Santa Cruz Photography Workshop

This workshop will help beginning and intermediate photographers create wonderful images of the gorgeous Santa Cruz coast. The workshop focuses on producing striking and powerful compositions, as well as telling a story with your photos. There is a strong emphasis on understanding your camera’s settings in order to use them creatively. This workshop is limited to 8 students. We will discuss:

• Transforming your artistic vision into memorable photographs
• Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO – their relationship to one another and how to change them for exposure control
• Metering and getting a correct exposure
• Histograms, how to read them, and how to fine-tune exposure
• Creative depth-of-field effects using aperture control
• Capturing motion within your photos using different shutter speeds
• Timing waves to capture crashing spray, water streaks, and sandy reflections
• White balance and creative coloration
• Creating perspective, depth, and a sense of “being there” in your photos
• Creating powerful compositions with impact
• Composing to control your viewer’s attention in your photos
• Compositional balance, tension, and visual flow
• How to use filters to capture dramatic light or create long-exposure effects

• Digital SLR camera
• Lenses. Wide and ultra-wide angle lenses are highly recommended
• A sturdy tripod
• Footwear with good traction (waterproof or rubber boots recommended) and warm socks (very important!)
• Creativity and a positive attitude
• Warm clothes in layers, gloves, a warm hat, and a rain jacket
• A wide-brim hat and sunscreen
• A one-liter (or larger) water bottle

Highly recommended items

• Filters (ND, Grad ND, Polarizers)
• Remote shutter release
• Camera rain sleeve
• Flashlight

Fitness level

This workshop is appropriate for photographers of most fitness levels. We will walk approximately 1-3 miles over the course of the workshop. This includes walking on sandy, uneven, and slippery terrain. All participants are expected to be able to carry their own camera, personal gear, and water during the workshop.

The day begins about 6 hours before sunset at a common meeting point. We then carpool to our first beach. We will spend about 3 hours at the first beach, pointing out the highlights and working one on one with the students. Mid-afternoon we head back to the cars for snacks and to drive to a second beautiful beach. We’ll stay at the second beach until 30 minutes after sunset, working with shutter speeds, compositions, and capturing the sunset colors. The beaches we visit on this workshop are not always the same; rather we pick beaches that work best for the conditions and group. The beaches we may visit include Four Mile Beach, Davenport Main Beach, Panther Beach, Natural Bridges State Beach, and Hole in the Wall Beach.

• Quality, professional, 1-on-1 photography instruction on par with your level as a photographer
• ~5 hours of in-field shooting and instruction
• Water and snacks throughout the workshop
• A fun, positive, interactive learning environment
• Small class size of 8 students maximum

What's Not Included

• Transportation. While students need to provide their own transportation during the workshop we will be carpooling as much as possible.

View our cancellation policy

Josh Cripps moved to Santa Cruz in 2009 and has spent countless hours on the area's beaches since then. He knows the seastacks and shelves by name and can dodge a rogue wave with one hand tied behind his back. He loves helping students get their feet wet with seascape photography.

Jim Patterson has lived in Santa Cruz for over 16 years and practically put the area "on the map" with his spectacular seascape photography. From Half Moon Bay south all the way through Big Sur, Jim knows the area's beaches like no one else due to countless hours spent scouting and photographing the central California coast.

Josh and Jim are both professional photographers from Santa Cruz, California. They have been teaching together since 2010 (and separately since 2008) and have developed a tag-team approach to helping students understand photography concepts. Through a combination of theory, philosophy, examples, and on-the-spot feedback, they help students reach those "a-ha!" moments that take their photography to the next level.

Getting to the workshop

This workshop is based out of Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz is located at the Northern end of the beautiful Monterey Bay at the intersection of the 17 and 1 highways. Just 30 minutes south of San Jose, 1.5 hours south of San Francisco, or 5 hours north of Los Angeles, Santa Cruz is easy to get to from all parts of California.

Getting around during the workshop

Transportation is not provided. While students need to provide their own transportation during the workshop we will be carpooling as much as possible.

Climate

Santa Cruz enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with mild temperatures all year round. In winter nights are typically chilly and days are cool, with temperatures ranging anywhere from 32°F to 70°F. Summer tends to bring cool, foggy mornings followed by warm, clear afternoons; temperatures range from the mid-40's to the 80's. Santa Cruz receives the vast bulk of its annual precipitation from November to March. Workshops during those months are more likely to experience rain, but also more likely to observe dramatic light.

Recommended clothing

Due to the cool days and chance of getting splashed by a wave, we HIGHLY recommend bringing multiple layers of non-cotton clothing, a sturdy rain jacket, a warm hat, gloves, a change of socks and shoes, and waterproof or rubber boots to wear while shooting. We recommend a bringing a warm jacket regardless of the season as temperatures drop rapidly once the sun has set, even in the summer. A wide-brim hat, sunscreen and sunglasses, and a large water bottle will also be indispensable.

A few nice things folks have said about this workshop...

Thank you for a great class. Both of you were so good at explaining things and so willing to help. Not only are you both good at explaining things, but you are both polite, knowledgeable, and helpful. My favorite part of the workshop was the one-on-one attention. It was so much better than a previous class I had taken. Thanks. [Because of this workshop I registered for the] Yosemite Class in April. A+ from this teacher. ~ Gwynne M.

The one on one instruction was perfect. I learned so much about my camera and settings. I can't wait to take another workshop. ~ Lori C.

You guys were really in tune with my level of experience. I learned composition and focus, especially using the live view and focusing manually, and to trust your histogram....lets just say I could not find anything I did not like [about this workshop].~ Bill M.

Both Josh and Jim were informative and easy to approach with questions. Both did a good job of circulating around the group while we were shooting. [I enjoyed] learning from other photographer's experience, and being guided to awesome locations I wouldn't have found on my own. I got a lot of good shots... ~ John B.

Thank you for a wonderful time. You guys have a great way of explaining difficult concepts and its always fun to learn from people who clearly have a passion for what they do. ~ MeMe R.