New Workshops

I have added a lot more workshops to my schedule for next year. These are all well-received classes I have taught before, except for the printing class which I have not done before (but have tutored on a one-to-one basis). I have expanded my digital camera class to two sessions (instead of one) so that people don't have information overload and can digest and follow up on what they have learned during a second class meeting. It is the same principle with the printing class, students can go home and practice and come back with questions and be ready for a few more advanced concepts. I also have added an extended landscape class option since some people feel that two outings are not enough to incorporate everything that is being taught. The weeknight that my classes meet vary by month (so if your Thursdays aren't free, perhaps your Monday's are free in a different month). People of every skill level are welcome to attend any of the workshops.

Busy Summer

It sure is awhile between posts! I guess that goes to show that summer is a busy time for a working artist. Over the past 5 weekends, I have had a booth in 4 different art fairs, but the season is winding down since I am doing fewer shows than in the past due to the slow economy and the fact that I have a really nice gallery to show in year-round (Riverfront Art Gallery). After this weekend, I only have one more booth show to do and then my annual open-studio through the Sonoma Arts Council's ARTrails program (my favorite show of the year where I get to show everything and don't have to set up a booth).

I am starting to put my new Epson 7900 printer that I acquired this past spring through its paces. It is like a Ferrari (the color intensity and dynamic range is unbelievable), especially when I work in the ProPhoto RGB colorspace. I intend to print several new photographs in the next few weeks, and going forward, new work will only be printed on the new printer. I will convert my existing images one-by-one over the winter (when I theoretically have free time). It is not a simple matter of changing the printer selection and clicking on "Print".

I am working on my workshop calendar for 2010. I am going to expand my workshop offerings and the frequency in which I offer them. I will be adding a class on digital photography, that will cover all the basics of using a digital camera to its fullest. I have taught a class like this before for the Petaluma Arts Council. It was a one-session meeting, but I am going to expand it to a two-session class so that people can absorb the material better. I am also going to offer a two-session class on printing your digital pictures. Once you get a great shot, how do you turn it into a great print? I won't cover the 300 different things you can do in Photoshop, I am going to only talk about the 10 steps or so you need to turn what's in your camera into the best print possible. I am also going to offer two versions of my landscape photography class, a shorter version (like I have now) and a longer version. Check my workshop section soon for more information.

I have edited my Patagonia pictures down from about 3800 images to about 250 images. I need to do further work on them before I post the 12 or so best images on the website. I like to work in sequence, so until I get this done, I will not be working on the landscape images I have taken since coming back in April. I do intend to catch up by the end of the year and do an exhibit on Patagonia sometime next year. I'll keep you posted.

I will be updating my website soon to make ordering prints a little simpler (not so many buttons). I just need to do some programming (something that I thought I'd left behind in a past life). I will also be adding an exhibition history and telling people about some of the awards I've won, publications I've been in, etc. I definitely want to improve some aspects of the website (I don't think I'll win any marketing awards anytime soon).

By the way, my 2010 calendar will be distributed by Barnes and Noble, along with many local bookstores throughout the Bay Area. I believe my calendars will sell out this time, on my second attempt at this kind of thing. It's all just practice for a future book anyway.

Until later...

Things are happening

Sorry to take so long between posts. I have been setting up my workflow on my new computer in my new office, and I am learning how to use my new Epson 7900 printer. It will take many months before it replaces my Epson 4800 as my primary printer. I am now working on showing much larger images in my gallery later this year. The first 20x30 prints are looking very impressive, I can't wait to show them to the public.

I entered the Marin County Fair photo exhibition for the first time this year. It is definitely one of the better and more competitive art exhibitions in the Bay Area and I managed to win first place in the color photography category. I have also submitted two images to the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art's Biennial Exhibit (which happens every two years as the name implies) and they were both accepted for this fall's exhibit. This is the second time I have submitted work for the Biennial and the second time that both entries were accepted, so my ego is doing well thank you.

My 2010 calendar is done and I have them all in stock and ready for the selling season up ahead. I managed to accomplish this feat over 2 months earlier than last year, which should help sales. I am very happy with it, I think it is even better than last year's calendar.

I am in the middle of teaching a landscape course right now, and I will be revamping the "Classes" section of my website to expand my workshops. I think I will add a basic "digital camera" class like I used to teach in the past, and I will add a "Photoshop for Photographers" class that will emphasize the basic 12 steps or so that are needed to create great "straight" photographs. I'll leave the esoteric Photoshop classes that cover 100 different whiz-bang features to others.

Yes, I am still editing my Patagonia pictures. It is tough to digest that many pictures all at once. When I am through editing them, I will update my website with new pictures immediately. Once I am through with those, there are several hundred other pictures that I have taken since Patagonia that I need to edit as well. It all feels like a huge homework assignment, but I always love the final result.

Almost back to normal...

Since coming back from Patagonia, I have been moving my office to a new location. And so that I would have enough to do, I also bought a new MacPro computer. Needless to say, I haven't been very productive in a photographic sense for the past few weeks, but now I am back in business (pretty much).

I have begun editing my Patagonia pictures and have the picture count under 1000 after a first pass. I hope to have the best 10 or 20 images on my website sometime in June.

In the meantime, here is a picture of David Muench, Jack Dykinga and myself in Patagonia. It was an honor and privilege to be out shooting with these guys.

Greetings from Lake Pehoe, Patagonia

Hello everyone,  I have been in Patagonia for several days now.  One day at Perito Moreno Glacier in Calafate, Argentina and the rest of the time in Chile.  Today we arrived at Lago Pehoe.  Jack Dykinga, David Muench and the rest of us have managed to photograph a lot, since the weather has been mild for Patagonia.  I am attaching a few photographs from the trip thus far, it will give you a feel for what we have seen thus far.

I have arrived in Patagonia

I am posting this from Punta Arenas, Chile (capital of Patagonia according to them).  I have now spent about 48 hours traveling and about 5 hours sleeping, and I have talked individually with both David Muench and Jack Dykinga for a few hours each already, enjoying it all.  We are going to try and photograph penguins tomorrow (since the weather is rainy and overcast).  In an upcoming post I hope to put up the first pictures from this trip.  Now it is time to sleep.

The Marin Mountains

I love to wander the back roads around Mt. Tamalpais in wintertime.  The air is fresh with the scent of redwoods and waterfalls are everywhere.  It is difficult to get a good picture of these waterfalls in the 2nd growth forests, but I finally got one that I like last month.  I will put it on the website during my next major update.  Here is the preview.

Website Update

I updated my website this week with eight new photographs. Seven of them were added to "Recent Work" and one was added to the "Marin" portfolio.  Some of the "Recent Work" photos were moved to the "Marin" and "California" portfolios. A few photographs were retired from the website.

I am constantly judging whether a photograph should be shown to the public or not. Out of the roughly 600 to 700 photographs I keep each year (after editing down a few thousand pictures), I end up showing about maybe 15 or 20 of them to the public online.  I gauge the reactions of others and myself to see whether they are worth making into actual prints for sale.  Many of my best-selling prints were first printed because someone ordered them from the "Recent Work" section of my website, not because I decided to print them.

About half the pictures I keep are of family and friends, and many more are of vacations or types of photography that I don't generally try to sell (such as people shots). So I usually have about 150 photos each year that I call my "art work". Therefore, I show about 10% of what I consider my best "art photos" to the public and I only end up printing about half of those (6 to 10) prints each year. Sometimes I go back and change my mind about a picture and decide that it is worth showing and printing, which I just did with "Point Reyes Light" which was just added to the Marin portfolio, but often I never show most of my work except to a few friends maybe now and then.

I thought I'd show a few "rejects" via this blog to see if anyone thinks I should be showing more of my work on the website. Attached to this post are 3 recent "rejects", let me know if you think any of them should be added to the website, if you have an opinion.

Winter Shadows

Sonoma Winter Day

End of the Day

Here I go...

I am beginning 2009 with my own blog.  My intent is to describe the creative paths I may be following at any given time, but I also hope to hear what you think about the resulting images.

In addition to doing shows and teaching classes, I create new images.  I will mostly talk about image making.

I will be taking a 3 week trip to Patagonia in April.  I will not only get to assist two great landscape photographers, but I will also be able to practice Spanish (my 3rd language) in addition to seeing the southern night sky for the first time.  It will also give me extensive first-hand experience in a workshop setting with two masters of landscape photography.  This will serve me well as I continue to teach my workshops in California's wine country.  You can learn more about these workshops on my website.