Here are some great images and kind words from these gallery particiants:
Not all great photographers make great teachers, Art is! His workshops are amazing.
Not only did I leave with renewed passion and a clearer vision for finding a composition when I thought there was none, but the individual attention provided by his assistants, Gavriel Jecan and Jay Goodrich, was tailored specifically to my needs as a student. All provided superb guidance on how to communicate the passion and artistry of a shot.
The workshops are the most worthwhile investment I have made in improving my photography. When critiqued, they cheer you on in your victories and encourage you in your struggles.
Thanks, Harry Ableman www.harryablemanphotography.com
The course with Art and his assistants was exceptional. I learned so many new and important things and cleared so many misconceptions. Everyone of them put in a lot of effort in teaching and training and most importantly, helping to see better and grow as a photographer and a person. Art is an exceptional teacher full of energy and enthusiasim. I would love to go on more trips like this with him and his team.
Mirza Malang
Art Wolfe’s Olympic National Park Workshop was a unique opportunity for me to learn what I needed to do to take my photography to a new level. Art’s lectures gave me a lot of new ideas to think about; and when we were on site taking photographs, Art and his assistants were always helpful and friendly. The critique at theend of the workshop was very liberating in terms of my future photographic choices. The workshop was tough but invaluable.
Dave Olson
Art is as enthusiastic and helpful in his workshops as he is on Travels to the Edge . Understanding his artistic concept and creation of a photograph provided valuable insight for my own photography.
Gail Gazda http://tctriunguis.shutterfly.com/
I’m so impressed with the depth of information that was given to us in Art Wolfe’s Olympic Peninsula Workshop.
Art’s lectures and teaching methods are also so darn entertaining!
Art’s teaching is full of reference to art history, nature, suggestions of camera settings for different shooting situations; always engaging his audience, always aware of his student.
It was wonderful to see how ART has effected Art in his life long body of work as well as his exciting new projects.
I would welcome the opportunity to take this workshop again. Art and his assistants were always helpful and focused on bringing us to a higher level of photographic ability, both artistically and technically .
I came to this workshop because I wanted to bring new perspective to my observations. I definitely experienced new ways to look thru my lens; my ultimate reason for wanting to learn from Art.
Thank you for this opportunity!
Sharon McCormack
Contact Sharon to view more of her photos.
Email her at: sharon4d@gmail.com
The Olympic Peninsula Workshop was my first experience of this sort with a professional photographer / artist. I’ve been getting more serious about my photography for the past couple of years. Art Wolfe (as well as his workshop assistants and organization) set a high bar for value. Art appears to be entirely transparent about his artistry. He is thoroughly giving, approachable, and funny. How many opportunities do you get to sit in a casual “seminar” with someone at the top of his game and “pick his brain”? Art shared with us what he was thinking as he composed his shots, where he finds inspiration and ideas, and he showed us the resulting photographs. We then went to beautiful natural surroundings to put it all together for ourselves. What an education in such a brief period of time! Art, thanks for the challenge you inspire for those of us who appreciate excellence. I can now ‘see’ how to get there.”
Ken McGivney
Shreveport, Louisiana www.kenmcgivney.photoshelter.com
Thanks to all the participants for a great workshop. This workshop is offered twice each year and is always a wonderful experience for me and my great team.
I leave the wildlife and elephants behind and enter the haunting landscapes in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia.
Dry, parched lake beds that offer stark contrasting compositions. What a great place to photograph!
Here are some of the locations of the images in this slideshow:
•Sossusvlei (mud pan), The Namib Dessert, Namibia
•Aerials over Sossusvlei and from the Okavango, Botswana
•Pictures of his room at the Namibia lodge, Little Kulala Lodge.
•Dead Vlei (burned-looking trees in a dead lake), The Namib Desert, Namibia
Hey, I’m coming back here in January, 2012 to do an international workshop. Want to join me? Let my staff know you are interested.
Checking in from the banks of the Chobe River in Botswana.
We had an excellent day today photographing from a boat. We did a lot of work on elephant and hippo, managing to get really close and then were lucky enough to see a leopardess and her cubs come down to drink in the middle of the day – very rare sighting. We got some great shots of the sunset with elephants that I had been visualizing since arrival and I actually pulled it off!
We have been “roughing it” at Sanctuary Retreat “camps” in both Zambia and Botswana and they have really looked after us well.
I am so excited to be on this trip! The wildlife viewing in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley is tremendous. We saw giraffe and baboon, as well as the colorful bee-eaters which make their nests in cliffsides. The leopard we saw had killed a big female impala and the ungulate was too big for the cat to stow in a tree. So instead, she buried it, which is highly unusual.
Later in the day we came upon a lioness with a wire snare embedded in her neck. Luckily we were able to call the local lion research team who responded quickly because they happened to be in a nearby part of the park. We waited with the lion until they arrived. They then darted the snared female and we helped with the processing of data and removal of snare. I got to be right in the middle of the action and hit these shots as things got a little tense as the lioness’ temperature spiked. We took all the ice from our cooler box and pushed it against her back to keep her temperature from getting critical–I shot this moment from above.
The workshops I lead in the Olympic National Park always seem to bring out the best in everyone at all skill levels. The late summer fires in Washington make for breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. But it’s always the details that are the most interesting: backlit seaweed clinging to rocks battered by the surf.
We’ll be posting a gallery of workshop participants’ photos soon so watch for it!
I just finished a workshop with PODAS (PhaseOne Digital Artists Series). Washington’s wheat growing belt, the Palouse, is a dynamic landscape shaped by both nature and man. Up early and late to bed make for a tired but satisfied photographer. This landscape holds so much drama as the light changes. Fun to meet everyone and hang out with friends Michael, Jeff, Mark, Kevin and Murray. What a great program.
Ben Eby: “This workshop was unequivocally an incredible experience, which I will always appreciate. Both Art & Gavriel are great personal mentors, who are most accommodating when it comes to sharing their applied knowledge, and personal experience. I look forward to reconnecting in the future.” To contact Ben about his photos and experience, email him at ben@greystonedesign.on.ca
Kevin Mullen: “I have had the pleasure of taking two different photo workshops with Art Wolfe this year. Once in Zion in April and the most recent one in the Canadian Rockies. As a result of these two great workshops I have taken my photography to a new level. Through the well prepared teaching presentations, the portfolio reviews and the personal attention of Art, I have been able to change how I view the world around me to photograph. With these improved skills from these two workshops I have produced some of the best photographs I have taken in my life with a camera. Thank you for making photography even more enjoyable!”
Ken Carroll
May Wong
Ben, Kevin, Ken and May – Great work all the way around! Thank you!
The Canadian Rockies never disappoint. The scenery is the finest you’ll ever want to see, and I was so pleased to share some of my favorite locations with a small group of fellow photographers. We rode on horseback into Jasper National Park’s Tonquin Valley and rose before dawn to photograph the fleeting sunrises. The weather was mercurial: one moment the sun was glinting off the Amethyst Lakes, the next we were being stung in the face with granular snow blowing sideways. We huddled for a few minutes in a defensive circle like muskox and let the storm blow by. There was still ice on many of the lakes and we were able to experiment with abstract macro shots, which was a terrific contrast to the expansive landscape around us. Glacial powder blue Peyto Lake never disappoints and Lake Louise with its bloodred canoes is always iconic. I look forward to taking another group back soon!
See the amazing photographs some of the participants got last month in Art’s Lake Clark National Park Workshop, with narration by Art and some video shot on location in Alaska.
