week'snewsletter "A New Year of Photographic Adventure is Here!"


Fiat Lux!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Guest Blogging on Rick Sammon's Site

Doing a little guest blogger duty over at Rick Sammon's blog.  Check out the link below.

Rick Sammon's Blog

Fiat Lux!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A Foggy Moon Eclipse

Last night my 3-yr old daughter and I were able to get a few snaps and a few videos of the eclipse. Though it was a light foggy night I was able to get a couple interesting shots of the moon getting covered up.
Reagan tried to get a few with her little Xsi and 85mm but she was not pleased with her results.


I set up the Canon 7D with a 100-400mm on an Induro CT-313 tripod and the BH-55 from Really Right Stuff with a Canon Cable Release (easy for a 3-yr old to handle as well). So actually, I guess Reagan took the majority of the photos!


Most everything was taken as stills during the video recording. Once I get the video put together I'll try to get something up so you can see the fog blowing by the moon. It was pretty spectacular to watch.
For this collage I opened several images from Lightroom as layers. I doubled the length of the canvas size and created a black background.  I masked the moons so that I could minimize the black area around them  (making it easier to grab them with the "auto select" tool option on my move tool as well as making the document size a bit smaller). That way when I click on each moon it automatically selects the moon I want. I then put each moon into a "lightening" blend mode...I chose Linear Dodge just to see how it looked and stuck with it. I'm sure there are others that would work just as well.
I then used guides to line up each of the moons so that they are centered on the document as well as in line with each other. I cropped any excess canvas off and Voila! A beautiful moon pano ready for Christmas!


Keep shooting! Even when you think it's too cloudy!
-Victoria

Monday, December 20, 2010

A Festive Meet Up with Light Workshops


© 2010 Becky Sloat

This weekend we had a fun and festive Meet Up with our members here at Light Workshops. Our original plan had been a sunset shoot out at MontaƱa De Oro, but the weather kept us indoors. We made the best of it with a few different macro setups, yummy snacks and egg nog!

We brought out the Canon 100, 180 and 65mm macro lenses and captured some fun images of a lovely poinsettia, household spices, and our school Christmas Tree. While normally you might not think to take pictures of cinnamon and sugar or the ornaments of a Christmas Tree, but with a macro lens these subjects become much more interesting and beautiful.
 We also introduced a new assistant to our members Saturday. Miss Reagan Schmitt was at the school giving advice to those who needed help with proper exposure and focal length for their subjects.

This was our last Meet Up of 2010 but we'll have many more in the new year. If you would like to join our Meet Up group visit the Light Workshop's MeetUp.com Page. If you're already a Light Workshops member and have any ideas for future Meet Ups, don't hesitate to share them. Also visit LightWorkshops.com for our most current list of photography workshops.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

and...

Fiat Lux!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

David Wells is returning in 2011!

We're very excited have David Wells returning to Light Workshops in 2011!
©2010 David Wells

David is a free-lance photographer, based in Providence, Rhode Island. He specializes in intercultural communications and the use of light and shadow to enhance visual narratives.

His photo-essays have been funded by fellowships from Nikon/National Press Photographers Association, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation's Program of Research and Writing on International Peace and Cooperation, the Alicia Patterson Foundation and the Fulbright Foundation.

David will be bringing his expertise in Photo Journalism to Light Workshops with his "Introduction to the Photo Essay" course February 28-March 4, 2011.  During the week you will be following an assignment from start to finish and get incredible input and review as you go! You'll learn what makes a good story and how to create a visual narrative with your photographs.

You can register now for this incredible experience!

To learn more about David and his work visit
http://davidhwells.com/index.html
http://thewellspoint.com/about/