Photo Boot Camp

In my ongoing endeavor to increase my nascent photo skills I decided to take a photo workshop offered by Canon Professional Services. Not many of these workshops are offered on the east coast so it made sense to immerse myself within some serious training and critiquing while I had the chance.

The workshop took place in Rockport, MA and the surrounding Gloucester area. However, the weather for mid September did not cooperate, and it was more like mid August with high temperatures and humidity to go with it. Rain was always a threat, and the night sky was not clear for star shooting.

Nonetheless, the workshop made the most of the circumstances with intense in-class training. The whole group of us was up at 5 AM each day, and out again to shoot at sunset. At times I felt we were in basic training maneuvers jumping in and out of SUVs to find optimal photo areas based on the conditions, which were always in flux.

Happy to say this type of exposure to learning was what I needed to continue my journey to creating finer photos. Luckily the class members were congenial and quite talented, each taking some wonderful photographs themselves.

The photograph on the upper right was taken around 6 AM at Eastern Point Lighthouse, Glouchester, MA. The shifting fog made it difficult to find perspectives on the lighthouse itself and other items of interest on the shore. I tried to incorporate what was stressed in class in this particular shot. It was shot with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4 IS USM lens @ 47mm, f/18, 0.4″, ISO 100, with a Gitzo tripod, and RRS ballhead.