Greetings!

Happy holidays! It has been a very busy summer and fall. In fact I am still in the process of finishing several commercial photographic projects, unusually late this year but I can see the end of the season approaching. Welcome to our new formatted newsletter. Randy, Val, and myself are committed to publishing an all new newsletter at least 6 times a year. The newsletter will include useful imaging tips and information about our workshops, lectures, and seminars.

As many of you may already know Val Doherty and I have been working to open a gallery and workshop- studio in downtown Two Harbors. While it is still just a little early to announce anything specific I hope to have details of a new location by the publication of the next newsletter. John Gregor December 2006

In addition to a significantly higher image quality the RAW format allows for changes of density, color, contrast, and color saturation. These changes are made by using a special RAW conversion software. The RAW file format is unique to the camera software that created the image, in other words a Nikon D200 creates a unique file format that is different than the Canon 20D or any other camera even another of Nikon. The only way to recognize the image data as an image is when you convert the image through the use of specialized software. Think of it in the same terms as conventional photographic processes. You have to develop the negative before you can make a print of it and see what you captured. Learning to use one of these specialized software programs is not terribly difficult, however, it does require some attentiveness the same way you had to learn the functions of your camera. The two most popular RAW conversion software programs currently on the market are Adobe Camera Raw (part of Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite) and Capture One. Either of these programs are very good at what they do, and offer the photographer tremendous creative controls. My preference is Capture One for it's ease of use, and slightly better image quality.

For more information about using RAW and RAW conversion we offer several workshops, the most complete workshop is "Digital Color On The South Shore Of Lake Superior" details can be found at: http://www.coldsnap.com/w_8day.htm#SouthS hore

Finding a story to tell and then it isn’t as easy as it may sound. I found that I had to approach it by finding images that I connected with in some way and hope that after the fact some of them would go together to make up a story. After getting my processed black and white film and contact sheets back from the lab, I was sure that I had failed and made the initial decision not to submit any of them for consideration for the exhibit. After some encouragement from John and Randy, I picked out a few to send after staying up all night scanning negatives and burning images to CD. I’m glad I did. Phil chose several of them for the exhibit and expressed interest in doing a solo exhibit with me in the future. This was unexpected, but working with Phil on his vision for the exhibit has been a great experience so far. It’s been amazing to be treated by him as a true artist and a talented photographer. Phil is looking for work that is very specific in subject matter, but with my perspective on it.

I’ll keep you updated on how my and the exhibit are coming along. I want to thank John and Randy for the great workshop experiences I’ve had with them and for all of their encouragement. I’m hoping that I can continue the story with the ColdSnap Canadian North Shore workshop next summer. Maybe I’ll see you there. Happy .

The next weekend on Friday September 22nd, nine photographers from the 2006 Minnesota Roadtrip and about 21 guests convened at the Medina Ballroom for the 2nd Annual slideshow and presentation of Roadtrip images. This last year's roadtrip was quite different from 2005. For one thing we never saw a sunrise in all four mornings in the field, a unique phenomena in over 15 years of teaching workshops! That did not in anyway put a damper on the quality of images. We visited and photographed; 2 county fairs, a tractor pull, buffalo ranch, family dairy farm, demolition derby, country auction, volunteer fireman's fried chicken dinner, street dance, and 4 nature preserves. For me the follow-up parties and exhibits are the some of the best memories from the workshops. After all sharing your images with others is what this is all about.

We are very excited about next year's workshop line up. You can view a complete schedule of our workshops at: ht tp://www.coldsnap.com/w_complete.htm It is not too late to consider giving a workshop (or deposit towards a workshop) for Christmas. For more information call us at (218) 834-0756.