Iceland tour nearly full

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I now have only two spaces left in my August Iceland Photo tour. Well, maybe only one. I’m still waiting to hear back from someone.
So anyway, I’m confident this trip will fill so if Iceland has been on your wishlist and you’ve been thinking about this trip….I’m just sayin’

New Book

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Oregon Coast MemoriesHey all, my new book just showed up in the mail. I was really pleased with how it turned out seeing that there are a whole lot of pictures in this book that aren’t really the kinds of pictures I’m known for or have aimed for in the past. Working on this project required that I step a little bit out of my comfort zone and take pictures of people. I’m still not a “people photographer” as I still have inhibitions about approaching and photographing people. Which is why many of the people pictures in this book were done with a telephoto lens.

I really admire those people photographers who can gain a rapport with their subjects and come away with some wonderful portraits of people just going about their daily lives.

My friend David Middleton, who used to shoot strictly nature and things like harbors (no people), has more recently been stretching himself into people photography. He’s blogged about it. It’s a pretty good read.

Amazon has my new book available for pre-order. I should be getting copies of my own soon if you’d rather wait for an autographed copy.

When Disaster Strikes

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In the field, things can happen that will leave you unable to photograph. Cameras dropped from a height. Cameras dipped in salt water. Bears. Or maybe you’re trying to protect your camera from a fall or a dipping (or bears) and end up breaking something on you instead.

While these occurrences are rare, things can and do go wrong in the field; things that will make you panic and swear at your camera. You may even have a mysterious camera death on your hands. But the overwhelming majority of apparent camera disasters aren’t really disastrous at all. Usually it’s nothing more than a switch improperly switched or a setting improperly set.

So to help quell that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach whenever the camera isn’t working like you’d expect, here’s a list of symptoms and possible cures to check out before a panicked trip to the repair shop.

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The basics of getting up and running with TTG Website and Gallery plug ins

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The Turning Gate (TTG) makes a fantastic set of tools that enable you to create beautiful websites and galleries right from within Lightroom. The big advantage of course, is that you can manage every aspect of your site from Lightroom. You no longer have to create images sized for the web, you no longer have to create pages or webs using other software such as Dreamweaver or Expression Web (formally FrontPage). You can do it all right inside of Lightroom.

And though the plug ins are pretty easy to use and implementation is actually quite simple, it can take a little bit to get your head wrapped around the concepts of how all these plug-ins work together.

So I’m going to try to clear it up.

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Of cookies and critiques

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I’m recycling this post from one of last year’s newsletters. I liked it then and I still like it. Might have something to do with the cookies.

I loves me some chocolate chip cookies. And if I do say so myself, I can make the very best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. They’re pretty awesome.
But I’m no baker. I really don’t know what I’m doing other than following a recipe with some of my own modifications (guesses, really). I don’t know why cookies need salt or baking powder or soda or whatever. The only thing I really know is that they need chocolate chips. That’s all that really counts for me. Still, I can make some awesome cookies.

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TTG WordPress Theme Photoswipe gallery

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Here’s a quick example of the Photoswipe Gallery included with The Turning Gate’s new Theme for WordPress Lightroom web gallery plug-in. Click on any of the images below (after the jump) to see it in action.

All of the TTG Plug-ins are amazing, and if you want an easy to manage, slicker than slick looking web site with galleries (or just galleries, for that matter), then do yourself a favor and visit The Turning Gate to check out all that’s available.

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WordPress Themes from The Turning Gate

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Maysara Vineyards, McMinnville, OR

Matt at The Turning Gate (TTG) makes some of the best Lightroom webpage plugins that are out there. Now, with the new CE2 engines just released, Matt has outdone himself. He’s created a plug-in that will make WordPress themes. Now you can easily match your WordPress blog to your website by using Matt’s plug-ins.

What you’re looking at now is a theme I created using Matt’s WordPress Theme plug-in. Visit The Turning Gate to check out all of Matt’s new goodies.

Pond Ice

My favorite image of 2011

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This picture of a curve in some ice on a pond ended up being my favorite image of 2011 for a few reasons. One is that it’s a very simple composition and simple is always good. Plus I like curves.

It was made on a very cold January morning while Bailey (the labradoodle) and I were on a morning walk. I spotted this on our walk the day before but didn’t have a camera with me. What I liked about the scene, besides the graphics, was the light coming through the trees and adding a touch of glowing color to the ice. So we returned the next morning and I made several pictures of ice. But it was this composition that I liked the best.

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Workshops starting to fill

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My friend Steve Soo Hon on Hurricane Ridge one stormy summer morning.

Some of my 2012 are actually starting to fill up! Both the Slots/Monument Valley and the Canadian Rockies trips are nearly half full.

If you want to get in on the fun, visit my workshops page and see if there’s anything that grabs your interest.

And in case you didn’t see my last newsletter, I’m running an early bird special in honor of the return of Don Mammoser. If you sign up by Dec. 31, 2011 you’ll get a $50 discount on any workshop that Don and I are co-leading in 2012. Those workshops include the Slots/Monument Valley trip, Canadian Rockies, Mt. Rainier, Colorado Fall Color, and Yosemite.