Ethiopia's
Mountain Mammals
(.........)
February 22 - March 7, 2008
Ethiopian wolves, ibex, hamadryas baboons, lammagyer
vultures, and spectacular landscapes. This safari will be devoted
to the exotic wildlife of the incredible highlands of Ethiopia.
Hummingbirds
of SE Arizona - Using our High Speed Flash at our Set-ups
(.........) April 12-17, April 26-May 1, May
3-8, May 8-13 This is one of most popular and photographically
productive US tours!
Participant Limit: Seven
Non-photographic spouses welcome!
Photograph
several species of beautiful hummingbirds at one of the premiere
locations in the US, the Santa Rita Mountains of southeastern
Arizona. No equipment is necessary other than your own camera
and a hotshoe flash to trigger our High Speed Flash setups. Return
with spectacular images of Broad-billed and Magnificent Hummingbirds,
as well as numerous species of song birds attracted to our special
natural light feeders. Bridled titmice, black-headed grosbeaks,
acorn woodpeckers, Mexican jays, and more. Lodging, lunches
and some dinners are included. Fee: $2,195
Hoot Hollow West!
The
Arizona DIGITAL Complete Nature Photo Course- Maximize
Your Photographic Potential with a Digital Camera
-
in Southern Arizona at the Santa Rita
Lodge, Madera Canyon
(........)
April 5-11, April 19-25 - Digital Imagery is revolutionizing
photography. While many of the same concepts taught in the CNPC
apply -- EXPOSURE, composition, proper camera and lens techniques,
and the art of seeing, DIGITAL provides and demands much more.
In this course we'll explain exposure via Histograms and White
Balance, using RAW and other formats, and the information - and
ONLY the information -- a digital nature or landscape photographer
needs to know. Our course will be divided into Class time for
traditional photographic instruction, in-th-field digital photography,
and in-Lab computer time. Students will learn to maximize the
potential of their digital cameras as they learn how to composite
for panoramas, for images of varying exposure, and more. Our Arizona
location is spectacular for subjects, and you'll have an opportunity
to photograph hummingbirds at our High Speed Flash setups, a variety
of birds at our natural light sites, as well as varied wildlife
found in the Canyon and on field trips to the wonderful Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum.
If you are a serious digital photographer
-- be that a novice who wants to start right or a aspiring professional
who wants to polish up the loose ends, the DCNPC is the course.
Plan on doing a photo tour or safari with us? Serious about your
shooting? Do the DCNPC!
Price includes great
food, lodging, computer supplies, and a wonderful portfolio of
photographic subjects.
Each course is Limited to 10 students and with TWO INSTRUCTORS.
Fee: $2,295. NOTE:
This course is immediately followed by our Hummingbird High Speed
Photography Shoots.
PHOTOSHOP I:
INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSHOP - Optimizing the Digital
Darkroom.
(........)
June 21-27, 2009.
Learn
the basic but essential aspects of Photoshop, including the ways
to import images, working with files, and MOST IMPORTANTLY the
tools and techniques you need to know for mastering Photoshop
at a beginner's level, but at a competent level as well. Although
this is a beginner's level course, you will be learning techniques
like Masking and using Layers that are often only discussed in
intermediate-level courses. This PS course is the absolute foundation
for your Photoshop skills. Limit: 10, with
TWO instructors present during all Lab hours. All the courses include FOOD and LODGING
and all materials necessary for the course. Fee:
$1,795 NOTE: these two workshops follow our June and August Digital
D-CNPC courses.
OUR MOST POPULAR COURSE:
The
DIGITAL Complete Nature Photo Course - Maximize
Your Photographic Potential with a Digital Camera
-
(........) May 24-30,
and June 14-20, 2009. - Digital Imagery is revolutionizing
photography. While many of the same concepts taught in the CNPC
apply -- EXPOSURE, composition, proper camera and lens techniques,
and the art of seeing, DIGITAL provides and demands much more.
In this course we'll explain exposure via Histograms and White
Balance, using RAW and other formats, and the information - and
ONLY the information -- a digital nature or landscape photographer
needs to know. Our course will be divided into Class time for
traditional photographic instruction, in-th-field digital photography,
and in-Lab computer time. Students will learn to maximize the
potential of their digital cameras as they learn how to composite
for panoramas, for images of varying exposure, and more. . If
you are a serious digital photographer -- be that a novice who
wants to start right or a aspiring professional who wants to polish
up the loose ends, the DCNPC is the course. Plan on doing a photo
tour or safari with us? Serious about your shooting? Do the DCNPC!
Price includes great food, lodging, computer supplies,
and a wonderful portfolio of photographic subjects. All the courses include FOOD and LODGING and all materials
necessary for the course. Each course is Limited
to 10 students and with TWO INSTRUCTORS. Fee:
$1,695. NOTE: This course is immediately followed by
our Intro to Photoshop - Optimizing the Digital Darkroom.
Reptils
of the World Photo Shoot
(.........) July 14-18, 2009
Photograph more than FIFTY species of reptile and amphibians,
many of these venomous, using our studio lights at subject-level
in our studio. This has always been one of our most popular, and
most unique, photo shoots, and we're offering it again this year
- after an absence of several years!
NEW COURSE! Adobe
Photoshop AND Digital Photography - Taking the NEXT STEP
(........) July
19-25, 2009
This workshop is designed to help you take full advantage of
digital - both in the field with your camera, and in the digital
darkroom on a computer. Knowing what's possible in
the digital darkroom affects how you shoot in the field. The
digital era enables us to go beyond the limitations of cameras
in many ways. For example if there's too much contrast in a situation,
we can shoot several different exposures and combine them to create
an HDR image closer to what our eyes can see - or even better!
Similarly if we need more depth of field than what we can get
using a single shot, we can shoot several images and combine them
into one shot with an impressive range of focus. But there's still
more that's possible on the computer. For example we can use various
techniques to simulate studio lighting after the fact
for nature photography! So if the lighting is less than
ideal on your subject, but you're not sure you'll be able to photograph
the subject in better light another time, take the shot and then
improve the lighting in Photoshop using one of the filters least
used by nature photographers and/or by painting with light.
This course is designed for people who have already taken at least
a basic course in Photoshop (or Lightroom or Aperture) and who
are familiar with the basic operation of their camera. We'll
be spending some time in the field shooting as well as some time
in the lab learning various ways to add impact to your images
and take them to the next level. You'll be amazed at what you
can do that's beyond the basic exposure adjustments you may be
currently making! We're going to have a lot of fun as you
make your images come alive! Everyone always wants their
images to be just a bit better than the next guy's who was photographing
a similar subject ... this course will give you the know-how to
have the edge!
Digital Workflow using Adobe
LIGHTROOM and Photoshop
(
..........) May 21-JUne 6 and September 12-18, 2009
Digital
workflow can be the digital photographer's nightmare, but new
software, like Adobe's LIGHTROOM, is expediting this workflow,
making image management, and photographer's lives, much easier.
We'll show you step-by-step how to use LIGHTROOM to manage and
edit your digital files, and to make global adjustments to these
images, especially with RAW images. You'll be surprised to see
how quick and easy it is to make most adjustments. LIGHTROOM isn't
replacing Photoshop, however, and we'll show you when and why
you still need to use Photoshop for certain tasks, like targeted
adjustments with layers, and we'll also show you how to do the
most commonly needed tasks in Photoshop as well.
This
class will also include shooting time in the field so that we
can help you apply your new skills in a real-time, very practical
way.
Limited to TEN students. Fee: $1,695
The ADVANCED
DIGITAL Complete Nature Photo Course -
(........) TBA Contact our office if YOU are
interested in a flash course for 2010! Demand will dictate whether
or not we will offer this course.
For
all of our graduated of the D-CNPC, here's the perfect follow-up
-- a course that takes what you've learned one BIG further step.
In this course we'll delve further into both TTL and manual flash
exposures, where you'll actually do a few setups yourself to master
electronic flash lighting indoors or out. We'll be spending more
time shooting -- working on compositions in the field, mastering
exposure in real-time, and difficult to shoot subjects, including
macro photography, panning, and exposure/focus/contrast composites.
Once again, we'll cover Digital Workflow, and specific Photoshop
tasks that will allow you to maximize your images' digital potential.
We anticipate this Special course filling quickly, so contact
our office ASAP!
Price includes great food, lodging,
computer supplies, and a wonderful portfolio of photographic subjects.
All the courses include FOOD
and LODGING and all materials necessary for the course.
Each course is Limited
to 10 students and with TWO INSTRUCTORS. Fee:
$1,695.
Humback Whales of Southeast Alaska - Digital Workflow
and Photoshop Photo Tour
(......)
July 31-August 9, 2009
The coastal waters of
southeastern Alaska are perhaps the best location in the world
to observe and photograph humpback whales, and no whale is more
spectacular or photogenic than is species. We'll be touring the
best whale locations of southeastern Alaska by our live-aboard
boat, searching for bubble-net feeding, lunge-feeding, and breeching
humpbacks. We'll also be in some excellent areas for brown and
black bears, as well. In addition to our whale photography, we'll
also be conducting mini-seminars on digital workflow, digital
photography, and Photoshop tricks and techniques on this very
limited and unique tour.
The Brown Bears of Coastal Katmai
(.....) August 9-15 and (.....) August 14-20, 2009
One of the most exciting photographic locations
in North America is the spawning creeks of Alaska's salmon where,
each year, dozens of bears gather to fish. We'll be photographing
at bear-level, ground-level sandbars where brown bears, the largest
of all bears, chase or dive after salmon, and often feed upon
their catches just yards from our location. We'll be working at
two or more shooting locations, and in addition to bears we'll
be filming Stellar's sealions and Tufted and Horned Puffins. The
shooting is simply incredible.
Jaguars and the Wildlife of the Pantanal
(.........) August 27 - September 7, 2009
This trip booked full hours after being offered. We intend to do this trip again in 2010. Although there is no brochure at this time, the Trip Report will give you most of the details.
Previous entry:
In August, 2008 I'll be doing
a scouting trip to the world's largest wetlands, Brazil's Pantanal.
On my scouting trip I'll be devoting most of my time in searching
for jaguars, the New World's largest, and the world's third largest,
cat, and from this experience I'll set up the trip to maximize
our chances for photographing wild jaguars while still photographing
the Pantanal's other incredibly diverse wildlife. Other species
we can expect include giant otters, jabiru storks at the nest,
hyacinth macaws, other parrot species, a variety of song, perch,
and water/wading birds, birds of prey, kingfishers - the best
location in the world, pootoos, caimens, anacondas, and other
reptiles, amphibians, and insects. I expect this to be one of
our most exciting destinations in 2009, so if you're interested,
get on to our first-contact list ASAP.
Predators of the Northern Hemisphere (Animals of Montana)
(..........) Will be offered in 2010
We'll be shooting mountain
lions, Siberian tigers, snow leopards, gray wolves, red foxes,
lynx, and other animals found in the Northern Hemisphere. This
is an incredibly exciting shoot - imagine filming a tiger or puma
or wolf running straight at your camera! We'll have unlimited
shooting possibilities, based upon the light or the weather. Limited
to EIGHT participants. Includes Lodging, some Meals, and Transportation
during the Tour.
Fee: $2,395 Note: Yellowstone's
Tour immediately follows this for those who wish to maximize their
shooting opportunities.
Yellowstone
National Park - The Mammals of Fall
(........) September 20-26, 2009.
This is an extremely popular tour, but because of
our Pantanal and Kenya trips, we will only be offering ONE tour
in 2009. Contact our office ASAP if you are interested.
Yellowstone is the premiere wildlife photography
destination in the US, and Fall is the ultimate time of year to
visit. Our trip should coincide with the fall rut and courtship
activity of pronghorn antelope, moose, and elk. We're likely to
also film bighorn sheep, mule deer, bison, and coyote, as well
as the great scenics the area is world-famous for. This has always
been one of our most popular and exciting shoots. Fee:
$1,745. Limit: 10 participants
Kenya PHOTO SAFARI - Samburu, Nakuru, and the Masai
Mara
(.........) October 3-17,
2009 and (.........) October 17-31, 2009
These are among our most popular, and difficult
to get into, tours. Contact our office for final dates.
We'll be visiting
the three best game-viewing and photography destinations in Kenya,
and probably in all of Africa. Each locale is unique, with the
endemic species of semi-arid Samburu -- gerenuk, reticulated giraffe,
beisa oryx, Gunther's dik-dik, and of course great elephants and
a wonderful chance of leopard. Samburu's bird photography is extraordinary,
too. Lake Nakuru is famous for its flamingos -- sometimes numbering
in the millions, but it also has a candy-store variety of mammals,
including great white rhino, Rothschild's giraffes, and baboons,
vervet monkeys, leopards, various antelopes, and many species
of birds. The crown jewel is the Masai Mara, and our tours are
virtually the only photography tours that visit three distinct
locations within this incredibly rich park. By staying at three
different camps -- in the south, the west, and finally the east,
we'll maximize our game-viewing with minimum driving, concentrating
on the rich game of the region. Our subjects -- the best! Including
wonderful cheetah opportunities, great lion prides, hyenas, jackals,
leopards, all the plains game, crocs, hippos, elephants, and many
species of birds, both song and birds-of-prey. Our trips are limited
to 3 photographers per vehicle! Price is from Nairobi, and includes
all food, lodging, fees, and ground transportation.
Fee:
TBA
Rwanda's MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
(.....) This trip will again
be offered in the fall of 2010.
Rwanda's mountain gorillas are perhaps the premiere
and most spectacular wildlife encounter any wildlife photographer
and wildlife lover can have.
Participants Limit:
5 Fee: TBA
Ultimate Antarctica - The
Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula
(........) Late-November-early
December, 2009
At
this time we're planning on joining Joe Van Os photosafaris for
our third wonderful tour to this incredible region. Dates and
itineraries are not yet scheduled, but the dates should be roughly
what is listed above. I'll have a direct link to the Antarctic
tour site, and exact dates, as soon as they become available.
(......... ) Personalized
Sessions - in
macro, electronic flash, and wildlife photography covering the
topic or topics of your choice. This session is designed to accommodate
people who have special interests that are not covered in other
workshops and tours, or to cater to participants with special
interests with limited time available. It allows each individual
to pick and choose topics as well as deciding on the length of
the courses. We will limit this to four people which enables us
to offer more of a one on one session. Fee: $500/per person/day.
Half-day session: $250, including lunch .
Hours:
9-5 formal classroom and in-field instruction. Optional sunrise
or evening session.
Half-day session: 9-1PM.
Same. Sunrise and evening sessions are not an option.
......... ) Personalized
Sessions in Adobe Photoshop
- Learn the basics or address your individual needs in
learning this powerful, exciting, and creative program. Fee: $500/per
person/day. Half-day session: $250, including lunch. Lodging and
meals are not included but can be arranged.
Hours:
9-5 formal classroom.
Half-day session: 9-1PM.
Same.
PHOTOSHOP II: UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PHOTOSHOP - An Intermediate-Level
Course to Unleash Your Creative Potential.
(........) Please contact our office about this
course.
Master the essentials of Photoshop
while working with the more advanced, but useful features of this
powerful program.. You'll learn the steps for making fine prints,
incorporating images into Power Point Programs for slide shows,
and producing sales/promotional material including sample portfolio
sheets, cards, and notecards. Limit: 10,
with THREE instructors present during
all Lab hours. All
the courses include FOOD and LODGING and all materials necessary
for the course.
PHOTOSHOP II: CS3 Refresher Course
with Applied Digital Photography
(............) Please contact our office about
this course.
We'll
be reviewing all of the important aspects of CS2 as it applies
to your photography, or CS3 if it is released by then! More importantly,
this workshop will include plenty of time for photography, shooting
assignments that we'll work on, together, in the computer lab.
If you need a brush up on Photoshop, or added insight into digital
photography, this is the course for you.
If you are interested in any of the above, please return this gold schedule and we'll send you our brochures. Thank you.