Come Explore America’s Most Beautiful Photo Locations And Learn Aperture

All photos linked to this post are by Cathy Chung

We finally got a gallery of staff photos up from the last workshop. Here is the ANPW photo set on Flickr. And if you prefer, here is a web page of the ANPW photos created in Aperture. Enjoy.

We’re proud to announce the dates for our fourth and final (in this series) Aperture Nature Photography Workshop. On September 9-12, four lucky winners will join four pros for the ANPW Mt. Rainier.

Our submission site for this contest is on Flickr, use this address. http://www.flickr.com/groups/anpw/

Each winner will win a cash travel allowance, hotel, food, ground transfers, as well as prizes from our sponsors. It’s free to enter. You get to keep all Copyrights to your images. There’s no catch. Please read the complete contest rules for more information

We’re also proud to announce that one of the pros joining our teaching faculty this year will be Rick Sammon. Rick is a prolific photographer, author and teacher. His latest book, Rick Sammon’s Digital Photography Secrets is brilliant and he’ll be a real asset to our team of pros.

Also joining Scott Bourne on the pro team will be The Palouse Guy – Gary Hamburgh, an inspiring scenic nature photographer who specializes in selling gallery prints of his amazing nature photos.

Our pro team will be rounded out by Juan Pons, a professional nature photographer and guide from North Carolina. His work is widely published and he has experience guiding nature photo trips

This post sponsored by Photofocus.

The power of photography never ceases to amaze me. Last week I had the privilege of hosting the APNW at Yellowstone with the help of my co-leaders, Gary Hamburgh, Steve Simon, and Frederick Van Johnson. They are some of the best people I know. And that’s an example of the power of our profession. We’re a diverse group from California, New York and Washington. I’m a bird photographer, Frederick is a portrait photographer, Steve is a photo journalist and Gary is a nature photographer.

We all practice and teach photography from different perspectives, yet our common bond is our pure passion for telling stories with our cameras.

I was also impressed by the diversity in our four students. Two from Arizona, one from Oregon and another from New York. The group had a variety of photographic interests and abilities.

Again – all these students took a different approach to the workshop, but all exhibited incredible passion and interest in the information that the teachers offered.

We had pretty good weather for the entire workshop. We had tremendous wildlife opportunities that includes pronghorn, dall sheep, big horn, elk, deer, bison, grizzly bear, fox, coyote and a variety of birds.

We worked on scenics, wildlife, HDR, panoramas and of course Aperture. We even did some portrait and flash demonstrations.

At the end of the workshop, I asked all the students what their favorite thing about the workshop was. Universally, they agreed it was the relationships they built during the event, the inspiration they took from spending time with each other and the instructors and the joy they felt being a part of something special.

Post by Cathy Chung
Photo by Bryan Holliday

There are moments in life that we remember forever. There are dreams in life that we pursue for one year, five years, 20 years or more. When those dreams come true, we are on cloud nine. It is like nothing else in the world.

For Aperture Nature Photography Workshop winner Bryan Holliday, a dream that he had been pursuing for 10 years came true on the first day. Bryan is an avid bird photographer. There was one bird species that he had been trying to photograph for 10 years and had not been able to do so. That species is the American Kestrel. It is a very skittish bird that flies away anytime people come near. But Bryan never gave up hope. He persevered and it paid off.

During the evening shoot of the second day of the workshop, heading to another location Bryan spotted an American Kestrel. He got his camera with his 600 mm lens ready. And this time it happened. The bird just sat on the post and looked right at Bryan. It was as if the bird knew Bryan had waited ten years for this moment. The light was perfect to make the colors of the American Kestrel pop. Bryan took a few shots and was amazed that the Kestrel stayed. He inched closer, the bird stayed. Bryan was able to take over 100 images of the Kestrel. Talk about a dream come true.

Photo by Olga Yiparaki
Post by Cathy Chung

Day two here in Gardiner, MT, it is a crisp 30º and snowing on and off. The group broke out into pairs to photograph this morning. Each group went to a different location.

Scott and winner Bryan Holliday went to the Old Yellowstone Road and spotted hundreds of Kestrel, and hundreds of Mountain Blue Birds. They also saw Pronghorn, Western Meadowlark, Clarks’ Nutcracker, Junco, Prairie Falcon, Mule Deer and a herd of Bison being driven from one area to another by the park rangers.

Frederick van Johnson and winner Ara Roselani followed along the Yellowstone River. They concentrated on the river features.

Gary Hamburgh and winner Olga Yiparaki headed east to the valley. Along the way
they spotted Bison, a Bison calf, Elk, Mute Swan, and plenty of beautiful scenery. Olga brought along her Lens Baby and here is the image she made today you see above.

Steve Simon and winner Elyse Weadock headed towards the hot springs. They came along a herd of Bison that was quite close and were able to get some amazing images. They were so close at one point that we were able to smell the Bison.

After a quick lunch it was into the classroom to learn Aperture. The winners asked great questions.

Here are some of the questions:

How do you (the Pros) rate photos?

Steve saves the “5″ as the best of the best. He uses it for the images that would easily represent his career and could easily make a portfolio out of them.

Frederick rates anything that he likes and would go back and edit a “5″.

How do you zoom?

Press the Z key

Stay tuned for more from this evenings shoot!

Post by Cathy Chung – Photo by ANPW #3 winner Bryan Holliday

Hello from Gardiner, Montana and Yellowstone. We are ending day one of the Aperture Nature Photography Workshop. The winners and pros flew from all over the country and arrived eager to photograph and ready to learn Aperture. The group made their way from Bozeman to Gardiner on I-89. Along the way we spotted: Dall Sheep, Big Horn Sheep, Osprey, Kestrels, Magpies and Canada Geese to name a few.

After all the winners and pros arrived in Gardiner, we met for an orientation. Most important were the safety rules for the workshop and what to do if you come in contact with bears, bison or wolves. Scott assured everyone that nothing has ever happened to anyone and that he was only telling us all of this as a precaution.

The group was given their subscription to lynda.com, a copy of Aperture 2 and the Nik Software Complete Collection of plug-ins for Aperture at the orientation. They were also surprised with a copy of Scott Bourne’s books “88 Secrets to Wildlife Photography” and “88 Secrets to Selling & Publishing Your Photography.” They already received their Drobo’s, Think Tank Rotation 360 bags and their Peachpit Press books prior to arriving at the workshop. (The Lensbabys are coming later.)

The group went around the room and talked about what they want to learn and how long they have been taking photographs.

Olga has been shooting for 1 1/2 years and wants to learn about light from the pros. She normally does wide angle work but wants to expand on that this trip, so she rented a long lens.

Elyse has been shooting for … years and wants to observe the pros in action. She would like to have her work critiqued.

Ara has been shooting for 2 1/2 years. At which time she started out with a point and shoot. It was when she learned about the cameras manual mode that her interest really piqued! She is interested in some real feedback about her photos and would also like to learn how to sell her photos.

Bryan has been shooting for 10 years and has aspirations to be a pro photographer. He would like to learn more about landscape photography, as well as the business side of photography. He would also like to learn how to market himself as a photographer.

This was the winners chance to learn more about the pros on the trip and see an example of the work they do.

Scott Bourne showed two collections; his recent bird trip to Southwest Florida and his Wolfscapes.

Gary Hamburgh, who has been shooting for six years, showed his collection on the Palouse. He spoke about how he was able to start selling his work to galleries.

Steve Simon showed the first photograph he made. He also showed two of his collections;America At the Edge and his work in Africa about AIDS. He spoke about really documenting a subject in depth.

We will be getting up early tomorrow morning to shoot various locations depending on the weather. The group is very excited to get out and shoot. The workshop gets into full speed mode after lunch where we’ll delve deeper into the power of Aperture for editing and organizing photos.

Stay tuned, more to come…

ANPW Workshop #3 begins tomorrow. Some of us have already begun arriving to scout. There are tons of elk, deer and bison up on the Jardine Road. That’s one of the places we’ll be photographing as a group. We’ll run the workshop out of Gardiner, MT where we have a nice conference room set up with a projector and screen. Apple T3-Certified Aperture instructor Steve Simon will join me in teaching the workshop participants how to get the most out of Aperture. It’s going to be fun.

I’ve established a Flickr set with some of my personal photos from the trip. Keep checking it this week as it gets updated.

Congratulations on winning, Olga! You must be very excited. I appreciate you taking time to sit down with me.

Where are you from?

Home has been beautiful Tucson, AZ for the last 12-13 years. I was born and raised in Athens, Greece and moved to the US to attend college/graduate school, and I ended up staying and becoming a citizen. I have lived the nomadic life of an academic–in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Georgia before moving to Arizona.

What kind of photography do you specialize in?

I have a background in art (painting and sculptural ceramics) but I am fairly new to photography, so I am still evolving, still have a lot to learn. Right now I photograph anything and everything that strikes my fancy. I adore my dog Daphne who would make a wonderful photographic muse except for the fact that she is routinely annoyed by my camera and exhales with theatrical flair while walking away from me. Beyond that, I like to photograph food, landscapes, details, and anything that makes and ordinary moment stand out (in good ways or bad). In the end, I see photography not so much about specific subjects, but more about mood, or an unusual viewpoint, or a feeling.

How did you learn about the trip?

I am a regular follower of TWIP! I listen to the weekly podcast on my iPod (usually while driving) and I read the website pretty much everyday.

So you are a Twipper! The website is great and has so much information.

What do you hope to learn on the trip?

Mostly, I hope to learn by observing the pros and their techniques. I hope to learn how to look at light with a more discerning eye. And about landscapes-composing and timing.

Have you used Aperture before?

I have been using Aperture already. I love it. Like all things Apple, it makes everything natural and easy-it gets out of your way so you can concentrate on photography. However, I suspect that I have only scratched the surface of this wonderful program, so I look forward to learning more about it.

What gear are you bringing?

Nikon D700
Nikkor 16mm f 2.8 Fisheye
Nikkor 17-35 f 2.8
Lensbaby Composer
Nikon Speedlight SB-600
Tripod
MacBook

and since I don’t have any telephoto lenses, I am thinking of renting the Nikon 70-300 (or something along those lines.)

What challenges do you think photographers face today?

It depends on the photographer.

For budding photographers, today’s challenges are paradoxical. There are so many choices for lenses, cameras, gizmos, and gadgets, probably more than any other time in the history of photography. Each and everyone serves a purpose and many are wonderful. Technology is wonderful but it can be too much of a good thing. Additionally the internet is an amazing place to get information about photography, but once again, it can be too much, and there is also a lot of misinformation. THe challenge is to be able to ignore much of this and just photograph. In the end, I thin our photographs reflect our mind and our vision, not our equipment.

For professional photographers, today’s challenges come from the increasing competition in the field, since more and more people enter photography as a profession or as a commercial endeavor, often part-time. Additionally, there is a paradigm shift in the business models and distributions of commercial photography-e.g.,stock photography or citizen journalism. It will be interesting to see how this will evolve.

What is your “day job”?

I am a mathematician; I used to be in academia (my research area is in Logic/combinatorial set theory) and now I work in industry. I work with hardware architects on future designs 3-4 years before they get built: to asses tradeoffs by creating mathematical models that predict performance and reliability of enterprise-class storage systems (disk and tape).

Do you have a website or a blog that we can link to?

I just started a new blog intended to document the ANPW experience, in addition to other topics:
http://arizonaolga.wordpress.com/

My Flickr page is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/syzygy/

I also created and run the Tucson iPUG (iPhone and Palm Users Group); we cover all PDA topics, including photography among many others.

See more of Elyse’s work here.

Congraulations, Elyse! Your image was beautiful. Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for our readers.

Where are you from?

I live in New York City

That is one of my favorite places in the world. What is your favorite place or subject to photograph in New York City?

I mostly enjoy walking through Central Park with my camera…grateful to have so much natural beauty right in the middle of a big city (a mini escape!)…many great water spots with their ever changing reflections right down to the puddles after a good rain…but the city streets certainly have much to offer up to the camera lens as well, such extremes! I feel lucky to have easy access to both.

You are lucky, Elyse. New York City and Central Park are wonderful places to shoot.

What kind of photography do you specialize in?

I prefer the natural world. Taking it in and appreciating all that is around me. Currently my enjoyment lies in attempting to venture beyond what and how my eye sees and trying to create something unique out of what’s in front of me. Playing with reflections, shadows, water movement, light, etc.

How did you learn about the trip?

I receive emails from “Apple Hot News” and that is where I read about the announcement. It totally caught my attention and sounded to me, like such and awesome experience and opportunity!

You are right on that one Elyse. It is an awesome experience and opportunity. And you were one of four winners out of over 2000 entries! What do you hope to learn on the trip?

I am so anxious to be side by side with the four professional photographers and I think just to be able to observe “what they do” and ask questions along the way will be such an invaluable and memorable learning experience. I am also looking forward to meeting Ara, Bryan and Olga. I think spending time alongside one another and sharing our experiences will be an added benefit to the trip.

What gear are you bringing?

Canon EOS 30D
Canon ef 70-200, f 2.8
Canon Macro 100mm, f 2.8
Canon ef-s 17-55mm, f 2.8

I am anxious to check out the Lensbaby. I am not familiar with it but it sounds like something to have fun with!

What challenges do you think photographers face today?

My first thought in answering this is the type of images that I am capturing now. The sometimes abstract or painterly look, are thought by some to have been manipulated after – aside from the typical adjustments to exposure, contrast, white balance, etc. I don’t actually know how to manipulate my images and right now am not really interested in doing so. I really want my images to represent what was recorded in the camera-the way I see them.

What is your “day job”?

By day and night I am a stay at home mom with three daughters.

That will keep you busy! How do you find time to shoot?

My girls are 11, 15 & 17 so they are not so dependent on me and it allows me more time to go out and “play”. But I also keep my camera ready to pick up and capture something.

Thank you, Elyse. We look forward to seeing your images from Yellowstone.