My new 4- week and 8-week on-Line courses begin tomorrow, Wednesday, March 5. It's still not too late to sign up.
For example, want to make money in photography? Learn how to market photos like the puppy below. Want to feel more confident in exposure? Learn how to expose white subjects like the puppy. Interested in learning more about Photoshop. Learn how to incorporate pictures like the puppy into another image.
I teach several 8-week and 4-week courses on-line for Betterphoto.com
The way the courses work is this. Every Wednesday, you receive a lesson that consists of text and photos, explaining various principles in either photography or digitral manipulation. At the end of each lesson there is an assignment, and you have plenty of time to take pictures and upload them for my critique. You can use photos you did specifically for the assignment or images that you have taken previously.
On-line photo courses are like virtual classrooms but not in real time. Other students can see your pictures, read my critiques, and comment on your work. Similarly, you can comment on the pictures of other students.
One of the wonderful things about these on-line courses is that students participate from all over the world. In a single lesson's uploads, you may see pictures from Bryce Canyon or Brazil, or from Singapore or South Carolina. It's a very simulating environment as well as a learning experience, and it will help you become the photographer or digital artist that you want to be.
On the Betterphoto.com website, you can read the lesson outline of each course and see sample photos. In addition to going to Betterphoto.com, you can also access the courses I teach drectly by going to my website, jimzuckerman.com, and clicking on the link 'Courses'. at the top of the home page.
|
Message
The company that made one of the best Photoshop plug-ins, Buzz,
has gone out of business. Instead of selling the technology, they have just disappeared. If you want to get this plug-in now, you have to know someone who has it. If you don't already know about this filter, on my website (jimzuckerman.com) all the images in the 'Fine Art Color' category were done with Buzz.
If you don't know anyone who has Buzz and you want it, drop me a note and let me know if you have a PC or a Macintosh computer and I'll email it to you along with the password.
|
|
Macro photography with Ring Flash:
a unique approach
A ring flash is a special flash unit where the light emanates from all round the lens. You can see the setup below.  I never owned one of these flashes until recently. I felt that the lighting was flat with little dimension and depth. However, Canon's MR-14 EX ring light gives us the ability to create a lighting ratio. There are two small flash units inside the ring, and there is a control on the unit to turn either of the lights off completely or to have one stronger than the other. This gives a sense of dimension and depth if you want it. Modeling lights aid in focusing as well as composing in dark shooting environments, and the ring flash clips onto a small flange that screws onto the front of the lens like a filter.
I recently photographed poison dart frogs, and I bought the flash specifically for this shoot. These are very tiny subjects, and I felt that the ring of light would provide enough illumination so the top of the frogs as well as their underside would be lit. I didn't want any harsh shadows. A major concern I had with a normal flash unit was that if it sat in the hotshoe, the light output would be too high -- it would pass over the frogs rather than illuminate the whole thing, particularly the lower portions. If I used a bracket to hold the flash lower, such as direclty above the lens, this might work but I didn't think it would be as good as the ring flash.
 My flash exposure technique was simple. I needed as much depth of field as possible, so I used f/32 on my 50mm macro lens. At the same time, I set the camera to manual exposure mode and the flash to ETTL. If I set the camera to aperture priority, I'd get a proper exposure but the camera's meter would try and balance a dark background (if I composed a picture with a dark background) with the frog, and this would cause the shutter to be open too long. I certainly didn't want to blur the frog or the plants.
 With the ring flash, I feel it is important to use a short-focal length lens, like the 50mm, rather than a 100mm macro or even the 180mm. This is because the 50mm lens has a shorter working distance, and I wanted to be very close to the frogs to take advantage of the light ratio. If I shot from, say, two to four feet away, the ring would act as one light source even if one of the flashes were diminished in power.
Another issue I had to deal with was
the reflection of the ring flash in the
eyes of the frogs. There was no way around it. It appeared in almost
every photo (except when the eyes
didn't show, as in the frog at right).
To eliminate the unwanted reflection, I had to use the clone tool in Photoshop. I also cloned out some of the reflections on the very shiny surface of the skin, and that made a huge difference.
I enjoyed photographing these frogs so much, and I was so pleased by the results, that I've decided to put together a photo workshop later this year. The dates have not been established yet, but it will be a weekend in St. Louis. We will photograph dart frogs like the ones you see here plus some incredibly fascinating reptiles. As soon as I have made the arrangements, I will anounce it in this newsletter.
|
|
|
Self Critique
The photo below was taken last summer during a photo workshop I gave in Switzerland. It is Trummbelbach Falls, and it shows a narrow gorge with a raging river that is actually inside a mountain. I include this falls in my Heart of Europe photo tour that begins on July 26 (see below) because it's such a spectacular photographic destination and a very exciting thing to see.
I have always liked this picture. I like the pronounced texture, the extensive depth of field that makes both the foreground and the interesting background sharp, and the artificial lighting was placed strategically (by the Swiss) so the contours are nicely defined. I used Photoshop to enhance the color of the water so it wasn't so colorless, but that's the only digital change. The cyan/blue against the steel-gray walls is very appealing to me. I also like the graphic design of the image and how the water seems wedged between the rocks.
|
Heart of Europe Photo Tour departing July 26.
There are only two spaces left.
Next summer, I will be leading a 10 day photography trip to five different countries in Europe -- Switzerland, Germany, France, Lichtenstein, and Luxembourg. The dates are July 26 to August 3, 2008.
In a relatively small geographic area, we will see and photograph breathtaking mountain landscapes, classically beautiful medieval castles, dramatic waterfalls (one of which is inside a rocky gorge), villages at twilight, and awesome cathedrals.
The trip is limited to 10 people, and we will stay in beautiful properties as well as a magnificent castle along the Rhine for two nights. You will return home with stunning pictures for sure.
For a detailed itinerary, pricing and more photos, please click on this link:
http://www.lpworkshops.com/
|
Kenya Photo Safari
I will be again leading a photo tour to Kenya next year, from Sept. 21 - Oct. 7, 2008. The tour last month was incredible, and everyone got awesome pictures on a daily basis. We stay in wonderful lodges with excellent food, and every day we have such amazing experiences being up close
 and personal with lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, giraffes, and so much more. My co-leader, Paul Renner, is a wonderful guy and speaks fluent Swahili because he grew up in Tanzania. He helps make sure the tour runs smoothly, and his relationship with the tribal people helps us get great shots of both the Maasai and Samburu people.
This is a great season to go to East Africa because there are lots of animals, and they are very easy to find. This isn't always the case. The climate is very pleasant, even though we are on the Equator, since the elevation averages about 5000 to 6000 feet.
Each day brings new adventure. On the last trip, we saw about 9 or 10 lion matings in the Maasai Mara, and we saw leopards every day in
 Samburu National Reserve. On one special day in Sweetwater, we had a close encounter with a tame black rhino and were able to get wide angle head shots! And the bird life is amazing. At Lake Nakuru, there were literally millions of flamingos, and at a distance the lake looked pink!
For futher information, here is a link that gives you the itinerary and pricing:
http://www.rennerimages.com/safaris/KenyaSept4-202008.htm
Please note that the price includes airfare from Los Angeles. If you live closer to Africa, for example on the East Coast of the U.S. the airfare will be adjusted accordingly. Also note that we have only 3 people per vehicle, and this makes a huge difference in mobility within the vehicle to shoot from any angle.
|
On a photo safari or any trip abroad, I highly recommend that you never check your photo gear. One lady on this last Kenya trip had all her camera gear stolen (fortunately) on the return flight home. She checked her camera bag and she retrieved it at her final destination minus all the gear. Airline travel is challenging now because in many cases we are limited to a reduced weight and sometimes just one carry-on. The solution is use a photo jacket and stuff the pockets with a couple of lenses, re-chargers, etc. Jackets are not considered carry-ons and I've never seen one weighed.
|
|
|
Poison dart frog