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Deals and Sales

“Light of Ireland” Tour

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My friend Tim Baskerville – long time San Francisco area photographer and night photograph guru of The Nocturnes – is leading photographic tours to Ireland. Tim, whose family roots go back to West Ireland, is a long time visitor to Ireland who has photographed there frequently. If this sounds interesting to you, I urge you to get in touch with Tim – and tell him I sent you!

“The Light of Ireland”

Join accomplished Photographer/Educator Tim Baskerville and Irish Guide, Olcan Masterson in Western Ireland. Olcan, a walking authority on the history of western Ireland, has spent many years exploring the hills and back roads of the area. An accomplished musician as well, he has spread traditional Irish music all over Europe and the U.S. with his flute and tin whistle. Mostly though, he is a living embodiment of Irish charm and hospitality. He will show you the spirit and soul of Ireland, as few visitors will ever experience it. You will get a view of the land and the culture that comes with living it, not merely visiting it.

Western Ireland affords us a unique opportunity in that there are so many wonderful hidden places to explore. Even if you have traveled to this area in the past, your guides will seek out new places to visit and photograph. There are spectacular monastic and megalithic ruins to seek out in your daily adventures.

The land cost includes:
• Group transportation for tour events in the tour van.
• Accommodations based on two people sharing a room, singles are assigned on a first come, first served basis.
• Services of driver, English-speaking cultural guide (if applicable) and photographic leader, during the tour.
• All breakfasts, most dinners are included.
• Park entrance fees, day tours and excursions as shown in the itinerary.
• Extensive pre-departure information and services.

The land cost does not include:
Domestic or International air fare.

Date: July 15-25, 2013
Websites:
http://phototc.com/tours/details/the-light-of-ireland
http://www.thenocturnes.com

Location: County Mayo, County Galway in the West of Ireland

Commentary, Photographers

Michael’s Frye’s First Post in the ‘Weekly Critique” Series

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I believe I noted earlier that Michael Frye has a new blog and was going to being a weekly photo critique, using a photograph selected from those offered by photographers who follow his blog. He has now posted the first critique in the series, using a wonderful photograph from Tim Parkin. (I was already following and enjoying Tim’s blog.) I won’t spoil the fun by sharing Michael’s critique here, but I’d like to offer a few comments:

Michael knows how to critique. In addition to know his photography – no surprise there – his commentary on Tim’s photograph could serve as a model for anyone who wants to offer effective criticism. (I won’t go into the details, but this is something I happen to know a bit about.) Michael describes what works in the photograph, primarily in the context of what he sees in it. The he shares observations about aspects that Tim might not have known about, offering some ideas about alternatives where appropriate.

In the course of the critique, Michael makes some (obvious to some, not so obvious to many others) points about the nature of landscape photograph. For example, there is a lot to think about in this paragraph:

Of course being in the right place at the right time is a big part of landscape photography. While luck is obviously a factor, luck favors effort, persistence, anticipation, and a willingness to fail. You have to drag your camera out when the chances of success are small. Most of the time you’ll be disappointed, but eventually you’ll get lucky. The ability to anticipate good light and weather conditions comes from experience, local knowledge, and a little intuition. Most photographers have more success making repeated trips to a local park, getting to know the place intimately, then traveling to some exotic, unfamiliar location.

Speaking for myself, it is always fascinating to see what other may see in your own work. I’ll readily admit that I’m incapable of regarding my own photographs in the same way that others do. (Occasionally, perhaps when going back to an image I haven’t looked at for a while,  I think I may get close.) For me the images are wrapped up in all sorts of context that other viewers cannot possibly have – the experience of the time and place in which the photograph was made, knowledge of other attempts to do the same image, perhaps a lot of time “working” the image in post. In this case, I can put myself in Tim’s shoes and imagine what he may have learned to see in his own photograph through this critique.

Good stuff, and I recommend that you follow the link and give it a read.

Commentary, News, Shows, Workshops

Night photography news – time to catch up!

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It has been far too long since I’ve posted on the subject of night photography, one of the subjects that interests me a great deal. There is so much other stuff for me to photograph during the summer months – urban and natural landscape, “my” Sierra Nevada, the coast, and so on – that I tend to slack off on the night photography this time of year. However, as summer draws to an end, night photography is one subject that seems to increasingly begin to interest me again.

So, with that in mind, a few notes related to the subject.

Late last week fellow SF Bay Area photographer Ivan Makarov contacted me to say that he was organizing a group of photographers to do a night photography shoot at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. He knew that I have shot there in the past (lots of examples in my night photography gallery) and asked for some advice about access and locations. I shared with him a bit of what I know about the location and also connected him with Tim Baskerville of The Nocturnes, the SF Bay Area night photography group since Tim is our local guru of all things related to night photography. After consulting with Tim and getting permission from the folks at Mare Island, Ivan got back to me and I decided to join his group. I won’t spoil the fun by saying too much here, but I’m currently working on photographs from the outing and they will show up here in a few weeks. (Impatient readers can get an early look by checking out my Flickr stream.)

So, since the pump was primed with that bit of night photography last weekend, I’ll catch up with the night photography news.

One great source for night photography information – and especially for coverage of shows featuring night photographers – is Andy Frazer’s Night Photography Blog. Recent news at his blog includes the following:

  • An opening this week of a night photography show in Alameda featuring the work of several well-know local night photographers: Troy Paiva, Mike Hows and Joe Reifer. Follow the first link in this bullet to find more info about the location, times/dates, and the opening reception.
  • Also during the month of August Any kept up a steady stream of posts highlighting a number of compelling examples of night photography – visit the blog and take a look.

Over at The Nocturnes Night Photography Blog you’ll find some seemingly random quotations… mixed in with some very interesting posts on local night photography events and shows.

I’m hearing rumors of an upcoming Mare Island Reunion for previous participants in The Nocturnes workshops. If you are a  past Nocturnes participant and you haven’t heard from Tim… you might want to check this out.

Finally, if you are looking for some information on how to do night photography, let me point out two resources:

  • The Nocturnes web site is the portal to a ton of information on the subject, ranging from technique to photographer to workshop opportunities. I strongly recommend that you visit!
  • For a very quick list of some basic considerations for night photography, take a look at my own Hints for Night Photography post.