Learning through Teaching

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BLOG: Arboretum Maple – Images by Art Wolfe

This past weekend I taught a workshop at the beautiful and chilly Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.  During the field shoot I suggested to some that they photograph this particular maple.  Their shots shown during the critique so inspired me that I returned to the tree on Monday.  Cold and damp, and hidden by spreading boughs from passersby, I spent a couple of hours working the angles.

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Short Takes on Capturing Nature


Monday, October 15, 2012
7 pm, The Neptune Theatre
Tickets: $5 at the door; $4 online at stgpresents.org
(additional fees apply)

>>PURCHASE TICKETS

www.burkemuseum.org/short_takes

Join the Burke Museum at the Neptune Theatre for an evening of fast-paced talks on the enduring relationship between the human imagination and the natural world. Inspired by the International Conservation Photography Awards exhibit, Short Takes features a stellar lineup of artists, scientists, students, and scholars. Speakers include internationally-renowned photographer Art Wolfe, curators from the Burke and the Seattle Art Museum, and explorers of the seas and the stars. Ten short talks, each illustrated with 20 slides, will take us on a journey from humanities’ first artistic impulses to our latest glimpse into the far reaches of space.

>>CLICK HERE for Short Takes topics and more information.

Short Takes is produced in conjunction with Seattle Theatre Group with support from the Boeing Employees Credit Union.

Speakers Include:

Art Wolfe, internationally renowned photographer, host of “Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe”, and founder of the International Conservation Photography Awards
Katie Bunn-Marcuse, Assistant Director of the Bill Holm Center, and a Curatorial Associate of Native American Art at the Burke Museum
Allison Fundis, Education and Public Engagement Liaison, Ocean Observatories Initiative/Regional Scale Nodes, University of Washington
Shaun Peterson, a pivotal figure in the revival of Coast Salish arts
Ellen Dissanayake interdisciplinary scholar and writer, Affiliate Professor in the University of Washington, School of Music
Wendy Call, 2012 Writer in Residence for the North Cascades and Joshua Tree National Parks
Dan Ritzman, Northwest and Alaska Regional Director of the Sierra Club
Brad Rutherford, Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust
Phil Rosenfield, Graduate Student, Astronomy, University of Washington
Patricia Junker, the Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art at the Seattle Art Museum

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On Location: Vive la France!

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BLOG: Vive la France! – Images by Art Wolfe

The weather in the French Alps was so bad that we decided to head south to France’s Rhone Delta. There we photographed the spirited Camargue horses, and along the French Riviera. Now heading off to Italy’s Dolomites, where I am hoping for good conditions!

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Go see the ICPA exhibit!

Photo by: Cristobal Serrano

Photo by: Tom Reese

Have a look at this beautiful show online:
>>ICPA GALLERY

This is a reminder to be sure and get over to the Burke Museum and see the ICPA (International Conservation Photography Awards) show. They have had great turnout for the show this year. It is both beautiful in its presentation and valuable in its conservation message. Take the whole family. Kids totally get this. Photographers are also interacting with the Conservation Candids. This is an interactive Flickr gallery that anyone can contribute a like-minded image to. The Burke Museum even has prizes if you enter a photo.

The show runs until November 25.

>>Seattle TImes Review

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Phase One: In the field

I have been using a Phase One camera system for my Human Canvas images over the past couple of years. At 60 megapixels the detail and resolution is so sharp I can enlarge the final images to life size and beyond, critical for this body of work. I have always shot with it in a studio, where the camera was mounted 16 feet above the floor in a warehouse ceiling and tethered to a laptop where it was triggered with a key-stroke. That was a collaborative experience, so I wouldn’t say I really got to experience the Phase One one-to-one.
So, that begs the question…what about using it outside of the studio setting?

I recently set out into the Cascade Mountains to find out. Even though it is a medium format camera system, the Phase One still fits into my same old camera bag. I just needed to move one little Velcro divider around to accommodate it.
It was far from an ideal day for photography – there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the sun was at its peak overhead, it was hot, mosquitos were out and nothing was really calling out to me. With lunch in mind I saw a large patch of snow in the distance with a stream running out from under it. Since I’d hiked above the tree line, this was the only potential shade within reach. In anticipation of dipping a handkerchief in the cold water and eating some lunch, I set out for the snow bank. And that’s where I saw it…

The stream and winds had carved out a large tunnel under the snow, and even from the entrance I could begin to see shades of blue, deep in the cave. I’ve been a mountaineer almost my entire life, climbing the volcanoes in the Northwest, crevassed glaciers, even climbing to the lower level camps with an expedition on Mt. Everest, so I knew this situation had “extreme caution” written all over it. Looking over the snow, wall thickness, and arch of the top, I decided to proceed as one would on a snow bridge over a crevasse – very cautiously.
I stuck very close to the side walls; if the roof was to collapse this would have been the safest place to be. Moving into the cave was like entering a cathedral. A reverence for the beauty of the unexpected display was overwhelming.

Immediately I saw the potential in abstracting the icy blue glow of the ceiling fueled by the direct sun overhead. I used a 55mm lens (34mm equivalent), my attention fully focused on the otherworldly qualities of the ceiling. Looking through the viewfinder of the Phase One, the patterns and lines abstracted into soft human forms, suggestive of the Rubenesque feminine ideal form.

At other times I was drawn to the lines within the form, like the layers of geological time recorded in a rounded stone found alongside a river. The colors varying between blues and yellows only added to the final composition.

Shooting and shifting my point of view I worked the ceiling as a subject finding more and different compositions with each new angle. I could have stayed with this subject for hours. It was so unexpected – a real treat for what had promised to be a rather bland day.

The Phase One system is very intuitive with a huge LCD and touchscreen menus. I was able to easily navigate the functions to set up the camera for the way I like to work, even in the cave. When you are talking about a medium format system, it’s all about image quality – and this one delivers. The system combination of superb Schneider Kreuznach leaf shutter lenses, 645 DF Camera body and IQ 160 digital back produce the sharpest and most detailed images I have ever shot.
So what’s next? I’m currently on tour through Europe visiting familiar landscapes as well as some new ones. I have the Phase One with me and I can hardly wait to see the results when I get home and begin enlarging these images to prints. This camera system is able to capture the grand scenic landscapes in unprecedented detail and clarity. If only I could have had my hands on one since 1978.
When it comes to the big picture, Phase One wins out.
~Art Wolfe

Join me on the Phase One Digital Artist Series (PODAS) Workshop in Kimberley, Australia in June, 2013. >>MORE INFO

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On Location: Ireland

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BLOG: On Location in Ireland – Images by Art Wolfe

 

A few Images around Dingle Town, a small sea coast town on the SW Corner of Ireland. The seascapes are indicative of this rugged wind washed landscape. In a small town in Ireland one does not have to walk far before encountering  an Irish Pub.

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HUMAN CANVAS PROJECT

HUMAN CANVAS by Art Wolfe

www.humancanvasproject.com

We have just added “Human Canvas” to our list of offerings on the Art Wolfe Website.

The Human Canvas Project is an elevated new work from Art Wolfe. For several years now Art has been working on nude figure studies inspired by his lifelong work with indigenous cultures. This work combines the beauty of nature’s creation of the human form together with an artist’s expression of graphic elements drawn from 30 years of photographing nature and cultures throughout the world.

The collector’s edition book HUMAN CANVAS is the triumphant culmination of this project & it is now available for pre-order. This 13×15 inch monograph is presented in a custom cloth wrapped clamshell. Included with the book is an 11×14 inch collectors edition print signed by Art Wolfe. For all pre-sale purchasers, you can choose two prints. Only one print will accompany the book once it is for public sale.

Limited edition prints are also available on the website.

See the article in Black & White magazine, available on newsstands on July 24th.

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2013 Weingarten Calendars are in!

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2013 – Images by Art Wolfe

Perennial favorites, the oversized European calendars are in! Mountains, The Art of Camouflage, and Wolves–it’s like buying a folio of thirteen prints for a fraction of the price!

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ICPA Exhibit Opens at the Burke Museum

Photo by Peter Mather
CARIBOU CROSSING
Photo by Peter Mather

International Conservation Photography Awards

2012 Exhibit

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

June 30 – November 25, 2012
The Burke Museum will once again exhibit the winners of the International Conservation Photography Awards, a biennial juried competition initiated in 1997 by acclaimed local nature photographer, Art Wolfe.
Over 75 photos were chosen from more than 1500 images submitted by amateur and professional photographers from across the globe. The photographs are conservation-focused, chosen in categories such as Wildlife, Landscape, Underwater, and Community at Risk, which focuses on environmental threats to urban areas. Capturing beautiful moments in the natural world, the photos connect us to the tiniest of creatures and enormous environmental changes. The competition and its award-winning photos inspire, educate, and encourage us all to consider our impacts on the world’s natural resources.
A panel of five judges selected winning photographs in each of the nine categories. The winning photographs will be announced on Opening Day, June 30. Four of the honored photographers will speak about their work, photographic techniques, and passion for conservation on the hour between 11 am and 2 pm on June 30. Judges from the panel will offer visitors guided tours of the exhibit. Check the Burke Museum’s website for a full schedule and details.
For the first time, the Burke and the International Conservation Photography Awards will also collaborate to create a traveling exhibit, which will include the top 25 first- and second-place winners.
The 2012 International Conservation Photography Awards exhibit is organized by the Burke Museum in partnership with the ICP Awards. The exhibit is sponsored by 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, with support from Kym Aughtry, Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, The Mountaineers Foundation, Carl Skoog Memorial Fund, U.S. Bancorp Foundation, and the Peg & Ric Young Foundation.

ICP Awards sponsors: Art 4 Vision Foundation, Art Wolfe, The Bullitt Foundation, Canon, Epson, Getty Images, Museum Quality Framing, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Robert P. Rotella Foundation, and the Washington Environmental Council.
High resolution images available, contact burkepr@uw.edu.
Photo: Caribou Crossing. Photo by Peter Mather. Dalton Highway, Prudhoe Bay Alaska, June 29, 2010.

Link to this release: http://www.burkemuseum.org/info/press_browse/2012_ICP_awards_exhibit

Galleries of the winning photographs will be viewable on June 30. Visit ICPA Website.

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Today is Nature Photography Day

BLOG: Today is Nature Photography Day!
Images by Art Wolfe

Explore Your World!

http://www.nanpa.org/nature_photography_day.php

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