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Our November newsletter is chock-full of information this month!
Neil Chaput de Saintonge discusses characteristics of light that will enhance your landscape photography. Neil has corresponding photographs and two assignment as well.
Three RMSP staff members, Liz Dybdal, Marcy James, and Page Orb just returned from the largest industry trade show, PhotoPlus Expo 2008. All three talk about the importance of the experience to the school.
Kerri Rosenstein, Gallery Saintonge Director, talks about the Juried Show that opens December 5, 2008. All images will be online and available for viewing after the show’s opening.
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Understanding Light for Landscape Photography
With fall and winter comes a remarkably diverse spectrum of light conditions—and a great opportunity to experiment with how light affects landscape photography. As a young photographer, I remember thinking the best light was that cast on clear, sunny days. In such conditions, I assumed, everything was well lit and would stand out beautifully. Well, I was wrong. Under bright blue skies our images usually have far too much contrast and, honestly, are usually pretty boring. That said, many new photographers still consider these conditions ideal and therefore set themselves up for bland images before ever taking a single shot.
Indeed, considering light conditions in landscape photography is essential. Years ago, when Galen Rowell was teaching a workshop for RMSP in Glacier National Park, he discussed how he and about 20 other photographers were shooting sunset at Logan Pass. As soon as the sun descended beneath the horizon, the other photographers packed up their cameras and left. In the next 35 minutes, however, as the sun travelled farther beyond his sight during what is called civil twilight, the sky changed continuously and lent itself to one great shot after another. Galen knew and trusted the dynamic light conditions of that magical time following sunset. Likewise, for all photographers—amateurs and professionals alike—outstanding images depend not only on exposure and composition but knowledge of light and how light conditions can make or break a photo. And while many photographers rely on programs like Photoshop®, Lightroom®, Elements®, or Aperture® to make their photos stand out, software will never transform a poor photograph into a great one.
Below are the types of light that I find most satisfying for landscape photography. This said, there are always exceptions—every once in a while, a clear, blue sky does yield gorgeous photos.
Civil Twilight (the beautiful light just after sunset and right before sunrise, which takes place when the sun is zero - 6 degrees below the horizon). During this time, your scene will undergo many different patterns of light, which is why it is one of my favorite light conditions for landscape (as well as for macro) photography. Typically, it spans the 30 minutes before sunrise and the 30 minutes following sunset. As the sky transitions from dark to light (or light to dark) hues of pink and orange are visible creating a beautiful wash of color across the sky.
TIPS for shooting Civil Twilight:
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Usually take your exposure off the sky itself. |
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Because it is darker, use a tripod. |
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Use the sky as the main part of your photograph (in other words, include mainly sky). |
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After each photo, check the light in every direction—the best light can easily and quickly change to a different part of the scene. Many times I will be shooting facing east and I turn around to see great light coming behind me from the west. |
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Civil Twilight isn’t worth shooting if there are too many clouds on the horizon. |
NOTE: To find the beginning and end of civil twilight in your area, type “sunset/sunrise” into any search engine (like Google). Follow most any of the links and, where prompted, enter in the current date and location; in addition to up-to-date sunrise and sunset times, you will get the timeframe for civil twilight.
Magic Hour. This occurs (if it does at all) in the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. This is that beautiful light early in the morning and late afternoon when the sun is low in the sky and thus shines through more atmosphere, creating a flood of warm light –the effect is a wonderful contrast between warm transmitted light and cooler reflected light. What ensues is a beautiful separation of orange and blue hues. When magic hour is at its best, it can easily be the most dynamic lighting of the day.
TIPS for shooting the Magic Hour:
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Plan carefully. Despite the name, magic hour is not a sure bet for great light. Elements such as weather conditions can affect the quality of light you experience at the Magic Hour. Be sure to check weather conditions for overcast skies or fog before heading out to photograph. |
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Exposure can be tricky in these conditions, so this is where I shoot on manual setting with my built-in spot meter and take light readings off both the highlight areas and the shadow areas. If you know Zone for color photography, this is a good time to calculate your exposure using zone. |
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Really search your scene to capture the most dramatic contrast between warm and cool light. |
Backlighting. When the sun is out, there are times when backlighting can be quite beautiful. For me, this is the hardest type of lighting to find (as you are shooting directly toward the sun), but when you capture it, it can be great. Backlighting creates a subtle halo effect around the subject, often accentuating the edges.
TIPS for shooting backlighting:
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Always use a lens hood (sun shade) to keep stray light from hitting your lens. |
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Exposures can again be tricky, so learn good exposure and, in most cases, bracket your exposure. |
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Because you will usually have more contrast in your photo, really watch your composition –in most instances, it is best to keep your photo simple. |
Soft Lighting: Soft lighting occurs when the sun is blocked by white clouds; these conditions are akin to those created in a studio with large light boxes. Soft light is great for many landscape conditions and usually lends clear definition and strong, saturated colors due to the low contrast and lack of deep shadows.
TIPS for shooting soft lighting:
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In many cases, this is a good time to leave the sky out of your photograph, as the sky is usually just white (and a whole lot lighter than the landscape itself). |
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Metering off the scene is usually very easy and accurate. |
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This is often very good for macro landscape. |
While much of my knowledge on landscape photography comes from shooting for 50 years, there are two individuals in particular who have taught me a tremendous amount. The first is Galen Rowell, whose photography continues to inspire me (and which can be seen in his highly-recommended book “Mountain Light”). The second is Craig Tanner, a Georgia photographer with whom I have spend many wonderful days shooting and who has helped me properly see and capture light in different landscapes.
Finally, RMSP hosts many workshops on this topic throughout the year. During these landscape photography workshops (some of which I have listed below), you will spend early mornings and late evenings shooting sunrises and sunsets.
Sunrises, Sunsets & Flowing Water
The Oregon Coast
Eastern Sierra: Landscape of Color and Light
Springtime on the Peninsula: Olympic National Park
The Coast of Maine & Acadia National Park
Land of Extremes: Death Valley National Park
In April, I will be teaching Texas Hill Country, a workshop for basic photographers, with Scott Rouse. We will cover all the basics on how to use your DSLR as well as many computer and editing skills. We will also concentrate on the beautiful light conditions discussed in this article in tandem with the unique beauty of Texas Hill Country during wildflower season.
Visit Neil’s Understanding Light gallery and read about how he photographed each image. | |
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This month there are two assignments. The first assignment will help you to understand the quality of light in Civil Twilight. The second assignment
is all hands on. There will be a gallery of images from the assignment in the December newsletter.
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Every October for the past five years Rocky Mountain School of Photography has had a booth at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City. Why would we send people all the way across the country for a trade show? The answer is simple. This is one of the largest consumer trade shows in the photography industry. It is a great place for RMSP to learn about new trends in photography so we are on top of curriculum development as well as develop integral relationships within the industry. This year three people from RMSP went to the show, Liz Dybdal, the Marketing Director; Marcy James, the Curriculum Director and Page Orb, the Web site specialist. Each of the three had different goals and jobs during the three days.
The Photo Expo provides an amazing opportunity for those of us who want to immerse ourselves in the swift evolution of our medium. Whether you are interested in creative inspiration, ramping up your business and marketing skills, diving into image capture and editing approaches or learn about what’s coming around the corner, I can assure you that your minds will ignite with ideas and questions at the Expo. This is the conference for those of us who never tire of photographic tools, trends and techniques. And on top of that….it takes place in New York…the city that never sleeps…
Page Orb. Primarily, I man the booth and talk to people who come by. Many are familiar with the school and have questions about certain programs or instructors. For others, Rocky Mountain School of Photography is new and it is my job to give a school overview for those interested. The first year that we attended the PhotoPlus Expo the majority of people who stopped by our booth had never heard of us before. As the years have passed, our presence at this show has increased our name recognition on the east coast. I spend more and more time talking to individuals about new courses every year.
Liz Dybdal. As marketing director for Rocky Mountain School of Photography one of my roles is forming friendships with companies and people in the industry on behalf of the school. The relationships we foster within the photo industry are very important to the school for many different reasons. They guide us on technology and trends in the industry and their expertise contributes to determining what benefits our students. Other support includes equipment, expertise, literature, guest speakers and much more.
Each year I go to Photo Plus Expo (PPE) looking for shifts in the industry and hot new technology. Which companies should we as a school be aware of and which might partner well with RMSP. I look for great products and customer service, a company that understands the importance of students as customers, and a relationship that is win-win for both the company and the school. Building and maintaining these friendships over time is not only important but very rewarding. I have found the photography industry to be one of the friendliest and generous industries I have worked within.
Some of our long standing relationships include Canon, The MAC Group, Bogen Imaging, liveBooks, Adobe and B&H. A couple of new and exciting companies I talked to this year include Blurb, Sigma, and Triple Scoop Music. It is my hope that these also become long time friendships.
Marcy James. My main goal this year was to attend seminars that focused on photography’s current developments. We are entering into the world of multimedia as enhanced podcasts and still photography converges with video. The schedule of seminars announced this trend in the photography industry loud and clear. Although some say that video is a distant cousin to still photography, many commercial, portrait and landscape photographers are incorporating it into their business and you will find enhanced podcasts/vodcasts, slideshows and video more and more on Web sites and blogs. There are vast opportunities for those of you who enjoy storytelling.
In addition to learning about the potentials with multimedia, I attended seminars that took a closer look at the direction of the stock photography business. Motion stock is in high demand. For those of you who are interested in shooting still images for stock they suggest that you focus on developing a unique point of view and develop your ability to illustrate concepts and ideas. Most of all, they suggest working in projects that you feel a strong connection to. If you are ready to submit your images, they recommend trying smaller boutique stock agencies rather than the major players. If you do want to submit to Getty Images, the best route for newcomers is to enter through their “Photographer’s Choice” program.
And for those of you who love retouching and compositing work, you may want to consider a career as a retoucher. The career has immense creative potential and can provide you with a good income in our field. For those of you who want to spend all of your time behind the camera…good news…it may soon become affordable for you to hire out the majority of your processing/editing/archiving work.
Our world continues to thrive with invention and possibilities…and more opportunities for us to do what we love…photograph.
Some resources from the Photo Expo:
Video:
www.vincentlaforet.com
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2327
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/dslr-cameras-video-canon-nikon/
http://prolost.blogspot.com
Digital Storytelling:
http://mediastorm.org
http://www.photographychannel.tv/
Stock Photography Tip:
Lifestyle and green living photographs are in demand.
Retouching:
www.imagemavericks.com
www.katechase.com
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Gallery Saintonge has completed reviewing work for the upcoming Juried Exhibition. We are pleased to share with you that there was an overwhelming response. After reviewing 546 submissions from across the nation and Canada, H. Rafael Chacón selected 37 pieces, including 28 artists in the exhibit. The work was juried anonymously, and according to Dr. Chacón, final selections were chosen based on “intrinsic merits, in terms of the strengths of the ideas they present and their execution.” Chacón looked for work that was “the best of a genre, but especially works that critique, comment on, and/or expand upon tradition.”
The exhibition will take place at Gallery Saintonge in downtown Missoula, Montana from December 5, 2008 through January 10, 2009. We hope you will join us at Gallery Saintonge for the Opening Reception on Friday, December 5th, 2008 from 5-8pm. Award recipients will be announced at the reception. You will also be able to view the selected work, award recipients and Dr. Chacón’s comments about his selections online at www.gallerysaintonge.com and in December’s electronically circulated RMSP newsletter.
Thank you to all of you who contributed work. We appreciate your support!
Congratulations to accepted artists:
Joel Baird
Mike Butler
Evan Caughey
Matt Connolly
Russel Daniels
Marydorsey Wanless
Wayne Durham
Michael Gottlieb
Alan Graham McQuillan
Kristi Hager
Camden Hardy
Florian Herzog
Marshall Hibbard
Steve Krutek
Chris Lombardi
Sam Manno
James Meldrum
Leslie Van Stavern Millar
Caesy Oney
Steve Parrott
Page Orb Pedde
Eileen Rafferty
Tom Robertson
Nancee Rostad
Jamie Seguino
Gary W. Vann
Cathrine Walters
Andrea Zoltanetzky
In 2002, Neil and Jeanne Chaput de Saintonge opened Gallery Saintonge. Having started the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in 1989, a professional and technical photography school located in Missoula, Montana, the gallery was a natural extension of their beloved medium. Exhibiting contemporary, as well as historical and traditional work, Gallery Saintonge is dedicated exclusively to photography and photographic media.
We extend great appreciation to the juror, Hipólito Rafael Chacón, Professor of Art History and Criticism in the Department of Art at The University of Montana. It was an honor to share this experience with him.
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Winter is a great time to improve your skills!
Photoshop for Photographers- with Tim Cooper, February 1-6, 2009
Lightroom for Photographers- with David Marx, January 25-30,2009
Basic Photography- with Doug Johnson January 31-February 6, 2009
Register now and save $50!
Registrations for our Career Training are in full swing!
Career Training 2009
Session I: Summer Intensive
A Foundation in Photography- June 1- August 14, 2009
Session II: Professional Studies
Focus on Your Career Path August 11- September 4, 2009
Session III: Advanced Intensive
Digital and Professional Development September 8 – October, 16, 2009
Please contact Bob McGowan at bobm@rmsp.com for more information.
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