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Monumental
I’m pleased to announce MHT’s next destination – Scotland. Due to commitments in London, we have had to shelve travel plans to China. People often ask why we have no landscapes from the United Kingdom despite having a portfolio of London images. The simple answer is that our preference is to really immerse ourselves in a location rather than rushing around to cover a lot of ground. When we had 2 weeks in the UK enroute to Cuba last year, it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to do justice to London nor the landscapes around the country if we tried to do both. To even get the feel of a new city takes a few days and may involve :
At the end of all this I can start working out what I want to achieve photographically.
After consultation with my fellow Timecatcher team mates based in the UK, Adam Burton and Ian Cameron, we came to the unanimous conclusion that with the timeframe of a few weeks in the UK, Scotland would be the best landscape destination providing a nice combination of mountains and coastal locations. I’m expecting to meet up with Ian so I might be able to do an interview for the blog. In addition to being a fantastic photographer (who still uses medium format and film), he seems a very eloquent guy judging from the emails we’ve exchanged.
I’m also really pleased to announce that three of my images have made the shortlist of the Take a View – Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. Since I have no UK landscapes, these were all in the urban view category. Regardless of whether any of them make it through to the prize winning stage, I’m planning to attend the exhibition at the National Theatre in London which conveniently opens while I’m still over there. Expect a full report.
The final piece of news I have is that this blog will be undergoing a make-over in the next couple of days. Jack Brauer, who built our main website, is going to be integrating the blog so that it shares the same look as www.magichourtravelscapes.com as well as allowing more control over certain features. So the next you hear from us, it will be from our revamped blog. See you on the other side!
Below is a video trailer for a great new book by Alberta wildlife photographer Peter Dettling. I’ll let the trailer tease you with what the book is all about. All I can say is I was lucky enough to see an advanced draft and the photos are incredible for the unique moments they capture (some samples are shown in the video). And the message of the book is controversial. A sure-fire read. Get it when it comes out!
My on-line course entitled The Essentials of Digital Landscape Photography: Field Techniques starts today (Sept 1, 2010). How does an online course work? Every week on Wednesday you get a PDF to download that has the current lesson. Read through the lesson and the assignment that follows. Then sometime during the the week do the photography assignment and post your images to the classroom forum for my critique of your assignment. You can view and comment on other student’s work and as well they can comment on your work. Anytime during the course you can ask questions in the classroom forum and I am there as your ‘guru of answers’ (please don’t make the questions too hard though!!!). In essence you have me as you online mentor for six weeks.
I cover many of the topics that you need to master to capture great shots in the field like equipment essentials for outdoor and nature photography, essential camera settings, understanding and using your histogram, how to pick the right aperture and shutter speed for any scenario, how to see contrast like your camera, how to manipulate light to capture scenes like the human eye sees them ,and all sorts of special techniques like painting with time, infinite depth-of-field, fill flash, light-painting, filtration, diffusion, and selective focus. These are the tried and true techniques I use to make my photographs. If you are interested in signing up simply go here to find out more.
©Darwin Wiggett
Varina took this photograph with a 180mm macro lens earlier this year. Most visitors to Death Valley National Park never notice the beauty in the tiny salt crystals that cover the floor of the salt pan. As a nature photographer, do you slow down and notice the details? We want to see your best detail shot. The theme of our next contest… Details in Nature. This time, we’re offering a free webinar session as a prize. We hope you will enter!
Keep in mind – you do not need a macro lens to capture details. Jay’s shot (below) of ice crystals in Paria Canyon, was taken with a normal mid-range zoom lens. Get creative!
As before, we’re going to keep things pretty simple for this contest. We have made a few changes, so make sure you read the rules carefully.
RULES
That’s it, folks! We hope you’ll decide to submit an image. Feel free to browse the forums and take a look at some of the other submissions – and feel free to exchange comments as well! We’re looking forward to seeing all your great work!
It is with sad news that I report the passing yesterday (August 29, 2010) of one of the great masters and mentors of Canadian photography– Courtney Milne. For those who did not know Courtney, he was a spiritual and artistic photographer with a passion to inspire wonder and impassioned living through photography. He was a great photo educator that helped raise photography to an art of internal expression.
For me, I ate up every book and article that Courtney wrote. I devoured his images with an insatiable appetite. Through his images and words I grew from a technician in photography to an artist — he was a part of my growing life as a photographer. I was lucky enough to be able to thank him directly for his contributions to my life when he came for a visit to my home a few years ago.
Courtney, thank you for all you gave to the world of photography. Your inspirations will be missed but have been passed on to the souls of those whom you touched with your work.
For more information about Courtney’s passing see here. And finally if you want an insight into how Courtney used photography as more than art but to help reveal life’s unfolding mystery, listen to This I Believe.
©Courtney Milne
The most common comment I get from photographers is that they want to participate in a workshop that has a winning combination of class time and field time. Well, we aim to please!
Although technically the harvest moon is in September, we are offering a weekend photo workshop in October (Oct 21-24, 2010) when the moon is in its full glory, and well… we liked the name Harvest Moon (you know, it reminds of us of Neil Young, great music, and iconic landscapes). I think a tour like this, when it is well done, is the best way to improve your photographic skills in one, concentrated weekend. There aren’t many of these kinds of workshops in Alberta with a landscape focus, and especially not many with 3 pro photographers at your beck and call.
So apart from its uniqueness, what else is so special about this workshop? Check out these three reasons below:
.So, if you want to take your photography to the next level and be inspired by great scenery and good company in a fine lodge atmosphere, then this workshop might be for you. For more information and instructions on how to register, check out our detailed PDF But don’t delay! We are only taking registrations until September 15, 2010 and of course the number of registrants is limited.
And finally for a wee taste of some of the stuff we plan to cover see this article by Sam and me on Simple Light Painting Techniques.
©Darwin Wiggett
Hey all, I wanted you to know about Sam’s online course mostly because I think it is one of the best courses on learning to see (and composition and design) I have seen. I know, I know… I am biased. But judging from the feedback that Sam has received from her students my bias is not far from objective. Most photographers spend their time on the technical aspects of the craft and forget the artistic side of photography. If you want to learn to express yourself in new ways, you’ll need to train your eye. I’ll let Sam take over from here. BTW if you need more information about the course contact Samantha at chrysalizz@yahoo.ca. Happy shooting, Darwin.
Being a Photographer Means Training Your Eye by Samantha Chrysanthou
I teach an online course entitled Learning to “Speak” the Language of Visual Expression over at Nature Photographers Network. I have received very positive feedback from the students, but one of the most challenging things for my students to wrap their brains around is being able to distinguish between tonal contrast and colour contrast. I think the reason for this is that we humans respond much more readily to colour, or hue, than we do to shades of lightness and darkness. It is easier for us to distinguish between opposite colours than it is to pick out the gradations in tone in the colours themselves. Here is an excerpt from Lesson 3 of the course:
There are two basic elements of design: tone and colour. Tone is the variance in contrast, or the strength or intensity of a particular shade or colour. On an experiential level, colour needs little definition for humans! However, knowing a little of how colour is perceived is important in the study of photography because colour has a powerful impact on the look of an object. The technical definition of colour is that it is the perception of various hues in the refraction of light waves bouncing off an object. White light hits an object and some light waves are absorbed while others are reflected. Humans perceive colour in the reflected wavelengths. In other words, colour does not exist without the interaction between a viewer, an object, and light.
Tone and colour are probably the most important visual elements of design to think about because, in conjunction with light, they create the secondary elements of visual design: line, shape, texture, pattern and perspective. Tone and colour themselves are highly dependent on the direction and quality of light, so you can see how fundamental a good understanding of light is to a photographer.
It’s all interconnected, folks! If you want to astound your friends with your exquisite compositions, then you need to learn how light creates hue and tone and, secondarily, line, shape, texture and pattern. If you want to learn more, there are a few spots left for the next offering of my course – but hurry! Class starts September 1, 2010!
©Samantha Chrysanthou
©Samantha Chrysanthou
©Samantha Chrysanthou
Swept Away
I’ve had quite a few emails and comments about my photo “Painted Wave” which was featured in the last blog entry “Deconstruction Zone”. Just to put the photo into perspective, here is the grand view of the same location. A couple of years ago I might only have come back from a sunrise shoot with the big wide-angle seascape. These days, I’m always on the lookout for more creative ways of shooting landscapes to increase my yield of ‘keepers’. This is of course in addition to trying to make horizontal and vertical versions of each composition.
Eight new images have been added to the New Zealand gallery this week. In addition to “Painted Wave” and “Swept Away”, these include : a serene intimate autumn scene at Lake Benmore, some spectacular magic hour lighting in “Swept Away” and a 47 minute exposure showing startrails over the Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo.
Note: Aug 28 – This spot has now been filled!
One spot has just opened up on my Fire and Ice Photo Tour to the Alberta Rockies (Banff and Jasper National Parks and the Bighorn Wildlands). This tour has been full for some time now but due to a recent cancellation we now have one spot left.
This is one of my favourite tours for several reasons; the date for this event (Nov. 10-14, 2010), at the beginning of the winter season, was chosen to accommodate the many requests for dramatic dawn and dusk skies and the combination of open water and shoreline ice. The day length is also short so no need to kill ourselves with crazy early risings or late evenings (yippee)! And finally we go to locations less well known and rarely visited by photographers. The tour is all about shooting from dawn to dusk (and even after) – this tour is for photographers who want access to great scenes in the best light! This is not a workshop tour but an intense shooting session with me as your photo guide, so this tour is best suited to semi-advanced and advanced photographers and who just want to harvest great images and maximize their time shooting. Participants need to be comfortable with the basics of photography.
Early November is generally the best time of year for colourful sunrises and sunsets, warm light throughout the day with a low angled sun, clear skies without haze (ideal for nighttime photography and star trails too), mist rising off the water in the mornings and a combination of open water and ice along the shore lines of Abraham Lake. With a little luck, we may also be able to witness the Bighorn sheep rut in the Jasper National Park. Usually, at this time of year, the mountain tops will be covered in snow, whereas the valley bottoms may still be dry or only have a light snow cover. However, temperatures can be significantly below freezing already and there is a possibility of snow squalls.
If you want to experience the Canadian Rockies without crowds but in a great transition season and be guided to secret spots and hot spots, then this tour might well be for you. For more info and to sign up contact Alan at the Aurum Lodge. To see sample photos, see the images below or check out the participant’s photos from 2009. Group size is limited to 6 or 7 participants only.
©Darwin Wiggett
©Darwin Wiggett
©Darwin Wiggett
©Darwin Wiggett
©Darwin Wiggett
This is the boardwalk leading down to Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River. These rapids are infamous for causing all sorts of tragedies during the Yukon Gold rush, the rapids are pretty tame now after the right channel was dynamited out to make it more friendly for paddling. This is a mid-day shot that ended up being a photo stop for us simply because of the dramatic storm clouds. Here I used my little travel camera, the Canon Rebel T2i and my new favorite lens, the Sigma 8-16mm ultra-wide zoom to capture an extreme wide-angle view of the walkway and the river in the distance. For my review of the of the Sigma 8-16mm lens see this blog link
Numerous scientific research have proven this site to be a real feast for the eyes. You may experience the will to quit your day job and start travelling. We cannot be held responsible for such actions. Viewer discretion is advised.
