I started off the month of October by leading a small workshop on the Olympic Peninsula for a handful of intrepid photographers who were ready to be safely out and about. Much of what appears to be fog in the photos is more than likely smoke still heading up north from the many devastating fires in California.
I’m so fortunate to live in such a varied and beautiful location where so many lessons can be taught in one place – from the varied lighting conditions on beaches versus the shadowed canopies of trees along their edge, majestic old-growth trees, and waterfalls to practice longer exposures.
Never be afraid to alter the location around you, as in the shot with the stacked rocks. It’s still possible to stage a scene while staying true to the natural wonders of the location, and in some ways enhance it while getting comfortable with the creative process!
In the photo below, the stacked rocks are not just an attempt to manufacture a subject, or add an interesting foreground element to capture the eye. While both of these things are happening, it’s really the smoothness of the rocks that informs the viewer about the location – the timeless rounded edges that speak of centuries of erosion. it so happens their rounded shape makes them easy to balance and stack.
Tomorrow is Migratory Bird Day! With projects like Migrations and the upcoming wild, I’ve no shortage of photos to celebrate these stalwart world travelers. Enjoy the image gallery!
On the subject of ‘world travelers’, tomorrow morning Parimal and myself will be live at 10 AM on Earth Is Our Witness to talk with “The Big Cat People” Angela and Jonathan Scott to hear the awesome tales that come of over four decades of experience photographing the lions of Africa.
Enjoy the images and we hope to see you live tomorrow morning!
If you joined us for Tequila Time (yep – on a Tuesday! This may happen more often as I get back to traveling for workshops and book projects, so stay tuned!) I shared some photos from Bandon, Oregon and our workshop there. Here are more images from that workshop, and I’ll see you next week!
Much like last night’s episode of Earth is Our Witness, Tequila Time will be happening at a special time this week – LIVE tonight at 5:30! Parimal won’t be able to host this time around, but for those of you who know her or have spoken to her on the phone when calling the office my assistant Libby will be on hand to help me run the show, along with still-States-bound Gavriel. We will miss Parimal’s hosting acumen but I’ve got some photos to show from our recent Bandon workshop to share. The smoke in the atmosphere made for some interesting images. That being said, I hope everyone and their property is safe and sound from these terrible fires. Join us live on Facebook and Instagram!
As much as I can, I’ll try to keep the live stream times consistent but the important thing is that we all get the time together, regardless of when it happens – so I’ll keep you in the loop and hope you can join me – and if you can’t you can always check out my Instagram TV, Facebook Videos, and of course the Tequila Time page on my website to view past episodes!
If you missed it last evening, Parimal and myself had a great interview with The Animal Kingdom photographer Randal Ford – check out Randal’s work on the Earth Is Our Witness instagram page and if you missed the episode, view it on Facebook and YouTube!
Wishing everyone here on the West Coast safety for themselves and their property as fire rage – my thoughts are with anyone who’s dealing with evacuations, poor atmosphere and both. As if we didn’t have enough on our plates for 2020!
I’m down in Bandon, Oregon this week teaching a workshop but I also thought it would be nice to look back on 15 years of September images. This is a great time of year to shoot the fall color here on the west coast! I’ve also taken quite a few trips over the years to Africa and more – enjoy!
Happy Friday! Apologies for a light week on the blog, but a lot has been going on – I talked about upcoming workshops last night on Tequila Time. It goes without saying, but I will say it anyways – safety first! We take the pandemic seriously, and with an appropriate measured preparations and precautions. As we start traveling again with the hopes of a vaccine on the horizon, I’m taking every precaution to keep myself and our participants safe. We come with masks and hand sanitizer for all participants, and both Gavriel and myself are COVID tested and ready to get out there!
If you’re local to the Pacific Northwest or plan to be in the area soon, We have a few spaces left in upcoming workshops, including one space remaining to join us on the Oregon coast in Bandon next week! The Mt. Rainier Fall Color workshop has sold out – but now is a great time to sign up for next year with early bird pricing.
Above is a photo gallery from the Olympic Peninsula, home to Lake Quinault and setting for an upcoming workshop at the end of the month. Some of these images you might recognize from last evening’s Tequila Time. A couple spaces remain – don’t miss out if you’re aching to get out and shoot!
If you missed it, catch up on last night’s interview with legendary surf photographer Ted Grambeau on Earth Is Our Witness either on Facebook or YouTube. As usual, the EIOW Instagram page has images of all our featured photographers. Come for the fantastic photographs, but stay for the humor and immersive stories our guests have to share!
Last but not least, we have ANOTHER Earth Is Our Witness happening tomorrow at 10 AM PST – this time with Manoocher Deghati. Manoocher has been photographing world events for over four decades including the Iranian revolution in his home country, from which he has been living in exile since 1985 when he was forbidden to leave his home with his camera. There are sure to be some fascinating stories here!
Happy Friday everyone! I’m about to head out for an overnight trip to the Mt. Rainier area but before I hit the road I wanted to give a quick update on what’s going.
First things first, the final episode of season 1 of Pathways to Creativitydropped on Tuesday. I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback for the series, and fantastic suggestions have been sent my way for future episodes. Keep them coming! If you’ve been waiting for the whole series to drop before purchasing, now is the time! 13 lessons encompassing nearly 12 hours and hundreds of photos. Most importantly, I’m focusing almost 100% on themes and concepts that are evergreen and don’t require you to be a technical wizard – because I certainly am not!
Comment below with your suggestions – I’m already hard at work on Season 2!
Last night was another fun-filled episode of Tequila Time – now with improved audio for Facebook users! Check it out if you didn’t get to catch it live and remember, all past streams of tequila time are available on Facebook and Instagram.
Following the shenanigans of TT, Canon Master Photographer and author of Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Photography Richard I’Anson joined Parimal and myself on Earth Is Our Witness– our weekly talk with photographers around the globe featuring their work and their perspective on the inspirational people and cultures of the world. Past episodes are also avialable on Facebook and YouTube – and don’t forget to follow EIOW on Instagram for beautiful galleries of work from the featured photographers!
Welp that’s it for me – time to hit the road. See you soon!
All 13 Pathways to Creativity Season 1 episodes are in the books, and I’m already prepping for season 2. Stay tuned to the blog for updates! The feedback for Season 1 has been tremendous and appreciated. I’ve been meaning to do this for so long that I can’t believe it’s a reality, let alone with 13 episodes in the can. It’s taken hundreds of hours to compile and edit, let alone the nearly five decades of captures that have gone into it. At least my time stuck at home hasn’t been without productivity!
I’m already looking forward to creating Season 2, and implementing all the things we’ve learned along the way. Leave a comment below if you’re a subscriber if you have any suggestions or comments.
Another project that I’ve been enjoying is the Earth Is Our Witness live-stream that Parimal and myself have been doing on Thursday nights following Tequila Time. EIOW is our chance to speak with photographers from all over the world who are bringing awareness and insight into cultures, wildlife, the environment and more. With so much negativity we want to emphasize the good happening, and we want you to join us!
This week’s guest will be Canon Master photographer and Lonely Planet author Richard I’Anson! Join us on Facebook live or Youtube this Thursday at 7 PM Pacific!
While we are distracted by so many other things going on in the world, the current Administration has once again seized the opportunity to make vulnerable lands that have long been protected to ensure that drilling and industry don’t completely eradicate natural habitats. I’ve been traveling to ANWR, or the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for essentially my whole life. This roughly 20-million acres located in the Northeastern corner of Alaska is abundant in flora and fauna that has enjoyed protections since 1960. The debate over drilling in the region dates back nearly as far.
I understand that this is largely a political issue, but it really shouldn’t be. The preservation of our natural places sets a precedence now that future generations will look to for guidance. How do we justify letting go a protected corner of a state and opening it up to destruction so a few companies can make a buck drilling and moving on? This area is protected because it has already been established as vulnerable, and no science has been revealed to suggest otherwise.
Rest assured, there will come a time when we are able to travel again! When that happens, know that August is a great time to head north to Alaska, Greenland, Svalbard and Iceland – or south to Australia’s Kimberley and Arnhemland. Since we can’t go right now, take a virtual tour around the globe of images photographed in August and perhaps you’ll be inspired to look to the future and start planning where you might go when we are ready to get back out there!
