Oregon Photography Workshop - Preamble
Preamble? Whoa, that sounds all official, even lawyerly (if that's a word), but it's just my way of providing some introduction to the blog posts that are to come chronicling my trip to the Pacific Northwest. Although some of you reading this may already know of my recent adventures from the posts on my Facebook page, I thought it would be appropriate to set the stage anyway. I've been back home for about four days now. It was an amazing trip with some really great people to photograph some of the most beautiful scenery that this planet has to offer. The blog posts to follow will recount some of my experiences, but will focus (pun intended) on the imagery from the trip. After all, it was a photography workshop, and since "a picture is worth a thousand words", I will let the photos do most of the talking.
This was my second photography workshop since embarking on this creative journey a little over three years ago. Both times have been with Rick Sammon Photography Workshops, and for good reason. The attention to detail, care for the students, and level of instruction are all top notch. Plus, it is just plain fun! For this workshop, Alex Morley was co-leader along with Rick Sammon, which was a special treat, since Alex lives in Oregon and knows the coast extremely well. Our itinerary was planned out for us so we could be at the prime shooting locations at the best time of day. All we had to do was show up with camera in hand, point it at something pretty, and push the shutter release button. Well, OK, there was a bit more to it than that. Making good images takes some hard work, technical skill, patience, and persistence. A photography workshop is a great opportunity to work on these things and there is so much that can be learned not only from the instructors, but also from the other photography students.
The Oregon Coast Caravan started on May 16 in Newport and we worked our way south along the coast to Florence, and eventually Bandon, to finish up on May 22. I think we hit every major photography stop along the way. We stayed busy, often starting the day just after sunrise and staying out shooting until after the sun went down. Sometime throughout the day, we would make time to post-process images and learn some tips and tricks for utilizing photography editing software to make our images look their best. This trip was all about making images and working on self-prescribed goals, and we took advantage of every minute of each day to do just that.
On these blog pages, over the course of the next few days (or weeks?), I will make an attempt to share some of the great experiences and images from this trip. It's a great way for me to keep track of what we did and what I learned along the way. I hope you will stop in regularly and have a look at what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Thanks for coming along for the ride...
The big ol' jet airliner, leaving Missouri on the way to Oregon, May 16