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« June 2012 | Main | August 2012 »

July 31, 2012

New photo adventure trips announced by Nikonians Academy

Nikonians-Academy-Update.jpgNikonians Academy Director Mike Hagen has locked on two new photo adventures for next year.
The adventures offer opportunities for breathtaking photography in Iceland and Africa.

Here is Mike’s report:
Gulfoss-250.jpgOur brand new adventure to Iceland will explore stunning landscapes, volcanoes, geothermal features, glaciers and Reykjavik.

Our partner on this trip is the world-renowned photographer Tim Vollmer who is a native of Iceland and has been running photo tours for years. He has one of the best reputations in the industry. I will be your co-leader for this trip (July 29th - August 6th, 2013), which is limited to only 10 participants.

Tanzania-2013
Also, we've scheduled our 2013 Tanzanian Photo Safari for November 4th - 15th, 2013.
hagen_tanzania_250.jpgThe African Photo Safaris have become a Nikonians Academy favorite (this year's Tanzania safari is already in waiting list status).

This is a trip for photographers, designed by photographers. As your tour leader, I’ll be concentrating on putting you in the right spot at the right time to capture outstanding images.

Your days will be spent photographing animals and landscapes throughout Northern Tanzania. Imagine photographing wildlife in the famed Ngorongoro Crater, morning game drives through Lake Manyara National Park and night drives in a private reserve.

This is your chance to stake your claim to one of only 11 seats available.

August highlights
Coming up in the third week of August, we have a five-day workshop series in Vancouver, BC taught by professional photographer Steve Simon. Our workshops are:

Master the Nikon D7000/D90/D80
Master the D300/D300s In Depth
The Passionate Photographer
Master the Nikon D800/D4 In Depth
Master the Nikon D800/D4 Advanced

September highlights
HDR_250.jpgSeptember is a big month for us with photo adventure trips to Monument Valley, Galapagos, Garden of the Gods, and Yellowstone. We also have our famous D800/D4 In Depth and our two-day Master HDR Photography workshop.

Some of these September workshops are available in more than one location so make sure you check our Nikonians Academy workshops schedule "By Date" for your preferences.

No-snow guarantee in February
Efrain Padro's trip to Puerto Rico offers stunning photography of rain forests, beautiful beaches, and Caribbean charm this February 16-21, 2013. Efrain has offered up our first ever no-snow guarantee in anticipation of our upcoming cold winter weather months. Join us in February for a photo adventure you'll never forget.

Posted by flashdeadline at 1:21 AM

July 29, 2012

Creative shutter speed

shutter.jpg
Shutter speed is, together with aperture and ISO, the key element of photography. You have to balance those three ingredients to allow exact amount of light to reach your sensor for correctly exposed images. There are many rules to follow related to shutter speed and there is also dedicated shooting mode on your camera dedicated to shutter speed, that important it is.

Let's leave the physics to those who care about it and let's focus on how creative you can get if you will mess with the settings. You probably know the aperture is responsible for depth of field. The smaller "f" number you set, the shallower focus range you get. This is the most common "creative" technique and every one of us probably started creating really shallow depth of field when we first get our hands on SLR or DSLR camera. Yes it is fun.

Next step is the ISO. If you set higher ISO, you get more grain for moody pictures and if you convert them to black and white you get nice "film-like" look. Here has to be said digital noise is a bit different than film grain, but still it is quite close. And there are plenty of products on the market which help you achieve this in your computer if you've forgotten to set your ISO high.

And finally, if you mess with shutter speed, you can either freeze the action happening in front of you, or you can let the movement get into your pictures. Especially with long shutter speed you can create some interesting pictures. Let me show you some examples what can be done with long shutter speed, but first let's have a look at the equipment required. As usual, I don't like to carry much equipment, so line up is quite simple. You'll need a good quality tripod, camera, lens (your choice, depends on what you're going to shoot), ND filter, remote shutter trigger (optional). 

Water
Pictures with "frozen" waterfalls are missing something. That something is flow of the water falling down. Waterfalls are quite easy, because usually water moves fast, so you might even get away without tripod. Set camera to M mode, or Shutter priority and set your shutter speed to something around 1/5 - 1/2 of the second. Set the other values accordingly, or leave it to your camera, but check your histogram after each shot to avoid bleached out highlights on the water. It might take you few shots until you are satisfied with the water flow.

waterfalls
f22, 1/5 s, ISO 100

Same trick can be used with fountains.

fountain
f5, 1/2 s, ISO 800

Moving sky
Moving clouds on the sky can either add more drama into your pictures, or on the other hand, make them really peaceful and calm. Here you will definitely need a tripod, because shutter speed will be somewhere around 20 seconds and more. 

moving sky
dramatic sky, f22, 20 s, ISO 100

moving sky beech
calm sky, f8, 30 s, ISO 100

People free photos
If you'd like to have your photos from interesting places without crowds, you can use long shutter speed to make people "disappear". But be careful, if people are stationery, e.g. sitting on the bench, or just standing, they still will be in the picture. But if they just walk in front of your camera, with long shutter, they will not be recorded in the picture.

Worthing pier
no people on pier f13, 15 s, ISO 100

Abstract
With long shutter you can create come interesting abstract pictures, or pictures you don't usually see. If it is windy, you can have moving plants, or if you move your camera, you get nice wall art.

moving trees
f11, 40 s, ISO 100

tree abstract
f8, 1 s, ISO 100

Those were just few examples, how long shutter can be used in creative way. There are many possibilities and options, just go out and try them.

Posted by pkuzmin at 11:50 AM

July 23, 2012

New instructor takes lead for Puerto Rico photo adventure

Nikonians-Academy-Update.jpgNikonians Academy Director Mike Hagen has announced the addition of Efraín M. Padró to the faculty. Padró is the author of The Photographer’s Guide to New Mexico and regularly teaches photography classes and workshops in the U.S. and abroad through many organizations.
Hagen’s announcement includes details on the first workshop to be led by the new Nikonians Academy instructor.

Here is Mikes report:
EfrainMPadro_200.jpgEfrain is a native of Puerto Rico and knows the region extremely well. His first workshop for the Nikonians Academy will be a photo adventure to Puerto Rico, February 16-20, 2013.

The adventure will feature visits to Old San Juan, El Yunque Rain Forest, the Fajardo Lighthouse and more.

Efraín has photographed such diverse locations as Perú, Patagonia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Mexico, and the Southwest, and was the lead photographer for Frommer’s Puerto Rico Day by Day travel guide.

His work has appeared in Outdoor Photographer, Geographic Expeditions catalogs, Frommer's Budget Travel, Photo Life (Canada), Bienvenidos Magazine (Puerto Rico), New Mexico Magazine, Texas Journey, Colorado State Vacation Guide, Santa Fean Magazine, as well as calendars, web sites, and other publications

Simon combines technical and creative skills
Pass_284.jpgSteve Simon's newest workshop is a blend of his world famous Passionate Photographer workshop and our best-selling Master your Gear workshops.

He's titled this workshop The Passionate Nikon Photographer and will taking it to Boston, Massachusetts on October 6, 2012. The two-day workshop is limited to 11 participants who own any of the following Nikon bodies: D7000, D700, D800, D300/D300s, D3, D3s, D3x or D4.

His course description describes the workshop as a comprehensive mastery of the technical aspects unique to Nikon cameras. Once those technical aspects are mastered, they fade to the background, no longer getting in the way of the images you know you can make.

Steve’s next stop takes him to Vancouver, British Columbia next month with five days of our workshops (August 22-26):
Master the Nikon D7000/D90/D80
Master the D300/D300s In Depth
The Passionate Photographer
Master the Nikon D800/D4 In Depth
Master the Nikon D800/D4 Advanced

Two months ahead….
September is right around the corner and we have workshops spanning the USA from Monument Valley to Colorado Springs HDR photography to Salt Lake City D800/D4 In Depth to Yellowstone Wildlife photography.

Looking ahead to 2013
waterfalls_Big-Sur_300.jpgWe continue to add workshops to our calendar with five new travel photography workshops in 2013 led by Michael Mariant.
Yosemite in Winter
Death Valley
Yosemite in Spring
Big Sur
Giant Redwoods

We will be adding more Master your Gear workshops over the next few months.

For complete workshop details, including locations, dates, curriculum and venue background, check the Nikonians Academy Home Page.

Posted by flashdeadline at 11:15 PM

July 18, 2012

Nikonians Photo Professors #7

Photo Professors Episode 7: The Photo Professors review the new Nikon 85mm AF-S f/1.8G lens, new products from ThinkTank, interview with Nikonians Academy Instructor, Photographer, and Author Steve, and interpret an inspiring quote from Steve.

Download Nikonians Photo Professors #6 (NPC-PP-2012-07.mp3;44:51;MP3 format)"

* The Photo Professors review the new Nikon 85mm AF-S f/1.8G lens
* Discuss two new photo bags from ThinkTank Photo
* Interview with Photographer, Author, and Instructor, Steven Simon
* Being Inspired by the words of Steve Simon

 

Posted by obrueck at 3:30 AM

July 16, 2012

Nikonians Academy looking ahead to summer/fall

Nikonians-Academy-Update.jpgNikonians Academy Director Mike Hagen reports the instructor staff is heavy into the summer workshop schedule and equally concentrating on the months to come.
The schedule highlights include preparations for Les Picker’s Acadia National Park tour in October as well as next month’s Eastern Sierra and the Owens Valley workshop and five-day Vancouver, BC, Canada sessions.

Here is Mike’s Report:

The annual best-seller Eastern Sierra and the Owens Valley workshop is set for August 9th - 12th.

sierra-owens-Tel_250.jpg One of the highlights is photographing the deep space satellite dish array complex at night to photograph star trails and the Milky Way, while surrounded by giant satellite dishes.

Your workshop leader Michael Mariant tells us:
“This location alone has become the highlight of the workshop.”
Photo credit: Howard Ignatius

Workshop participants get to pick out their own satellite dish on the pad to use in the foreground for their astrophotography.

The 4-day workshop also includes
• Mt. Whitney (tallest mountain in the lower 48)
• Mono Lake (tufa spires rising out of the calm waters under the alpine glow at sunrise)
• Bristlecone Pine Forest (oldest living things in the world)
• Alabama Hills (bizarre rock formations)
• Bodie Ghost Town (this place is legendary; sprawling ghost town in an arrested state of decay)
• Lundy Lake/Canyon & Mill Creek (the beaver pond always ends up being a workshop favorite)
• Bishop Creek (this is the true secret location for many landscape photographers, with aspen groves tucked under glacial peaks)
• Dramatic sunsets and sunrises over the Sierra Nevada range, from locations deep in the mountains

Five days in Vancouver
Steve Simon will be leading five days of photo workshops in Vancouver, BC from August 22 - 26. These include the best-selling Nikon D800/D4 In Depth and Advanced, The Passionate Photographer, Master Nikon D300/D300s In Depth and Nikon D7000/D90 workshops.

Arizona scenics in September
Monument-Valley_160.jpgOur Monument Valley and Slot Canyon photo tour near Page, Arizona is close to selling out, but we still have a few seats remaining.

The four-day tour led by Winston C. Hall runs September 10-14, and includes Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and Glen Canyon.

You will also receive solid advice and tutorials on the essentials of field photography, developing your photographic vision, digital workflow, Nikon Capture NX, image critiques and understanding the Exposure Trifecta (ISO, shutter speed and aperture).

Don't forget, this popular workshop is limited to 10 participants.

East Coast in the fall season
Now is the time to start planning for Les Picker's Acadia NP Photo Adventure in October. This is going to be an inspiring workshop in one of North America's most iconic landscapes.

Acadia_250.jpgSpecifically scheduled for the height of fall colors (October 18-21), you should expect to photograph Acadia's hidden gems with one of the best east coast photographers leading the way.

Les Picker has photographed for National Geographic Society publications and many other consumer and corporate magazines and newspapers. He has had more than 600 published articles in major national publications.

He lived in Maine for ten years and received his doctorate in ecology from the University of Maine, using Acadia National Park for his research. Few photographers know the intricacies of Acadia as well as Les.

Posted by flashdeadline at 10:55 PM

July 13, 2012

New 800mm super telephoto lens

nikkor 800.png
Yesterday must have been birthday, Christmas, Independence Day and Diamond Jubilee all together for every sport, wildlife and press photographer as well as for wealthy voyeurs and stalkers, because Nikon announced they are developing brand new Nikkor 800 mm f5.6 super telephoto lens.

And I guess it wasn't such a good day for celebrities, because paparazzi will have new gun in the "best-half-naked-by-the-pool-lying-celebrity-shot-contest" battle and they could probably spot Victoria Beckham's nipple in Beverly Hills standing at the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. Time to call lawyers for new charging order.

Anyway, what is all the fuzz about? Well, it'll be the longest telephoto lens on the market. At least with the Nikkor badge, it'll be. Lens is assigned for FX format Nikons, with its price tag probably for D4 and D800 range users, will have f5.6 max aperture, auto focus and it'll be weather and dust sealed. We can just predict the performance, details and over all picture quality will be stunning.

First lucky users will get their hands on this beauty at The Open Championship, golf tournament held between July 19 and 22 in Lancaster, UK, where this lens will be on display and some sport photographers will have privilege to test it. If you'd like to ask why at the golf tournament, Nikon is the official sponsor there. For the rest of us, we can meet this lens at Photokina 2012, one of the world's largest photo and imagining exhibitions, to be held in Cologne, Germany from September 18 - 23, 2012.

Posted by pkuzmin at 11:55 AM

July 10, 2012

Mastering the Nikon D800 Chapter Images Selected

CH-2_85thu.jpgNikonians author Darrell Young (DigitalDarrell), reports his newest book, Mastering the Nikon D800, is finished and being printed. The final step in the process was selecting Nikon D800 photos submitted by Nikonians members across the globe to be used as full page Chapter Opening Images.
The book has 13 chapters and one of the images comes from the author. Each of the chosen images will earn a free copy of the book for the submitting member.

Darrell tells us:
"I have personally thanked the members who were selected and I also want to thank the many, many others who submitted fantastic images for consideration."

Mastering the Nikon D800, published under the NikoniansPress/Rocky Nook partnership, will be out on August 28th.
The printed book comes first and all eBook formats will be available within a couple of weeks of the printed book's release.
The D800 can be an overwhelmingly complex camera. Darrell's goal in writing this book was to help the reader get the best use out of the over abundance of features available.

Below are thumbnail versions of the 13 Chapter Opening Images to be used in the book.
The yellow numbers do not appear in the final version. They are a guide for the credits listing below the images.

Chapters-800-Legend.jpg

Chapter 1: You Are Funny Dad! – Courtesy of Daniel Diggelmann (aerobat)

Chapter 2: Delighted Emily – Courtesy of Nigel Danson (ndanson1)

Chapter 3: Sunrise on Clingman’s Dome – Courtesy of David Jolley (DAJolley)

Chapter 4: Mohawk Bad Boy – Courtesy of Jaques Scheepers (mrpenguin)

Chapter 5: Seattle Space Needle and Skyline – Courtesy of Johnny Yun (yunjo)

Chapter 6: Two Leopards Descending – Courtesy of David Hays (Haysys)

Chapter 7: Red Bird Snacking – Courtesy of Dennis H. Miller (dhmiller)

Chapter 8: A Long Way Up – Courtesy of Alexandre Rosen (klrbee25)

Chapter 9: Rescue Me! – Courtesy of Eric Bowles (ericbowles)

Chapter 10: Seagull in Flight – Courtesy of Christian Coombes (Chiefmasterjedi)

Chapter 11: Smiling Giraffe – Courtesy of Joan Hammond (Silversmith)

Chapter 12: Bride and Groom – Courtesy of Darrell Young (DigitalDarrell)

Chapter 13: I See Mommy! – Courtesy of Daniel Diggelmann (aerobat)

Posted by flashdeadline at 3:13 AM

July 3, 2012

Nikonian Northern Exposure #4

Welcome to Nikonian- Northern Exposure, with renowned photographer Peter Spence. Peter finds his inspiration, not by other photographers, but from the old masters of the Renaissance and Impressionist period. These old techniques will inspire your photography to a new level of awareness that you never experienced before. Peter will show how the world famous Henri Cartier Bresson applied his painting skills to create his incredible journey into photography.


From studying the art work of Van Gogh, painting on the left, Peter learned to look for the uncommon pictures that he took on the right above.  If Peter did not study the historical paintings he would have not been inspired in his photography today.  Therefore, this technique (of combining painting and photography which Henri Cartier Bresson  was favous for ) has taken Peter to new levels in improving his photography in different ways of inspiration.

To listen to my Show click here : Podcast

For free Download  Click here

Posted by obrueck at 9:16 PM