Hot Air Balloon Fiesta and Adobe Lightroom Workshop, October 2011

Workshop Date: October 7-9, 2011

Workshop Leaders: Andy Biggs and Michael Clark

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico

About The Workshop

This extended weekend workshop will be a combined classroom workshop with outdoor photographic shoots. The workshop coincides with the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which is the world’s largest balloon festival. All classroom instruction will be centered around Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v3.

Workshop Schedule

Day 1 - Afternoon (2pm until dinner time)
Lightroom 3 and the Library module.

Day 2 - Morning
Dawn Patrol: Early morning shoot at the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta.

Day 2 - Late Morning  and all afternoon
Lightroom 3 and the Develop module

Day 3 - Morning
Dawn Patrol: Early morning shoot at the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta.

Day 3 - Late Morning and all afternoon
Lightroom 3 and the Develop module. Michael and Andy will work with participants to develop images taken over the weekend, as well as will assist in portfolio reviews.

Computers will not be provided but participants with laptops are encouraged to bring them. Following along on your own laptop is a hands-on way of learning what is being taught in the classroom.

The Cost
The cost of this workshop is $495 per person. The same rate applies for each participant regardless of whether they are doing photography and participating in the workshop, or not. A nonrefundable deposit of $125 is required to secure your spot on the workshop. Final balance will be due no later than September 1, 2011.

Accommodations
The classroom portion of the workshop will be held at the Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North, however there are many hotels in the nearby area from which to choose.

Transportation
Most major airlines service Albuquerque, New Mexico. Once in Albuquerque, you can take one of the many shuttles to your hotel. Rental cars are available at the airport.

We do not provide transportation during the workshop. Please plan ahead and reserve a rental car. Of course, we will share vehicles and car pool to make life easier for all of us. We are not responsible for reimbursement of non-refundable airline tickets in the event of a workshop cancellation.

Workshop Materials
All participants will be given a copy of Michael’s e-book entitled Adobe Photoshop Lightroom:
 A Professional Photographer’s Workflow, which details his complete workflow from start to finish. 

You will need to bring the following equipment with you:
• a 35mm digital SLR camera with interchangeable lenses
• a laptop computer with a USB memory key, DVD or external hard drive. Instructors will be using Mac.
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software installed on your computer (you can download the 30-day trial version of Lightroom before the workshop if you don’t already have the software.)
• Digital memory cards with a card reader (preferably CompactFlash or Secure Digital Cards)
• power adapters and cables for laptop and digital camera
• camera manual
• batteries and charger for rechargeable batteries

It is expected that you know how to download images from your camera to the laptop, know basic editing techniques using your software, and are able to organize the edited images for critique.

Registration
If this workshop has your name on it, then now is the time to register. Remember, there will be limited space available for this workshop. When they’re spoken for, that’s it. If you have any questions before registering, send us an e-mail with any inquiries to info@andybiggs.com.

$125 to hold your place until September 1 with a deposit.

Testimonials from last year’s workshop

“Thanks to Andy and Michael for a wonderful, educational, experienced based workshop in New Mexico. Today I reread my notes from the classroom work and have been amazed at how deeply informative it was. Michael’s Lightroom Book as well as yours about digital printing have given me a whole new level of understanding especially around the Lightroom Develop module as well as on the entire topic of printing and color management. I really appreciate how you and Michael showed your individual processes for image workflow. Comparing and contrasting both methods allowed me to take the best of both and adapt them to fit my needs. My increase in knowledge along with the additional hands on guidance we got in the photo sessions at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival will enable me going forward to make the best photos I’m capable of producing.”

“Andy, I’ve taken several photography seminars over the past few years. Without a doubt your’s has been the most informative, well organized, openly sharing event I’ve attended.”

“Thanks again for all your help and guidance. It’s clear you don’t hold back when teaching and sincerely want all attendees to get as much out of the seminars as we’re able to absorb.”

”..my mind is still spinning and I can’t help but smile every time I think of the wonderful experience garnered from our workshop. Between what I learned from the two of you, as well as from my talented classmates - this was a great experience, and I would do it again.”

Antarctica trip Nov 29-Dec 10, 2011 [update]

Our trip to Antarctica from November 29 – December 10, 2011 is selling out fast. All of the singles are sold out and the male triples are sold out. We have room for two women in a triple and we have 9 double cabins left. If you are interested in this once in a lifetime trip before it is completely sold out, here is how to book:

Please contact Mr. Paul Schuster ASAP at Quark Expeditions. His email address is paul.schuster@quarkexpeditions.com, and his phone number is (877) 768-7957.

When you call or contact Paul Shuster you will need:

• Name as it appears on Passport and Passport #
• Mailing address no P.O. boxes as it is for Fed Ex delivery
• Contact Phone Info.

Please confirm with an email to info@andybiggs.com when you have officially signed up.

All the best,

Andy, Seth and John Paul

Galapagos Islands trip announcement

Galapagos Islands Photo Workshop

June 3-13, 2011
Limited to 18 participants

Trip Leader: Randy Hanna

Come join us for an exciting photographic adventure to the Galapagos Islands. We have chartered a private 83-foot motor yacht for 20 people to this exciting location. We will visit many islands and will have the opportunity to photograph up close much of the wildlife on our 8 days and 7 nights aboard the M/Y Eric / Flamingo / Letty. We will have 2 naturalists on board and on shore for our group, which is an excellent naturalist-to-guest ratio! By park rules we are required to have 1 naturalist per 16 people, and we will have 1 per 10.

All other Galapagos trips miss the best light each day, but we will not. We will be on land in the best light, as this is a photography specific trip. This is an extremely important distinction between this trip and others. We also can take our time on our nature walks, allowing us to bring our tripods. Since we have a small and intimate group, we can take the time to get the shots that we need.

The cost of this trip is U.S. $5495, $5995 or $6395 per person depending on cabin level desired, double occupancy (but not inclusive of airfare to Guayaquil, Ecuador from your home). Refer to the boat diagram to determine which cabins will work best for your needs. The same rate applies for each participant regardless of whether they are doing photography and participating in the workshop, or not.

What's Included?

* Air transportation to and from the Galapagos islands from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
* 7 nights and 8 days aboard M/Y Eric / Flamingo / Letty
* Galapagos National Park Entrance Fee of $100
* 3 nights at the Grand Hotel Guayaquil at the beginning and end of islands visit.
* All meals and non-alcoholic drinks while on the ship
* Naturalists on board
* Snorkeling equipment

What is Not Included?

* Additional tips for staff such as guides
* International air to and from Ecuador and your home town
* Alcoholic beverages
* Laundry, phone and other items of a personal nature (yes we have laundry on board the vessel!)
* Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance (highly recommended)
* Meals not mentioned in itinerary (Guayaquil meals)
* Airport departure tax of $25

Click here to read comments from prior travelers and workshop participants.

Click here to read the day-by-day itinerary for this exciting trip, as well as the cabin layout.

What Do I Do Next?

Our groups are small, so space is limited. If this exciting trip has your name on it, if you're excited by the thought of becoming a member of this trip, then now is the time to register. Remember, there will be limited space available for this workshop. When they're spoken for, that's it. If you have any questions before registering, send us an e-mail with any inquiries to info@andybiggs.com.

Adobe Lightroom & The Fine Art Digital Print

Workshop Date: October 7-10, 2010

Workshop Leaders: Andy Biggs and Michael Clark

Location: Hotel Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico

About The Workshop

This 4-day workshop will be a combined classroom workshop with outdoor photographic shoots. The workshop coincides with the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which is the world’s largest balloon festival and will certainly be one of our photographic destinations. All classroom instruction will be centered around Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v3.x, as well as the craft of creating a fine art digital print.

Workshop Schedule

Day 1 - Morning
Lightroom introduction. The modules: Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web

Day 1 - Afternoon
Portrait lighting sessions Part I, outdoors

Day 2 - Morning
Dawn Patrol: Early morning shoot at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Day 2 - Afternoon
Lightroom and the Develop module

Day 3 - Morning
How to select inkjet papers
Printing from Lightroom and Photoshop

Computers will not be provided but participants with laptops are encouraged to bring them. Following along on your own laptop is a hands-on way of learning what is being taught in the classroom.

Day 3 - Afternoon
Portrait lighting sessions Part II, indoors

Day 4 - Morning
Dawn Patrol: Early morning shoot at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Day 4 - Afternoon
Hands-on printing with current large format printers on the market. Paper provided by Moab Paper.
Participants leave with one fine art print of their own work!

 

About the Instructors
Michael Clark is an internationally published outdoor photographer specializing in adventure sports, travel and landscape photography. He produces intense, raw image of athletes pushing their sports to the limit and has risked life and limb on a variety of assignments to bring back stunning images of rock climbers, mountaineers, kayakers and mountain bikers in remote locations around the world. He contributes to National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, Sports Illustrated, Outside, Men's Journal, Backpacker, Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro, Climbing, Alpinist, Rock and Ice, Bike Magazine and The New York Times among many others. You can see Michael's work at www.michaelclarkphoto.com.

Andy Biggs is an avid adventurer, conservationist, teacher, and outdoor photographer whose photography celebrates the African landscape and its rich wildlife, people, and culture. With a deep respect and understanding for African wildlife, Andy unfolds the world of the Serengeti onto our doorstep with striking emotional depth. His photographic safaris allow the traveler to not only enhance their understanding of photography, lighting, and wildlife, but to develop a life-long admiration for Africa 's beauty and culture.

The Cost
The cost of this workshop is $1250 per person (inclusive of light breakfasts either in our teaching space or in the field). The same rate applies for each participant regardless of whether they are doing photography and participating in the workshop, or not. A nonrefundable deposit of $350 is required to secure your spot on the workshop. Final balance will be due no later than September 1, 2010.

Please note: We will attempt to adhere to this itinerary as much as possible. However, certain conditions, such as bad weather, may necessitate changes in the itinerary. We reserve the right to alter any itinerary at any time, if necessary.

Accommodations
The classroom portion of the workshop will be held at the Hotel Santa Fe. We have negotiated a group rate that is discounted from their advertised prices if you would like to stay at Hotel Santa Fe. Please inquire if interested.

Transportation
Most major airlines service Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is approximately 60 miles south of Santa Fe. Once in Albuquerque, you can take one of the many shuttles to your hotel in Santa Fe. Shuttle costs are approximately $25 - $30. Rental cars are available in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and from the hotel. The Hotel Santa Fe is located in downtown Santa Fe, within walking distance to shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

We do not provide transportation during the workshop. Please plan ahead and reserve a rental car. Of course, we will share vehicles and car pool to make life easier for all of us. We are not responsible for reimbursement of non-refundable airline tickets in the event of a workshop cancellation.

Workshop Materials
All participants will be given a copy of Michael’s e-book entitled Adobe Photoshop Lightroom:
 A Professional Photographer's Workflow, which details his complete workflow from start to finish.

You will need to bring the following equipment with you:
• a 35mm digital SLR camera with interchangeable lenses
• a laptop computer with a USB memory key, DVD or external hard drive. Instructors will be using Mac.
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software installed on your computer (you can download the 30-day trial version of Lightroom before the workshop if you don’t already have the software.)
• Digital memory cards with a card reader (preferably CompactFlash or Secure Digital Cards)
• power adapters and cables for laptop and digital camera
• camera manual
• batteries and charger for rechargeable batteries

It is expected that you know how to download images from your camera to the laptop, know basic editing techniques using your software, and are able to organize the edited images for critique.

$350 to hold your place until September 1 with a deposit.

Testimonials from last year's workshop

"Thank you and Michael for a wonderful, educational, experienced based workshop in Santa Fe. Today I reread my notes from the classroom work and have been amazed at how deeply informative it was. Michael's Lightroom Book as well as yours about digital printing have given me a whole new level of understanding especially around the Lightroom Develop module as well as on the entire topic of printing and color management. I really appreciate how you and Michael showed your individual processes for image workflow. Comparing and contrasting both methods allowed me to take the best of both and adapt them to fit my needs. My increase in knowledge along with the additional hands on guidance we got in the three photo sessions for aspen fall colors, Albuquerque Balloon Festival, and Abiquiu landscape site, will enable me going forward to make the best photos I'm capable of producing. Showing the class the image evaluation image printed on many different papers was most informative as was printing a few of our individual "best" photos from the week.

Andy, I've taken several photography seminars over the past few years. Without a doubt your's has been the most informative, well organized, openly sharing event I've attended.

Thanks again for all your help and guidance. It's clear you don't hold back when teaching and sincerely want all attendees to get as much out of the seminars as we're able to absorb."


"Hi Andy & Michael,

It was a pleasure to meet you both and I enjoyed the workshop a lot. I found Michael's well written e-book and in-class lecture on Lightroom very informative and I gained new insight it's operation features that I wouldn't have discovered on my own. The full printing workflow has always been a mystery to me, and thus I dismissed printing and never did much of it. When I first signed up for the workshop I considered the "fine art printing" aspect to not be the main reason why I attended, but this was the part of the workshop that I learned the most from - Andy's explanations and experience helped me to appreciate and better understand the full workflow from the proper paper selection (I didn't realize there were so many choices) to correct evaluation of output and will serve to encourage me to print more of my pictures.
Thanks for the great workshop!"
 

"Your workshop at Santa Fe was too good and I came away with a lot of knowledge and renewed energy. The level of expertise that you and Michael shared was topnotch and I hope to repeat this experience again. Thanks for such a great workshop!"

"..my mind is still spinning and I can't help but smile every time I think of the wonderful experience garnered from our workshop. Between what I learned from the two of you, as well as from my talented classmates - this was a great experience, and I would do it again."

September Namibia landscape workshop

Spring is almost here, and next thing you know summer will almost be over. This is just a reminder that we have a Namibia landscape photography workshop planned for this coming September, led by my good friend and excellent leader John Paul Caponigro.

The Namibia workshop will include three amazing locations: the deserted mining town of Kolmanskop, the tall and ancient sand dunes of Sossusvlei and the remote and dynamic Skeleton Coast.

If you have thought about Namibia in the past, please take note that I am not planning another Namibia trip for at least a couple of years, so 2010 may be your year. Just a gentle reminder. Please email me at info@andybiggs.com if interested. We do have some spaces available, and international airfare is best handled more than a few months in advance. You can read more about the specific itinerary by clicking on the Namibia workshop link on the left han side of this blog.

Namibia Workshop announcement

Namibia Photographic Safari

September 20-30, 2010

 

In September 2010 John Paul Caponigro will lead a private group of photographers into Namibia's untamed wilderness areas. The goal of this safari is to photograph the breathtaking desert landscapes of Namibia. This will be a flying safari and we will maximize the time out on safari by flying from location to location. This will enable us to carry an adequate amount of camera baggage, do some aerial photography of scenic locations, and eliminate time-consuming, long drives. This will be a serious instructional safari with a strong focus on teaching in the field.

Safari Highlights

• This private flying safari covers fascinating attractions in Namibia, while enjoying much of the stunning landscapes from the air.
• We will fly to three amazing destinations in central and northern Namibia: Kolmanskop, The Namib Desert / Sossusvlei, and the incredible Skeleton Coast.
• Kolmanskop is a famous ex-diamond mining ghost town which today is fighting a losing battle against the winds and sand dunes that are enveloping it... the photography here is striking and we will make two separate visits to the ghost town to make images. Truly a photographer's dream location.
• The Namib Desert may well be the world's oldest desert. The apricot-colored dunes at Sossusvlei are some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. Herds of mountain zebra, gemsbok and springbok roam the area.
• The Skeleton Coast is one of our planet's most remote locations. It is wild, desolate, uninhabited and stunningly beautiful. This is a place the will rival anything in Africa for those who enjoy the excitement of wild and remote places.
• In all the areas we visit, you will have the opportunity to spend quality photographic time.
• Personalized instruction with John Paul throughout the safari.
• Safari is limited to 11 participants.

For more detailed information on this workshop, click here. If you are interested in this exciting safari, please email me at info@andybiggs.com.

Here are some images from the locations that will be visited:

Kolmanskop deserted diamond mining town

Namib desert from our private charter plane

The dead trees at Deadvlei (Sossusvlei)

The towering dunes of Sossusvlei

Driving over and through the dunes at Skeleton Coast N.P.

Running down the dunes at Skeleton Coat N.P.

My 2010 and 2011 schedule

I started jotting down my 2010 and 2011 schedule for my workshops and other travel obligations, and the next 2 years are going to be atrociously exciting. Here is a quick summary:

February 25 - March 9, 2010 = Tanzania photo safari (sold out)

March 6 - 19, 2010 = Tanzania photo safari (a few spots left)

April 28 - May 2, 2010 = Arches and Canyonlands workshop (spots available, but not many)

May 15-23, 2010 = Galapagos islands workshop (sold out)

July 21-August 1, 2010 = Botswana photo safari (sold out)

August 3-12, 2010 = African Wildlife Photography Boot Camp (sold out)

October 2011 = private trip to Ethiopia (tentative)

February 20 - March 4, 2011 = Tanzania photo safari (open for booking. Please inquire)

July 4-12, 2011 = Botswana photo safari (open for booking. Details will be posted shortly)

July 12-21, 2011 = Botswana photo safari (open for booking. Details will be posted shortly)

September 2011 (dates not set yet) = Rwanda's mountain gorillas and Kenya's Masai Mara (planning stages right now)

November/December 2011 = Antarctica on a private charter with friends Seth Resnick and John Paul Caponigro. (planning stages right now. Please inquire to be put on a notification list.

Wow. Looks like my next 24 months are going to be crazy. Crazy. Crazy. And this is only my schedule. I also have safaris and workshops that are being led by other people.

Behind the scenes photos from our Lightroom and the Fine Art Digital Print workshop

Here are some behind the scenes photographs from our most recent workshop. All images copyright ©2009 Michael Clark.

Indoor teaching session on fine art digital printing

On our first afternoon, we saw the first snowfall of the year up near the Santa Fe ski basin

Trevor, our resident gear hound, putting his Hasselbad to work

Liftoff at the Balloon Fiesta

We spent an afternoon taking a nice hike near Georgia O'Keefe's home at Abiquiu, New Mexico