Newsletter from Kim Westerskov

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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: 20 Greerton Road, Tauranga 3112, New Zealand Phone Newsletter #40 September DAVE BARKER - FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER 2. BLUE SKIES IN YOUR PHOTOS 3. STAR PHOTO 4. QUOTE OF THE MONTH 5. LANDSCAPES WORKSHOP 27 September 6. GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND October 7. MENTORING REGULAR MEETINGS & 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. Beacon Valley, Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. For the entire 15-hour day I had New Zealand s most experienced Antarctic helicopter pilot Rob McPhail and his helicopter all to myself. Big day. Great day. For panoramic photos such as this I used a Linhof 6x17 Technorama camera which used up so much film for each shot that a roll of 120 film yielded only 4 photos. So I used 220 film which gave 8 photos per film each one slowly wound on from the previous shot.

2 1. DAVE BARKER - FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER

Dave Barker s long professional life was in the telecommunications industry [England Singapore and New Zealand] but in 1967 he found himself between jobs and for 6 months photographed children and

Six months of children and commercial pressure were enough to convince Dave that he would enjoy his photography a lot more as an amateur, which he has been pretty much ever since.

3 Dave Barker s long professional life was in the telecommunications industry [England Singapore and New Zealand] but in 1967 he found himself between jobs and for 6 months photographed children and babies for Christopher Bede Studios in Auckland. At the time they were the country s largest commercial portrait business. Six months of children and commercial pressure were enough to convince Dave that he would enjoy his photography a lot more as an amateur, which he has been pretty much ever since. Dave drove down from Auckland a few weeks ago for some Lightroom tuition, spread over two days. Lightroom is brilliant for most photographers, but being able to use it to its full potential does require a learning curve. Dave brought down some of his photos for us to work with in LIghtroom. I thought There s some very nice photos here and good stories behind them - why don t we share them with a wider audience [you]? Dave agreed and here we are. Enjoy! [Kim]: When did you start photographing? [Dave]: At least 65 years ago! I was given an old box camera around It was not a box Brownie (Kodak) but possibly a pre-ww2 German model by Agfa or Zeiss Ikon. I don t recall any identification on it but do remember it was quite rusty around the edges. All box cameras were the same anyway, fixed aperture and a shutter speed of 1/50 if you were lucky. I used to spend all my meagre pocket money on 620 film and D&P at the local chemist. It used to take about a week before I could collect my contact prints. How hard/easy was it moving from film to digital? Not too bad, but moving from a darkroom to a computer was a bit of a worry. I had also taken a break for over 10 years after all my gear including prime lenses were stolen in a burglary. The thieves preferred my more recent Nikon F3 so my classic Nikon F survived. I also had too much pressure in my regular job at that time and needed to take a break from photography. I resumed my photography when I retired in 2002 by which time the digital age had arrived. Were you ever in photo clubs? Exhibited? Placed in competitions? Yes, I have been in photo clubs in England, Singapore and New Zealand. Probably for too long, actually. I ve got nothing against photo clubs but I find them too constricting. Gained my Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS) in 1974 but after the satisfaction

I am still a member of PSNZ and hold an APSNZ distinction. That will do me. I have exhibited nationally and internationally but am not a frequent exhibitor.

4 of achieving it I discontinued my membership because I couldn t see the point in paying 12 (now 86!) annual membership while being on the other side of the world and I m not too fussed about letters after my name anyway. The best photographers don t need them so why should I? I am still a member of PSNZ and hold an APSNZ distinction. That will do me. I have exhibited nationally and internationally but am not a frequent exhibitor. Won the Nikon Auckland Photo Day competition in Published anywhere? I freelanced for Truth newspaper in the 1970s covering the then new National Soccer League. I had only arrived in New Zealand three years earlier and considered the standard of football photography (not rugby!) to be very poor and knew I could do better. What camera/lenses do you take when travelling? I lug my Nikon D7100 SLR with mm lens because I know that if I only take a compact I will regret it. The is not the greatest lens but is the most convenient, especially when travelling overseas and it saves having to carry additional lenses. Are you stronger artistically, or technically, or pretty strong in both, or what? Probably artistically. I m still trying to get my head around the transition from Darkroom to Lightroom! Where do you hope to photograph over the next year or two? At 78 I m starting to feel that time is running out and I have so much more I d like to do. My son works in Vietnam and I have been there three times. My last visit was in 2011 so I am overdue for another trip which I hope to do in Any photographers you especially admire? Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Elliot Erwitt, Don McCullin and locally Marti Friedlander and Ans Westra. I also admire the Otago landscape paintings of Grahame Sydney [Kim: me too!]. Any advice for photographers going to sourtheast Asia? Take care of your camera. Vietnam does have a reputation for motorbike snatchers but in 3 visits I have never experienced or witnessed this. North or South the people are wonderful.

2. BLUE SKIES IN YOUR PHOTOS Why does the blue sky in my photo not look nice and blue? It was a clear sunny day and the sky was a beautiful blue. What happened?

By the breeze on our face, the smell of the forest or the beach, the feeling of freedom being out somewhere away from home and workplace, even by the good meal you had on the way home.

5 2. BLUE SKIES IN YOUR PHOTOS Why does the blue sky in my photo not look nice and blue? It was a clear sunny day and the sky was a beautiful blue. What happened? First of all, our memories are coloured not just by how it looked, but also by how it felt. By the breeze on our face, the smell of the forest or the beach, the feeling of freedom being out somewhere away from home and workplace, even by the good meal you had on the way home. The entire day informs and colours your memories of the day. So yes, the sky may have been clear and blue, but not necessarily quite as blue as you remembered. But the main reason is often that your photos have just a bit of low sky in them, the bit close to the horizon. The sky up above you probably was the deep rich blue you remember, but the closer you look towards the horizon, the paler, hazier and less blue the sky would have been. Looking straight up, you are looking through less atmosphere than if you are looking off into the distance close to the horizon. Even on clear days there s all sorts of invisible stuff in the air [including water vapour, dust, smoke, and aerosols] which all degrade the image. If you re high up and looking over mountain ranges off into the far distance, the trees and hills close to you have pretty good colour, detail, and contrast [both to your eye and to the camera s sensor]. The distant hills/mountains however have considerably less [or no] detail, contrast and colour they are just pale shapes. This hazier and hazier off into the distance gives landscape photos a feeling of depth, of distance. So what can you do about the not-very-exciting pale blue sky in your photos? A polarizing filter cuts wonderfully through haze, deepens the blue of the sky, and makes the rest of the photo look more vibrant. So a polarizing filter may be all you need. With the advent of digital photography [and with Photoshop getting better year by year], most of my $7,000 collection of filters became obsolete. Only my polarizing filters and a few others are still useful. A polarizing filter is always in my camera pack. The effect created by this filter is one of the few that can t be replicated in Lightroom/Photoshop. Another good option is the Dehaze tool in Lightroom/Photoshop I discussed in the last newsletter. Other options include various tools in Lightroom/Photoshop such as targeted adjustments [I like the Adjustment Brush] to paint in extra blueness or more saturation] or playing around with the Blue [or

6 sometimes Aqua or Purple] sliders in the HSL/Grayscale tab. Whatever works. Because we see and remember the deep blue sky high above us, rather than the hazier pale blue sky nearer the horizon, I feel that we are allowed to bring a bit of this richness to the sky close to the horizon. Doing this makes the photo more like how we remember the day, rather than exactly how it was. The main thing is that the end result looks good and looks real. As with most things that are possible in Lightroom/Photoshop, it can be overdone, and overdone [ not real ] devalues the integrity of the photo unless you are deliberately aiming for an enhanced not real look. And never, never, copy some blue sky from a different photo on a different day and paste it into your photo taken on a dull day the end result will simply look wrong unless you are very clever in Lightroom/Photoshop, in which case you could probably have dealt with the sky problem some other way. 3. STAR PHOTO

QUOTE OF THE MONTH DISPENSE WITH THE RULES.

Unusual compositions challenge viewers to think about an image

original images. Shoot during storms, or in the dark.

7 The star photography continues. Above a recent photo, taken in the Kaimai Ranges near Tauranga. 4. QUOTE OF THE MONTH DISPENSE WITH THE RULES. Forget about the law of thirds and similar daft rules of composition promoted by photography blogs. Don t worry about shooting with the sun behind you. Don t fret. Unusual compositions challenge viewers to think about an image differently, and shooting in difficult circumstances will result in more original images. Shoot during storms, or in the dark. Shoot when the content dictates it, let your subject determine the timing of your shutter. James Frankham Convenor of Judges, New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition 5. LANDSCAPES WORKSHOP 27 th September

Aaaah, landscapes! There s not many of us who don t photograph landscapes some of the time or most of the time. On a good day, we ll come back with some photos we re reasonably happy with.

Something got lost in the translation. The landscape you were standing in front of looked great which is why to you took the photo[s].

This workshop is about correcting that - de-gremlinizing your landscape photos and showing you how to get the good gremlins [from a different parallel universe] to help make your landscape photos pop.

Landscape is a big topic and there s many ways of approaching it, so we ll be covering a lot of ground.

8 Aaaah, landscapes! There s not many of us who don t photograph landscapes some of the time or most of the time. On a good day, we ll come back with some photos we re reasonably happy with. Occasionally very happy. But on other days [far too many] there s nothing we took that approaches the specialness of what was in front of us when the shutter clicked. Something got lost in the translation. The landscape you were standing in front of looked great which is why to you took the photo[s]. Unfortunately, gremlins from a parallel universe got into your memory card and by the time you looked at the photos on your computer, they didn t look anywhere near as good as you hoped, and expected. This workshop is about correcting that - de-gremlinizing your landscape photos and showing you how to get the good gremlins [from a different parallel universe] to help make your landscape photos pop. Translating the Wow you felt standing in front of a good landscape into a Wow photo. Techniques, approaches, tips, tricks. Landscape is a big topic and there s many ways of approaching it, so we ll be covering a lot of ground. Topics covered will include: Grand landscapes and intimate landscapes Clouds, weather, light Time of day, sunrise/sunset, golden hour, blue hour Getting your composition right Water: waterfalls, rivers, lakes, estuaries Forests, hills, mountains, geothermal areas Dealing with scruffy foregrounds, blah backgrounds & boring skies Dynamic landscapes and quiet landscapes Common problems and their solutions Lens choice: wide angle vs normal vs telephoto Choosing your gear; camera, lenses, tripods, filters etc. Stars, night photography Colour, black and white Choosing the best camera settings Some good places to go

9 Our wonderful sea shores Post-processing to get your photos looking more like how you remember the landscape And much, much more. It s a huge and very rewarding subject. One of the best that photography has to offer. Care to join me? Cost: Full course fee [which includes tuition, handouts, Vivienne s yummy catering, assignment and follow-up] $295 - or $245 for Early Birds those registering by 17 th September. Fulltime students with ID $150

10 6. GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND October

11 If you re thinking something like hmmm, maybe I d like to go to one of Kim s workshops sometime, but which one? then this is the one I d most recommend. Over two days it covers enough to inspire you for the next 12 months and well beyond. And it s different from all the other workshops I run. Instead of covering just nature photography, we spread our wings wider, touching on most of the topics covered in my workshops & tuition over the last 8 years, but also including people, travel and weddings. Will I learn a lot? Yep. Will it be fun? I m afraid so! This is the biggest workshop I run, a full weekend of workshops and field trips, followed by an assignment and an evaluation evening about 3 weeks later at a time that suits everyone. Learning is via many paths: a creative mix of modules with detailed hand-outs, live demonstrations, screen-projected images, questions answered, and taking real photos in the field. Topics include: Landscapes & seascapes Wildlife photography Photographing people Travel photography Composition, depth of field Which lens to use? Telephoto vs. normal vs. wide angle. Using each for best effect Wedding photography Going professional or semi-professional - or not Photo competitions should you enter? What do the judges look for? Copyright, legal stuff, model and property releases Specialised techniques for night/dusk photography and aerial photography Secrets of the pros [a few well actually quite a few] Digital workflow, backing up, archiving That troublesome triangle of ISO/aperture/shutter speed - often not understood well [if at all] but absolutely vital if you want real control over your photography Photoshop & Lightroom Manual or Auto or.? What makes powerful photos powerful? Harnessing & developing your creativity Silky waterfalls, long exposure photos Dealing with problem foregrounds and more ** Cost: $475. Great value, I believe. The Early Bird special is even better value - $425 if you book before Wednesday 7 th October. The price includes the workshop, follow-up, detailed hand-outs, and yummy catering [courtesy of Vivienne] on both days. You will feel well looked after. Special rate for fulltime students with ID $235. For anyone living outside the Tauranga area, there are three good motels within 8 minutes walk of Kim s studio. The workshops are held at Kim s comfortable studio at 18 Greerton Road, Gate Pa, Tauranga.

7. MENTORING Over the years I ve taught and mentored many photographers, from newbies to professionals.

Mentoring is a bit hard to define exactly, but it s the ongoing process of inspiring, advising, guiding, teaching, critiquing whatever is needed for the ongoing development of a photographer.

One month it may be about equipment or Photoshop, next month it may be I just want my photos to have more Wow in them, the following month it may be about exhibitions or Should I go pro?

12 7. MENTORING Over the years I ve taught and mentored many photographers, from newbies to professionals. Most of the teaching has been through workshops, private tuition, and the regular Tuesday and Thursday meetings, but I also mentor a number of photographers. Mentoring is a bit hard to define exactly, but it s the ongoing process of inspiring, advising, guiding, teaching, critiquing whatever is needed for the ongoing development of a photographer. It s one-on-one, so it s different for each person, as every photographer s needs are different. One month it may be about equipment or Photoshop, next month it may be I just want my photos to have more Wow in them, the following month it may be about exhibitions or Should I go pro? Photo of Kim by Kaylee Freeman Being mentored is possibly the fastest and most rewarding way of progressing rapidly. It s at your pace and at your level. And I try hard to be as supportive and positive as possible. I ve designed it to be both affordable and flexible, so to begin with I m offering Mentoring by Kim as a monthly subscription - you can try it and see if it s what you want. If it is, we continue, fine-tuning if needed. If not, then you pull out at the end of the first month. Every month you have a one-on-one meeting with me, discussing whatever you want. My 30+ years experience as a professional photographer & writer is there, ready to help and [hopefully] inspire you. Your questions are answered, options are discussed, photography techniques or approaches are taught, your photos critiqued, new ideas suggested. This is either in person or by phone. If you want, I ll give you homework a photographic assignment to tackle over the next month. The following meeting you show me the results and we discuss them. With the workshops I run, I find that this homework is much appreciated by the photographers it consolidates learning and spurs new growth. I m offering two levels of Mentoring by Kim : 1. Everything listed above, with 90 minutes one-on-one every month. $115/month. 2. Everything listed above, with 3 hours one-on-one every month. $165/ month. Your mentor [me, Kim]: Over 30 years as a professional photographer Five First Prizes in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, the Olympics or Oscars of nature photography worldwide. 18 books published written and photographed by me. 12 are currently in print. Passionate about photography and passionate about inspiring, guiding, and supporting photographers.

13 A photographer recently approached me asking for a more in-depth option than the two I was offering. Sure was my reply, so we ve tailored a programme to suit this photographer. So if you re interested, yes, I m happy to tailor a programme just for you. 8. IN-DEPTH PHOTO EVALUATION & TUITION EVENINGS A good and cost-effective way of moving your photography ahead rapidly. Think of these evenings as a cross between private tuition and workshops, with lots of targeted feedback based entirely on YOUR photos. You bring along some photos you d like evaluated and I critique them, both plusses and minuses, in considerable depth. Not just how can we improve this photo in Photoshop or Lightroom?, but what can you learn about photographing a similar subject next time: maybe changing the timing, lens selection, depth of field, aperture/iso/shutter speed choice, composition, lighting etc. anything and everything that helps you on the road towards better and better photos. The next In-Depth Evening will be on Thursday 17 th September, starting at 7.00pm. Book by . Cost: $55 for the evening. 9. KIM S PHOTOS & COFFEE EVENINGS 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. It s free [no charge], supper is served, and there s no obligation of any kind. Please me if you d like to come [it s not a big room so I need to keep an eye on numbers]. These evenings are always fun and friendly - there s usually many smiles and laughs. It s a great way of meeting up with like-minded people, being inspired by the creativity of our group of photographers, and coming away with news ideas and tips. There s a wide range of interests and abilities so for those of you who have not been before, you re very unlikely to feel out of your depth. There s also a small library of photo magazines you are welcome to borrow from. Bring photos if you wish, but there s no obligation to bring any. Some people do, some don t. The next one will be on Tuesday 6 th October, starting 7.00pm. 18 Greerton Road, Gate Pa, Tauranga 10. PRIVATE TUITION Yes, like you I m usually busy doing other stuff too, but I can nearly always fit private tuition in, and am very happy to do so [I enjoy teaching and mentoring ]. So if you d like some tuition, give me a yell. First 2 hours: $80 per hour, after that $70 per hour [forever!] Photos in this newsletter copyright Kim Westerskov and copyright the individual photographers named. All rights reserved.

Newsletter from Kim Westerskov

Newsletter from Kim Westerskov 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