My Mindshift 180° Panorama Backpack Helps Me Gets the Shots

March 15, 2014

Click images to enlarge.

It was an amazing experience in the Hudson River tonight: That's right! I was actually standing in the Hudson River in Croton-on-Hudson, New York making pictures of the wonderful ice formations. I have lived in Croton-on-Hudson for more than 25 years, and I have never seen a sight like the one I saw tonight. I felt as though I was for in Iceland, where I lead digital photography workshops.

Helping me capture images was my new Mindshift rotation 180 ° Panorama backpack. This backpack offers a totally unique and cool design: it lets you swivel around the belt pack interior for easy access to gear that you can't, or don't want to, put down on the ground – or on the ice. I use the belt pack for lenses and filters, but it's large enough to hold another digital SLR and lenses.

What's more, the backpack is super comfortable . . . and goes well with my red coat! :-)

Click here to learn more about Mindshift backpacks.

All my gear is listed on My Gear page.

I took the opening image for this post with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 14mm lens. For the image below, I switched to my Canon 17-40mm lens.

The sunset image above on the left is a HDR shot that I processed in the latest version of Photomatix Pro. The photo on the right is the average exposure of my four-image HDR sequence.

Helping me find the best light, as always, was my Photo Sundial app, which works around the world.

Sure, the wide-angel photo opportunities were awesome. But as I tell my photo workshop students, try to "tell the whole story" of a location. Close-ups helps us do that.

The Hudson Valley is a wonderful location in which to shoot, anytime of the year. In the spring and fall I run a Croton-on-Hudson workshop - where I took the above photographs. Hope you can join the photo experience.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. I received a few emails about my boots: Muck boots.

Photoshop Artistry Savings Offer Expires Tonight (3/15) at Midnight

March 15, 2014

Hey gang, have you ever had an itch to create something seriously artistic?

If so, I just learned about this awesome learning opportunity that I think you might want to check out: "Photoshop Artistry: Fine Art Grunge Composition," with Sebastian Michaels.

What especially impressed me is that none other than my friend and Photoshop Hall-of-Famer Dave Cross liked the course so much that he went and created a special supplementary course of his own to go along with it: "Non-Destructive Photoshop Techniques for Photo Artists."

Until midnight on Saturday, March 15th, 2014 Dave Cross is actually giving away his course (normally $97) as a free bonus to anyone signing up for the big Photoshop Artistry training (which is itself discounted right now by 41%, with lifetime access to over 60 videos and over 5 gigabytes in pro-designed bonus content).

The normally $297 course is only $174, again until Saturday night.

If you would like to move beyond simply editing your images, awaken your artistic side, and create stunning, intricately layered compositions perfect for fine art print or canvas — this is something I think you will want to check out. Today - and save!

Explore the light,
Rick

I'm in Florida for My Seminars and Workshops

January 17, 2014

My free Florida seminars (Orlando, Jacksonville, Delray Beach) started this week. I hope you can join the fun, as I like to make learning fun.

In my talks I cover exposure, composition, lighting, HDR, speedlites, Photoshop, plug-ins, photographing people, wildlife photography, street shooting - and getting motivated and inspired.

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My 2014 digital photography workshops also begin next week. The Florida workshops are sold out, but I have other workshops around the country - and world - scheduled. Lots of shooting and lots of image processing.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. If you can't make a live seminar, check out my on-line classes.

Dates Set for My 2014 Florida Seminars and Workshops - learn digital photography from start to finish

January 15, 2014

I've set the dates for my 2014 Florida Photo Seminars and Digital Photo Workshops. I hope you can join the fun in the Sunshine State. All info is on my 2014 Workshops page and my Seminars page.

Our fastest action will be at the motocross track near Tampa.

Seminars vs. workshops: My seminars are sessions in which I give a keynote show, packed with info, for a few hours. Most are free or only cost a few bucks.

My workshops are all-day, hands-on, shooting and processing sessions - ranging from a few days to a week. Cost varies from workshop to workshop.

St. Augustine offers many photo opportunities.

First, my workshops:

You'll learn HDR, flash and close-up photography - and Lightroom and Photoshop - in Delray.

January 17 - 19 • Tampa-Area Action Photography. We'll photograph motocross, horses and dancers using natural light and speedlites.

January 24 - 30 • My Annual Photo Caravan. We travel from St. Augustine to South Beach, shooting all along the way.

Here's a look at my Exploring the Light Seminars:

January 13 • Orlando Camera Club

January 21 • Jacksonville PPA

February 1 • Delray Beach, hosted by the PBC Photo Walkers.

I'll show you how to do this easy Photoshop trick.

I hope to see you in the Sunshine State in January. Again, all info is on my 2014 Workshops page and on my Seminars page.

Speaking of the sunshine state, Florida is a great place for sunrise and sunset photography.

Never miss another sunrise or sunset again. My Photo Sundial app shows the position of the sun, as well as phases of the moon, a five-day weather forecast, and more! It's on sale for $2.99 until September 30th.

Also, if you can't make a live event, check out my on-line classes. As you will see, live and on-line, I like to make learning fun!

Explore the light,
Rick

Hey: Looking for some great prices on some great gear - for you or a loved one for the holidays? Click here.

My site is hosted on Squarespace. Give these guys a try. Awesome sites and customer service.

We Make Pictures on My Workshops

November 15, 2013

Interested in making pictures rather than just taking pictures? Then I hope you can join one of my 2014 digital photography workshops. I can help you with composition and exposure and processing. What's more, we shoot in great locations and have a ton of fun.

I made the images in this post on my 2013 Oregon Coast Photo Caravan workshop.