Rambles

I keep telling myself that I need to come up with projects, photographic projects, to assign myself to keep me thinking about and working with images – especially new images. I find that the “coming up with” part of the equation is not really all that difficult – I have dozens of project ideas sitting in notebooks and in computer “note” files waiting to be set in motion. The real difficulty is the “setting in motion” part.

It’s that inability, or simple unwillingness, to overcome the inertia of NOT doing and getting off my duff and out of my comfort zone for awhile and DOING it. You know how it is. There’s always other things that are more pressing, the timing’s not quite right, the weather’s too hot too cold too wet too dry too sunny too cloudy too whatever, or….. (fill in the blank).

Recently, a little over a month ago, I came up a project (two projects actually, but only one has taken off yet) that was pretty date specific so I really had to fit it into a definite time span. I’ve been doing a series of one scene on consecutive Mondays in the month of May. It’s gotten me up and out on four consecutive Mondays (one more to go) with camera in-hand ready to do some shooting. It’s been great, but I had forgotten how early the sun rises in the merry month of May. Waaayy early. Here are some samples.

Morning, May 3, 2010.

Morning, May 10, 2010.

Morning, May 17, 2010.

Morning, May 24, 2010.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Burdette

Time to get the workshop front and center. This is a shameless piece of self-promotion. In just a bit less than one month, I’m going to be conducting a workshop at Great Camp Sagamore designed to get new-comers up and running in Photoshop. It’s a tremendous opportunity to get concentrated instruction on a great program in a fantastic setting. Photoshop, the undisputed leader in image editing programs, unfortunately comes with a pretty steep learning curve. The goal of this workshop is to provide hands-on instruction designed to guide participants through the daunting web of menus and tools that can stand between being frustrated by the program or being able to take advantage of it’s editing power.

Main Lodge and dining hall at Sagamore.

Looking down the porch of the Main Lodge.

And what a setting to do it in! Great Camp Sagamore is one of the few remaining Adirondack great camps still available for programs open to the general public. Check out the Sagamore web site to see what a special place it is. This is a four-day workshop entirely focused on Photoshop. Room and board at Great Camp Sagamore are part of the package and Sagamore offers some outstanding photo ops.

One of many marvelous corners.

One important caveat is that students do need to provide their own computers. Laptops, of course, are easier to handle and transport, but a desktop computer could be utilized as they can be set-up in the classroom and left throughout the workshop. Prior knowledge of or experience with the Photoshop program is not necessary, but it will be assumed that students come with a reasonable grounding in basic computer operations and a familiarity with file management procedures.

Last snowfall of the season-hopefully.

You could participate in this workshop even if you don’t have Photoshop on your computer. The teaching environment for the class will be Photoshop Elements. Elements is a consumer oriented version of the full Photoshop program. While it is nearly identical in the implementation of Photoshop’s basic features, it is considerably more accessible and affordable. If you don’t have it, thirty-day free trials of Elements will be available at the workshop.

Another boring Merlin update- Merlin and the stick.

To maximize student/teacher interaction, class size is being kept small. But there are still a few spaces available. Contact Sagamore for registration information to be a part of this great experience and take your photo processing skills to the next level.

Burdette

OK, OK. We’ve been back from our western trip for weeks already. It’s time to wrap it up and move on. So, here are the final images snagged on that trip. These are shots taken in the general vicinity of Boise, ID where we were genially guided by a wonderful Physical Therapist who also happens to be my niece—Thanks Amy.

Balanced Rock, near Twin Falls.

Section of Shoshone Falls.

Snake River bridge at Twin Falls.

Along the Payette River.

Early beach goers on the shore of Lake Payette.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to look ahead. Toward the end of June I’ll be conducting a workshop on Photoshop at the ever delightful Great Camp Sagamore. In order to permit lots of teacher-student interaction, the class size is strictly limited. But there are a few places still available, so if you have, or know anyone who has, any interest in getting some great hands-on instruction in the basics of Photoshop and spending five days at one of the premiere Great Camps of the Adirondacks, here’s a terrific opportunity. You can click on the links above to be directed to pages with more information about the workshop.

Burdette

Nothing much to say about these. They pretty much speak for themselves – picture worth …. etc.

Columbia River Gorge from old scenic highway.

From Portland we headed east up the Columbia River Gorge. It took us three hours to go 35 miles–too many waterfalls. After that we made better time but would have been slowed more than we were if Mt. Hood hadn’t been cloaked in clouds. Spent the night in Bend and had a wonderful dinner at Typhoon, the town’s Thai restaurant.

Multnomah Falls- big, high and popular.

Near Warm Springs on Rte. 26 saw one of the most intense rainbows ever.

Also along Rte.26, the next day, a tree full of shoes.

Like I said, SHOES.

The next day we followed Hwy 26 east until we picked up IH84 for the final leg into Boise.

Enough with the pictures already! More on Boise later.

Burdette