Big Sur Photography Workshop 6/3 to 6/6, 2010

I grew up on the coast of California and spent most of the summers of my youth camping either at Jalama Beach or in Big Sur, these are the locations, as a surfer, where I was alway's chasing the perfect wave. Well, many years have gone by and as my surfing days have come to a close, what I have been chasing for more than a decade now, is the perfect light.

I will be teaching a photography workshop along the Big Sur coast this spring. This workshop is for those who are new to photography along with those that have been shooting for years. By limiting the group sizes to six or less and spending all instructional time in the field instead of in a classroom, allows me to work with photographers of all levels. Whether it's just learning to control your camera and geting more predictable results or learning to design a better composition, you have the opportunity to set the agenda and get the one on one time to improve your photography. We will be visiting McWay Falls, Garrapata, Point Lobos and more.
The price for this trip is 1050 with three nights lodging included or there are price options without the lodging so you can arrange your own. Feel free to write or call me to answer your questions.

Death Valley Trip Feb. 2010

We just returned from a trip to Death Valley, what a trip! black clouds, filtered light, snow capped mountains all the way around us, comfortable temps...wonderful.
I will be posting a few pics in the next couple of weeks from what I took and from those that attended this excursion with me. Next year I will officially offer this trip on my schedule, probably in mid Feb 2011 so that we can all get away from the cold
and get out, have some fun, learn some new photo skills and come away with some cool images.

The first image is a composition of the well known Manly Peak taken by Jim Lamorter at Zabriske Pt, usually shot wider and in a horizontal fashion, this is an excellent example, in my opinion, of a "less is more" capture. I have seen many views of Zabriske and this verticle capture to me is quite striking. The second posted image was taken by Harry Hitzeman who also attended this recent trip.
It is an outstanding capture of this very iconic composition. As we were waiting for the light to come up and hit the Sierras we decided to paint the arch with a flashlight. After interpreting the scene for its tonal values, metering off the sky
is what made most sense for retaining the mood along with getting a proper exposure throughout the rest of the scene. This was not one of those bracket twenty shots and pick the best one type of situations, after deciding on how best to capture the scene a couple of thirty second exposures were taken and that was it.....

I believe one lesson here is, don't get trapped into pre visualizing and waiting for a set of conditions that may or may not come along, take what is in front of you and "see" what you can do with it!

Ian

Welcome to the Ian Whitehead photo blog!

Hi there!
Now that I have set this blog up you can check in here and see the latest news about upcoming adventures and workshops. Also, from time to time I will be posting photo tips to help you with your photography. I love to teach photography and I get great satisfaction on helping photographers improve their understanding of not only their equipment but also how to design a photographic composition which is the beginning of developing one's own style and vision.