Composition of our images and how that expresses what we encounter in the field is an endless art within landscape photography. Composition is very important and yet in my reviews and working with various clients I can see that it can be overlooked.

The most impactful and compelling images are the those that have the proper balance of Technique, Vision, and Processing. All of these skills need to be developed and continually refined through our own artistic and creative process.

For this session we will explore and discuss some of the following foundational concepts of composition and image design:

1. What are some of the challenges we experience in our images.

2. Look at what makes a compelling image.

3. Explore how we define composition.

4. Review some examples from my own work where my technique, vision, or processing was not aligned and thus the viewer was left confused.

5. Look at how the eye and brain moves through images and how it will leave if confused or unstimulated.

6. Discuss the 19 rules for landscape photography with image examples and ways to recognize them in the field.

These things we will review will help you to evaluate what images we might want to select for our portfolios, see some simple ways to correct minor distractions in post and give you greater confidence to express yourself in new ways.

There are 5 types of scenes that are most commonly encountered by nature and landscape photographers. This presentation focuses on the techniques used to capture these images, what the vision was for the scene, and processing these images taking into account the variables that make each scene a little different than another.

We will review best practices for these 5 distinct types of scenes.

1. Exploring Arid Lands (Desert Photography)

2. Discovering the Wispy & Magical (Seascapes Photography)

3. Empowered by Grandeur (Grand Landscapes Photography)

4. The beauty of the small (Intimate Landscapes / Small Scenes photography)

5. Things that go Click in the Night (Night Photography)

For each of these different scenes we will review some best practices of in field capture, talk about processing methods, review special considerations for scene specific captures, review the challenges in fainter light and higher detail scenes, and so much more!

This presentation focuses on "Not too Heavy, Not too Light. Just right. Evaluating and working with light in Photography."

The word “photography” literally means “drawing with light” from the Greek words phos, (genitive: phōtós) meaning “light”, and graphê meaning “drawing or writing”.

There are so many ways to think about the different types of light within our photography and what we can do with what we get in the field but also when we get back in front of our computer to process our images we “harvested” in the field. In this presentation I talk about how the most important thing in photography is you and how you look through the light harvester (IE the camera) and the choices and decisions you make on how to collect the light that is falling in front of you onto your subjects of choice.

I doesn’t have mastery of light nor the power to control it but I will talk about what I CAN control is how I reacts to the light I am is given, not the light I want, but the light I am given.

I considers the science and study of light to be one of our most important pursuits in photography.

This presentation will increase your understanding of how to work with light. Some of the topics covered in this presentation include but are not limited to.

1. How to think about light.

2. How we view light vs how our camera (light harvester) views light.

3. How do we actually see light from the warms and cools to the brights and darks.

4. What is the true value of light in our images?

5. How do photographers describe and talk about light?

6. What are the 4 ways in which light interacts with our scenes?

7. How can you most effectively use light in your images.

8. Ways you can break out of your normal mode of working with light.

As part of this session you will get a follow up with a reference sheet of 15 ways to describe light, and a recording of the presentation. You wont want to miss it!

Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. He spent most of his life in the Desert Southwest of the US. An author by nature his descriptions of the beauty of the desert(s) have drawn thousands of people to experience the desert themselves.

I have traveled there camera in hand to some of the most iconic and lesser known places. Join us for a web presentation where I will take us to Ed Abbey country as we visit well known places and spaces like Zion and Bryce but also venture off the beaten path and into lesser known and seldom seen places like White Pocket, The Wave, and the farther reaches of Grand Escalante. The presentation includes well over 25 destinations along with tips and tricks to make your experience as memorable as possible! Join us!

Join me as I lead attendees on a journey through California’s Central Coast and beyond, including some of our state’s most iconic national parks, coastal wonders, desert landscapes, and more.

Watch to see some of my favorite locales to photograph — many just a short drive away, along with a few tips to polish up your own photography skills the next time you’re exploring the outdoors. You’ll be sure to discover new places you’ll want to explore — and some secret gems!

Some of the places we will discover include:

1. Off the beaten path (literally) locations in the High Sierras.

2. Exploration of the odd and obscure in places like the Ancient Bristlecone Pines or the Trona Pinnacles.

3. The beauty and rarity of the wildflowers along Shell Creek by Paso.

4. The places you have driven by a hundred times like Mojave Dunes.

5. Locations you have seen from a distance but not up close like Channel Islands.

6. Central Coast special spots like Montana DeOro, Pirates Cove, and Oceano Dunes.

7. Less frequented National Parks like Lassen and Pinnacles.

8. And so much more!

Nic will also talk about how to plan your images using tools like PhotoPills and how he discovers these places along with 3 simple ways to immediately take better images.

The psychology of photography goes beyond making pretty pictures and starts to examine the deeper questions beyond the creation of our images.

1. How are we drawn to patterns, shapes, lines, and what do they mean to our subconscious?

2. What is the relationship of these elements to our emotional response to scenes in the field?

3. What are the different schools of psychology and how the brain forms thoughts and how you can work with that.

4. What models of creativity can we look to follow and understand where we are in the creative process?

5. How does our formation of limited beliefs and our belief system dictate who we are as photographers?

6. Are there definable stages of our growth that we experience as photographers?

7. What are the types of biases and how do they influence our artistic and creative journey?

“The Power to Create, giving ourselves the permission, we need to embrace the creative process” Together we work to understand the creative process, how we can access more within our process.

For this presentation we will explore:

1. How creativity is not something that is limitless, how it is not a singular event, and that it repeatable and endless.

2. Ways to shift from thinking of yourself as (just) a photographer to that of an artist and/or creative storyteller.

3. Exploration of how we form limiting beliefs that disable our work and block us from being the creatives we want to be.

4. Discovering where you get inspiration and how you can more easily return to those states.

5. Defining how I see my own creative process and how you might view yours.

6. How we need to understand the technical aspects of our craft and then move away from it, ASAP.

7. Introducing the Whole Brain Photographer and our brain states and how we can be creating using both sides of our brain.

8. Making the time for ourselves and establishing the environment we need to create.

9. Understanding the creating is messy and getting comfortable in these states of unrest and how you can find your routines of repair.

10. How you can work consciously an unconsciously to cultivate the ideal mindset for your own creative path.

This presentation will help you to look at your work and your creative process in completely different ways than ever before. You will see how you need to give yourself permission to go deeper into your creative self to explore a wider range of what you and your work represent.

Micro workshops are also requested from time to time. In ideal situations we would do these face to face but some of the topics work just as well broken into two 3 hour sessions. In these sessions we go into detail on planning, settings, locations, technical details for the first session. The second session is all about processing.

I will review images submitted by participants and we will go through how to approach the processing of those images.

I am open to other topics of interest but as of today the three in the most demand are Composition, Seascapes and Night Photography. We will use various tools from Lightroom and Photoshop as part of these classes, review the use of Apps like PhotoPills to assist in planning and execution and so much more. Contact me to discuss specifics.