Celebrating 2013, Part 1

I promised larger images from our Happy New Year blog. Much of the website has been updated (but there is always more), so, let’s start with the first four pairs from our 2013 workshops. Don’t forget to click the link to read more after the second pair of images …

Arnie and I do not get to shoot a lot during our workshops. That is why we go two or three days ahead, not only to scout and make sure locations have not suffered some disaster since last year, but to have our own, quiet time to photograph.

We did our first weekend workshop right in our back yard, Durham, North Carolina, that abuts our town to the east. The workshop was called Through This Lens, in honor of our base at a great photo gallery and probably the only one between DC and Atlanta. There is a lot of wonderful rehab going on in Durham, so there is a rich combination of old, new, and amazing textures.

Arnie was drawn to the combination of reflections and reality on the side of a building and created this rich, visual palette.

I found textures and patterns in a snaggle of what looked like a bygone type of bed springs in an old building awaiting rehab..

We brought our first two groups to Cuba, Her People & Culture, and Arnie and I found it the most incredible place to photograph. What we read about Cuba does not hold a candle to the real deal. As Arnie says, “Whatever you read about Cuba is both true and false.” You really have to go there to understand this large, island nation. We were welcomed by all and through our contacts, had access to some fascinating locations.

I met this gentleman who sat on his throne with a dignity that belied the hard times he had experienced. He was a welcoming host and a wonderful subject.

As a car lover (me, too), Arnie did not want to do the standard, ho-hum images of 50s automobiles; he wanted to put them in context as a daily part of Cuban life.

Charleston, a Southern Belle is always a popular workshop, and this was no exception. with its old-world, gracious charm, plantations, and cityscapes, our groups always find much to photograph.

Our workshops are long, fun, and intensive, and one evening, one of the group said to the others, “Well, the light’s gone; let’s go get warm and eat.” Meanwhile, one of our participants

Happy New Year 2014

This year, I actually gathered our favorite images, both Arnie’s and mine, before the end of the “old” 2013 for our yearly patchwork mosaic. We will follow up with a few blogs describing some of these images and what our inspiration was for them.

Meanwhile, we wish you a very …

Some you may have seen some of these from assorted travel blogs. Some will be new to you. And as noted above, they will all appear in the next few blogs.

We look forward to seeing you in 2014! Check out our calendar.

For more information on our workshops, go to Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures.

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Death Valley 2013, Previsualizing in BW

Previsualizing in Black and White

I am not quite ready to leave Death Valley. Sure, we are now in Vegas visiting with friends, he a childhood and car-crazy buddy of Arnie’s. We have been having fun catching up, but we have also been talking about our wonderful time in Death Valley.

During our workshop, as most of you know, Arnie and I don’t get to photograph much. When I do, I have to make it count. The images in this blog were one-shot wonders, as one of our alumni calls them.

Carefully compose, think of composition and shape and form, light and shadow, and it is a perfect recipe for a black-and-white photograph. Those who follow this blog have already seen one of them, done on the last day on the way back to our group shot. The one to the left is one I did last year called “Fingers” that has garnered a few awards.

But there were a few others…

From almost the same location where I made the image above, I made this one. It, too, was about lines.

Out on the dunes, I was helping one of our participants look for and recognize patterns. I did a quick grab shot to show her a possibility. When I looked at it later, I