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Yes, I had to use that line…  sorry!  Here are a couple snaps from our journey today to Siena and the scenic drive back through the country.

In Siena, everyone hangs their laundry on dry sunny days. Today was absolutely gorgeous and there was laundry everywhere!

It is very early in the year for the farmers to cut hay, but this was freshly cut… amazing scenery, but not a lot of color.  I thought it made for a nice black and white.

Gelati today in Siena and a delicious zuppa di farro e fagioli (bean and wheat berry soup), and pici al aglioni (fresh local pasta with garlic tomato sauce) for dinner…  Mmmmm!

Ciao!

Abstracts can be fun because some of the general rules of photography may not apply. When we’re not focused on an obvious subject or story to the photograph, we concentrate more on color, form and texture. Almost anything can be the subject of an abstract- here I chose reflections in water. My original goal was to shoot the scene and it’s mirror image reflection at sunrise, but a slight breeze did not cooperate with that idea. So I decided to focus solely on the rippling reflections and came up with this interesting abstract.

Remember, there may still be a photograph, even when what you had in mind doesn’t work!

Ciao!

Thursday night Joel gave a presentation for the Flagstaff Photography Club.  He talked about what to look for during photography critiques, what makes a photograph great instead of mediocre.

Editing your own work is difficult for most people, even pros.  Joel always offers critique and review as part of our workshops.  Many times a photo can be much better just by moving closer to a subject or if that is not possible, zooming in.  Sometimes a photo can be much improved simply by cropping, after the fact, though it is best to do as much in-camera as possible.  We are often overwhelmed by what our own eyes take in and want to show it all.

Here’s an example of two images I shot in a village in Provence, France.  In the first image, I tried to show too much of the scene.  By using a telephoto lens in the second image I more successfully conveyed the feeling of tightly built houses.  As Joel often says in our workshops, your portfolio is only as good as your weakest image. Happy editing!

Ciao!

We spent the past weekend shooting some great images with our Desert Spring in the Canyons of the East Valley workshop.  We light painted, we shot sunrises and sunset, and all of our participants got some amazing images! Although a little tired by the end, I think we all had a lot of fun.

Here are some images from the weekend.  The one at night was at the end of our light painting excursion- I “light painted” our participants over a long exposure.

Joel and I recently went to a Major League Baseball Spring Training game in Phoenix, part of the Cactus League.  What a great opportunity for photos!  I used my little “point and shoot” and put it on the sports setting (which sets a fast shutter speed).

Because we both love baseball, we figured it didn’t matter what teams we saw play.  So we chose a game based primarily on the size of the stadium.  In a small stadium, not only are the tickets typically cheaper, but it’s a more intimate feel.  You can get close to the players (as you can see) and really feel like you’re part of the game!

We went with some friends and their two young boys. One of the boys had a player throw him a fouled ground ball.  After the game, they were able to get autographs…  that’s just how great Spring Training is!

We have scheduled our summer workshops and they will be a lot of fun!  Some of these workshops were requested by previous attendees, so we hope to hear from you!

Light Painting in Northern Arizona-
based at our Studio in Flagstaff, AZ
June 17-19, 2011
Learn how to paint with light using different subjects and techniques.  $395

Summer at the Grand Canyon- based in Tusayan, AZ
July 29-31, 2011
Join us for a fun 3-day workshop shooting one of the most beautiful national parks in the country!  We have a limited number of hotel rooms reserved so sign up soon!
$495

Creative Black & White, Part I- based at our Studio in Flagstaff, AZ
August 12-14, 2011
Be part of this unique all black & white workshop. Explore the zone system, pre-visualization, and more!  $495
*And stay tuned for Part II coming in September where we’ll learn traditional black & white printing  in conjunction with Hidden Light, LLC.

Ciao!

Here are two more desert images I took on our scouting trip last week.  The first is a close up of a hedgehog cactus and the second is a blackfoot daisy… thinking of spring!

We still have one spot left in our upcoming workshop in the East Valley…

Ciao!

We spent a few days camping in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix scouting our favorite locations for our upcoming workshop and even found some new ones! The weather was beautiful, around 80 most days and upper 40s at night…  perfect!  After getting up for sunrise several days in a row, it was nice to sleep in today. Though I admit, the sunrise was always beautiful!

Here are a couple desert images, the Superstition Mountains at sunrise and a backlit cholla cactus.  We also visited a small “western-style” ghost town for tourists that had a lot of fun-to-shoot old mining equipment and cars.  This image is part of an old rusted car.

Hope to see you in a workshop in the future!  We also have room in our Digital Photo Basics March 19th!  Contact us with questions…

Ciao…

We always scout an area carefully and choose the best locations for photos before we conduct workshops.  Although we have scouted the east valley several times in the past, we are scouting again this week to confirm our favorite spots before our March 25-27 Desert Spring in the Canyons of the East Valley- by the way, we still have 1 spot left!  Here’s a snapshot of Joel amidst the cactus from last year.  I will post some of the area when we return!

Ciao!

We’ve finalized our workshop schedule for Winter and Spring 2011 and we expect to have a lot of fun!

January 22- Digital Photo Basics in Scottsdale

January 28-30- Where are those Photos?  Managing your Digital Life with Lightroom (Flagstaff)

February 12- Digital Photo Basics in Flagstaff

March 19- Digital Photo Basics in Scottsdale

March 25-27- Desert Spring in the Canyons of the East Valley (near Phoenix, AZ)

May 14-21- Villages of Tuscany, Italy

September 17-24- Villages of Provence, France

For more information about any of these workshops, please contact us or click the link above for full descriptions!