Acadia Adventure

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After attending my first PhaseOne Camera sponsored workshop, earlier this month in Bar Harbor, Maine and the nearby Acadia National Park, I have new meaning for a passion for photography.

Water On the Rocks PhaseOne IQ 180 120mm 1/3 sec f14 ISO 35

The three independent instructors (there were two PhaseOne professionals present as well) for the ten attending the workshop, are world class Landscape photographers, with the well deserved self-confidence and self-belief for them to say so - a Mohammed Ali like affirmation. Check them out: Tim Wolcott at www.GalleryoftheAmericanLandscape.com, Kevin Raber at www.luminous-landscape.com and Steven Friedman at www.friedmanphoto.com. 

Clearly passionate about their photography, and possibly obsessive, these three pay attention to every little detail in perfecting their images. They first understand that without good content, composition and emotion, to grab the eye of the viewer, no extra attention to the details will make any difference to entice. But with the objective of producing very large images with the very capable PhaseOne equipment, the attention to the details, once the basics are present, does make a world of difference when you are expecting the best from yourself. 

I made a list of equipment they use to help perfect their images, some of which I will purchase to help advance my photography. They include a 3x12 magnifier to check the focus while taking a picture, a Big Stopper (10 times neutral density filter) to buy more time while taking an image, to add affect of more motion, a sun tracking application to determine the sun's location at any time, a distance calculator to be more precise with the area of sharpness in your image, a top notch monitor calibrator to make sure your monitor is going to reflect how the image prints, a view finder to view a scene to the scale you wish to print, and a twelve foot ladder and tripod to get above the brush to view the image you want. A twelve foot tripod?..... now that's obsessive....maybe a drone though.

The point in mentioning all this "stuff" is that with a great deal of passion in doing what we love to do, we will likely be successful. Success, as I am defining success is - the realization of our unique good; world class, in our own right - a feeling we will only know as it relates to ourselves and our effort in doing our best at what we do.

Grass Birch Berries PhaseOne IQ 180 80mm 1 sec f16 ISO 35

I am grateful to have been able to attend this extraordinary Acadia workshop and learn from not only the independent instructors, but the well informed staff of PhaseOne. Kevin Raber, for me, was the "grand finale" when he presented a twenty minute display of images, accompanied with music and inspirational commentary. I realized, at the end, that he is a great example of what I speak to in my book about Self-realizing, Connecting and Giving.

Thank you Drew for doing the extra details to make for a memorable and learning experience!