The Summer Series: “Photography on the Edge”
Great images often happen on the edges: the edge of night and day, the edge of land and sea, the edge of a clearing storm. Recognizing this, two of our three summer sessions will explore some of these edges, the last will be by student request.
All sessions begin at 7:00 pm or later, and will last until sunset and beyond. Rather than a lot of theory and instruction, we will instead “learn by doing”. I’ll be there to talk about strategies to improve the impact of your images and we’ll discuss technique and theory as the need arises. Mostly though these workshops are about getting out with your camera and exploring our world visually. The dates for these sessions will be somewhat dependent on the weather, and the timing of the full moon for at least one of them. You should be prepared for a bit of flexibility in the dates, which will hopefully not vary by more than one or two days. No sessions will be planned for weekends, in order to preserve these days for your family or other commitments.
You should own a digital or film camera and be capable of operating in a fully manual mode, and you should familiar with the operation of your camera’s controls. All sessions will require the use of a tripod to maximize your image making opportunities.
Session 1: The Edge of Land and Sea
Join us as we explore the Steveston shoreline. From Britannia to Garry Point there are numerous opportunities for great images. This day is two days from a full moon, which should rise to the south west. Given this great potential opportunity, this session may be rescheduled to the Thursday, depending on the weather.
Session 2: The Edge of Night and Day
The hour or so after sunset provides the best opportunities for dramatic images as night falls and the city lights come on. The south side of False Creek will provide us with great opportunities to photograph the sunset behind the city skyline and the lights of downtown and Science World reflected in the waters of False Creek as night falls.
Session 3: By Request
We can choose from a few alternatives, depending on participant preference (by democratic vote on the evening of the second session, no appeals!)
People in Motion
Learn techniques to imply motion in your images, including panning, flash and shutter drag, zooming with slow shutter. We will have a model available to provide us with our person in motion… jogging, biking and so on
In the Garden
Learn techniques to create flower images with impact. We will talk about the special equipment needed, and how to use this to control backgrounds. We’ll talk a bit about using basic colour theory, controlling depth of field, contrast and other issues.
This session will require a camera with a “macro” focus ability (a macro lens is not an absolute necessity)
Small Flash techniques
Modern shoe-mounted electronic flash units greatly simplify what used to be tortuous mental exercises in determining exposure in many circumstances. We will look at how these great little flashes can be used to open up shadows on sunny days, and add drama to subjects in motion.
For this session participants will ideally own a DSLR camera with a modern dedicated flash unit, such as a Nikon SB – series or a Canon EX – series unit. If you don’t own one of these (or comparable units), but are contemplating the purchase of one, then this session may help your decision along. I have access to a limited number of Canon units which I will make available to participants using Canon DSLR cameras. Photographers with some point and shoot cameras may still be able to benefit from much of our discussion and many of the techniques described.
Elements of this session could be combined with either of the first two alternatives.
Cost and registration
Sessions are $35 per person, or $90 for all three. Register by calling me at 604-307-2451. Sessions require a minimum 6 paid particpants to proceed.