I mentioned previously that I had taken a course in the past through BetterPhoto.com. I decided to take another course and decided on Eight Steps to More Dramatic Photography with Jim Zuckerman. We’re now in the fourth week and while I have found the course material good I have been disappointed with the level of class interaction. There is none and I seem to be the only person submitting assignments.

The first week was about finding a great subject and my initial pictures were not that great overall. I was focusing too much on the class subject and forgot all the other elements of making a good picture. After Jim’s critiques I tried another picture of the same type of subject and am very happy with the results.

The second week the lesson addressed picture backgrounds and how they are a key element that is often overlooked.  Nobody likes a tree coming out of their head.  In a couple of the pictures I blurred the background out of existance.  In another I created a collage effect by photographing a regular flag in front of a giant flag and then removing the color from the back flag in Photoshop.  Jim didn’t really think that was a complimentary background but I like the way it looks.

So far I am getting some good experience out of the class but have not been thrilled with the amount of interaction with other students.  Maybe it’s how I’ve been working but I think a lot of the problem is that Jim has been somewhat slow with his critiques.  I’m not sure but I think the web site doesn’t show pictures to other students until after Jim does his critique.

Stay tuned for more as I work through the lessons.

In 2004 I took a course with Better Photo. I was very happy with the experience but have not taken another course until now. Since I now have some time on my hands (due to my employment change) it seems a good opportunity to improve my skills.

The course I took previously was Creating Visual Impact (Brenda Tharp) which I found very rewarding. The course works by reading instruction and then going out and taking pictures that use the lesson. You then upload the images to a community page where the instructor and other students provide feedback. The whole process is a great way to learn.

The picture on the left was taken at a park in Great Falls, VA. A smaller park called Scott’s Run Nature Preserve. There’s a great trail to the Potomac and at one point there are stepping stones across a creek. What I didn’t capture was how the water was smooth on one side and disturbed on the other. I want to go back to this park and take more photos.

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Sunday was a beautiful day for taking pictures. Warm, but not too warm. Sunny, but with clouds in the sky. A free day after my wife was away all week and I had our daughter all to myself. The timing was perfect for Jeff Revell’s photowalk in Georgetown.

For those who don’t know what a photowalk is Jeff wrote a pretty good explanation here. In a nutshell it’s a bunch of photographers gathering in a place and taking pictures while walking and socializing. Fun.

This particular walk was in Georgetown and started with us all meeting under the Whitehurst Freeway and then walking along the C&O canal. On the back streets and along the canal there a thousand little details that make great pictures. There were also tourists who were confused by our presence. Was a politician jogging on the trail? Was it a Flickr meetup? I love it when you take a picture and three other people suddenly appear to take the same picture.
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Last year (2007) I took advantage of our proximity to DC and participated in a Washington Photo Safari’s Workshop for the Cherry Blossoms at dawn. I arrived early on a very COLD morning and had a chance to wander the monuments of DC before dawn. There’s something very quiet and serene at that time. It came through in the photos.

The workshop ended up being a good education during which I didn’t get any good pictures of the blossoms. The problem was that peak flowers passed very suddenly and right before the workshop. The trees had flowers but they were not the best.  Regardless I enjoyed the morning.

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Part of the reason I started this blog was to post my pictures and tell the stories behind them. This is the first of I hope many such postings.

In September 2004 my wife and I took a trip through southern Utah and northern Arizona. We started in Las Vegas and drove to Grand Junction, CO. But we didn’t go straight, we visited places that are just incredible. We hiked down a slot canyon into Zion National Park, visited Bryce Canyon, drove through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, saw the Grand Canyon north rim, boated on Lake Powell, gaped at Monument Valley, Canyonlands and Arches National Park. It was quite the trip and I took photos the entire time.

See all my postings about this trip

Near the end of the trip my wife just wanted a day to sleep in and I wanted to shoot at sunrise. So she stayed in Moab while I went to Mesa Arch. We had gone out the previous morning with a local photographer but I wasn’t satisfied with the pictures (I’m still not). A comment to professionals who may read this posting, just because you’re bored going to the same places all the time for sunrise, your clients may have never been there and deserve the best spot. Other than his choice of sunrise location he was a wonderful guide.

But let’s get back to my story.

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