Ville Des Lumieres

For our last day of the workshop, it was going to be a long one. We started out with a visit to Olympic Park, and visited the second largest botanical garden in the world. This place is amazing, for it is so vast, and it has just about every flower, plant and landscape you can imagine. It alone would be a week workshop, and we saw maybe 1/50th of the gardens, but we found all kinds of interesting and fascinating subjects.

After lunch, we strolled over to the insectarium, where macro opportunities were abound. It was kinda creepy to get close to bugs, but from a photographic viewpoint, it is a whole new world to discover through a macro lens.

We took an afternoon break to sit around and talk, and enjoy some great ice cream at the botanical gardens. The weather was warm and with the breeze, it was a great way to spend the time before our final night shot in Old Montreal.

We had planned to shoot the Basilica for our big finale, but we never made it past city hall. When we turned the corner to the center of Old Montreal, we were face to face with an amazing sight, so we just had to stop and get that as our night shot. The colors of the lights that flooded the building, to the crystal blue skies as the sun set in front of us was as about as perfect as anyone could of asked for. It made for a great way to end the workshop.

On Sunday night, after al the students went back home, Chris and I did however make our way to the Basilica, and got that night shot, which turned out better then even we expected, including some very interesting subjects around the church to say the least. What a great few days in Montreal, and we both can't wait to go back in 2008.

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You can also check out all of the photos from the workshop in my Montreal, Quebec Gallery. Au Revoir!

Vue A Partir Du Dessus

With the unusual warm weather, fall seemed to come a bit late this year in Montreal. So, the plan was to head north to Mount Tremblant to hike up to the top of the mountains where the fall colors are in full swing. The drive was quick, and we arrived at the ski village in Mount Tremblant in early morning.

On the drive up, the colors were getting more intense, so the anticipation was building. The ski village was amazing, almost as if it came straight out of a fairy tale. The flowers were still in bloom, and made for an unusual foreground against an explosion of color in the background.

After getting some lunch, we took the ski lift top the top of Mount Tremblant for a 360-degree view of the mountains and color that surrounded us. The view was amazing, and the landscape went as far as the eye can see. In just a few more weeks, these mountains will be alive with skiers as they swish down the face of the mountain, but today, it was warm and beautiful.

We left the village to drive further north into the mountains, and came upon a peaceful lake that would be the perfect subject for a night shot. While we waited, we panned birch trees, zoomed the fall colors and threw rocks into the lake for some very interesting compositions.

After the night shot, we made our way back to the village for dinner, and then on back into Montreal later that evening. It was certainly a long day, but the interesting lesson learned was even when you are in an unfamiliar scene, you can always find interesting subjects to photograph. Tomorrow will bring more fun and excitement that is for sure...

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Vieux vs. Nouveau

Day one of our Montreal Workshop started bright and early to catch the morning light of the sunrise, so we made our way down to Old Port and Old Montreal. Just as we arrived, the sun came over the horizon, and was as large as life, and it presented some interesting opportunities to say the least. We stayed around Old Port to also photograph the buildings in Old Montreal as the warm glow from the morning sun lit the buildings up. We also found some very interesting "graffiti blocks" that provided some great frame-filling color.

After the morning shoot, we made our way up to Place Jacques Cartier for some shots of Montreal City Hall or Hotel de Ville, and then some breakfast at one of the outdoor cafes. After some great breakfast and conversation, we strolled up to the most eagerly anticipated shoot, the Notre-Dame Basilica.

The Basilica is over 200 years old, and is one of the most beautiful churches in North America. The attention to detail, through it's sculptures, paintings, statues and lighting, is breathtaking from the moment you step though it's doors. The pipe organ that fills the rear of the church contains 5722 pipes, and is awe inspiring. Shooting interiors is one of the more challenging aspects of photography, for it takes time, patience and planning. Everyone had a great time in the Basilica, and we even played around with fisheye lenses and creating HDR (High-Dynamic Range) photos.

We took our afternoon break back at the hotel in Laval, to rest up for the evening portion of the day, where panoramic views were awaiting on top of Mount Royal. Montreal has a very unique and interesting feature that is not commonly found, for there is a mountain right in the middle of the city, and when we got to the top, it didn't feel as if we were smack dab in the middle of a city that is home to over three-million people.

The view from the top of Mount Royal was spectacular, and put us front row and center to the city below. The sunset shot for the evening was amazing, for the skies were a solid blue, and so rich with color as the lights came on from the big city below. It was the start of a great day of the workshop, and tomorrow brings us closer to nature and the colors of fall. The alarm was awaiting...

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Bonjour

Chris Hurtt and I just got back from our last workshop for the year, and what a way to end it. Our destination was Montreal, Quebec, and without a doubt it was the most beautiful place to photograph, for everywhere we looked, there was a photograph just waiting to be taken.

With the old world French charm of Old Montreal, the explosion of fall colors up in Mount Tremblant, the breath-taking panorama view of Montreal from Mount Royal, to the macro world of flowers at the second largest botanical gardens in the world at Olympic Park, it was a workshop to remember.

Want to see the world around you from a whole new and fresh perspective? Then join me as I offer personal photography workshops that focus on the creative aspects of composition and techniques:

• Tampa, Florida

If you are interested in the above listed workshop or have a question about them, send me an email at info@onlocationphotoworkshops.com. Hope to see you out on location!

Tampa Workshop

On Saturday, I met up with Jim from Winter Haven, Florida for an one-on-one personal photography workshop. A few weeks earlier, his wife called me to inquire about giving her husband an anniversary present of a workshop, for he just started to get into digital photography. I thought it was a lovely idea, so we set the date and meeting place to start the workshop.

I met up with Jim at the Pier in St. Petersburg to get to know Jim, and go over some questions, and talk in general about his background in photography. We talked for about and hour, and then we headed out to start our workshop. We wanted to go to Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, but since it was raining there, they had closed for the day. So, for Plan B, we made our way over the the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo to spend the afternoon to do some in-depth instruction.

Since Jim was new to his digital SLR camera, we spend the next few hours at the botanical gardens going over just about everything, since he was accustomed to shooting only in "P" mode. So I showed him how to shoot in Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes, which opened up a whole new world for Jim. We also covered such topics and Focus points, ISO, filters, lens choice, macro, filling the frame, depth of field, composition, light and lots of general photography techniques.

Later that afternoon, we made our way back into St. Petersburg for more instruction, including shutter speed and panning. For the end of the workshop, we covered night photography, including creative uses for filters. It was a long day for Jim, but he was brimming with confidence in his new found love and information he gained in our time together. It made for another very successful workshop.

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Model Shoot

For the past several months, I have been working on my project that is a coffee-table style book of photos of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida. I finished about a month ago the entire shoot list, and is now at the publishers for layout and design. During the project, it was decided that the book title needed to be changed to "Tampa Bay: A Photographic Portrait" since I covered the entire bay area, and the original cover shot needed to change.

I had a conference call with the publisher, and we decided that the cover needed to be generic in nature, but also show the beauty of the area, and the number one reason why the Tampa Bay area is a popular vacation, tourist, place to call home. So after tossing around some ideas, it was apparent that the shot needed to be of the beach, and one that shows how peaceful, relaxing and beautiful it is. So I had my marching orders, so I thought about the shot for a few days, and then it hit me.

I enlisted the help of my wife to be the model, and my good friend John to assist with a ladder. Ok, so you may be asking yourself, "what does a ladder have to do with the beach, much less the shot?". The answer is simple, and that is perspective. I know from past experience that the higher I get off the beach, the more of the beach I will get, as well as strong leading lines in the composition. A couple of days before our planned shoot, I did some test shots at Honeymoon Island, and they confirmed my idea.

We all met at Fort De Soto Beach early Sunday morning, when the sun was low on the horizon, and the golden light was just right. We gathered up our gear, and dragged out a six foot ladder out onto the beach, with some very strange looks from those who were already there, since most likely they have never seen anyone take a ladder to the beach. We made our way down the beach to the perfect spot that I have shot from numerous times in the past, but never from a high perspective.

I got everything set up, checked my settings, and then began to experiment with different shots for the next hour. Dawn was perfect and the shots came out even better then I had hoped for. While I was shooting, John took numerous shots of me at work, for he thought it was funny to see me standing on a ladder about ten feet above the beach, but they show a rare glimpse of how to set up a shot that is uniquely different then most ever taken at the beach.

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View The Cover of "Tampa Bay: A Photographic Portrait"
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I filled up a card full of images during the hour we shot, and the end result will be showcased on the cover of the book when it is released early next spring. Just goes to show that with a little careful and creative planning, you can create an image that looks different then most, and a great exercise in taking your photos to a whole new level.

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Photos courtesy of John Jacobsen

Catching Up

After doing a long weekend of photo shoots, I finally had the time to go through and process some out takes that I have taken over the past several days at Honeymoon Island and Fort De Soto. I wanted to focus on wide angle landscapes, but I managed to throw in some macro and close-up shots of some interesting things I found. Enjoy!

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A Day At De Soto

Ever try something you have never done before and it turns out better then you expected? Well, that is exactly what we did this past Sunday, as we decided to make this a "Beach Day". We got up early, and headed out the door before the sun came up to meet up with our friend John to shoot at Fort De Soto Beach. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was as perfect of a morning as you could ask for.

After spending the first two hours shooting a model for my upcoming book, John took off to go watch football, so we set up camp to spend the day at the beach. It was going to be a long day, so we had a picnic lunch and drinks to last us, for we planned on shooting the numerous shore and wading birds that were gathered in the mangroves and sand dunes.

This also gave me a perfect opportunity to put my new gear though it's fist official paces, for I haven't shot birds in a while, and since it is without a doubt the most challenging and skill intensive type of photography, I knew that when I looked at the results, I would quickly see just how good the new gear is going to be.

Now, when most people say they spent the day at the beach, it usually is only a few hours. In our case, we spent eleven (yes, eleven), and it was much fun as we have had. We spent the morning to afternoon shooting the numerous birds, including my first ever Lesser Yellowlegs, but also numerous babies that were there, including Black Skimmer, Willet, Yellowlegs, Plover and tern babies. What a sight to behold, as the beach was alive with all these little birds all over the place.

In the evening, we went swimming off the beach, and had a blast in the warm gulf waters, and saw numerous fish including Needlefish, Pompanos, Stingrays and large schools of baby fish. The highlight of the evening was we came upon a sight we have never seen before, for just out past the first sandbar, we stumbled upon thousands and thousands of Sand Dollars. It was amazing to see so many in one place, and is a good indication of just how healthy the waters around the bay are.

It was a long, but fun day, and the shots I was able to get was great, and the camera outperformed even my expectations.

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New Episode

Season two of Baller softball started tonight. It was great to get back on the field after our layoff, and the season started off on a great note with a huge win in extra innings. After I scored the tying run in the final inning, we played extra innings, and I had a bases loaded walk-off walk to win the game (I walked three times!). The after game Dairy Queen sure tasted better with a win!

Games Played:	7
Batting Average:	.700
At Bats:	20
Base Hits:	14
Runs Batted In:	12
Runs Scored:	9

Stormy Sunset

When we left the house it was sunny. When we got to the entrance of Honeymoon Island, it was pouring rain. In buckets. Then again, this is Florida, and it's still the rainy season, so it's expected. Not to get discouraged, we knew if we waited about fifteen minutes, it will stop. Sure enough, when we got into the park, it was over, so it was time to have some fun at the beach.

We met up with our friends John and Fred to do some macro shots, play with filters and just hang while we waited to see if we would get a nice, stormy sunset. While we waited, we messed around with some silhouettes, while John & Fred did some macro shots of some sea shells, and we even played around with fill flash.

Right when the sun dropped behind the storm clouds, Dawn took out some bread and threw it out to attract some gulls. As if on cue, they came swarming in, which provided us with some nice opportunities to get not only the sunset, but some silhouettes of the birds as they gobbled up the bread crumbs.

The sunset was again as beautiful as it gets, and marked the end to another day in paradise.

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Six Point Beauty

You gotta love the internet. After getting my last camera body immersed in the Gulf of Mexico, I have been trying to score a new camera all week, and after a lot of searching, I finally found the model I was looking for. They are hard to come by, but I scored one yesterday, had it shipped overnight, and it arrived early this morning.

The weather was less then ideal to take it out for a spin, so I spent most of the afternoon getting to know my new camera. On a whim, I took a walk to some ponds just on the outlying areas of my backyard, hopefully to get a chance to get a shot of a heard of deers that we have been seeing a lot of lately, and they have a newborn in the heard, and have been slowly taking around the area since it is big enough to keep up with the adults.

Just of had I hoped, I spotted the heard, and this time, the male was with them, a six-pointer. We usually don't see the male, so this was special. I put the new gear though the paces, and it performed flawlessly as I had hoped. I fired off numerous frames, and got my first shots of a male white-tailed deer in the wild.

Here's hoping that the rest of the holiday weekend will bring better weather so I can really see the new camera flex it's muscles.