This month’s question comes from a potential workshop student who asks:

Basically I have never taken a photographic workshop before - other than the freebie one you gave for Scenic Hudson - and I am not at all certain if I have creative potential or a photographic eye. Nonetheless, believing that one can teach old dogs new tricks - I self-consciously would love to try. At this point I have a Canon 30D, a few decent lenses - as well as an old, seldom used Minolta 201 - SLR. I’ve been interested in photography since high school - and I’m now 61, but never had the time or money to get much involved in it until recently. I enjoy landscape photography and certainly want to improve in my skills.

If you believe the course would be helpful or useful for me - great. And if you think it will be way over my head, please just say so.

Great question and one I’m sure all serious photographers including myself have struggled with at one time or another. As for creative potential, if you’ve read this blog long enough, and know me personally, you will realize this is something I work at continuously, and believe everyone has a unique vision, it’s just a matter of finding and developing it.

We all have our own personal and distinct view of the world and how it affects us visually and emotionally. The challenge is to try and express that through the language of photography. The language is what we all must continue to learn, and that only happens through practice, learning new skills, and expanding out visual vocabulary. If you have the desire and motivation, then yes there is much to learn to help you along your photographic goals in one of my workshops.

Hudson River

I often tell others talent is a product of dedication, perseverance, and hard work, and firmly believe this to be true. What many fail to realize is that there is a talent for dedication and hard work, and that it will accelerate you towards your photographic goals as much as your skills and equipment. Staying focused is easier said than done, and often we lose focus when results don’t meet our expectations. But this is the most critical time to remain focused, and soon mistakes become triggers to new ways of seeing, and ultimately more personal images.

A workshop is one of the best ways to remain focused and accelerate your photographic vocabulary. Thanks to everyone for their questions, and don’t forget to send yours in for next month.

In anticipation of my upcoming exhibit at the Hidden Gallery (covered in the previous post), I was interviewed by The Examiner, a weekly newspaper serving upper Westchester County, NY. They published a very flattering article this past weekend about me and the photographs I’ll have on display, and I’m really pleased with the way it turned out. Of course I loved that the images included with the article were published in color, and I even got a front page photo!

I’ve included the full article here for those who’d like to read it, and a printable pdf is also available on the main website.

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All of the photography workshops being offered for the year have now been added to the schedule page, and they are filling up quickly. Up next is “Digital Photography with Adobe Lightroom” on July 26th, a repeat of the same class I gave back in March that was sold out. Also on the schedule is a classroom workshop for new DSLR owners, two field workshops in the fall, and a printing workshop in December.

I’ll be conducting the classroom portion of these workshops in my new private studio which is now under construction, but on schedule to be completed by the end of the summer. This will help the students get hands-on experience with the latest digital photography gear, and hopefully provide them with valuable experience they can apply to their own personal work. I also believe there is no better way to learn than by doing, so that’s my goal with a small, intimate, working environment catered to each student that attends. All in all a busy year for me, but I love teaching and sharing all I know about photography and its wonderful ability to capture both our emotions and imaginations. This is truly a passion for me, and I hope that comes across positively to everyone who joins me on these workshops.

I’m already thinking ahead to 2009, and have a few multi-day workshops already in the planning stages. Locations include the Hudson Valley, the Adirondacks, and Acadia National Park. Watch the blog for more info!

Had a great time at the free workshop I gave for Scenic Hudson this weekend. It was extremely hot and humid, but there was a good turnout, and I gave a short talk about landscape photography and answered lots of good and interesting questions. I also met many of Scenic Hudson’s employees, as well as president Ned Sullivan, and they are truly dedicated to their mission, as well as being a wonderful group of people. We even enjoyed a movie under the stars…here are some photos…

This Saturday June 7th I will be conducting a free photo workshop for Scenic Hudson at their annual River Champion reception which celebrates their $250+ donors. It will take place from 4-6pm at the Foundry Dock Park in Cold Spring, NY, a beautiful waterfront park where I frequently launch my kayak into the Hudson River. The event will also promote their 2008 Photo Contest, hence the idea for the workshops which should bring out lots of people interested in photography and the Hudson Valley. Joseph Squillante, a local photographer, will also be conducting a workshop that evening.

I’m not sure of the exact format, but I suspect it will be very informal and I’ll have to improvise depending on who shows up and what they want to learn. I’m planning on a short presentation of some of my work, then some Q&A time. After that it’s anyone’s guess, but I’m sure it will be fun. Ray Fusco will also be there leading some Kayak tours, so I’m hoping to get some good images of kayakers on the Hudson during sunset. If you’re local to the area, please come out and support Scenic Hudson and all of the great work they do in the Valley.

I’ll be the guest speaker at the next DRPP meeting tomorrow night, and the topic will be digital workflow. This is one of the biggest problem areas of digital photography, and one that I am regularly asked about from veteran and beginning photographers alike. Though digital photography has allowed us to shoot images at will without concern for developing and other traditional costs, managing and processing all of these images, particularly when shooting RAW, can become a daunting and seemingly endless task for many, including myself.

Based on my own experiences using Photoshop and more recently Lightroom, I’ll demonstrate how I tackle this problem, and make it a necessary but enjoyable part of digital photography. I’ve tried many different approaches and software titles over the years, including Capture One, iView Media Pro, Aperture, and Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, but now my entire RAW workflow is handled by Lightroom and Photoshop. I spend less time at my computer, and more time on the trails…the way it should be!

I had a great time at my first Dutchess Regional Professional Photographers (DRPP) meeting last weekend where I was invited to give a 2 hour seminar to their 50+ members on the basics of Adobe Lighrtroom. Held at the Holiday Inn in Fishkill NY, I was quite surprised and impressed with how well run it was and that there was not only a cocktail hour, but a full course meal with very nice seating as well. This certainly helped me feel more comfortable, and I had good conversation about what else - photography, with 5 other members at my table which I met for the first time.

We then proceeded to a conference room where I already had set up my Epson projector and MacBook Pro, and a very nice 8ft screen. I used Apple’s Keynote to give a short introduction to the basic concepts of Lightroom, how it differs from Photoshop and Bridge, best ways to use them all together in a productive workflow, as well as advantages of RAW files and how Lightroom stores and manages your images.

The second part was basically demonstrating the Lighrtroom UI (user interface), and giving everyone some insight into how I use Lightroom to manage my photographic workflow. I displayed many of my landscape images from my recent trip to Maine, where the recovery slider was put to good use with all of the snow in the scenes. Before I knew it, I was 2 1/2 hours into the seminar, and the fun was over. I received many great questions and positive compliments, and hope to be back again soon. (UPDATE: I’ve been asked to return for another seminar, so I’m considering different topics, but so far “Digital Workflow from Camera to Print” is the likely candidate).

Of course, this seminar only really scratched the surface of Lightroom and post processing in general, but my one-day workshops cover all of the features and their practical use, as well as allowing for more interaction with students and their own photography.