Posts Tagged ‘Workshops’South Texas Songbird Shoot VideoMonday, July 26th, 2010Check out this nice video of a morning shoot that Alan Murphy and I did together in South Texas. Still images from the shoot are interspersed with the video of the birds' activity. It makes me want to go back right now! More information about Alan's workshop where this video was shot is here: I'll also be assisting Alan in two workshops in Roma, TX as I have been for the past few years. For details, click here. Photographer Spotlight – Rick SammonFriday, July 16th, 2010
When we talked to Rick for this article, his opening comment to us was “I never thought, in 1969, when I was 19 and dancing naked in the mud at Woodstock, I’d have 36 books and a bunch of iPhone and iPad apps”. We knew we were in for a good story. After Woodstock, Rick attended the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, receiving his formal education in Arrangement and Composition. He wanted to play jazz, and play he did. Late night shows and jam sessions over the next few years left him plenty of free day time, so to stir his creative juices, he began shooting images and submitting them to publications.
In 1978 Rick submitted an image and article to Studio Photography Magazine. On this first submission, the magazine invited him to be their editor. Rick traded in one keyboard for another, and entered the publication world.
Good editors get noticed, and the giant (at that time) Minolta Corporation’s main ad agency came in and snapped Rick in 1980 up to head up Minolta’s ad campaigns. Rick now had to wear a suit and tie, and was nested high up in Rockefeller Center. In the 80’s, life as Minolta ad manager was good—Minolta was rocking, the photo industry was exploding, and yes, Rick went to Studio 54 now and then. Rick’s desire to capture images and get them published still burned. But as an ad man for a camera line, Rick wasn’t allowed to publish, at the peril of his job. Rick’s solution? Submit his images under made-up names! No, we can’t disclose those names. Suffice it to say that Rick continued to be published.
Rick had always had a passion for scuba diving as well as photography, and in 1985 he developed a specific five-year plan for a career change. For the next five years, whenever possible, and on every vacation, Rick dove and stocked his portfolio with underwater images. Five years later, in 1990, Rick had amassed enough images to leave his advertising job and publish underwater photography books. Going from an office 70 stories up to a studio 70 feet under, Rick published five underwater photography books while traveling the world over the next few years. He became a full time photographer, albeit a wet one.
In 1998, in Rick’s own words, “the world had seen enough images of a Clownfish”. Rick crawled back on land, and began to capture images of the people and of the cultures he had encountered in his travels while diving. That trajectory, from specialization to not specializing, has propelled Rick to the worldwide photography stage. When you see Rick talk in person, or when you watch his video podcasts, his enthusiasm for photography—all types of photography—is infectious. Although he knows the technical side of photography and processing inside out, he doesn’t bog down on those minute details. He stresses the basic values of photography: preparation, planning, vision, awareness, and applies them to facets of our craft too numerous to mention, be it HDR, panoramas, processing, gear and more. One basic theme permeates all his thought, tips and tricks: photography is your hobby, your avocation, so make sure and have fun!
Rick’s list of accolades and achievements are almost too numerous to mention. His books have won the Golden Light Award and the Ben Franklin Award. He’s a Canon Explorer of Light, has been nominated to the Photoshop Hall of Fame, and is a member of the elite Explorer’s Club. Rick has photographed in nearly 100 countries around the world, and gives dozens of workshops each year.
Rick has embraced new technology and the current trend of social media. He’s actively producing apps on iTunes for the iPhone and the iPad, and you can find Rick on podcasts, Twitter, Facebook and more. As always, Rick is not sitting still. Who knows what his next five-year plan will be? Editors note: Speaking of workshops, I’m pleased to be assisting Rick this October in beautiful St. Augustine, Florida, at the St. Augustinescapes Workshops. Come join us! For more info see www.staugustinescapes.com. You can learn more about Rick’s books, workshops, apps and more at www.RickSammon.com Catch Rick with Juan Pons on their website The Digital Photo Experience at www.dpexperience.com Follow Rick on Twitter at @ricksammon Rick is on Facebook here. Simply Put: You Must Be Prepared for the WorstMonday, May 31st, 2010
Photographs © Rick Sammon Canon 15mm lens (above). Canon 24-105mm lens (below). Both: Canon 5D Mark II. Last month my photography workshop brought us to the Sister’s Meal Festival in a remote area of China. It’s truly an amazing experience: hundreds of women get dressed in heavy silver and cloth outfits and perform a dance in the hope of attracting a husband. The outfits weigh more than 40 pounds. Dancing in the hot sun for hours can’t be fun. Anyway, the light was bad: harsh, direct sunlight. Adding to the challenge, the silver head dresses reflected the bright light, and the subject’s faces were shaded by the headdresses. Aaargh! To remedy that situation, we used our flashes for daylight fill-in flash, and a reflector and a diffuser – accessories that compress the brightness range of a scene so that it can easily be recorded by a digital camera, without blown-out highlights and dark shadows. Because we were prepared for the worst, we were able to get evenly exposed images like the one below.
To help capture and convey the excitement and size of the event, I used my 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens and held it above my head and tilted it downward for a unique viewpoint. This lens is great for capturing large groups, because it enhances the way a scene is recorded – capturing an extremely wide scene and exaggerating perspective. The idea today was to “tell the whole story” of the festival. Telling the whole story can easily be accomplished simply by taking wide-angle shots and close-up shots – and everything in between. Everyone did a great job. More story-telling photos to come. If you are interested in joining my 2011 China workshop, shoot me an email at email hidden; JavaScript is required. DPE’s Juan Pons will most likely join the fun! Explore the light – and explore telling the whole story. Rick Keep up with Rick and Juan at the Digital Photo Experience. Maine Coast Portfolio – The Acadia Region.Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
The sun rises above fog as seen from the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Maine's Acadia National Park. The Maine Coast, including Acadia National Park has been inspiring artists for more than 150 years. In the 19th century, before the area had been designated a national park, Hudson River School painters like Thomas Cole and Frederick Church painted here, bringing back to the cities of the northeast canvases of iconic scenes from Eagle Lake, the Beehive, and the Porcupine Islands. Throngs of tourists followed and the popularity of the area continues to this day. In the 20th century, the park was photographed by America’s best landscape photographers, including Ansel Adams, David Meunch, William Neill, and in the 21st century, the park is still a mecca of sorts for photographers, with numerous photo tours visiting the park each year and plenty of tripods to be seen at popular spots like the summit of Cadillac Mountain and Otter Cliffs.
Timing. While you can make beautiful images of the Maine Coast throughout the year, my favorite months to shoot there are June and October. Summer weather peaks in August, but so do the crowds and hotel rates, so I prefer to visit in June. Not only is it a quieter experience, but you are also more likely to find wildflowers to photograph – woodland flowers in early June, and meadow and wetland flowers like lupines and iris in mid to late-June. Fall colors peak in the region in mid-October – just be sure to book your lodging ahead of time as many hotels and campgrounds are closed after Columbus Day.
Light. Like most places, the Maine Coast looks great in that golden light that occurs for an hour or so around sunrise and sunset. With 3000 miles of twisting coastline, it is possible to find great sunrise and sunset locations with water in the scene. In Acadia proper, the pink-hued granite of east-facing shorelines look best at sunrise as the light enhances the color of the rock. Of course, that only happens in clear skies, and on the coast of Maine fog is just as common in the morning as sunshine. Fog can be your friend, enhancing classic coastal scenes, but if it is too thick you can drive to the summit of peaks like Cadillac Mountain in Acadia or Mount Battie in Camden. In the right conditions, you will be blessed with a dynamic scene of texture-rich undercast and rugged rock outcrops bathed in warm sunlight. If the fog hangs around or the day is overcast, head into the woods. Coastal woodlands of spruce and cedar are lush, with branches draped in lichen and the forest floor carpeted with moss and ferns. This kind of scene looks great in the diffuse light of a foggy day – just be sure to use a polarizing filter to reduce glare on wet foliage, enhancing the green colors of the scene.
Subject Matter. Rocky coasts, crashing surf, small working harbors, and lighthouses are the most popular subject matter to photograph on the Maine Coast. Remember to shoot both the big picture and the intimate details – wildflowers, lobster buoys, lichens, skiffs, etc. The possibilities are endless. Wildlife is a tougher subject to capture. Acadia is not like western parks, where there are meadows regularly filled with cooperative wildlife. Your best bet to shoot wildlife is on one of the puffin tours out of Cutler and Jonesport, Maine which will get you out to Machias Seal Island where you can photograph Atlantic Puffins, Arctic Terns, and Razorbill Auks from a blind. Another option is a boat tour out of Bar Harbor, where you'll have the chance to photography harbor seals and possibly bald eagles and ospreys.
Favorite Locations. Almost any road off the beaten path will take you to beautiful scenery on the Maine Coast. Here are some of my favorite spots to shoot in the Acadia region: Classic coast: Great Head and Ocean Drive in Acadia, Great Wass Island near Jonesport, Isle au Haut. Hazards. The Maine Coast is rarely dangerous, but you should keep a few things in mind during a visit there. Tides are large in most of Maine (from 10 to 20 feet,) and rocks exposed at lower tides can be very slippery, so slippery that it is almost impossible not to fall. The most common injuries in Acadia are falls on and from rock ledges. In big surf, stay well away from the edge of these ledges. Rogue waves sweep people away several times per decade in Acadia, most recently last summer. Other than avoiding falls, just be prepared for wet weather as well as biting insects in summer. Also be prepared to protect your camera gear. If you use your tripod in salt water, be sure to rinse it in fresh water afterwards. In wet conditions, you will want to stow your camera or protect it with some kind of covering, whether cheap plastic bags, or gear specific protection like the Vortex Media SLR Storm Jacket or one of the coverings made by LensCoat. If you go out on the water in a kayak, store your gear in a dry bag, or consider purchasing a lower-cost underwater housing by Ewa Marine if you plan to shoot while paddling (or have really good gear insurance!) With his wife Marcy, Jerry Monkman has written and photographed three books about Acadia, most recently "A Photographer's Guide to Acadia National Park," available here. Jerry is also leading two workshops in Acadia in 2010, one in June and one in October. More information can be found here. |
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From books, to iPhone apps, to podcasts, Facebook and Twitter, Rick Sammon is everywhere. A Canon Explorer of Light, Rick is also everyman’s photographer. One of Rick’s basic photography tenets is that he “Specializes in not specializing”. 
