With the news of the storms sweeping across the North Atlantic I was very concerned about our chances to see the northern lights. We were lucky to get a break in the weather this week. We really only had one viable opportunity for the Northern Lights, two nights ago the clouds unexpectedly cleared after rain and clouds all day. My best image is a fairly rare shot that shows the Milky Way with the red and green lights, shot at 1 am.
As an unexpected bonus we were guided by two mountaineers up onto a glacier for a 3 hour trek to an ice cave. Using ropes, crampons and ice axes, we followed a small river down under the edge of the glacier on hands and knees until we came to large opening that provided the only light. We were over 100 feet below the ice surface which was covered in ash and it was nearly pitch black. I was cold ,wet and struggling with helmet straps that prevented me from effectively using my glasses. All in the name of “art.”
All in all, an excellent trip; the weather held until we were done shooting and now it is snowing; it’s a good thing all those adorable Icelandic horses have grown their shaggy winter coats!
We are having a great trip in Iceland. I brought this group here for the northern lights, but since it has been cloudy we have been enjoying the spectacular landscape and, of course, the ubiquitous horses. It should be clearing up tomorrow and there has been great solar flare activity, which bodes well for seeing the aurora.
Due to popular demand Art has decided to schedule a follow up course to his popular “Composing Effective Images: Field Edition”. This is an amazing opportunity for you to get expert review on your artwork. It is not every day that you get a chance to have a master of the trade provide you with an intricate critique of your work.
What: Photography Assignment & Assessment with Art Wolfe
When: February 1-2, 2014 with an evening reception January 31.
Where: University of Washington Arboretum
Graham Visitors Center
Sign up now & get a special early bird rate ($45 off) by using coupon code EBIRD2014.
This three day workshop was filled with intensive field sessions. Art’s goal was to work closely with each participant to really transform and refine their skills. An image can have the power to stimulate the imagination and intellect while also telling a story that awakens the senses. He challenged them to explore the nature of creativity and discover ways to bring its power to each image.
Everyone that attended explored photography and the subjects that were presented more thoroughly than they ever had before. They all walked away with a new perspective on photography and a new found inspiration.
Photographs featured by:
Dianne Tomita
Kevin Coughlin
Kevin & Kyle Mullen
Peter Brisley
Steven Sholly
Sue O’Connell
“Kyle and I really enjoyed the workshop and Art helped me see and create some great images that I wouldn’t have considered before the workshop. I look forward to the next time I can travel with Art for some more great images.”
Last month Art lectured at Google about The Art of the Image. It is now available for viewing and sharing online!
About Talks at Google: The Talks at Google program brings authors, musicians, innovators, and speakers of all stripes to Google for talks centering on their recently published books and capturing the popular and intellectual zeitgeist of the day.
I am pleased to announce the addition of Denis Glennon of Iconic Images as a new associate instructor at Art Wolfe Workshops.
Denis & I have traveled quite a bit together—to China, Australia, and South Africa—and I have enjoyed every minute of it! Later this year I have two more sold out trips with him that I am really looking forward to. His latest workshops are listed on the international photography tours page.
Seal. Crazy. 4:00am. I think it has been my ring tone for 15 years now, way before the iPhone was even a concept. It is this song that closely reflects the life of a photographer. I mean who in their right mind would wake up at 4am? The beauty of my current situation is that Art is as much of a morning person as I am. We firmly believe that waking up this early should be minimized on all accounts. Seriously, the coffee shops aren’t even open yet. The flip side is that we have no problem staying up well into the evening to photograph stars. I guess that justifies sleeping in way past sunrise. At least in summer.
We were in Moab. It was the first day of leading ten people around with a certain and much different workshop challenge. Discover the subjects beyond the obvious. Yes, if you have never been to Moab you can shoot those icons, but after that we wanted our participants to move beyond and work not only their subjects, but their minds too. As a participant you are restricted to keeping those iconic images to yourself. We all know that they are already good compositions. During our critiques we want to see the other images. The ones you have questions about. Or the ones you struggled with until you thought you failed. Those are inevitably the ones that are most successful.
If this sounds like a duality of common sense, it probably is. Those images that you struggle with force you to work, and when you work at your composition, you put thought into it. This thought process always comes through in the images you produce, even if you don’t realize it at the time.
The desert is a magical place. The colors are extremely brilliant and complimentary. Unbelievably clear and dry blue skies complimented with deep reds and oranges as the sun comes up. This time of year though, it only lasts about an hour after sunrise, so timing is of the essence. And lesson number one is to illustrate this on morning one, day one, without any prior instruction. The forthcoming discussions will change this ideal and then we will progress to make you think even harder. Once you are challenged with trying to find subjects beyond the icons, we are going to take you an abandoned town. At Noon. With one request, find us subjects.
We continue by highlighting specific techniques. Specific ways of processing images utilizing Adobe Lightroom 4. Adding in creative options here as well, so that you realize that every image shouldn’t be super-saturated color, a perfect blend of multiple exposures, or even produced in the 2 by 3 format. This is were your ideas are taken into reality. The creative juices are beginning to flow at this point and you are beginning to see. To see less like a recorder and more like an artist. You begin to realize that you are in control of what your viewer perceives and almost understand that the image you create becomes your viewer’s reality.
Then we add different perspectives into the mix. How to create composite panoramics, star trails, and nighttime compositions. We do this by taking you to different eco-systems and different environments continuously throughout the day. The main rule here is if you can find something of merit to photograph at high noon in the summer desert, you can find a subject just about anywhere at any time. And then, all of a sudden, everything clicks, (figuratively and literally) you become a creative. The word photographer only has meaning to you because you choose that as your mechanism to display your vision.
You in fact become a little crazy and like the song says, “But we’re never gonna survive, unless, we are a little crazy.” Now you want only one thing. MORE. Stay tuned we will give you that real soon. — Jay Goodrich
