What do you get when you combine mile-high granite crags, 2,400-foot roaring waterfalls, exploding dogwood blossoms, and eight enthusiastic photographers? An awesome photography workshop in Yosemite Valley, that’s what. To tell you the truth, I was a little worried at first: the forecast called for bright and blue skies during the entire ‘shop. “What are we going to do with the workshop for three days in Yosemite with clear skies???” Jim and I asked each other. But with a little creativity, some good timing, and a little luck, our group managed to find amazing photos wherever we went.
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Yosemite Photography Workshop, April 25th – 28th, 2013
Big Sur Photography Workshop recap, March 9th, 2013
Big Sur loves to test us. It likes to drench us with rain, shroud us in fog, and pelt us with sand. In fact, we stopped offering Big Sur ‘shops in the summer time because it seemed like it was always blowing gale-force winds. We thought we squeak by in March but the coast had other plans for us.
On a gloriously blue day our group of intrepid photo enthusiasts set out to explore the beauty of the Big Sur coast. Our first stop was iconic Pfeiffer Beach, renowned for its famous lightbeam, which occurs for about five weeks on either side of winter solstice. But Pfeiffer is also just a really cool beach, with multiple arches, big seastacks, big scattered boulders, and even some purple sand. Yes, purple sand. And though the beach was as beautiful as ever under the deep azure skies, it was also windy and more than one sand-devil buffeted us during the afternoon. (more…)
Death Valley Photo Workshop Wrap-Up, Feb 21-24, 2013
Death Valley’s desert landscapes are simply phenomenal. The stark beauty continually changes and offers something new and unusual with each visit.
In an effort to seek out something new, Josh and I set out on scouting missions at sunrise and sunset for a potential new location. We wandered the salt flats for a few miles in the morning and then again in the evening before meeting the group for the first time. But Death Valley is vast place, especially in the middle of the salt flats. We accidentally pulled over one wash too early and found ourselves wandering about. Luckily, we found the location we had scouted that morning. And for those that know the story, we may have appeared to passers-by as the reincarnation of Shorty Harris staggering across the seemingly endless valley floor. But alas, we made it back in time for introductions and dinner. (more…)
Adding Light Beams to Photos in Photoshop CS6
Love light beams and want a realistic way to add them beautifully to your photos? This tute has the answer, plus lots of great info about layers and masking, blend modes, different blur effects, and more. Be sure to watch it full screen in HD.
Santa Cruz Seascape Photography Workshop, February 2nd, 2013
Despite what people may think from time to time, Jim and I do not have the ability to conjure good light (shhh, don’t tell anyone!). Nay, in fact, we were as happily surprised as our students when this past Saturday on a Santa Cruz photography workshop we had textured clouds during the day and fiery red colors at sunset. In fact, save a brief spell of bluish skies in the middle of the afternoon, we had pretty darn decent light all day.
Big Sur Photography Workshop, January 12, 2013
Our first workshop of the new year was in beautiful Big Sur. As often is the case in January, a period of clear skies moved through the area. I once heard a National Park employee call this phenomenon “June-uary”. And while it certainly looked like summer, the crisp air never quite reached beyond 50° and reminded us all it was still winter. And although weather wasn’t full of dramatic skies, the Big Sur landscape more than makes up for it by being pretty dramatic all by itself.
Thanks to Kinya, Brittany, Melissa, Bharat, Avinash, Phil, Liz, and Joey for coming out!
-Jim and Josh
Jim Patterson
Josh Cripps