Newsletter from Kim Westerskov. Newsletter #26 February 2014

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1 Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested and, of course, if you d prefer not to receive future newsletters from Kim, please just Reply with Unsubscribe please as the subject. Thanks Newsletter from Kim Westerskov kimsworkshops@gmail.com Web: Facebook: 20 Greerton Road, Tauranga 3112, New Zealand Phone Newsletter #26 February JILL S DOGS 2. KIM TIPS WHERE TO PHOTOGRAPH 3. SLIDE SHOW 4 March 4. LINKS 5. QUOTE OF THE MONTH 6. WORKSHOPS February to May 7. FLOWERS WORKSHOP 23 February 8. AFTER THE SHUTTER CLICKS WORKSHOP 15 March 9. IN-DEPTH PHOTO EVALUATION EVENINGS 10. KIM S PHOTOS & COFFEE EVENINGS 11. PRIVATE TUITION This newsletter goes out to many photographers in New Zealand and overseas - and to anybody who asks to go onto the mailing list. If you know anybody who would like to be on the mailing list, please get them to me. It s free and they can unsubscribe at any time, of course.

2 1. JILL S DOGS A few years ago, Tauranga photographer Jill Bush came to a photography workshop I ran. One of the photos Jill brought was of her two dogs on a long straight path with trees along both sides. I thought That setting would make an interesting exercise in how many photographic variations I could find with two dogs in an avenue of trees. Last year I asked Jill if she would be interested in bringing her two dogs along to the avenue [just a wide path really, but avenue sounds better] while I saw how many different photos I could get. So one fine afternoon with high clouds diffusing the light nicely, I borrowed Jill s dogs for a few hours. Jill provided nibbles and encouragement for the dogs while I tried every lens from fisheye to 300mm with 1.4X extender, with fill flash, without fill flash, from close up to distant shots, from lying on the ground to standing over top of the dogs. Jill s dogs were great, so I concentrated more on them and less on the trees which were somewhat scraggly. What else can I do? What am I missing? I often ask myself. Even if I m getting good photos, I realise I m almost certainly missing other good photos. But where are they? Sometimes they come by continuing to work the subject = trying as many different ideas as possible. And sometimes the ideas come from other people. The dogs finally lost interest and we started heading home. As we left the trees to

3 walk along a stream leading back to the car park, Jill mentioned an idea she had, photographing her with the dogs up on a seat alongside the path. Well worth trying I thought. The background [grass, stream, flax] was somewhat messy [backgrounds are often messy] so I got down low as both dogs stood on the seat with their front legs on the backrest. Good, I thought. But there was still flax in the background so I got down even lower until there was nothing in the background but sky. The warm afternoon sunlight lit Jill and her dogs from the side. The partly-diffused light wasn t creating shadows that would be hard to deal with in Photoshop, but nice gentle shadows. When a photographic situation is looking good, I don t just take the one shot and hope I ve got it. I try several variations if possible, moving myself around, trying different focal lengths, moving the subjects around if need be. Every shot in this series looked good, with a couple just a notch or two above the rest. And interestingly better than any of the shots I d taken inside the tree avenue. Thanks Jill. 2. KIM TIPS WHERE TO PHOTOGRAPH National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson has a good saying: If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff. Well, yes and no. Yes to some extent, but do you really need to travel to Niagara Falls or the Eiffel Tower or Uluru [Ayers Rock] for better photos? I don t think so. Some years back, DOC commissioned me to take a comprehensive set of photos in the Lottin Point area near Cape Runaway. I spent two weeks on the job, underwater and above water. The photos were going to be used to promote marine reserves in the area. After a week or so, the DOC man said to me Kim, I ve figured out how you get good photos. You just look for the common things, seagulls or pohutukawas or waves breaking, and then look for unusual ways of shooting them Yep I replied. Simple really. And yet not so simple. If you re standing in front of the Eiffel Tower [or anywhere else you think of as interesting stuff ], during normal weather at a normal time of day with a normal lens on and with the normal amount of time for snaps [not much], what are you going to get? Almost certainly, just a normal photo. Normal = boring probably, and much the same as millions of other photos of the Eiffel Tower.

4 We all know what the Eiffel Tower looks like, even though many of us have never been there. What interests me most are the times when photographers have put in extra effort to photograph it in a different way. One memorable photo was taken on a grey rainy winter day. Instead of taking the easy normal photo, the photographer looked around and eventually photographed a puddle of rainwater on the ground. A few late autumn leaves floated in the water, and the Eifel Tower was reflected in the still water. Great shot. Local photographer Conrad Kuriger visited Paris too, and managed to photograph the Eiffel Tower in a new and fresh way. Night time, a long way away from the Eiffel Tower, lots of buildings in-between, reflections in river, tripod, long exposure = great shot. Conrad s photo is above. For other good variations on the Eiffel Tower see And standing isn t always the best option either. I m busy photographing wildflowers at the moment, often alongside busy roads. I take some photos standing, more photos kneeling down [getting closer to and more intimate with the wildflowers] and even more time lying on the ground [I wear old clothes for this job] photographing the wildflowers from underneath, looking up at them, with the sky behind. Yes, I get the odd toot from passing motorists [friendly toots mostly], but I m also getting fresh and exciting photos. I ll use these in future newsletters, an upcoming flowers workshop, and in my first ebook which will be about flower photography. So don t just stand in front of interesting stuff. Think about the possibilities, play around, get down on your knees or lie on the ground or go around behind it or come back when the light is better or change lenses or try blurred motion or. 3. SLIDE SHOW 4 March On March 4 th I m giving an illustrated talk [we used to call them slide shows ] on the seas and sealife in the Bay of Plenty. We ll meet a surprising cast of characters including blue whales, friendly seals, huge crayfish, and many more. The Bay of Plenty has been my backyard since Vivienne and I moved here in 1985 and I ve spent much of the time since then photographing the

5 seas, shorelines, animals and plants that live in this very precious and beautiful part of the world. Join me if you d like to Title: Our Bay: Blue Whales, Blue Water, Red Crayfish Date: Tuesday 4 March 2014 Time: 6.30pm Start. Venue: The Bongard Centre, 200 Cameron Road, Lecture Theatre 104 Cost: Gold Coin Entry which goes to Environhub. Please Register by ing: nyree@waikato.ac.nz 4. SOME LINKS YOU MIGHT ENJOY The 1976 National Geographic photo that inspired the Lorde song Royals Where do most photos get taken? By country, USA has more photos taken inside its borders than anywhere else, but by photos per square kilometre, Europe wins hands down. Not many photos get taken in Niger, Chad, Somalia, Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan. This site shows the most photographed locations in the world mapped out like a heat map. You can see the world ranking by the number of pictures uploaded for any location or zoom down to the local level e.g. or You can happily spend an hour or two here, finding out that Auckland has more photos taken in it than anywhere else in New Zealand. And where in the Auckland region are most photos taken? Sky City, followed by Muriwai with Piha in third place. And so on.. have fun! 5. QUOTE OF THE MONTH Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth-of-field. Peter Adams 6. WORKSHOPS FEBRUARY to MAY 2014

6 Sunday 23 February - FLOWERS: Garden flowers, wildflowers, water lilies. For details see below. Full day plus assignment and follow-up. Saturday 15 March - PHOTO MAGIC - AFTER THE SHUTTER CLICKS. For details see below. Half day 9.00am pm Saturday 5 April - PHOTO MAGIC - TURNING YOUR PHOTOS INTO ART. Details in next newsletter. Half day 9.00am pm Saturday-Sunday April - NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND. Details in next newsletter. Full weekend plus assignment and follow-up Saturday 10 May - SOUL IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY. Details in next newsletter. Full day plus assignment and follow up. 7. FLOWERS WORKSHOP Garden flowers, wildflowers & water lilies Sunday 23 February You could be excused for thinking that flower photography was easy [after all, flowers just sit there, day after day, looking lovely] but GOOD flower photography needs a combination of right equipment, specific techniques, good timing and usually good post-processing. In this workshop I will share with you everything you need to know to get great flower photos. A macro lens is not needed none of these photos were taken with a macro lens just normal lenses. Join me! Part 1: Sunday 23 February. 9.00am 1.00pm. In my workshop studio, you will learn the equipment, techniques and approaches needed for great flower photos, including making your photos look their very best in Photoshop/Lightroom. We then travel to the Waihi Waterlily Gardens, carpooling, and spend the rest of the afternoon there. Normal closing time is 3.00pm but the owners [Bevan and Alix] are happy for us to stay as long as we like. Bring your own lunch. Part 2: Flower assignment in your own time over the following 2-3 weeks. Part 3: Follow-up. Evaluation and critiquing of your photos. We meet at my studio again for a few hours at a time that suits everybody, probably an evening. The follow-up can be by . Cost: Full course fee $320 - or $270 for Early Birds [if you register before 15 February]. Fulltime students $160. The

7 course fee includes tuition, hand-outs, morning tea, entry to Waihi Waterlily Gardens, followup, and a contribution towards fuel costs [we ll car pool]. 8. PHOTO MAGIC - AFTER THE SHUTTER CLICKS WORKSHOP Saturday 15 March 9.00am 1.00pm This is the first of two related workshops. Photo Magic - After The Shutter Clicks looks at processing your photos in Lightroom or Photoshop to make them look as good as possible. What we re after here is to get people telling you Gosh, great photo, you must be a good photographer! rather than Gosh, great photo, you must be good in Photoshop. I m very keen on the first response, and not at all keen on the second response. This workshop is to help you get the first response. The second workshop Photo Magic Turning Your Photos Into Art will show you how to turn your photos into art, something that looks more like a painting than a photo. The second workshop will show you some techniques within Lightroom/Photoshop, and then how to use some of the best photos to art software out there - some are Photoshop plugins, some are stand-alone applications. Some are free and the

8 rest mostly have free trials. Below are some photos I ve worked on in recent months showing the original photo and the end result, the before and after. The flower photos are mine. The others are by Leigh Nicholas. This workshop is not an in-depth workshop on Lightroom or Photoshop [it couldn t be, not in 4 hours], but rather me showing you my workflow, which has evolved from processing tens of thousands of photos in Photoshop & Lightroom over the years and having these files accepted by Getty Images and other photo libraries, as well as by fussy clients the world over. And sometime being printed several metres wide on the outsides of buildings. I will use some of my own photos, but I also invite you to bring along a few of your own photos for me to work with. The 4 hours will go quickly!! Cost: Full workshop fee $140 - or $120 for Early Birds [if you register before 5 March]. Fulltime students $70. The course fee includes tuition, a hand-outs and morning tea.

9 9. IN-DEPTH PHOTO EVALUATION EVENINGS Last year a photographer asked me if I would run in-depth photo evaluation evenings somewhat like the Tuesday Photos & Coffee evenings that I run every month, but with real in-depth, honest photo critiques. So I did. I m glad Murray asked, because these evenings have been great: enjoyable and definitely in-depth. In-depth Photo Evaluation Evenings run on the THIRD THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH except December. As Murray said, both the frequency of the meetings, and seeing what others are photographing, are motivating for keen photographers. What to expect: You bring along some photos, ideally 3-6, that you d like constructively critiqued/evaluated, primarily by me, but also by the others attending. If you bring only 3-4 photos, each photo will be given more time than if you bring a larger number. A good number of the photos will be brought into Photoshop or Lightroom to show different cropping, tidying or processing possibilities - how they could be improved in postproduction. Cost. $55 for the evening, which will run from 7.00pm to 10.00pm. The next IN-DEPTH evening will be on Thursday 20 February 2014.

10 10. KIM S PHOTOS & COFFEE EVENINGS These friendly, relaxed get-togethers are for those of you who have been to any of my workshops or field trips over the last couple of years or are thinking about maybe coming on one. There s no obligation of any kind. We meet on the first Tuesday of each month [every month of the year except January], chat informally about photography, and view some of the recent photos we ve taken. No charge [free]. Supper is served. Please me if you d like to come and please only book up to one month ahead. It s always fun and friendly. Because I m giving a public address on Tuesday 4 March [details above], I ve moved the March Photos & Coffee evening to the following Tuesday, 11 March. So the next two are: Tuesday 11 March 2014 starting 7.00pm Tuesday 1 April 2014 starting 7.00pm 11. PRIVATE TUITION I had a great day not so long ago, all day teaching three photographers [in two separate sessions] how to get the best out of their camera, and covering specific techniques they were interested in. A bit later I was teaching two more photographers, concentrating on the best organisation for their photo libraries, their workflow through Lightroom/Photoshop, and photography in general. Topics covered can be anything from photography in general to specific techniques, computer workflow, Lightroom, Photoshop Each photographer determines their own agenda, and so each session is unique. Most tuition so far has been one-on-one, but there s no reason why [if you d like to bring a friend with similar questions] it couldn t be for two people at once [making it much less expensive for each person, of course]. Sessions are typically 2-3 hours. We cover a lot of ground every hour. First 2 hours: $80 per hour, after that $70 per hour [for those of you who qualified on the previous plan, don t worry, your bottom rates still apply nothing has changed for you] What I learned in one evening with Kim would have taken me months to figure out by myself. Overall I found the session extremely worthwhile and consider it excellent value. Raewyn Adams