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."

Tanzania safari report - Day 18

Well, today was our last full day on safari. When I say that I am tired I really mean it. I know that all of my guides do this day in and day out, and my hat is off to all of them for their hard work on my safaris. Their dedication does not go unnoticed. I feel extremely fulfilled, knowing that my past 2 safaris had great wildlife sightings with great photographic opportunities.

Today was our last full day out on safari, and we took advantage of what Tarangire is known for: elephants. The morning was overcast and cooler, and I couldn't have asked for better conditions. Cloudy days is good, because of the soft light. It is difficult to include the sky in a scene, however that is ok because you can get good shots all day.

We lost the clouds late in the morning, however we did have good elephant viewing along the Tarangire River. Very similar viewing as yesterday, in that we had much paying and sparring between the younger males. We sat and watched two lionesses stalk impala, but the hunt was over before it began. The impala were downwind of the hunting females, and they knew what was up before the lionesses could get close.

I will be going home tomorrow, and I will surely sleep on the plane without any effort. I miss Leslie, Christian and Will, and look forward to spending some time with them in a few days. I also look forward to my coming back to Africa in July! I will be in Botswana and South Africa in July, and then Tanzania next February. It isn't as much time in Africa in years past, however I am slowing down my safaris to concentrate on Gura Gear and family. Chris Gamel is also running a Tanzania safari in June, John Paul Caponigro is running a Namibia landscape workshop in September and Randy Hanna is running a Tanzania safari in February. Plenty safaris to choose from! The combination of all four of us adds up to a great selection of safaris in Africa.

Tanzania safari report - Day 17

It was difficult to leave our Ngorongoro camp today, as I truly believe that it is the most beautiful place to camp in all of Africa. The Thomson Safaris seasonal camp location is second to none, the accommodations very comfortable and the staff is always accommodating and fun to work with. All of the Thomson camps make my work life so much easier, and I can call all of the staff friends.

We drove around the crater's edge in the early morning light, and took some time at the overlook for some quick photos. It amazes me that God created such a beautiful place with such abundant wildlife, and it doesn't go unnoticed.

We left the Ngorongoro Conservation area and fueled up our Land Rovers in Karatu, in the heary of the Mbulu district. Karatu is primarily inhabited by the Iraqw people, who are of cushitic origin and have a language that is more similar to Maa than any bantu based language. It was nice to have tarmac roads for a few hours!

We drove down from the Ngorongoro highlands, past Mto Wa Mbu, Manyara Ranch, Makuyuni and into the the northen part of Tarangire National Park.

We entered Tarangire just after lunch, and immediately ran into large herds of elephants. We spent a few hours meandering around Tarangire River, and settled across the river from a family group that was playing in the water. The young males were sparring, and the resulting action made for good shots. I loved the spashing of water, which added an additional piece of eye candy to the scene.

We started running out of luck in the late part of the afternoon, and then all of a sudden Robert spotted a large male leopard in a sausage tree near the Sopa road. He didn't stick around for long, and he jumped down into the tall grass. Afterwards we headed for camp, as we were already commited to driving towards the camp, and the only other way to prolong the excellent elephant herd viewing was to head back towards the north.

It was a very hot day, and it was a relief to have the sun set behind the Ngorongoro highlands. It hasn't rained in a few weeks, yet there is ample amounts of tsetse flies in the area. Fun!

I added up the leopard and cheetah count in the past 7 days, and we have seen 5 leopards and a whopping 13 cheetahs!! Amazing luck. Almost an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the cheeath count.

Tanzania safari report - Day 16

Today we were up at 5:15 and we headed out as early as we can get away with. Early birds do get the biggest and best worms, and here at Ngorongoro this is especially true. I am familiar with all of the lion prides here, and I do have an idea where to be and when. I have many many early morning sightings of entire lion prides, and this is one very cool sight. Oh, and have I mentioned that I like to have sightings by myself? I prefer to not have competition for the best shooting positions, so I just get out earlier. It isn't rocket science, but it is a good lesson for nature photographers.

We did see a pride of about 12, however they were a little far away. We moved around the crater to the upper portion of the Munge River, and we noticed that our Land Rover was having a difficult time turning. Well, the problem ended up being a bent tie rod. We were able to take it off, bend it back, and reinstall it. Nothing like looking over your shoulder for lions while repairing a vehicle.

We worked the Munge, then came across a hunting cheetah. This was a great way to watch how they hunt, however we realized that there was also a lioness in the tall grass as well. Did they know about each other? Nothing transpired, however it made for great watching for an hour or more.

The afternoon was filled with lions on feet away from us. This happened on three different occasions. Smiles all around! The afternoon light was challenging, however we did have great landscape shots with the passing clouds.

Tanzania safari report - Day 15

We woke up on the late side at 6:30, ate breakfast and said goodbye to the camp staff at 8am. This morning was a 'move between camps' morning. On the way to Naabi hill, we saw a line of wildebeest that must have been at least three or four hundred strong. Just one line in the middle of nowhere. After Naabi we again intercepted the bulk of the migration, and at 30mph it took us at least 45 minutes to drive through the huge herds. Some areas must have been filled only with male wildebeest, as I didn't see any young ones. Other parts was filled with babies, so liked to refer to those areas as nurseries.

Wildebeest give birth to their calves in the southern part of the Serengeti plains in December through March, likely with the bulk being in January and February. I love this time of the year, as we can see the big herds, as well as non migratory wildlife. I also love our summer months and early fall.

The drive from Oldupai (not Olduvai, which non Tanzanians messed up on the name) was filled with golden hills, fresh with wildflowers. What a beautiful landscape it was. We haven't seen rain in over a week, and the flowers are obviously a result of those rains. Giraffes were aplenty on our ascent to the crater, and I counted no fewer than 40 individuals amongst the vivid green and yellow hills.

We arrived at Ngorongoro Crater (really a caldera, but I won't nitpick) after lunch and entered on the opposite side of the crater than our evening camp. At the bottom of th descent road was a large herd of wildebeest, and we sat and watched many new mothers graze with their newborns. Many new calves with short umbilical cords, so these calves are very very new. The calving season in Ngorongoro is different than the Serengeti, as the rains, nutrients and available food is quite different between the two.

Lake Magadi (or Makaat in the Maa language) was full with flamingos, however as of a few years ago we haven't been able to drive next to the water's edge. What a shame, but I do understand that the crater needs better protection from too many guesus. Too many roads is not a good thing for the environment and its wildlife. More roads equals more maintenance equals more money, staff, vehicles and fuel.

It was a fairly relaxed afternoon, and we spent our time with 7 huge bull elephants, picking out interesting compositions. Today was a tiring day with the travel from our last camp, and I was eager to get back to camp to unwind a little bit. Sitting in a Land Rover for 9 hours can suck the life right out of you, especially in the hot sun.

Tomorrow will be our earliest day yet, as we will leave camp at 5:59. The gate opens up at 6am, and our camp is only feet away from the gate. My feelings about the lodges here at Ngorongoro have already been written about in one of my earlier safari entries.

Tanzania safari report - Day 14

We headed to Gol kopjes this morning, checked in at Naabi gate around 7:30 and immediately after coming down from the hill we saw a nice male cheetah in the short grass. He was cleaning his paws, and was quite relaxed. Awesome morning light, good subject and serene background.

We moved around in the short grass, on our way to the Gol kopjes. We had nice herds of zebra, wildebeest, kongoni, topi, thompson and grant's gazelle. Some amazing running wildebeest on every horizon. Which way to go?

That was an easy decision, as Khumbi had located another cheetah who had only moments before taken down a year old wildebeest. By the time we arrived there we had at least 20 vultures waiting for their breakfast. The large male cheetah gorged himself and left when he was done. The vultures ran in and fought for the remaining meat. Nothing like watching rippers, gulpers and scrappers in the same pile. Vultures can be grouped this way: rippers open up carcasses that may have died naturally, gulpers eat much of the meat, and scrappers wait in the wings for their last pieces. Some examples:

Nubian vulture = ripperWhite backed vulture = gulperRuppell's Griffin vulture = gulperHooded vulture = scrapperEgyptian vulture = scrapper

We followed the cheetah a little while until he sat up in the grass and then I attempted to shoot with my 6x24 camera. Hopefully the shots came out, however I have low expectations to have predator shots with the camera. 300mm is a far focal length for the camera, however I had to stop down to f/32 to make sure it had enough depth of field. This yielded 1/60 for my shutter speed, which may not be enough for the winds we had today.

The winds were quite strong rom the east today, which was a challenge to deal with for those with really long lenses.

As we came over a hill on the eastern side of the Gol kopjes, we found a huge piece of the migratory wildebeest and zebra herds. There smiles and giggles all around, as they were extraordinarily clumped up and in one spot. This made the easiest photographs, however after a few minutes they scattered and started running. Not a problem, because this was a good opportunity for blurred panning shots! Whew! I was tired by 10am, because there were so many things to photograph this morning. If I had not taken notes, I would have forgotten something.

There were tons and tons of wildebeest on the eastern side of the park, towards Piyaya and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The folks down at Ndutu must be bummed right now, as we must have most of the migration all around us. It is nice to have this all to ourselves before Leopard Tours, Ranger Safaris or some of the companies with lazy guides show up. They listen to our radios and have been known to follow us around. What lazy a**holes they are, and they are not doing well for their customers. There are some exceptions, however I have found too many. There are some great companies in Tanzania and some not so good, just like any industry in the world.

We came across yet another cheetah, although this time we saw one laying down on the top of a nice kopje with absolutely no bushes or trees in sight. The light direction was challenging, and we waited to see if he would sit up or stand up for a good composition. It wasn't to be, however it was yet another cheetah sighting!

We drove into the middle of the wildebeest migration, and from 50 feet to infinity in all directions was a sea of wildebeest. And it drowned out a herd of hundreds of eland that I saw in the distance. I could have finished the safari today and people would have been happy from just the last 2 days of game drives. Good fortunes can change quickly, so we need to always be aware of this and set our expectations accordingly.

We headed back to camp a little early, as it had been a long day by 4pm. We took advantage of the extra time at camp by working on Lightroom on my digital projector. For those that had not used Lightroom before they were sold on the tool.

Tanzania safari report - Day 13

Almost all of my travelers had left camp 30 minutes earlier for their hot air balloon flight this morning, with the exception for three of us. We took the morning driving around on our own game drive while the rest of the group flew above the Serengeti in their balloon.

We spent the afternoon at the Moru kopjes, and had excellent success. We watched the beautiful scenery, climbed up a huge kopje and took in the expansive views. Within 1km of Gong Rock, we came upon a gorgeous lionees at the top of a rock. No complicated background to get in the way, as she was at the top and was modeling for us. The only thing that would have been better would have been a huge male with wind in his face and his mane flapping in the wind. But I digress....

After a few minutes with the lioness, we said hello to the ranger that drove by, and he pointed us to three black rhinos that were walking out in the open area on the edge of the kopjes. There is green grass right now, as well as a plethora of yellow flowers all around the Moru area. Wow. Double wow. Triple wow. I have seen a rhino at Moru in a couple of years, and it certainly was a treat. A tad far away for a good photograph, however I was excited to see such a rare treat.

A nice drive back to camp yielded some young hyaenas, as well as birds. Too many birds species to count, but I probably noticed at least 15 to 20 species in a 15 minute drive. I will miss Moru. One of the Serengeti's most private game drive areas that the bottom feeder outfitters don't bother with. All the better for me and my guests, because I don't like sharing it! It sounds selfish, but I do kind of feel that way. I do prefer to be away from other vehicles, and I balance my safaris to try and maximize photography as well as rich experiences.

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.