Learn With Us

“It’s alllliiiivvveeee!!”

Well, the New Hampshire workshop page is ‘live’, anyway. And much less spooky than Frankenstein. ::-)

In fact, of all of the ways we hope you describe our workshops…spooky isn’t one of the words we hope you choose. Lol We are shooting (heh…camera joke) for fun, informative, super-awesome-rad and since we can’t predict the weather this far out…sunny.

Now, we do have an early bird special going on for those of you who already know you want to make a trek to the White Mountains of New Hampshire this fall. You know…beautiful mountainous views….New England fall foliage…great hikes…waterfalls…

 

What I’m saying is, the White Mountains in autumn are incredible. You should plan to be there the weekend of September 26. And while you’re there, you should attend our workshop. 🙂

 

Get more information about it here, or shoot us an email at seespotsphoto@yahoo.com

 

Waterfall Photography Classes

The Rush :: PA

From a quiet tinkling of a stream through the forest, to the roar of a Niagara caliber drop, I just love waterfalls.  Maybe it’s because it is what I grew up with?  Maybe it’s because they’re so damn pretty?  Maybe it’s the challenge?

Probably all three.

Waterfalls are all different, with variable lighting conditions, air saturation, surrounding landscape, water speed and footing.  Really, I’ve found that each one needs to be treated as an individual to produce a photo that will capture the best parts of its personality (so to speak).  I’m grateful to live in an area that affords me so much practice with this type of landscape.  It’s turned into a cornerstone for my portfolio, and this year, I’m happy to announce, I will be offering waterfall photography lessons!  You can contact me at seespotsphoto@yahoo.com for more information, or sign up for our newsletter here.

I offer private lessons for those of you looking for a one-on-one intro to photography, as well as mini-waterfall workshops in the New England area and ….if all goes well with our permit acquisition…a large waterfall workshop this fall (to be announced, co-taught with David Pasillas), when the leaves are turning gold, yellow and red. 🙂

Practice Makes Progress

Last weekend I spent some time reprocessing some older photos for a write-up on the Outbound.  As I looked through my older shots, I kept asking myself, “What the heck were you thinking??”

The shots themselves were solid compositions (in my opinion) but the edits were….well…not.  They were okay, but they didn’t reflect where I am as an artist today.

Art is funny that way, ya know?  Trends change.  The look that was popular a few years ago is most definitely not what we see now.  A few years ago, many of the landscapes you saw were run through HDR software, so they had very even tones across the board.  The highlights and deep shadows were pulled back, and the lack of dynamic light was over-shadowed by the fantastic colors.

The Vortex :: CT

Older version of the same image is significantly different based on both growing my editing skills and current trends.

Now, you’re seeing a trend for extremely dramatic light…lot of deep shadows during the magic hours.  Think Ryan Dyar or Marc Adamus.

Now, these shots are stunning.  But having watched the HDR revolution come and go, I can definitely see it’s a trend.  I have no idea how long it will last, before the next editing style gets its 15 minutes of fame.

Which brings up a good point, I think….  Your edits really can make or break an image.  It’s important to learn to use your camera in the field, but in today’s world, your edits can hold almost as much weight.  If you put together a well composed photo in good light, but the edit doesn’t highlight the strong points of the image, it will get overlooked in favor of an image with the more popular editing trends.

Now, if you make art for you…then you do what looks best to your eye!  But if you make art for a living…then you need to catch the buyers eye or you can’t put food on the table.

For me personally, I strive for a photo with dynamic, molded light.  I don’t often go so far as to create surreal images, but rather, I’ll try to enhance the light as it falls normally. Molded light is…well…my newest trend. 😉

The shot above was taken at Enders Falls in CT.

For more information about the edit and/or classes, contact me at seespotsphoto at yahoo dot com.

Also, if you’re an iPhone/iPad user, check out my newest article on seeing in Black and White in issue 9 of Light and Landscape magazine.

The Pillars

The Pillars :: New Hampshire

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. -Ansel Adams

 

New Hampshire is a such a beautiful state. This fall, we will be taking some students up into the White Mountain area for a one day workshop. If that’s something you’d be interested in, sign up for our newsletter so we can keep you informed. Announcement should be coming in the next month or so. 🙂

If you think a private lesson is more your speed, contact us and we can put together a lesson plan tailored to your needs.

And finally…for those of you on Instagram, we have a new project we have started meant to help people meet other great pphotographers, chat, and grow a sense of community among our awesome supporters and friends. If you’re on IG, please give @i_took_a_photo a follow. If you want your own images shared, tag them #w_my_camera. 🙂

See what we did there? @i_took_a_photo #w_my_camera ….. Heh. Heh.

Hilarious.

Xoxo!

Shannon