Alternative Focus - Workshops for Creative Minds

Explore the world thru the lens

2011-10-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Explore the World thru the lens.

Photographers use the lens to explore their world. They explore the light and/or the absence of light. They explore it in color - vibrant colors, mute color, black and white - contrast and saturation. They explore it in motion, movement, or has it stands still. They explore its various shapes and size. They explore its moods, its emotions, its temperament.

Explore your world through the lens. Instead of taking your standard 'tourist' shot. Compose the image - look for shapes, color, design, light, shadows, movement, stillness, mood. If you do that you will see a whole new world. Instead of pointing and shooting, why not stop and enjoy the tulips, in other words - take your time, look, listen and feel.

Photo by Tony Locke
Visit his Flickr Site

The Excitement of photographing the Palouse

2011-08-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Four days, four students, and the excitement of photographing the Palouse.

Four sunsets, four sunrises and the excitement of photographing the Palouse.

Miles and Miles and the excitement of photographing the Palouse

The Excitement of Photographing in the Palouse.

What kind of photographer am I?

2011-08-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

What kind of photographer am I? Should that be a workshop? I find that photographers tend to gravitate towards certain subjects; wildlife, people, landscapes, flowers, birds, barns. When finally I decided to pick up a camera I discovered that what I gravitated towards was lines, macro, candid photos of people and abstract images. What kind of photographer am I? This is a question I asked myself just recently when I started to notice a theme in my photographs.

What kind of photographer am I? How do we decide what it is that draws us to photograph? Is it something that just happens? Is it unconscious? Do we ask ourselves when we take up the camera - What Kind of photographer am I? Or does it just come naturally? I tell students that even if the subject is not something that interests them, they should try the workshop anyway and venture outside their comfort zone, they might find it will enhance what does interest them.

What kind of photographer am I? The kind that wants to grow and enjoy photography.

Bringing it together

2011-07-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

In today's tough economic times, it can be somewhat of a challenge to plan a workshop. What? Where? When? Who? How much? There is also the challenge of, how to make a workshop stand out from all of the others. When I think of a workshop I try to think about; Who would take this? What do they need to learn? What would interest them? Is it the location? The subject? The instructor? How much do I need to charge? How much is too much? How much is too little? What would someone be willing to pay for it? How long should be? Do we include critique time? How in depth should we go? What is the end goal in this workshop? These are pretty standard questions, but what I really look for is; How can I make this workshop different? To me that is the most critical. What will make this workshop stand out and how can I make it a fun experience, as well as, a learning experience? Sometimes you just need to listen - so what do you think would make a fun workshop? Where would you like to go? What do you want to learn? All you need to do is suggest.......

A Visual Journey - A road to find our creative self

2011-06-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

As artists, much of our creativeness comes from within. It is then somewhat influenced by external flashes of inspiration.

We take many paths during our Visual Journey. Some paths take us on a high road leading us to places that allow our creative energy to flow and taking our work to some of the highest peaks. Other paths take us in a downward spiral, zapping us of our creative energy and we may sink into some abyss.

These past few years, so many of us have been on that downward spiral,traveling downhill either emotionally, spiritually, financially and/or creatively. For a period of time (thankfully a short one) I found my creative spirit gone. There was nothing within me. Not only did I not feel creative, I couldn’t be creative.

To find the path leading back up the hill, I surrounded myself with creative people that I admire. This sort of energy helped pull me from the abyss and showed me the way to starting a new journey. I can now feel the creative energy starting to swirl around me again, increasing the creative juices from within. Once in awhile our creative energy needs to be inspired, to get that creative blood pumping again. I look forward to my next Visual Journey.

Ultimately we have to look within, but a little outside influence doesn’t hurt. Sometimes it may just be what we need to give us that nudge towards a new Visual Journey.

Landscape workshop turns wild....

2011-05-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Not all things go according to plan, and our San Juan workshop was no exception. We planned (planned being the operative word) a 2 day workshop on the beautiful island of San Juan (Washington State). The workshop's focus was wide-angle photography. Some of the landscapes and areas we planned on photographing was; American Camp, English/British Camp, the poppy fields, sculpture park, sunset at Lime Kiln and some others.

Well first let me say, that photographing in western Washington state is always risky. Our weather is most uncooperative sometimes and this weekend was no exception. After what was a beautiful, sunny week, it decided to become cold, rainy and the gray skies were back, just in time for the weekend - this was not the part of the original forecast (but then they are almost never right). At American camp, we were hoping for early morning light, instead there was no light, gray skies, and rain. The sunset photograph we planned to do from Lime Kiln State Park didn't go as planned because - well there was no sunset. The poppy fields we planned on photographing was not in bloom yet - there was a total of seven poppies, not really a field of poppies. The whole weekend was this way.

So what do you do when a workshop doesn't go according to plan? You improvise and then let luck intervene. When you have a group of people who paid money to learn something and to enjoy their weekend of photography, you need to find something for them to do and hopefully quickly. Our landscape, wide-angle photography workshop turned WILD. We found wildlife to photograph; baby foxes (they were so cute and playful), deer, and lucky for us a local person on the island, who at 5:00 pm sharp, would feed the feral cats, foxes, ravens and the most exciting of all - Eagles. There we were when all of the sudden out of the sky and trees we were surrounded by eagles. They would fly by then swoop down to pick up the goodies, that the good Samaritan, left behind, then fly back up into the trees. This went on for over a half hour. It was fascinating just to watch.

Life, in general, doesn't always go according to plan, but sometimes what happens instead is just as great, if not better. So if your landscape is a little off and not quite working, turn it into something WILD, sometimes the extra little excitement that brings, shakes you up enough to get you out of your comfort zone and let's you enjoy yourself even more.

What Were You Thinking?

2011-04-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is from the 'dedication page' in the new book titled, "What Were You Thinking". A collection of photographs from the students of Dick Garvey. Soon to be available on Blurb...

"What were you thinking?" was a Garveyism quote his students heard quite often. Sometimes in jest, sometimes out of curiosity, but mostly to get them thinking about 'why' they took that particular photograph. This book is dedicated to Dick Garvey - as a man we respected, a photographer we admired, and a teacher who inspired us. He taught us the basics of photography, and more importantly, how to strive to be better photographers.

Dick Garvey enjoyed teaching. He was a natural at it and had that special gift that made his students strive for more and enjoy every minute of it. He was awed and inspired by their dedication and determination to constantly imporove.

His passion for photography was evident in his photographs, his passion for teaching was evident in his students’ photographs. This book is a collection of their passion and his.

We dedicate this book in memory of all that you have taught us, in photography and in life. We will miss you greatly, but we will carry with us always what you taught us. Whenever we set up our cameras and start to capture that photograph, we will hear you saying, "What were you thinking?". We were thinking about you and all that we learned from you.

Thank you!

In the Zone

2011-04-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Producing photography classes, owning a business that specializes in photography services and being part of a large camera club, I am always surrounded by photographers. Until recently I wasn't really 'one of them'. They always talked about how much they enjoy photography because while they are out there shooting the whole world seems to slip away - stress, worries, aches and pains, their whole focus is on that moment and nothing else - They are in the ZONE.

Now not being one of them (an actual "photographer") I didn't have any practical experience to refer to. What they said made sense and I did not doubt them, I just had not experienced anything like it, until recently. About 9 months ago I decided I really should "join the crowd" and take up photography. A friend gave me her camera (she moved up the line in cameras) and off to practicing I went.

Whenever we get a chance, my friend Anne and I, take a day and go shooting together. Last weekend we spent the afternoon in La Conner, photographing whatever struck our fancy. We stopped in a store in town where a friend works to say hi. This wonderful store has a vast array of colorful objects they import from other countries. Anne and I, passed some time photographing things in the store. It wasn't until later that I realized, that while in the store photographing, I was in the ZONE! I totally forgot where I was, or that the store was full of people. I was so focused on my photography that all else slipped away. As I thought about it later, I wondered how many people were paying attention to Anne and I, wondering what we were doing and why. It was then that I realized I was not paying attention to them.

So my advice, whenever life seems too much, pick up your camera and go find THE ZONE and let the world slip away, even if only for a moment.

Dedication to someone who taught us so much.

2011-03-13T11:47:00.002-07:00

On March 2nd, we lost our instructor, Dick Garvey, to cancer.
Besides loosing a good man and a good friend, we lost an very valuable instructor. Photography was Dick's greatest passion, and teaching photography was very important to him. He didn't just do it for the money (that was just an added bonus), he did it because he loved to teach others and to watch them grow as photographers.

His student's loved him for his unique approach to teaching photography.
It wasn't just about the technical with Dick, it was about reaching inside and discovering why you want to take this photograph, did you feel that you accomplished and conveyed what you were trying to say with your photography, what was your vision. His 'critiquing' style was his forte. This was where you would really learn about photography. Just watching him and listening to him would give you what you needed to become a better photographer. His wit and his charm made the classes fun and exciting.

Dick had quite the following, he had students that would take just about every class we did. One of the classes we did for awhile, was a Portfolio class. It ran monthly and students were encouraged to think about how they would like to portray their work. We talked about different options available today and what would best suit them. This class was to help them continue to move forward, even if all they wanted to do was share their work with friends and family. It was discussed that your 'portfolio' would always be changing, as well, as your work. One of his students completed her first 'portfolio'. She did it as a book and dedicated it to Dick. Here is a link to Anne's new book, 'A Trip Around the Edges', one of Dick's many sayings.

He will be missed by all of us

A Fun Little Workshop with John Holtman

2011-03-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

We recently had a class on macro and creative fun photography at Christianson's Nursery. We started the day with a discussion where our instructor, John Holtman, shared techniques and took us on a visual exploration of images that he has photographed. Then our hostess, Margie Hart at La Conner Flats, served us a delicious lunch of homemade vegetable soup and sandwiches. It was a chilly and sunny day in the middle of February, as we descended upon the grounds of Christianson's Nursery to practice all that John taught us. Everyone took to the task with a seriousness and dedication that shows in their photography. We ended the day with a group shot.

To see some of the images from this wonderful day visit our Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/thatphotoshoppe.

As a bonus - Christianson's was sponsoring a photography contest and one of our students won second place. Congrats to Anne - to see more of Anne's work read her blog.

Here is the image that won second place.

What I learned at our 'To Blog or not to Blog class'.

2011-02-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

I recently produced a class on, 'To Blog or not to Blog?", I think I was channeling Shakespeare or something? Anyway it was a pretty full house. This was not a class on how to make a career out of blogging, it was simply a class on how to set up a blog and what you could do with it, a very beginner's basics.

The students were comprised of adults, most of which are retired. Some wanted to learn to blog about their hobbies or art, others had a small business and some wanted to blog about life. The instructor uses Wordpress, so we based the class around that (sorry blogger!).

Here was the challenges, some expected, some not.

First was preparing a handout for the class (the middle to older generation still likes handouts). It was hard to come up with a step-by-step of even the basics, in Wordpress. Since there is so much to learn about Wordpress, I wanted something to give as a guideline . I was surprised though that even Wordpress didn't have anything online, no PDF's, nothing to download. I ended up just doing a document listing resources and some links on how to get started with Wordpress.

Second challenge (and this was a big one), keeping everyone on the same page, or at least the same chapter. Each student brought a computer, and what should have been done was have them log in using one site, one theme and then just walk them through it. Instead each student started their own project, used a different theme (which caused it own set of challenges) and was at different levels of doing their own thing and learning.

Usually when we teach a Photoshop class we have everyone working on the same project. We still have the issue of different learning levels but by having everyone working on the same project it makes it more manageable. When you have everyone working on different projects, especially beginners, you loose control quickly and it is harder to maintain and stay on the subject's course. Which is sort of what happened here.

What did I learn from all of this? 1. K.I.S.S. When I do this again, we will keep it simple, follow some basic steps, have everyone working from the same page. 2. Keep the class a little smaller. 3. Do like we do when teaching Photoshop Elements, break it down and teach in segments. We tried to cram too much into one day. 4. Maybe have a class in Blogger:-)

BTW - Here is a link to one our student's new blog (the one she started in class) - http://takenbyanne.wordpress.com. Some of the names of the blogs were very clever.

How to choose an F Stop and Why

2011-01-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

How to Choose a Lens Aperture (F Stop)
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

One of the most important settings on any adjustable camera is the size of the hole (known as the "aperture") through which light passes on its way from the subject, through the lens, to the film. The size setting of this hole, customarily referred to as the "f/stop" in reference to a standard measurement or simply the "aperture", determines depth of field, manages the effect of certain lens imperfections, and can add certain special effects such as spiked "sunstars" around bright highlights. Here's how to choose the best one.

Steps

Familiarize yourself with some of the basic concepts and terminology. You'll need to know these in order to make sense of the rest of the article.
- Aperture or stop. This is the adjustable hole through which light passes on its way from the subject, through the lens, to the film (or digital sensor). Like the pinhole in a pinhole camera, it blocks rays of light except those that would, even without a lens, tend to form an inverted image by passing through that central point to a corresponding point in the opposite direction on the film. With a lens, it also blocks rays of light that would pass through far from the center, where the lens glass may less closely approximate (usually with various easy-to-make spherical surfaces) the shapes that would focus it perfectly (usually much more complex aspherical surfaces), causing aberrations.
  - Because every camera has an aperture, usually adjustable, and if not at least has the edges of the lens as an aperture, the aperture size setting is what is normally called the "aperture".
- F-stop or simply aperture. This is the ratio of the focal length of the lens to the size of the aperture. This kind of measurement is used because a given focal ratio produces the same image brightness, requiring the same shutter speed for a given ISO setting (film speed or equivalent sensor light amplification) without regard to focal length.
- Iris diaphragm or simply iris. This is the device most cameras use to form and adjust the aperture. It consists of a series of overlapping thin metal blades that can swing toward the center of a hole in a flat metal ring. It forms a central hole that is perfectly round wide open, when the blades are out of the way, and constricts by pushing the blades toward the center of that hole to form a smaller polygonal hole (which may have curved edges).
  - Most SLR cameras only close down the iris diaphragm, making it visible from the front of the lens, during an exposure or when the depth-of-field-preview function is activated.
- Stopping down means to use a smaller, or (depending on context) a relatively small aperture (large f/ number).
- Opening up means to use a larger, or (depending on context), a relatively large aperture (small f/ number).
- Wide open means to use the largest aperture (smallest f/number).
- Depth of field is the specific front-to-back area, or (depending on context) the scope of the front-to-back area that appears fairly sharp. A smaller aperture increases depth of field and decreases the extent to which objects outside the depth of field are blurred. The precise extent of depth of field is somewhat subjective because focus drops off gradually from the precise distance of focus, and the noticeability of defocus depends on factors such as subject type, other sources of lack of sharpness, and viewing conditions.
  - A relatively large depth-of-field is called deep; a relatively small depth-of-field is called shallow.
- Aberrations are imperfections in a lens's ability to focus light sharply. Generally speaking, less-expensive and more-exotic types of lenses (such as superwides) have more severe aberrations.
  - Aperture has no effect on linear distortion (straight lines appearing curved), but it often goes away toward the middle of a zoom lens's focal-length range, and pictures can be composed to avoid drawing attention to it such as by not putting prominent obviously straight lines such as on buildings or horizons close to the frame edges, and it can be corrected in software or by some digital cameras automatically.
- Diffraction is a basic aspect of the behavior of waves passing through small openings which limits the maximum sharpness of all lenses at smaller apertures.[1] It becomes increasingly apparent past f/11 or so, making a great camera and lens no better than a so-so one (albeit sometimes one exactly suited for a specific need such as great depth of field or a long shutter speed where lower sensitivity or a neutral-density filter is not available).
Understand depth of field. Depth of field is, formally, the range of object distances within which objects are imaged with acceptable sharpness. There is only one distance at which objects will be in perfect focus, but sharpness drops off gradually in front of and behind that distance. For a short distance in each direction, objects will be blurred so little that the film or sensor will be too coarse to detect any blurring; for a somewhat greater distance they will still appear "pretty" sharp in the final picture.[2] The pairs of depth-of-field marks for certain apertures next to the focusing scale on a lens are good for estimating this latter measure.[3].
- Roughly one-third of the depth of field is behind the focus distance, and two-thirds is behind (if not extending to infinity, since it is a phenomenon relating to the amount by which light rays from an object have to be bent to converge at a focal point and rays coming from far distances tend toward parallel.)
- Depth of field drops off gradually. Backgrounds and foregrounds will appear slightly soft, if not in focus, with a small aperture, but very blurred or unrecognizable with a wide aperture. Consider whether they are important and should be in focus, relevant for context and should be a little soft, or distracting and should be blurred.
  - If you want great background blur but do not have quite enough depth of field for your subject, focus on the part that will draw the most attention, often the eyes.
- Depth of field generally appears to depend on, in addition to aperture, focal length (longer focal length gives less), format size (smaller film or sensor size gives more, assuming the same angle of view, i.e., equivalent focal length), and distance (there is much less at close focus distances).So, if you want shallow depth of field, you can buy a super-fast lens (expensive), or zoom in (free) and set even a cheap smaller-aperture lens wide open.
- The artistic purpose of depth of field is to deliberately have the entire picture sharp or to "crop depth" by diffusing distracting foreground and/or background.
- A more practical purpose of depth of field is to set a small aperture and pre-focus the lens to the "hyperfocal distance" (the closest at which the depth of field extends to infinity from a given distance; see a table or the depth of field marks on the lens for the aperture chosen) or to an estimated distance, to be ready to take a picture quickly with a manual-focus camera or a subject moving too fast or unpredictably for autofocus (in which case you'll need a high shutter speed too).
- Remember that you normally won't see any of this through your viewfinder (or on your screen as you're composing. Modern cameras meter with the lens at its widest aperture, and only stop down the lens to its selected aperture at the moment of exposure. The depth-of-field preview function usually allows only a dim and imprecise view. (Disregard any odd patterns in the focusing screen view; they will not appear in the final picture.) What's more, viewfinders on modern digital SLRs and other autofocus cameras don't even show the true wide-open depth of field with a lens faster than f/2.8 or so (it's shallower than it looks; rely on autofocus, not subject to this limitation, when possible). A better option on digital cameras is to simply take the picture, then play it back and zoom in on your LCD to see if the background is adequately sharp (or blurred) enough.
Understand the interaction of aperture and instantaneous lighting (flash). A flash burst is normally so short that the flash component of an exposure is affected only by aperture. (Most 35mm and digital SLRs have a maximum "flash-sync" flash-compatible shutter speed; above that only a fraction of the frame would be exposed due to the way in which their "focal-plane" shutter works. Special high-speed-sync flash modes use a rapid burst of weak flashes, each exposing a fraction of the frame; they greatly reduce flash range and so are rarely helpful.) A wide aperture increases maximum flash range. It also increases effective fill-flash range by increasing the proportionate exposure from a flash and reducing the time during which ambient light is allowed in. A small aperture may be needed to prevent overexposure in close-ups due to a minimum output below which a flash cannot be reduced (indirect flash, which is inherently less efficient, can help in this situation). Many cameras can adjust the balance of flash and ambient lighting with "flash exposure compensation". A digital camera is best for complex flash setups because the results of instantaneous bursts of light are inherently non-intuitive, even though some studio flashes have "modeling lights" and some fancy portable flashes have modeling-light-like preview modes.
Test your lenses for optimal sharpness. All lenses are different and are better shot at different apertures for optimal performance. Get out and shoot something with lots of fine texture at different apertures and compare the shots to figure out how your lens behaves at various apertures. The object should be all essentially at "infinity" (30 feet or more with wide-angles to hundreds of feet with tele-lenses; a distant stand of trees is generally good) to avoid confusing defocus with aberrations. Here's some hints as to what to look for:
- Nearly all lenses have lower contrast and are less sharp at their widest aperture, especially towards the corners of your image. This is especially true on point-and-shoot and cheaper lenses. Consequently, if you're going to have detail in the corners of your pictures that you want to keep sharp, then you'll want to use a smaller aperture. For flat subjects, f/8 is typically the sharpest aperture. For objects at varying distances a smaller aperture may be better for more depth of field.
- Most lenses will have some noticeable amount of light fall-off wide open.good thing for many photographs, especially portraits; it draws attention towards the centre of the photograph, which is why many people add falloff in post. But it's still good to know what you're getting. Falloff is usually invisible after about f/8.
  Light fall-off is where the edges of the picture are slightly darker than the centre of the picture. This can be a
- Zoom lenses can vary depending on how far in or out they are zoomed. Test for the above things at a few different zoom settings.
- Diffraction makes almost every lens's images softer at f/16 and smaller apertures, and conspicuously softer at f/22 and smaller.
- All of this is just something to think about for optimum clarity of a picture that already has as good a composition--including depth of field – as possible, and which will not be much more grossly marred by insufficient shutter speed causing camera-shake or subject blur or noise from excessive "sensitivity" (amplification).
- Don't waste film investigating this – check your lenses on a digital camera, check reviews, and in a pinch assume expensive or prime (non-zoom) lenses are best at f/8, cheap simple ones such as kit lenses are best at f/11, and cheap exotic ones such as superwides or lenses with wide or tele adapters are best at f/16. (With an adapter lens on a point and shoot, stop down as much as possible, perhaps by using the camera's aperture-priority mode – look in its menus.)
Understand aperture-related special effects.
- Bokeh, a Japanese word often used to refer to the appearance of out-of-focus areas, especially highlights because those appear as bright blobs. Much has been written about the details of those out-of-focus blobs, which are sometimes brighter in the middle and sometimes a little brighter at the edges, like donuts, or some combination of the two, but at least one author rarely notices it except in bokeh articles. Most importantly, out-of-focus blurs are:
  - Much larger and more diffuse at wider apertures.
  - Soft-edged at the widest aperture, due to the perfectly round hole (the edge of a lens, rather than an iris blade).
  - The shape of the diaphragm opening, when not at the widest aperture. This is most noticeable at wide apertures because they are large. This might be considered unattractive with a lens whose opening does not closely approximate a circle, such as a cheap lens with a five- or six-bladed diaphragm.
  - Sometimes half-moons rather than circular toward the sides of images at very wide apertures, probably due to one of the lens elements not being as huge as it would have to be to fully illuminate all parts of the image at that aperture, or weirdly extended due to "coma" at very wide apertures (which is pretty much only an issue when taking pictures of lights at night).
  - Prominently donut-like with mirror-type tele lenses, due to a central obstruction.
- Diffraction spikes forming sunstars. Very bright highlights, such as light bulbs at night or small specular reflections of sunlight, will be surrounded by "diffraction spikes" making "sunstars" at small apertures (they are formed by increased diffraction at the points of the polygonal hole formed by the iris). These will either have the same number of points as your lens has aperture blades (if you have an even number of them), due to overlapping of opposite-sides' spikes, or twice as many (if you have an odd number of aperture blades). They are fainter and less noticeable with lenses with many, many aperture blades (generally odd lenses such as old Leicas).
Get out and shoot. Most importantly (in terms of aperture at least), Control your depth of field. It's as simple as this: a smaller aperture means more depth of field, a larger aperture means less. A larger aperture also means more background blur. Here's some examples:
- Use a small aperture to force more depth of field.
- Remember that depth of field becomes shallower the closer you get.If you're doing macro photography, for example, you might want to stop down far more than you would for a landscape. Insect photographers often go way down to f/16 or smaller, and have to nuke their subjects with lots of artificial lighting.
- Use a large aperture to force a shallow depth of field. This is great for portraits (much better than the silly automatic portrait scene modes), for example; use the largest aperture you have, lock your focus on the eyes, recompose and you'll find the background is thrown out of focus and is, consequently, made less distracting.Remember that opening the aperture like this will cause faster shutter speeds to be chosen. In bright daylight, make sure you aren't causing your camera to max out its fastest shutter speed (typically 1/4000 on digital SLRs). Keep your ISO low to avoid this.
Shoot for special effects. If you're photographing lights at night, have adequate camera support, and want sunstars, use a small aperture. If you want large, perfectly rounded bokeh spots (albeit with some incomplete circles), use a wide-open aperture.
Shoot for fill-flash. Use a relatively large aperture and fast shutter speed if necessary to mix flash with daylight so the flash isn't overwhelmed.
Shoot for optimum technical image quality. If depth of field is not of primary importance (which would generally be the case when pretty much everything in the picture is relatively far from the lens and will be in focus anyway), the shutter speed will be high enough to avoid blur from camera shake and the ISO setting will be low enough to avoid severe noise or other quality loss (which would generally be the case in daytime), you don't need any aperture-related gimmicks, and any flash is powerful enough to balance with ambient light adequately, set the aperture that gives the best detail with the particular lens being used.
Once you've chosen the lens aperture, try making the most of it with aperture-priority mode.

Tips

If careful aperture selection will be very important to your picture and you have an automated camera, aperture-priority mode or program-shift (scrolling through the combinations of apertures and shutter speeds automatically determined to give proper exposure) are convenient ways to set it.
Sometimes you have to compromise your choice of aperture to allow an adequate shutter speed or acceptable film speed or "sensitivity" (amplification) setting, or just let your camera choose something for you to get the shot. Do it.
There's plenty of wisdom embodied in the old saying: f/8 and don't be late. f/8 typically gives sufficient depth of field for most still subjects and it's where 35mm and digital SLR lenses are typically at their sharpest (or close to it). Don't be afraid to use it – or program mode (a good mode to leave your camera on for whatever might pop up) – for interesting subjects that won't necessarily stand still for you to adjust your camera.
Softness from diffraction and, to a lesser extent, defocus (which can create odd patterns rather than softness alone) can sometimes be mitigated by processing such as the "unsharp mask" function in the GIMP and Photoshop. This will strengthen soft edges though it cannot create fine detail that was not captured, and creates harsh erroneous detail if overused.

Warnings

Make "sunstars" with bright points of light not so bright as the sun.
- Don't point a tele-lens, especially a very fast or long tele-lens, at the sun attempting to make "sunstars" or for any other reason. You may damage your eye, or the camera.
- Don't point a cloth-shutter non-SLR camera, such as a Leica, toward the sun except perhaps briefly to take a picture handheld, and even then only with a small aperture set. You may burn a hole in the shutter, which would require a somewhat expensive repair.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Choose a Lens Aperture (F Stop). All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

February's Classes

2011-01-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

We have some exciting classes in February.

Feb. 5th - To blog or not to blog.

Feb. 15 or 16th - A Photoshop Elements (Photoshop) class on the dodge and burn tool.

Feb. 19th - A Creative Photography class with John Holtman.

To see our latest newsletter, click here.

To Blog or not to Blog? Hmmmm

2011-01-23T11:03:00.000-08:00

I took an online class the other day called, "9 Businesses doing Blogging right and what you need to know". Presented By Michael Stelzner, Rick Calvert & Dave Cynkin.

Why Blog?

Well according to: Michael Stelzner, Rick Calvert & Dave Cynkin

51% of internet users read a blog at least monthly and over 60% by 2014 (Technorati)
Companies that have a business blog attract 55% more website visitors than non-blogging companies (HubSpot)
More than 43% of U.S. companies will marketvia a blog by 2012, up from 34% in 2010 (eMarketer)

Blogging should not only be about what your business is, but stories within your business - like behind the scenes, employee stories, etc, stories about your industry, or maybe something totally unrelated but it is important to you.

Mix up your content, invite others to speak, let your employees/coworkers add a voice to the blog, customers, suppliers, complimentary industries, well you get the picture. Collaborate with others.

What you may be trying to accomplish with this blog:

To become "the source" for people interested in what you do, the authority in your area of expertise, to create value while introducing readers to your products/services, build up your brand, to educate, discuss topics that are important to your area, to have fun - but most importantly to stay in contact.

Things that are important in a blog:

The theme, The look/design, The name, The presentation, The idea.
The Value it provides to the readers.
CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT!
Trust. Stay true to who you are.
Keep your blog from turning into a sales message. Keep the sales/promotions subtle. Address the interests and needs of your audience, even if it has nothing to do with your product line.
Invite others of expertise to write on your blog.
Have a personal connection. Know your audience and relate to them on their level, talk about what interest them, use their language.
Educate, Inform and keep in touch.
Add a variety of content - videos, photos, links to others and more.
User friendly. Make sure it is easy to share your site, your blogs. Make sure that it is easy to subscribe to.
Make sure that there is information/history about you, or the business on the site somewhere.
CONTACT INFORMATION. This is so important but people tend to forget it.
Allow interaction. Let others have the ability to converse on your blog (post comments).

What if you are not a business? Why blog? Why not? Maybe you have a passion, a hobby, you are an authority on something and you just want to share it. One of the largest and growing areas in blogging is 'stay at home moms'. Blogging has created an outlet for them, a way to share what they do, what they know, their frustrations, their triumphs and more. And for some moms a pretty lucrative income. So blogging is not just for businesses.

So should your blog? Come to our class on blogging and find out if you even want to. Uh Oh, did I just do a faux pas and violate one of the rules by selling on my blog? Oh well, it is something I am passionate about and I feel is important to my customers. After all I am in the industry of educating others.....

Click here to find out more information about our upcoming class on blogging, February 5th.

Keep on learning.

First Attempt at a Contest

2011-01-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

I decided to test the waters and see how much people were paying attention on the social media sites by having a contest. Apparently seven of them was paying attention.. Overall I didn't think that was too bad.

The contest was simple - tell us why you think you should learn Photoshop Elements.

The rules - even simpler - there was no rules.

Even the judging was simple. I sent it to 3 people and asked them to pick their favorite and the runner up. I tried getting people involved on Facebook by posting the submissions on there and asking people to choose one by pressing the like button, but that did not quite work the way I hoped it would. In fact it didn't work at all. Not one single 'like'.

So how did the test go? I would say it was like a 'dip-your-toe-in-the-water-and-check-the- temperature, type of test.' Hopefully the next one I can get them to wade in a little further, maybe put in all five toes:)

The winner? Here is a copy of what she submitted: I tried to learn this software in another life, but failed miserably. I did so well with your Lightroom class, that I know I will learn from this class. Winning this would allow me to make the drive to Anacortes for another great class. I would be happy to grovel, if it would help. Thanks for your consideration

Thanks to all who did participate. And thanks to our 3 judges.

A Journey of Healing

2010-12-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

One Photograph, One Workshop, One Day at a Time

In February of this year (2010) we teamed up with Charles Needle and produced a workshop ‘Creative Macro Photography’. Attending this workshop was this extraordinary person who recently lost her husband. She was taking up photography to help her through her grief. This was her first workshop and the beginning of her journey to heal.

Since this workshop her journey into photography has taken her to different parts of the country, she has been exposed to a variety of instructors and has met some wonderful people. She has found some comfort during this time, but it was her photography that helped her the most while on this journey, it has given her a reason to live and carry on.

In September we did a workshop on ‘Creating a Photo Book’ using Blurb and other programs. Sally, again attended one of our workshops. With her, she brought some of the stunning photographs she had been taking during this journey. It was fun and exciting to she her growth as a photographer and to see happiness in her experience.

Her new book is an accumulation of her photographs - and maybe a touch of a memoir to her healing process and her husband. http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1618332

Thank you Sally, for sharing this journey with us. You are a beautiful person and a wonderful photographer. We wish you all the best as you continue your photography and your life.

It is because of people, and photographers, like you that we enjoy having these workshops. We get a chance to live vicariously through your lens, and then watch you grow as a photographer.

From Sally:

I was with my husband for 18 years. He was my best friend, my husband, my cheerleader and my backbone. He was my rock and my sunshine. He was diagnosed with Cancer that had spread to his spine and after a yearlong battle with extreme pain and unimaginable hurdles he passed away.

When I say he was my sunshine, he was. He smiled everyday that he was here. It did not matter how much pain he was in - he smiled.

I loved him so much and miss him terribly, but I know that we must go on. It would have been so easy to just curl up in a ball and just let it all go. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I still had a desire, a desire to live, as hard as it was and at times it still is I really did want to live.

I joined photography groups; they got me out of the house and kept me out of the malls. I needed to be around people that had my passion for photography. I needed to get out and make some friends, and I did. I can’t express enough how much this helped me. I can only tell you that through my photography I met some fantastic people, I reconnected with others and I’m living.

My first workshop was with “That Photo Shoppe” doing Macro Photography. I did another workshop with them that dealt with building books, books like this one. This book is a result of all the workshops I did, it was a way for me to get back to living again and to make something beautiful out of all the pain.

The journey of healing will never end, but I’m doing it the only way I know, “Through the lens”.

Thanks for being part of my journey...Hope this is not too long :)

Living Local Economies and Communities

2010-11-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

Local Living Economies – Sustainable Communities

This isn’t a new concept but it is something that all of us should pay attention to, especially now.

People are fed up. Fed up with the Government. Fed up with Corporations. Fed up with Banks. Fed up with the economy. We are just FED UP!! So what are some communities and small businesses doing about it? They are promoting a Local Living Economy – a Sustainable Community.

Way back when, communities worked together, they supported each other and built their lives and their businesses around their community. Their economy was local, they traded local, they lived local and they sustained local. It was a true – Relationship Economy.

Then the grocery store chains, the malls and the large ‘box’ stores came in and spending shifted to a more global economy. Our community dollars (and jobs) went somewhere else, causing some small (and larger) businesses and communities to struggle, or worse collapse.

There are some communities (towns) that are trying to shift back to the Local Economy. Those that are good at it are surviving and even thriving during these down economic times. One such community is Bellingham, WA. Through Sustainable Connections – a local non-profit – they have boosted Bellingham’s economy and small businesses are thriving. The local businesses are supporting each other and most importantly supporting their community. They are providing jobs, supporting their community and they are supporting their environment.

Everyone benefits from this movement, including the community.

We should all pay attention to this movement. Most importantly we should be supporting it and starting to do it in our own communities.

To learn more about Sustainable Connections visit their website at http://sustainableconnections.org or visit http://www.livingeconomies.org - a national organization on Local Living Economies.

Watch this well-done video on YouTube about Sustainable Connections.

You can also watch a PBS special about this subject – to watch it visit this website http://video.pbs.org/video/1650808108

From Sustainable Connections Website:

What We Do, Values & History

Vision:

We envision a thriving, collaborative community in which local businesses are prosperous and contribute to a healthy environment and the well-being of all citizens.
Mission:

To be the local forum where businesses come together to transform and model an economy built on sustainable practices.

We work with local, independently owned businesses that have the autonomy to make any transformational change in their business that they can imagine… reexamining where we buy goods and services, how we consume energy, grow and distribute our food, build homes, and even, how we define success in business. Sustainable Connections is supporting a community of innovators in green building, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, supporting independent businesses in town centers, and mentoring a new breed of entrepreneurs that have designed their business with a sustainable vision.

New Book by Tiny Hands Art

2010-11-15T22:27:00.000-08:00

In the summer we did a workshop on creating your own Photo book. We had an enthusiastic crowd of people who wanted to learn since that time there have been a few books published (one will be a feature story soon). For now though I am sharing my most recent book. I took the art produced by my niece and nephew during their Kindergarten through Third Grade period, and I made a book out it. It was a lot of fun being creative around their work.

This book is also a showcase of some upcoming services we will be providing through our new business "design MADNESS". We will be offering design services, such as children books created by their Tiny Hands.

Enjoy.

A Glimpse of Art by Ben & Madi Harasek | Make Your Own Book

Someone who has taken some of our workshop

2010-11-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

This local person kept visiting our store during Art Walk. He loved photography and was just getting back into it. His hobby became a passion, and like so many passionate about their art he wanted to learn more and grow. He started taking a lot of our workshops, wanting to expand his knowledge and to learn more about photography. It was amazing to watch his growth. His photography with each workshop blossomed and grew. So too, did his style, his creative eye! It was after our 'Creative Macro' class with Charles Needle, that Per really blossomed. His photography took on a whole new look, he found his creative self.

One of the many things I love about producing these workshops - is watching students, like Per, grow. To see how their photography goes from just taking a photograph, to becoming art.

Follow Per Lea's blog and watch his photography soar to new heights. I know that you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Karla

ttp://taliho-per.blogspot.com/2010/11/fall-in-anacortes.html

Work Smarter Not Harder – Ten Tips to Help You

2010-09-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

Work Smarter Not Harder – Ten Tips to Help You

Is learning photography no longer needed?

2010-08-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Is learning photography no longer needed?

I recently read an article by a Pro Photographer stating that the author believes that people don’t want to learn photography anymore, thanks to digital photography. The author basically said that with today’s cameras being so good that people can just keep shooting until they get some images they like. And with products like Photoshop you can fix most images that might need it. So why learn the principles of photography, or how to use the camera correctly?

As a Producer of photography workshops, I am not sure if I agree with this or not. Sure there are people who think they don’t need to learn. Pixels are free and you can shoot as much as you want, and if you get some goods ones great. And that’s ok, if that is the kind of photographer you want to be, mediocre or ok at best, that is just fine. But I find that there are still a lot of people who want to learn, even if it’s just the basics. It is not because they want to go pro, or become famous. They just have a strong passion for it and want to learn to do it better.

Taking a class or workshop on photography or camera basics, is not just about learning though. It is a great way to form friendships and explore this visual world with others who share your passion. It’s about growth, exploration, creativeness and fun.

There are 1000’s of websites and workshops on the subject. So that should tell us that people do want to learn photography. If anything, there are more of them because of digital. It has made it more accessible, in some ways more affordable and easier and a lot more fun.

Karla Locke

By instructor Matt Brown

I have had the same feeling for some time., Many don't want to learn photography. Their attitude is "trial and error" is just fine. The same people often brag, "you should see the shot I got the other day", and then go on to say they have no idea what happened, but one came out really good.

I have many conversations (when I'm on a shoot) with people that ask, "do you teach" or more to the point, "just what are you trying to do here", and I will take a few seconds to explain and they go, "oh yeah, I get it now".

The truth is that most people want to learn. They have learned that being frustrated, in not knowing why one came out, is indeed frustrating and learning is still fun. And cheaper in the long run.

By instructor Vince Streano

Here are my thoughts on the subject:

You are no more a photographer because you own a digital camera than you would be
an artist if you owned a paintbrush and some oils. The creative process happens in
your mind, not in the tools you use. The digital camera, as good as it is, cannot
compose your image, create your lighting, or snap the picture at the optimum moment
for the greatest impact. These skills are learned over many years of practice.

Getting comfortable with getting close

2010-07-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

I sat down with photography instructor, Matt Brown, to plan out a photography workshop on Macro photography. As we were discussing the details and a list of equipment, the question that came to my mind was - what is the real definition of Macro photography? How does this differ from just getting close? Should we really be calling this a class on ‘Macro Photography’? After doing some research on the ‘definition’ of macro, I came to the conclusion that this was a workshop on both – macro and getting close.

The dictionary definition of macro photography - mac·ro·pho·tog·ra·phy / ˌmakrōfəˈtägrəfē/ • n. photography producing photographs of small items larger than life size.

This definition seems to imply that any close-up photograph, no matter how it was taken, is considered macro. After all, even close-up photographs seem larger than life size.

I found various ideas of what defines macro vs close-up photography. The common definition of macro photography is - photographing an object with an enlargement ratio of 1:1 or larger. It involves using equipment such as a Macro Lens, extension tubes, close up filters and teleconverters to produce a ‘true’ macro image.

Close-up photography on the other hand means just that – getting close to an object. Usually using standard equipment. Some point-n-shoots have a macro program on it, but doe that mean it is really doing macro photography, or is it just getting close to the object?

The confusion for me was that everyone was using the term macro no matter what equipment was used, or how it was done. It covered any photographic situation where the subject/object was photographed close up. The line of “true macro photography” has become blurred, and I am not really sure how important it is to really have a ‘”true definition” anymore?

To some I am sure it is very important, but for the purpose of this workshop I am going to just call it, “Getting comfortable with getting close”, no matter how you do it. Whether it is a true macro, or just a close-up photograph.

The Planning of the ‘Unleash Your Creative Spirit’ workshop

2010-06-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

After months of classes on the technical side of Photography, I realized one day that we needed a class that focused on the ‘creative’ side. I started formulating an idea based around “The Artist’s Way”, the purpose of the workshop was to help the participants find their ‘creative self’ and recognize it. I approached Cheryl Bruemmer, who teaches “The Artist’s Way” locally.

I then approached the Skagit Valley Camera Club with the idea. They thought it was a great idea, but maybe a hard sell based on just the Artist’s Way. One of the board members suggested that maybe we should turn it into a weekend retreat. I took that idea and ran with it. It was decided that Padilla Bay would make a great retreat and location. Not too far, remote, inspiring, and a beautiful location. I contacted them and found a date that worked.

I then started recruiting instructors that I felt would fit the theme of the workshop. I knew that Cheryl would start off the weekend. Her lively and fun spirit was a great way to start the workshop. I then asked Dick Garvey to do a class on the creative aspects of photography. Even though this was a workshop for Photographers, I realized I needed a different point of view, so I approached Al Currier about doing a class on a Painter’s point of view on being creative. I was so excited when he agreed. I then needed a headliner, someone that could draw in participants and would still fit our theme, I approached Brooks Jensen of Lenswork Magazine, with the idea and he immediately agreed.

Now we had a location, a fantastic line-up of instructors, caterers, sponsors and a schedule all that was needed was participants. It was decided to cap off at 40 max. I designed an email newsletter and emailed it out to all the local camera clubs from here to Bellingham. I then designed a poster to hang in various locations in Anacortes and Bellingham. The workshop was also added to That Photo Shoppe’s website, the Skagit Valley Camera Club’s website, and Glazer’s Camera Supply in Seattle’s website.

I had 15 people signed up within the first week. All together we had 30 paid participants, 4 instructors, 3 caterers, 4 sponsors, and 4 volunteers. I received very positive feedback, not only from the participants, but also from the instructors, who stayed for the entire weekend. The instructors not only enjoyed it as much as the participants but learned a lot from each other.

Overall, it was a great success. I learned that my ‘creative’ outlet was organizing and planning events such as these. We all have a ‘creative’ side, sometimes it is hard to realize just what that is.

DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

2010-05-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Telling a story with pictures
Instructor Vince Streano

From the time of Mathew Brady and the civil war, documentary photography has been the primary means of telling the stories of our culture and history. Whether it's the child labor pictures of Lewis Hines, the saga of the Country Doctor by W. Eugene Smith, or the images of the depression by Dorothea Lange, documentary photography is the most compelling means of chronicling the human condition.

This documentary photography workshop will be all about telling a story with pictures. We will begin by looking at some of the great documentary photographers of the past, then discuss what makes a great picture story. We'll talk about capturing the decisive moment, how to put together your own picture story, and the elements needed to complete your story in pictures. We'll also discuss some contemporary documentary photographers, and how they are able to achieve their images.

Finally the class will discuss creating their own picture story,
"A Portrait In Time/Anacortes".

The goal is to produce a photo portrait of the city of Anacortes at this moment in time. Each photographer will be assigned one or more different aspects of life in the city. Assignments will include: night shift with the Anacortes Police Department, ship building, religion in Anacortes, night life, the routine of a typical family with children, Anacortes business community, harbor life around the docks, Anacortes history, the fishing industry, sports, the Cats Meow, and more. Students will also be able to come up with their own subjects. Participants will have two weeks to complete their assignment, at which time we'll gather again for a critique of the images.

The Hero Shot

2010-04-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

During our workshop, “The Art of Shooting Bridges”, instructor Vince Streano told the students that while on assignment he always looks for that “Hero Shot”, the shot that would make him and his clients look like “Heroes”.

Well our “Heroes” are our students and they always amaze us with their photography. During the critique Vince was blown away and excited by the “Hero Shots” from our students. They worked so hard in the ten days they had to complete their assignments and that hard work really showed in their photographs.

So to our students – thank you for the sharing with us your “Hero Shots”. We enjoy seeing how hard you work and feel such pride and honor in seeing such amazing photographs. Your “Hero Shots” make you and us look like “Heroes”.

The Talk of the Town

2010-04-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Social Media vs the ‘Grapevine’. Long before Facebook and Twitter, the grapevine was the way word spread. The power of the ‘grapevine’ is just as powerful today and just as fast as the Internet.

On Saturday, April 17th, Alternative Focus held a workshop in historical Pt Townsend, WA. The workshop was called, “How would Dick shoot this?” Using PT Townsend’s historical buildings as the backdrop and location; instructor Dick Garvey took our group of nine students/photographers on a tour of Pt Townsend. We visited four locations, already scoped out by the instructor, at each location Dick explained how he would photograph that location and why. Then he would give the students an assignment, which was to shoot the location based on their interpretation of how he would do it, then shoot that same location based on how they would do it. They were given up to one hour to complete the assignment.

Having nine photographers standing in one area with their cameras and tripods started to attract a lot of attention. Questions started circulating: What were we photographing? What was going on? Was this a workshop? Who were we with? People started to stop and photograph with us, others stopped to listen to the instructor and watch. This was as entertaining as the workshop.

By lunchtime we were the talk of the town. Word had spread that there was a large group of photographers photographing downtown. They were talking about us in the stores and coffee shops. In a very short time everyone was talking about us.

While photographing a series of old buildings a local passerby noticed us and took a photograph of us using her cell phone. She then emailed it to a friend, asking her friend “What am I missing?” Her friend then took the photograph and posted it to her Facebook, titling it, “What am I missing?” Thus spreading the news even further.

No longer were we just the talk of Pt Townsend, we were now the talk of somebody’s Facebook and her network of ‘friends’ and their ‘friend’.

Just goes to show how powerful these tools are and how fast they work. Too bad we didn’t get the name of the Facebook friend, it would be great to link to it.

Grapevine or Social Networking - useful tools for spreading the word.

How about a portfolio?

2010-03-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

In the last several workshops we have done, I have added an extra image to each assignment. Besides illustrating what we discussed and discovered during the class, I also asked each student to use this new information and create a photograph that would become a photograph in their "portfolio". This idea opened a whole new concept.

We all need a portfolio. When someone, anyone, asks you what you are doing with all of your new equipment, or why you are taking workshops, or just why you are spending so much hard to find time on this "hobby", you can show them. Sit them down and hand them something that in a single package shows what you are working on. Who you are.

A portfolio will also promote the development of a style. Each person is unique, and the images you make should illustrate that individuality. Some photographers already know exactly who they are as image makers. Those shooters should constantly be refining their work, and becoming even stronger. For photographers who are struggling to find an identity, putting together a portfolio is the most effective means of developing their own vision.

Building a portfolio gives you reason to keep learning , and to keep working on your passion.

A common question is, "What form will my portfolio take"? There is no single answer to that. A slide show. A thumb drive you plug into a computer. A DVD for your television. A scrapbook. A looseleaf notebook so you can change images. A hardbound finished book. The final form it takes is just as important as what it contains. It is up to you.

The moral of this? We are going to offer a continuous workshop on building your portfolio. It will meet monthly, but photographers will attend when the need or time allows. All of these ideas will be discussed. This will give the participants help, ideas, feedback and inspiration. I think this could easily be one of the most enjoyable workshops we have offered.

Do you want to know more about this? Try one or both of the following addresses:
kklocke1@mac.com
dickgarvey@wavecable.com

Flashes of Inspiration

2010-03-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

Ideas for workshops hit me at odd times, in short or long flashes of inspiration and excitement. Sometimes it is without question an instinct I know I must follow. Sometimes it is more like bits of information that needs to be assembled into a well-thought out plan. Sometimes it is a snippet of an idea given to me by someone else that then needs to be developed and produced into a full idea. All of these are creative energies that are bursting into my little universe and sending me spiraling into a direction of pure excitement and drive.

For someone who is a planner and organizer, this is a great calling. The creative juices and energy flowing out of me is liberating and thrilling. I get such a rush when these flashes of inspiration hit me. And the more I think them through and then plan them out, the more exciting the adrenaline rush gets. I am in my own little planning and organizing heaven.

The real rush comes from when a workshop is completed and successful. When the energy generated from the group attending is at such a high level that it takes days to come down from the high. The cumulative effect of which produces another “Flash of Inspiration”.

A perfect example of this is the workshop I produced over the weekend. The workshop was 'Creative Macro Photography' with Charles Needle. Last year I just knew I had to have a workshop on macro photography, and I just knew that it had to be held out at La Conner Flats in La Conner. And I knew that it had to be something unusual, not your typical macro class. I met Charles Needle at a conference, saw his work, and just knew that he was what I was looking for.

And it worked. Those bits of inspiration flashed through me and paid off heavenly.

The Year of Great Instructors

2010-02-14T22:06:00.000-08:00

I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing talent. Our team of instructors are the best in their fields. They are talented, smart, experienced and fun.

A big thank you to the best team of instructors. May we continue to spread the knowledge and the good times. I look forward to a Great 2010.

Dick Garvey- http://www.dickgarvey.com
Bio - www.digitalartmoments.com/dickgarveybio.html

Vince Streano - www.streano-havens.com
Bio - www.digitalartmoments.com/vincestreanobio.html

Julie Burgmeier - skagitmarketing.com
Bio - skagitmarketing.com/?page_id=2

Jennifer Bowman - www.jenniferbowman.com/index2.cfm

Social Media for the audio/video Industry

2010-02-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

In a previous life, my husband and I owned a small audio/video system integration company in the Seattle area. We established an excellent network of friends and business connections. We owned the business for over 14 years and it took us over 7 years to build up our network of clients, vendors, manufacture reps, subcontractors and other contacts that helped the business grow. Just imagine how much easier (and quicker) it might have been if we had some of today’s technology and social networking tools.

Today there is so much at our disposal to help us get ‘connected’. Linkedin is an amazing business tool – an online resume, so to speak. Then there is Facebook and Twitter for customer service issues and to stay connected with clients and manufactures. Photos of projects or some of the latest equipment could be posted on Facebook and Flickr.

And then there is Blogging. This opens up a whole new world for sharing information. New product previews, troubleshooting tips and tricks, discovering who’s who in the industry, what projects are in the works, design ideas and more could be posted on a blog. The ideas are endless.

The a/v industry is ever-evolving. Changes come and go so quickly that sometimes you feel like you can’t keep up. Today’s tools would have been a great way for us to share these changes with our ‘network’ of friends and business connections. These are tools that the industry today should be embracing and utilizing to its full potential.

Our a/v systems integration business is closed now, but we still keep ‘connected’ and current with the industry. Our specialty today is producing educational workshops. That is why we are combining our past – the a/v industry - with our present – educational workshops. Which include teaching businesses how to use today’s social networking tools to add value to their business.

I am ending this piece with a brief conversation I had with a good friend in the a/v industry. Bob Grawet, way back when, was our Da-Lite rep. Then he moved onto Smart Technologies. Bob, has become an icon in the Digital Signage world, and now Works for Eiki and Advanced Method. He’s always forward thinking and uses Linkedin to get connected.

Here are some of his views on Social Media Tools:

1. What tools in Social Media do you use to network with?

I have a limited presence on Facebook and Twitter, but my focus is 99% inside of Linkedin.com. It's my opinion (and many others) that Linkedin is the best business social media platform.

2. What results, if any have you seen?

I've had active business discussions with potential customers around the world as a result of connecting with them. I have made a couple of actual sales from them. I have really bolstered my presence and the aura around myself to the many people I already know. Just today I received emails from around 20 people who I know, who re-established our contact…. so they do not forget about me.

3. Would you recommend it?

I recommend it as 'one' of the things you do to help sell and market. I think it is imperative, and that many people now check you out on Linkedin.com if they are planning to meet you.

4. You started a Motorcycle group on Linkedin and now have quite the following - How did you build that one up?

I've started 10 groups on Linkedin.com. Some worked, some did not. Some for fun, some to establish me as more of a well-rounded human, and some for pure business marketing.

My Worldwide Motorcycle Association has petered out a bit at around 450 members. It has become a fun place to talk about riding, and I have made many new friends there. I built it up by making regular announcements 'via' the update section of the main page of Linkedin.com. I update by saying something like: Join the Worldwide Motorcycle Association group on Linkedin.com if you are a rider and want to talk bikes. Just generic stuff like that.

Everyone on linkedin.com that you are connected with will see those updates….and others will as well. It's a slow go this way, as it took a year to build up to the current 450 members.

On the other hand, my brand new group (started yesterday afternoon) called: Macworld 2010 Attendees, has 124 people signed up in less than 24 hours.
I have a paid membership, and you need that to be able to grow.
My Worldwide Digital Signage Network group is up to almost 1300 members now. I work on this constantly.

My Buddha site is never going to grow very far, but it is mostly to establish relations with people who think like me.

Do we Tweet?

2010-02-02T16:41:00.001-08:00

I followed a tweet from ce_pro to a digital media content article where a Zobo.tv spokesman revealed that their " client survey revealed that less than 10 percent had heard of digital content such as Rhapsody, Pandora, and Hulu. " And while it does beg the question 'who are their clients?' that still seemed incredibly low. Only 10 percent were aware of the full range of video and audio possibilities on the interwebs? Could that be right?

So I got to thinking about new technologies, and how while we are rolling them out to our clients, we perhaps are not as adaptive to change as we expect them to be. How good are we at keeping up with technology outside our own narrow field? I decided to check out the new frontier of social media space and see how we as electronics professionals were doing in the adoption of the social media frenzy that has swept - well, social media. I started with Twitter.

I looked at a few of my favorite tradeshows and compared how many people they claim attended their latest trade show and how many people follow the parent group on Twitter. Here are the results:

Group Twitter name attendees followers Twitcentage*
Consumer Electronic Show IntlCES 120,000 9,843 8.2%
InFocomm InfoComm 30,000 843 2.8%
CEDIA CEDIA 20,000 818 4.1%
NAMM NAMM 13,000 1,808 13.91%

*I just made this up. I define it as the number of an entity's followers on Twitter divided by the entity's biggest exposure, in this case tradeshows.

Let's contrast our world with the larger one. Here are our Twitter stats stacked up against popular culture:

Pop Culture Icon/Current # of followers
Ashton Kutcher 4,463,303
Ellen Degeneres 4,193,971
Twitter 2,936,264
Lady Gaga 2,580,692
Jimmy Fallon 2,467,780
Google 2,123,872
The White House 1,697,058
Wolf Blitzer 345,402
MicroSoft 54,883
Best Buy 18,919
Sony Electronics 9,930
CES 9,843
Control 4 2,850
Crestron 1,866
NAMM 1,808
InfoComm 843
CEDIA 818

Word on the street is that Mr. Kutcher is the top Twitterdog, so he is our benchmark. Imagine your company with four million customers waiting to hear you tweet! Sweet!

The Art of Bridge Photography

2010-01-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

Bridges make up some of the most impressive architectural structures in the world. Often the identity of a city is tied to one of its bridges. Examples would be the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, or the Rainbow Bridge in La Conner. Bridges can make powerful images.

Vince Streano has been photographing bridges for some of the largest engineering and architectural companies in the United States for over twenty years. His bridge photography has appeared in publications throughout the world, and he has a reputation as an expert in the photography of bridges.

Vince will be conducting a three part workshop on the art of bridge photography.

During the lecture portion and discussion Vince will show a portfolio of his bridge images. Then participants will learn how to research a bridge using an actual bridge assignment from one of Vince’s clients. They will learn how to scout for vantage points before traveling to the bridge, and how to plan a shot list of subjects, including that one “hero” shot clients are always looking for. They will also learn about booking a helicopter for aerials or a boat for shots from the water. Vince will talk about lens selection, composition, best angles and lighting. The lecture will conclude with a discussion of the three bridges that participants will be photographing; the Twin Bridges, Rainbow Bridge, and Deception Pass Bridge.

For more info on this workshop visit us at www.thatphotoshoppe.com

Looking back at 2009 Workshops

2010-01-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

Last year was quite an adventure in this workshop world. Even though every time we turned around someone was pointing out the world economic issues, we discovered there is a strong desire by photographers to be involved in improving their photography. There was quite a variety of classes offered, from real camera basics, to multiple workshops with a theme attached. The most rewarding aspect of teaching these was that the people all worked extremely hard, and appeared to have a lot of fun doing it. The workshop atmosphere seemed to grow as the year progressed, and the pressure was put on to keep all of the students busy. We started the year holding a workshop on shutter speeds and aperture. With the vast majority of cameras being automatic, it is very easy for photographers to skip merrily along and not really grasp what those two controls actually do. We then moved onto a series of workshops discussing the emotions of color. Again this was because color is taken for granted today. This is a workshop I have taught at various levels over the years, and the result is always the same. "The world looks totally different to me now". All of this led to a workshop where the students could put all of these things together when we went to Northern State Hospital to work on the "Abscence of Light". More about how that evolved into something very intense in a later entry here. The moral of last year's experience is that "Alternative Focus" has been formed in order to offer more and diverse workshops. There will be a concerted effort to get the word out to a larger area which will lead to more opportunities and additional instructors with more ideas. It should be a wildly exciting year, so be sure to check this blog often to see what else is brewing. There are a lot of ideas for 2010, and you don't want to miss out.

2010-01-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

Clips from the Color and Light workshop. Now available on DVD. DVD will be available at www.thatphotoshoppe.com

Taking Photography for Granted?

2009-12-31T21:09:00.000-08:00

We take so many things for granted. Food – it comes from a grocery store; cars – just add gas, put it into drive and go; electricity – just flip a switch; heating – just turn it up. All of these things are part of our lives, we don’t question why or how, we just assume they will always be accessible to us. Some feel that Photography is becoming like that, we just do it assume it will do it for us.

Digital Photography has revolutionized the Photography industry. Today’s cameras are smaller, faster, instantaneous and automatic. Do today’s Photographers take Photography for granted? Do they just Point-n-shoot? This is a constant conversation amongst the pros, which say that because today’s cameras are getting so good, even on automatic, everyone thinks they are Photographers. They take it for granted since the camera will do all of the work. No one needs to learn anything about Photography anymore. Shoot, even cell phones take great images, right?

The students who take our workshops want to learn Photography. They don’t take it for granted, nor do they rely on the cameras to do it all. Our students come to us at all different levels of experience, from beginner to advance. We strive to teach them to do more than Point-n-Shoot and to accommodate all levels of experience at each workshop. We teach technology, how to use today’s cameras, Photography principles, how to release their creativity, to rely on their instincts, and how to expand their talent.

Most importantly - to practice what they have learned and enjoy it. Then it’s time to take Photography for granted.

Are you Snap Happy and Buried in Photographs?

2009-12-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

Capturing memories can be an important task for any photographer, whether you are a Professional, or just a person with a camera in your hand. Photographs are how we share our memories with friends, family and future generations. Photographs are an important way of capturing our lives.

With today’s digital camera and computer technology we have become a snap happy society. Instead of roll of 24 or 36 we take hundreds of photos. Over time our hundreds of images turn into thousands, and our computer becomes a crammed-full digital shoe box.

Now (besides having a pretty full hard drive) we have the overwhelming task of organizing our photos. Our good intentions were to keep up, but life was too busy, so we just downloaded and downloaded with the promise that we would come back to it later. Only when later comes, we decide that there are too many photos, so we put it off for another day, and our digital shoe box just keeps getting bigger.

There are a many software (and online) programs that help with organizing and cataloging images. For the Pros, Adobe has Lightroom and Apple has Aperture. For the amateur hobbyist and novice enthusiast, there are a lot more options. On an Apple Computer there is IPhoto. Online are Picassa (by Google), Flickr, Facebook, Snapfish, Shutterfyly, and the list goes on.

How do you decide which one is best for you? Determine your needs, including what kind of sharing you want to do, who’s going to see them (public or private) and how easy is it to find them later. Some of these programs cost money while others are free. Read reviews, try them out, ask family and friends what they use. Find out what best fits your needs.

You also need to determine the importance of the photo - are they just for fun and sharing, or it is an important moment in life that needs to be passed on. Back up the critical ones on external hard drives and CD’s.

Once you decide on what to use, make sure you stick with it. Stay on top of it, delete duplicates and images that are blurry or unappealing, create a routine, keep it from taking over and getting out of control. Learn it inside and out.

There are never too many photos, so go on and be snap happy, capture life.

This was a great one

2009-11-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

This was the first time I remember seeing a workshop take on a life of its own. The old hospital, although closed 30 or so years ago, still had an aura about it. All of the photographers caught it. It was tremendous to watch people want to do more than just fulfill the assignment. Workshops are always fun, but this one became a very serious process that was even more fun. There will be more about this workshop and what it led to coming up.

A photography workshop with emotion

2009-11-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

August 29, 2009

There are 2 types of black in photographs. The pigment, such as tires, black cars and burned wood. Then there is the black that is caused by there being no light - The Absence of Light. It was the second type of black this photography workshop explored.

Instructor Dick Garvey explained to the students how to use absence of light to give depth, texture, form to their images. Why this "negative space" can be a positive in our endless quest to mess with people's minds and cause wonder in our images.

Karla Locke, owner of That Photo Shoppe of Anacortes, and Photographer, Dick Garvey chose to hold the workshop at the Northern State Mental Hospital in Sedro Woolley. We chose this location for its old history, the architecture, and its long-standing reputation among other photographers, as a place to photograph.

What was unexpected was the 'intensity' of the location and how it would affect the participants.

Imaginations ran wild as everyone walked the grounds. The eeriness of the place caused emotions in the photographers to run high. The photographs portrayed a mix of emotion, and portrayed some of the history. Most photographs revealed the loneliness, the desolation and some of the despair that must have been felt there at one time. A few found beauty amongst all of it.

It become a challenging workshop for participants, not only in the assignment (the absence of light), but also in the location. As a workshop coordinator, this was the first workshop where the 'location' created such an intense feeling amongst everyone. I originally thought it would be an interesting place to photograph but did not expect it to impact everyone like it did. What started out as a workshop on 'The Absence of Light', now became a workshop on the history of a mental asylum and what must of transpired there years ago. The feelings' of the location became a vital part of the workshop and showed up in everyone's work.

Photographers put a lot of emotion into their work and one of their goals is to evoke an emotion from their viewers. The images from this workshop do just that.

You can view the images at www.thatphotoshoppe.com, or on Flickr.