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October 2016 Newsletter

October is here, this is my favorite month for photography.  I just can't get enough of photographing natures fantastic display of color in fall.  Along with the color comes cooler weather which makes for a much more pleasant day of photography.  This is a great time just to get out and enjoy the beautiful country we live in.

 
 
I have just opened registration for my Palouse Washington workshop in June.

I have 1 space left for my last workshop this year, Fall Photography Boot Camp which is the fastest way to learn photography, with a great deal of one on one personal instruction. I held a boot camp this spring and it was very successful, so I am offering the opportunity again this fall (Hopefully for the peak of fall color in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas).  Lodging and most meals are provided with the workshop fee and participation is limited to 3 people.

I will also be available for private workshops for the rest of the year.

In This Issue

Fog Photography

With fall comes cooler temperatures and the cooler air over water can create fog.  Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.



Fog can add a great deal of mood to your images but it can also make your images look flat and washed out.



Fog creates a very soft diffused light with low contrast and virtually no shadows, which are a key element in most photography.  This can be overcome by having a strong primary subject.



We can use a strong sense of shape to offset the loss of detail and depth when shooting in the fog.



Using a silhouette can add contrast to a foggy image.



Lightbeems are another feature of shooting in the fog, in order to see light we need something for the light to reflect off of, and fog is very reflective.





When photographing in the fog be on the lookout for condensation forming on you lens, be sure to have a lens cloth to wipe the lens frequently.

News

I will be doing a Route 66 program at the Fort Smith Public Library on Wednesday, November 30 at 7 PM in the community room.  This will be a book signing, slideshow program, and Route 66 talk and Question and Answer session.

This will be an informational program for anyone wishing to photograph or just travel historic Route 66.

I will also be autographing copies of my book before and after the program.

Free Route 66 Program

I will be available to do a program on photographing Route 66 and my Route 66: Ghost Towns and Roadside Relics slideshow.  This program is available to photography and other groups at no cost in December and January.  Please contact me or pass this on to your group leaders.

Grand Lake Camera Club

I will be doing a program for the Grand Lake Camera Club in Grove Oklahoma on Tuesday Oct 11 at 7:00 pm at the Grace Presbyterian Church at the corner of 4th and Main.  I will be doing an image critique of images that members have submitted to me.  Along with comments I will show them how I would improve the image.

2017 Workshops

I am working on my workshop schedule for next year and I am very excited to offer some new locations, some favorites to revisit for those who could not make it in previous years and a couple I was not able to complete for various reasons.

I will be limiting the size of the workshops to a smaller number of participants for next year in order to offer the best possible learning and photography experience.  
 

Here are some of the workshops I am working on:


These are in the planning stage and may or may not actually be scheduled, if you are interested in attending one of these workshops please let me know, and I will hold a spot for you with no obligation until the workshop is finalized.


May Route 66

 

August Monument Valley & Antelope Canyon





September Apostle Islands


October Colorado Fall


 

Gallery Exhibit

Gallery Exhibit
Fort Smith Public Library


I will be having an exhibit at the Fort Smith Public Library main branch during November and December 2016.


This will be an exhibit of images from Route 66 and my book project
" Route 66: Ghost Towns and Roadside Relics"


The Fort Smith Public Library -- July 13, 2015

Route 66 Book Project

Route 66:
Ghost Towns and Roadside Relics

 



 
Originally paved in the 1920s, Route 66 has been a staple of the American Road Trip through the Great Depression and was a major method of the bootlegging operation. Spanning a total of 8 states and stretching from Chicago all the way to the Pacific Ocean, Route 66 was appropriately named the Motheroad. An icon of American Folklore, between the pages there are a slew of old gas stations, restaurants, diners, rest stops, and other attractions. Each must-see vestige is peppered with the history of the area.

Order Signed Copies

I now have copies of my book available for sale and will be happy to sign them for you.  The book is $18 and $5 shipping or can be picked up in person at one of my programs.  You can use the "Buy Now" button to purchase through PayPal, or you can email me, or simply send a check in the mail the old fashioned way.



Subscribe to receive you own copy of this newsletter each month.  I will not share your email address or send you any spam.

Click here to subscribe
 

Before and After

This is a new section that I am adding to the newsletter where I will show a photo as the RAW file that was imported and then the finished version after processing in Lightroom only.
 
This is the Before Image


The paddlewheel steamboat “Alton” chugs down the side of this building near the Mississippi River in Alton Illinois, a reminder of days gone past. Several passengers wait to disembark while workmen on shore get barrels ready for loading. The lifeboat “Liberty” is tied to the side, and the American flag waves from just over the paddlewheel. The mural was designed by Mike Eckhard and painted by muralist Rip Kastaris in 2010. A note beneath the signatures reads: “God bless America and the Children of the Riverbend.” The Alton-Godfrey Rotary sponsored the mural on September 11, 2010. It took 5 ½ months to complete the 5 story mural, and children of the community added fish at the bottom as a final touch.

I enabled the Auto Upright in the "Transform Panel" this used to be in the "Lens Corrections" in previous versions of Lightroom.



The primary subject of this image is the mural on the building, I cropped the image to eliminate things that do not help to tell the story of the image.  This included most of the cars at the bottom, as well as the air conditioning units.





I then raised the "Dehaze" slider to help add contrast and saturation to the image.



I applied a Post-Crop Vignette to darken the edges and draw the eye into the center of the image. When doing a vignette I usually set the Feather amount between 75 and 100 so that it is not so obvious.



I increased the Whites to bring the histogram all the way to the right side giving the image more contrast and pop




This is the Finished Image


 

Lightroom Tip of the Month


Whats New?

Lightroom CC 2015.7/Lightroom 6.7

 

Edit Smart Previews instead of Originals to improve performance

To increase Lightroom's perfomance while editing your photos in the Develop module, Lightroom provides you a preference option to edit Smart Previews of your photos even when Originals are available. Although this may display a decreased quality of your photo while editing, however, the final output remains full size/quality.  

 

To set this preference:

  • Choose Edit > Preferences.

  • In the Preferences dialog, select the Performance tab.

  • In the Develop section, select Use Smart Previews Instead Of Originals For Image Editing.

  • Click OK and then restart Lightroom.  


 Note: 

When you zoom to 100% (1:1 mode) in the Develop module, Lightroom switches to Originals even if the Use Smart Previews Instead Of Originals For Image Editing preference is enabled.

 

All Synced Photographs collection


All Synced Photographs collection in the Catalog panel
 

In the Library module, the new All Synced Photographs collection in the Catalog panel displays all the Lightroom photos (including the ones that are not a part of any Collection) that are synced to the Lightroom mobile clients. Therefore, the photos that appear in the All Photos view in Lightroom on the web, Lightroom Photos view in Lightroom for mobile (iOS), and Lightroom Photos view in Lightroom for mobile (Android) are same as the All Synced Photographs collection in Lightroom desktop.
 

Publish photos to Adobe Stock

 Available only for Creative Cloud members

New Adobe Stock publishing service in Lightroom CC

 

Using the Publish Services panel in the Library module, you can now send your photos directly from Lightroom to Adobe Stock. Use your existing Creative Cloud account credentials to establish a connection between Adobe Stock Contributor portal (https://contributor.stock.adobe.com/) and Lightroom, then drag photos from the Grid view to the Adobe Stock photoset in the Publish Services panel. Finally, publish the photos from Lightroom. Now, you can go to the Adobe Stock Contributor portal to tag the uploaded images and submit them to Adobe Stock for moderation.


Photographic Destinations

Great Places for Great Photos

Let me help you to find a great location  for your next photography adventure.  I will list many lesser known destinations, as well as the famous “Icon Locations” for photography.  I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information,  consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination.  I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip.  I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to insure a quality guide to great locations for photography.

White Sands National Monument


 

 

Like No Place Else on Earth

“Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world’s great natural wonders – the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and created the world’s largest gypsum dune field.

White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.”,  this is how the National Park Service describes White Sands national Monument.

When visiting white sands, If you did not know better, you would think that there had been a snowstorm. The sand  drifts and blows into dunes that look exactly like snowdrifts, the road is actually plowed with sand piled on the shoulders as if it were snow in of northern part of United States after a  heavy snow-storm.

White Sands is a very unique destination for photography. The sand is continually blowing and drifting and changing the landscape.  Several species of plants have adapted well to this moving sand and the desert environment and are able to survive amongst the dunes.  The contrast of the brilliant white sand and the green plant life makes for very interesting photos. Adding to the effect are the ripples created by the blowing sand, and the stark shadows from the overhead sun.

 

Featured Gallery

Search from thousands of images online. I am excited to be able to offer my images available for browsing or purchase as stock photography, commercial usage or prints.

  • Browse Images
  • Create and Save Personal Lightboxes
  • Purchase Licensing Rights
  • Download High Resolution Files
  • Download Personal Use Files
  • Order Prints
The featured galley this month is:

Hackberry Arizona Route 66


Hackberry General Store is a museum of old Route 66 and has been called the “mother lode of mother road memorabilia”. No gas is sold but vintage pumps stand outside the Mobilgas Pegasus leaps from the roof and the Greyhound dog welcomes bus travelers.
Click Here to View the Complete Gallery

Workshops and Classes

Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.

All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention you need.

Fall Photography Boot Camp

October 30 to November 5, 2016

1 space left

This will be a week-long intense photography learning opportunity, including classroom work, photo shoots, and post processing with Adobe Lightroom.  This will be a very small group and a great way for obtaining one on one photography education, while having a good time and making new friends.

I will host this at my cabin at Lake Ouachita, where participants will stay for the workshop. This will be a great learning experience where we can talk photography while cooking steaks on the grill or kicking back on the porch.

 

The schedule for this event will be very dependent upon the interests of the participants.  During the week though we will plan to photograph Little Missouri Falls and Cossatot River Falls, star trails and the night sky, Hot Springs National Park, Talimena Scenic Drive, Garvan Woodland Gardens and other locations.

 


We will not only do some great photo shoots, but will then go through a complete post processing workflow in Adobe Lightroom including importing, file organization, and complete post processing.  We will cover HDR and Panorama workflows from capture to final image.

We will have several night photo shoots making use of the techniques we will learn in classroom instruction, followed up with post processing including how to stack star-trails.

 

This will be limited to 2 or 3 people.  Cost will be $1295 each.  A $500 deposit is required upon registration to confirm your place.

Lodging and most meals will be included, though you will have to help cook and do dishes (this is boot camp).

Click here for more information or to register

Bosque del Apache
and White Sands
Photography Workshop

 

January 10-15, 2017

Maximum of 4 participants

Join me for an extraordinary photography workshop in Bosque del Apache national wildlife refuge and white Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico in January 2017.  We will have 3 evening and 3 morning shoots at Bosque del Apache and 1 evening and 1 morning at White Sands giving us a chance for great images.


 

Cost  $1549

The workshop fee will  include Lodging  based on double occupancy.

The workshop fee includes all lectures, fieldwork and critiques of your images during our  sessions.  This is a photography workshop, not just a photo tour, teaching is my goal and to provide as much personal hands on help as possible.  I will check with each participant to see how you are doing and if you need help,  if you wish for assistance let me know, if not just let me know, and you will be free to shoot on your own.  I will be more than willing to look through your viewfinder or at your LCD to check your images.


Click here for complete workshop information or to register.

I drive to all of my workshops and it your are interested in carpooling with me to the workshop please contact me.

Here is a slideshow of some of my images from Bosque del Apache.

Palouse Photography Workshop
June 19-23, 2017


Join me for a photography workshop in the Palouse region of southeast Washington state to photograph the extraordinary landscape often refereed to as the Tuscany of America. The Palouse Is a region of where there are no continuous valleys, and the hills do not connect to make long ridges. These hills were not created by rivers and streams, as is most of our landscape, but formed more like sandunes, with winds depositing silt to form of some of the most fertile soil in the country.

The natural form of the land gives unique form, shape, and shadows. Add to this the lines and patterns of farming, a great deal of color, and you have the recipe for great photography.  This time of year the Palouse offers rolling hills of green wheat, yellow flowering canola, and pea and lentil for as far as the eye can see.  Toss in an old weathered red barn, a grain silo, and an old truck and you have picture perfect rural America.

Cost $1395 Lodging included
Here is a slideshow of some of my images from the Palouse.

Private Instruction

If you are looking for a great opportunity to get personal individual instruction I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot or coming to your home or business. This is a great way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance.

 I will be offering more private and semi-private travel workshops due to high degree of personal attention that participants receive and I find this to be the most effective and enjoyable way to learn photography.  This gives a chance to work on the entire process from capture to image workflow and post processing all at a pace and level for the attendee, photographing what and where they want. These workshops can be organized for 1 to 4 people on short notice, contact me about doing your dream trip.

 

Benefits of Private Instruction

  • Personalized Instruction
  • Flexible Scheduling
  • Concentrate on what you want to learn
  • A pace that works for you

Visit my website  blog.gregdisch.com


Contact Me:
Greg Disch
gdisch@gregdisch.com
479-414-6889
1918 N. 7th Street
Fort Smith Arkansas 72904

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