Think about it...

Rome is a fantastic city, there is a lot to ponder. The art, the music, the food, and for the photographer, everything is a picture! There isn't enough room in a day to fit everything in, but that is the fun part. When taking pictures, I like to start with the wide shot, and then move in closer for all the detail shots like the one above. Think about the background and what's going on behind the subject.  Consider lens choice, aperture/shutter speed, and angle to capture a variety of different and interesting photos.  Most important, have fun shooting!

In case you were wondering where in the world Santa is???

Just in case you were wondering where in the world Santa is... he's in Venice on a gondola! All six of him! This might be a tradition here, in any case it was a lot of fun being surrounded by so many rowing Santa's!  I hope everyone is ready for the holidays, and for the upcoming New Year. 2010 went by really fast!  Photo tip... Always have your camera ready! Have fun shooting... ~ Deb

#HDR at Twilight, extending our HDR workshop at Naturescapes...

The quaint town of Socorro, New Mexico is a wonderful place to visit, and it's very close to the most beautiful Bosque del Apache where Naturescapes was held. Greg Downing, Tim Grey and myself led several workshops and presentations in this picturesque part of the country.

My creative photographer students started out our HDR workshop with an interesting caboose and railway, and we ended up extending our time into twilight with a few HDR photos of the historic area, much fun! One of the students had a tilt shift lens and was able to make very cool photos during the workshop. Several used fisheyes, one of my favorite lenses! Twilight is a wonderful time to make expressive photographs. The magic light of the "blue hour" lasts only for a short time. For HDR and/or twilight photography, use a remote release, tripod and low ISO. HDR allows the photographer to capture the entire dynamic range of the scene, and twilight provides the the vivid blue sky. A small aperture provides the starburst effect. This is affectionately called the "Tim Grey" effect by everyone at Naturescapes after Tim's informative and fun presentation!  Have fun shooting! ~ Deb

HDR in Socorro, NM - Maximize your opportunities with a great subject!

I just finished up teaching at Naturescapes with Greg Downing and Tim Grey in beautiful Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. We stayed in a cool little city called Socorro that has a couple of interesting places to photograph -- especially in HDR!  This ended up to be one of the locations that I took my HDR workshop photographers to. We had a lot of fun exploring this colorfully painted and aged-to-perfection caboose. We photographed from the wide view, to the details and came away with a lot of interesting and creative interpretations of this location, including really fun fisheye views. One of the participants had a tilt shift lens which worked beautifully with the uneven terrain around the caboose. It was great to see what everyone came up with! Our HDR workshop segued into a twilight workshop with a vivid blue sky and twinkling lights of of the downtown historic area. We finished the evening with a wonderful dinner among friends!

This HDR image was processed using Nik HDR Efex Pro, the new kid on the block for HDR that is a hit with the Naturescapes group!  You can use code DSANDIDGE for everything Nik! Put Naturescapes on your workshop must attend list and have fun shooting! ~ Deb