Tips and Tricks    
 

Landscape and Nature Photography Intermediate workshop
with Patrick Davis

July 16-18th

The intermediate class is the second class in my Landscape & Nature workshop series.  Where the first class was divided up into 75% technical and 25% artistic, this class will be evenly split between artistry and technical.  The idea behind this class is to help the student begin to form their style as well as to become comfortable with the camera and the workflow so they can concentrate on getting what they saw in the field into print.

On the technical side we will cover;

  • hyperfocusing and extreme depth of field
  • Playing with exposure (HDR, Image blending and expose to the right)
  • Using filters (ND and Grad ND)
  • And workflow (lots of tips and tricks to keep it simple and effective)

On the Artistic side we will work on;

  • Pre-visualization and visualization and how to make it work for you
  • Bending composition rules to make it work for you
  • Starting to discover what you like and why

This will be a very long and arduous weekend.  Hopefully you will get a lot out of it and I will help you to become a better photographer.
We will be meeting at about 4pm on Friday and going till about 3pm on Sunday.  Once you are signed up, I will give you detailed instructions on the weekend and what you have to look forward to.

Requirements:

  • Understanding how to use your DSLR (know how the F stop, ISO and shutter speed all play off each other).
  • A tripod (and a camera release would be nice)
  • Laptop to review your days work. (We will be using lightroom in the class and you can go to www.adobe.com to download a 30-day trial. Or you are welcome to use any software that you like)
  • An open mind and a yearning to learn.
  • If you have not taken the beginning class from me we will need to talk and I would like to look at a few photos just to see what your capabilities are.

COST- $195 for most of us, $150 for Students.

 

Beginning Lightroom-The key to managing all of your photos
with Ron LeValley

July 24th 12 noon - 5pm

 

What do you do after your image card is full? How do you back up all your important photos? How do you find that one important photos among the thousands on your computer? How do you prepare your photos for fine printing? ...for Slide Shows?.... for the web? .....for e-mail? The answer is Lightroom! Ron has been using Lightroom since version 1.0 and has really decided that it is the answer to the above questions.

We will go through the work flow from downloading your photos from the camera to all of the modules of Lightroom - Library, Develop, Print, Web, and Slide Show. We'll point out the best of this program, the problems it has, and how to integrate this program with others that you use.

It is best if you have a copy of Lightroom and a laptop so that we can follow along together, but if you don't have either, let Ron know and we'll make some arrangements for you.

Classes will be limited to 10 students, so please email ron@LeValleyPhoto.com or call Ron at 707-937-1742 to reserve your space or get more information about how this class will benefit you.

Cost-    $125 for most of us,   $75 for students. 

Wildlife and Nature Photography
with Ron LeValley

Friday July30-31 Friday 7:00pm to 9:00pm and Saturday 6:00am to 3:00pm

Take advantage of this workshop with Ron LeValley, outstanding world-traveled photographer and biologist. Ron has been taking pictures since the 1960’s and is a founding member of the Mendocino Coast Photographer Guild and Galley. He has also been sending out a digital natural history Picture of the Day for over six years. Nature photography has been revolutionized by the development and subsequent use of digital cameras. Ron will review basic photographic principles, emphasizing those that have been modified by the use of digital media.. We will start Friday night with a two-hour lecture/question period in the gallery and then spend Saturday morning in the field before returning to the gallery for review and further questions.

For more information, contact Ron at ron@levalleyphoto.com or call the gallery at 964-4706.


Cost-    $125 for most of us,   $75 for students.        

Camera 102- how to use your DSLR
with Patrick Davis

Aug 7th 9-1pm

Now that you have this new spiffy DSLR...what the heck do I do with it? What is Exposure and aperture? How do I change lenses? What are all these buttons...come to this class and find out. This will be a two-three hour classroom session reviewing the capabilities of digital SLRs. For more information, contact the gallery at 707/ 964-4706 


Class will be limited to 12 students, so please email Patrick or call Patrick at 408/ 857-0442 to reserve your space or get more information about how this class will benefit you.

Cost-    $45 for most of us            $35 for students

Intermediate Lightroom - Prepairing you Photos!
with Ron LeValley

Aug 21, 12noon-5pm

In this intermediate class we will concentrate on the Develop module in Lightroom. We’ll go through all of the options for adjusting exposure, color, sharpness, clarity, contrast, and so forth. We’ll explore the Tone Curve and Saturation/Hue/Luminance. Special attention will be given to the Brush Tool, Spot removing Tool, and Gradient Tool. Our goal will be to make you comfortable with what you can do in Lightroom. We’ll also review how Lightroom works with Photoshop and Plugins.
It is best if you have a copy of Lightroom and a laptop so that we can follow along together, but if you don’t have either, let Ron know and we’ll make some arrangements for you.


Classes will be limited to 10 students, so please email ron@LeValleyPhoto.com or call Ron at 707-937-1742 to reserve your space or get more information about how this class will benefit you.

Cost-    $75 for most of us            $50 for students

Landscape and Nature Photography Advanced workshop
with Patrick Davis

Sept 9th-12th

This class is the third in the series; the beginning was a 75% Technical and 25% artistic while the intermediate workshop was 50/50 (technical/artistic).  This workshop will concentrate on the artistic and bring in enough technical skills to get the photographers vision to become reality.  The goal of this 4-day work shop is twofold:

  1. To select the best pictures of the group for printing, framing (or stretching if canvas is chosen as the media) and hanging them up in the gallery for the month of October.
  2. To leave with the start of a portfolio and develop a better understanding of what your style is and the confidence to continue on.

Because these goals are very personal the actual topics covered will be varied and unique to the individual needs.  I do suspect we will go into great depth into Photoshop CS5 and experiment with masking and creative painting.  We will also touch on printing, framing and matting and what is involved in doing this.

Classes are limited to 6 students so please e-mail Patrick@summit-photo.com or call him at 408-857-0442 to reserve your space or get more information about how this class can help you.

Cost - $495

Advanced Lightroom - OUTPUT!!
with Ron LeValley

Oct 2nd 12noon-5pm

In our advanced class we will emphasize getting your image out to viewing! We’ll review printing and its many options, setting up web pages and slide shows and just plain getting ready to show off your fine work!
We’ll have a quick review of the Develop module and then go into the next steps. We’ll review the use of Collections and Virtual Copies and how to use these to your advantage not only for printing, but for setting up slide shows and web pages. We’ll learn how to use the Templates to automate your printing process.
It is best if you have the current version of Lightroom and a laptop so that we can follow along together, but if you don’t have either, let Ron know and we’ll make some arrangements for you.


Classes will be limited to 10 students, so please email ron@LeValleyPhoto.com or call Ron at 707-937-1742 to reserve your space or get more information about how this class will benefit you.

Cost-    $75 for most of us            $50 for students

Lightroom and Photoshop for the fine art photographer
with Patrick Davis

Oct 10th

This one day class is designed to open your eyes to some basic techniques to give your photography that extra WOW factor.  We will be playing with the following:    

  • Color (hue, Saturation and Luminance)
  • Curves and levels
  • Dodge, Burn and Painting within Photoshop and Lightroom
  • Playing with creative sharpening to make the print POP where you want it to
  • Understanding masks and how to make the dance for you

Plus a whole lot more.

Classes are limited to 10 students so please e-mail Patrick@summit-photo.com or call him at 408-857-0442 to reserve your space or get more information about how this class can help you.

Cost-    $75 for most of us            $50 for students

Advance Bird Photography
with Ron LeValley

Friday Oct 15-16 Friday 7:00pm to 9:00pm and Saturday 6:00am to 3:00pm

In this advanced workshop we will explore tricks and tips for getting sharp bird photos. We’ll go deeply into exposure, ISO, depth of field, stopping action and making your photos stand out. We’ll explore the whys of Composition, and how to apply that knowledge to a moving bird. We will take a particular amount of time working on birds in flight, and techniques for coming home with keepers. We will start Friday night with a two-hour lecture/question period in the gallery and then spend Saturday morning in the field before returning to the gallery for review and further questions.
Participants should have a digital SLR camera with a lens at least 200 mm.

For more information, contact Ron at ron@levalleyphoto.com or call the gallery at 964-4706.
Cost-    $125 for most of us            $75 for students

Camera 102- how to use your DSLR
with Patrick Davis

Nov 6th 9-1pm

Now that you have this new spiffy DSLR...what the heck do I do with it? What is Exposure and aperture? How do I change lenses? What are all these buttons...come to this class and find out. This will be a two-three hour classroom session reviewing the capabilities of digital SLRs. For more information, contact the gallery at 707/ 964-4706 


Class will be limited to 12 students, so please email Patrick or call Patrick at 408/ 857-0442 to reserve your space or get more information about how this class will benefit you.

Cost-    $45 for most of us            $35 for students