Learning to master depth of field is no small task and it’s a skill I’ve honed over decades of shooting all manner of subjects. Knowing when to capture the entirety of your scene in sharp focus, or when to selectively and intentionally bring focus to one area of the shot to capture the viewers eye is an important decision to make once you’ve determined your subject. For those of you who have purchased Pathways to Creativity, a new episode is available on the subject – join me for a deep dive!
First and foremost is the live broadcast in which Parimal and myself spoke with Jasmine Carey about her work as an ocean and underwater photographer. I won’t spoil too much – watch the video! You won’t be disappointed by this interview and her gorgeous photos. Jasmine was the Grand Prize winner of this year’s prestigious HIPA Award for their theme of “Water”. You’ll understand why!
If you missed any previous installments of Earth Is Our Witness and don’t want to miss a future episode in which we might be chatting with one of your personal favorite photographers, give Earth is Our Witness a follow on Facebook!
Check out Jasmine’s website as well. Her online store includes a gift box of miniature prints, with a large portion of the proceeds benefiting Rainforest Rescue. Add two to your cart and use the code WITNESS and get one of them for free!
Preceding our chat with Jasmine it was Tequila Time! This week I took a break from showing photos to bring my long-time friend and travel companion Gavriel Jecan on with me. He’s missing his family back in Thailand, as he’s been stuck here in the states. Time to grill the man who makes the margaritas behind the scenes!
First and foremost, there’s a fresh new episode of Pathways to Creativity uploaded, so if you’ve purchased the season, check it out! This one is all about shutter speeds. Freezing miniscule droplets of water in sharp focus while a tiny bird drinks from a puddle gives us a glimpse into a world we never see with the naked eye, while the blurred motion and lines of a group of zebras through tall grass provides more context than a focused image is capable of conveying. It’s all there!
There is also a gorgeous gift edition of Trees: Between Earth & Heaven available, published as of today! As you saw on a recent episode of Tequila Time, the first edition of Trees is one of my Top 10 personal favorites, and this new gift edition retains the quality of that release in a more compact format.
Last but most definitely not least, if you haven’t already give Earth Is Our Witness a follow on both Facebook and Instagram and be sure to join us live on Thursday evenings following soon after Tequila Time. This week Parimal and myself will be talking with ocean photographer & the prestigious HIPA grand-prize winner Jasmine Carey on the secret lives of whales. I can’t wait! Thank you SO MUCH for everyone who joins our live broadcasts, and those who go back and watch them later. The positive feedback has been tremendous. See you then!
In case you missed it, Parimal Deshpande and myself had another fantastic couple of live streams last night – check them out:
If you haven’t followed Earth is Our Witness yet on Facebook and Instagram, we’ve got a fantastic lineup of photographers from a wide range of backgrounds to talk to. Last evening we spoke with Mark Edward Harris, travel photographer with riveting stories from North Korea and Japan. He has a unique perspective from his time spent in these locations, don’t miss it!
Early in the evening I discussed my upcoming book project, Act of Faith with the Tequila Time audience. You can find that video on both Instagram and Facebook. Enjoy, and I’ll see you next week!
It’s Thursday – That means it’s Tequila Time as well as a new episode of Earth Is Our Witness! If you haven’t joined the fun, things kick off here in a half an hour or so, and because I know folks would love to see higher resolution of the photos I’ll be discussing, here is a slide show in advance of the Tequila flowing!
Tonight on Tequila Time (5:30 PST On Facebook Live & Instagram) I’ll be answering your questions as usually and then presenting a selection of photos from a current book-in-progress called “Act of Faith” – a look at religions and spirituality world wide! If you have any suggestions of obscure faiths that could be interesting to add to my list, drop a commend below!
Earth is Our Witness will feature travel photographer Mark Edward Harris, with stories of North Korea and the Way of the Japanese Bath. It will kick off on the Earth is Our Witness Facebook Live at 7 PM – Give EIOW a follow on both Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date. See you shortly!
This week’s episode is titled, “The Big Picture”. It’s all about large landscapes, large formats, and large ideas. I discuss how I ensure that the elements of design we’ve discussed until now don’t get lost in the vastness of an open landscape, or wide panoramic shot.
Enjoy – we are at the half way point of Season 1! Hopefully everyone who has purchased Pathways thus far has found the first 6 hours useful. Don’t forget to leave a comment below, on my on demand page, or contact my staff if you have any feedback on your experience with Pathways, and how to make Season 2 even better!
I was back LIVE last night with Parimal Deshpande for Tequila Time last night discussing my first travel in months. We discuss photographing American Crocodiles up close and personal, complete with photos and video – check it out if you missed the live broadcast!
I during the broadcast I also mention the excellent support I had on this trip from our contacts on the ground and I wanted to highlight them here. Javier Salas and his company XTC Dive Center. They were incredibly supportive to me as well as my staff back home. I can’t recommend them enough.
You know, there simply aren’t very many places to swim with crocs – imagine that! If you’re going to do so, these are the experts to do it with!
Tequila Time was a great appetizer, but the main course for the evening (not me for the crocs, fortunately!) was sitting down once again with Parimal to talk to Phil Borges on Earth Is Our Witness – a fantastic new interview series with photographers around the world, with an emphasis on mindfulness and our place as fellow humans living on the same planet.
To that end, Phil Borges has long been a photographer for change, documenting the struggles and perseverance of cultures around the world. It was a fantastic interview – watch it here – and make sure you follow Earth Is Our Witness on Facebook to catch future interviews live, and visit the EIOW Instagram page for beautiful galleries of our featured photographers!
It’s been a busy month and perusing the series of images I have created in the last fifteen years, that seems to be the case for many a June! No surprise is a wonderful month for photography. From Alaskan Arctic to the Australian Outback, take a visual journey around the globe in June!
If you’ve subscribed to become a view of the first season of Pathways to Creativity, good news – Episode 5 is up today! Though much of my instruction is designed to train your artistic eye and hone your vision into that of an accomplished visual storyteller, this episode talks a little hardware. I discuss the lenses I use most often, which ones I might consider leaving at home on a long trip, the circumstances that influence my choices – and much more! It’s a longer episode, but packed with decades worth of professional experience.
I’m back in Seattle today where I’ll be starting my 14-day quarantine – safety first!
Due to connectivity issues and concerns we decided to record this episode of tequila time first and then share, to ensure I at least had some new content for you. I’m on the road travelling for the first time in a while – down in Mexico hoping to swim with some big crocs! Enjoy and I’ll see you next week!
It’s taken some time to look back over my career and select the best photos to illustrate the many lessons included in Pathways, and the feedback I’ve received so far from those who have subscribed has been incredibly gratifying.
If you’re on the fence about the series, here are a couple questions that have come up:
Q: Is there any kind of free trial for Pathways to Creativity, so I can get the gist of what it is all about before I buy?
A: Absolutely! Below and on the Pathways website you’ll find a free nearly 16-minute long preview that includes a few segments from the first 3 episodes.
Q: If I purchase a single episode, but decide I’d like to upgrade to the entire series, is that possible?
A: Of course! If you’ve purchased a single episode and decide you’d like to purchase the complete series, simply email us at info@artwolfe.com, or email vimeo through the help menu on the right side of my On Demand page and provide the name and email address of the original purchaser. We can provide you with a code to apply to the series for any previous episodes you have purchased, not to exceed the cost of the full series price.
Q: Season 1 implies a Season 2; is there a release date for the second season yet?
A: While there is no release date set in stone for S2 of Pathways, I already have the chapters laid out and ready to go, with a bit more finessing – rest assured S2 is all but a certainty in the very near future!
It’s Tuesday – that means a new episode of 
