South of France Photography Worshop - Carmague Stallions and the Luberon valley

Courtesy of Patrice Aguilar

I will start by saying that I am going on some exciting trips and workshops in 2013... and while I was already extremely excited about returing to France in June of 2013, when I received these photos from our French guide, Patrice Aguilar, I gasped... what a fantastic trip this is going to be...

Courtesy of Patrice Aguilar

 

 

To start the tour we will bring the white ranch horses to different properties, allowing for a wide range of photogenic backdrops and behaviours. We photograph the white horses running through the shallow water of salt marshes and along the beach in the waves and salt spray. With shots of fighting stallions, mares with their dark foals in the fields or at the ranches, and detailed portrait head shots and guardian riders in their gear. We’ll have many opportunities to capture this time-honoured breed in a variety of environments unique to this seaside estuary.

We will also take advantage of the sweet light at sunrise and sunset to silhouette horses with or without riders. Schedule permitting, we shoot a traditional celebration where riders lead black bulls through the town.

During our first few days we will also shoot greater flamingos feeding, displaying and in flight at the Parc Ornithologique de Pont de Gau. Located in the middle of the Parc naturel régional de Camargue, the bird park’s natural habitats primarily include marsh and ponds with remarkable proximity to migratory and resident birds, such as flamingos, herons, storks, ducks, raptors and other small waders.

 

  

 Courtesy of Patrice Aguilar

 

During our second half of the trip you will stay three nights in the Parc Naturel du Luberon, a designated area of outstanding natural beauty. The Luberon valley is a picturesque landscape of vineyards, lavender fields flanking country roads, quaint delightful villages with local artisans shops, winding alleys and beautiful vistas

The true essense of Provence will be presented to you so that you can interpret through your lens.

If you would like to learn more about this workshop with Rick Sammon, Denise Ippolito and Kevin Pepper please visit http://www.photographers-lounge.com/photo-tours/our-2013-photo-tours/south-of-france/ for more information.

Tips For Photographers Headed on a Photo Safari

Photo courtesy of Rick Sammon (www.ricksammon.com)

You’re booked, you’re prepared, and you’re excited… just do not forget to bring your sense of adventure!!!!

Going on safari in Africa is not like going to a zoo. This is the real deal! The animals that you will see are primal in ever sense of the word. They are living their lives in the wild and driven by the need to eat, rest, procreate and exist, and you are trying to find them to capture them in their native habit through your lens.

That means sometimes you don’t see much for a while. It also means, sometimes you come around a tree, and standing right in front of you is an sixteen foot tall giraffe which is so big that as it walks past you, you can actually look up and see the underside of it’s stomach. Or you round a bend and find yourself in the midst of a herd of African Buffalo who are a little ornery because a lion just tried to attack them. Or an even more awe inspiring sight is a small herd of 100,000 wildebeest sits there in front of you… yes, I said a small herd of a 100,000. There are over a million of Wildebeest, Zebra and other species that roam the plains of the Serengeti in an annual migration… smaller herds of 50,000 or 100,000 are quite frequent if you are going there to see this migration. But that’s the beauty of being on safari; you never know what you’re going to experience, or when it’s going to happen.

There is also a different pace to life in Africa. Neither the animals, nor the people are in a rush. Life moves in a more tranquil fashion, a pace more in harmony with nature that somehow fits the scenery. This is a good thing, although to some type A personalities who get frustrated when the line at Tim Horton’s coffee shop takes more then four minutes to get through may find this frustrating, there is one little trick that I have learned from the two times I have been there! At any time during your experience when you start to feel a little out of sorts, take a long deep breath, look around, and think to yourself “I’m in bloody Africa! How cool is this?”

Then just sit back and marvel at the sights and sounds that surround you.

If you have ever wanted to go on an African Safari, check out our African Safari in 2013 to Tanzania with Rick Sammon. http://www.photographers-lounge.com/photo-tours/our-2013-photo-tours/tanzania-photo-tour

Or, if you want to start planning for 2014, check out our three workshops we are running to Tanzania and Namibia with Denise Ippolito. http://www.photographers-lounge.com/photo-tours/our-2014-photo-tours

 

Day Four of Our Twelve Days Of Christmas Gifts For A Photographer

How about a "Bucket List Trip to Participate In A Workshop With Rick Sammon"?

Next year Rick and I are going to some awesome places... and the photography opportunities are going to be spectacular!

Tanzania - Come join us on a African Photo Safari in April of 2013. We will be going for a 7 days safari, spending time at Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and the Central Serengeti.

Provence - To start the tour we will bring the white ranch horses to different properties, allowing for a wide range of photogenic backdrops and behaviours. We photograph the white horses running through the shallow water of salt marshes and along the beach in the waves and salt spray. With shots of fighting stallions, mares with their dark foals in the fields or at the ranches, and detailed portrait head shots and guardian riders in their gear. We’ll have many opportunities to capture this time-honoured breed in a variety of environments unique to this seaside estuary.

Venezuela - Together we will photograph the Catatumbo lightning storm and travel into the Andes Mountains to capture the culture and scenery of this amazing part of the world.

Canada - Join Rick and I as we do a Canadian Caravan in north central Ontario in Canada near the iconic Algonquin Park area.

Iceland - What an awesome tour of Iceland this will be. We will be travelling to Reykjanes, Blue Lagoon, Hengell Geothermal area, Pingvellir, Gullfoss waterfall and geyser geothermal area, Fjallabaksleio, Eldgja Canyon, Vatnajokull Glacier Park, Jokulsarlon Lagoon, Skaftafell, Dyrholaey and Skogafoss waterfall

We would love to have you join us! Shoot me an email

Junk Yard Photography with a model

"One, Two, Three, Turn", was what the student asked the model to do as the shutter buttons were pressed.

This is jsut one of many poses we had our model, Morgan do for us during the morning workshop at the auto wreckers this past weekend at the Photographers Lounge Seminar and Workshop in Kitchener. My good friend, Rick Sammon lead the group through a great presentation and workshop and gave excellent tips to all that attended.

For the workshop we spent the morning with the students taking a series of HDR and model photographs throughout the junk yard and then took them back into the classroom for some editing fun in HDR efex PRO and Photomatix.

Here are a few more of my images from that workshop...

An HDR image produced with 5 images and then processed in Photomatix and CS6.

Here is a photo that was taken of our model, Morgan. We set Morgan up in a variety of poses throughout the junkyard and let the attendees direct her into poses around various contrasting scenes of rust and decay.

We focused on making pictures, rather the just on taking pictures and seeing the whole scene in front of you, not just standing there and taking a photo. "Use your camera like a spaceship" Rick would say.

Try to see from above, below, from the side, macro shots, wide angle, look for the details... digital memory doesn't cost you a thing to take a photo... so maximize the number of photos of any scene and you will be surprized what you get when you get your images loaded onto your computer.

We have lots of workshops planned over the next year... check out what and where we are going by visiting the Photographers Lounge website to learn more.

A special thanks to all 100 people that came to this event Saturday and to the 48 people that came to the workshop on the Sunday. Please share your photos with us on the Photographer Lounge Facebook page. We would love to see what photos you took.

Have fun getting out the autumn season and taking your own images.

Kev