PixelatedImage Blog

This July I’m heading to Tibet for the first time and I’ll be exploring the Tibetan plateau with 9 others. You could be one of them.

It’s a small group, as it always is with Lumen Dei tours. We’ll be spending our time among nomads in some of the more remote reaches of the plateau, and our time will be culminating with a large nomad horse festival. I’ve been asked to lead this group as the instructor so will be with you nearly 24/7 for this trip. It’ll be an adventure and while I hate to play favourites I think this is the tour I am most excited about this year, if only because Tibet has been on my bucket list for so long it’s starting to seem like one of those mythical places you read a lot about but doesn’t actually exist.

More information can be found on the site HERE. The tour is from July 20-30, (though the graphic above says 19th to 31st because those are arrival and departure dates)  Cost is USD$4800 from Xining. This one is going to go fast. If the dates don’t work or you prefer to do a similar tour with someone better looking than I am, Matt Brandon will be doing a similar tour, though without the horse festival, from June 18th to July 01st. Info on Matt’s tour can be found HERE.

This is the only remaining tour I am leading for 2010 that is not sold out. If you’ve got an itch to do this once-in-a-lifetime journey and think traveling with me wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,  then act quick. Can’t wait to see who’s traveling with me for this one. Lumen Dei tours are an unique photographic learning experience; join us!

Lumen Dei was founded by Matt Brandon and I, and still reflects our passion, vision, and ethics, but is now run separately in order to grow with the demand. If you have specific questions about the tour please feel free to ask but I’m in Africa until the middle of February and wouldn’t be able to do more than guess at the answer anyways. I no longer deal with logistics in any way. I focus on what I love and what I am good at – teaching. The other guys do a much better job at the other stuff. My only regret in all this is that I don’t get to travel with Matt, which ought to keep the sarcasm levels down, but now I’ll have no one to snuggle with on those cold Himalayan nights Ahem. All that to say, please direct questions through the Lumen-Dei site and be patient, you’re dealing with very capable people that might be spending a few nights with the nomads and it might take a couple days to get a reply. They’ll take excellent care of you, though.

First, today is the official release day for VisionMongers. I got my copy on Friday and it looks great. Kudos to the fine folks at Peachpit who make my stuff look like a million bucks. Because when it leaves my harddrives it looks like a chaotic pile of words and disorganized images. Am I excited? You betcha! This is a book that’s going to be really helpful to a lot of people and there’s nothing else like it out there right now. Folks who ordered from Peachpit should be getting them asap. Let me know if you’ve got yours?

Stumbled across this on Twitter – it’s called Flickroom and between the goodness of Adobe Air and the interface that finally (FINALLY!) relegates Flickr a little more to the background, this should make Flickr a much less aesthetically abusive experience. I use CoolIris to view Flickr images, this will make it easier to post images to Flickr without me wanting to put my eyes out with a hot fork. Check it out HERE.

The details for Lumen Dei 2010 have just been released. Lumen Dei’s logistics and marketing have been taken over completely by Frontier Treks and Tours, leaving Matt Brandon and I more time to do what we love – shooting and teaching. Details are on a new Lumen Dei site HERE . Don’t go to the old one I haven’t updated it. Remember, it’s first come, first served, and there are only 8 spaces. Last year it sold out in 3 days and my more recent tours have sold out even faster, so if you want in, don’t spend much time hesitating. The rough details are these – the tour runs from September 12 to 25, and we’ll not being going only to Ladakh or only to Kashmir – but a week in each with an overland journey between the two. Should be a blast and I’m already looking forward to next September! More info HERE.

I’ve had another question about why I don’t generally give money to people of whom I make photographs when I travel. In fact someone pointed me to a forum last week where they were discussing this, speculating that I must be stingy. First, it’s a principle not a rule, and there are always, always exceptions. But I think it’s important we remember this – spending time with people and creating photographs as a result of those exchanges is a beautiful, human thing. Reducing it to a financial transaction is not only impossible for every situation, but it will create a climate in which these exchanges become nearly impossible. To be clear, if I spend any amount of real time with someone I’m happy to be as generous as I can possibly be. At times this means money. I’m not a photojournalist, my MO is different. But I’d rather purchase a gift, leave images, or buy something from their stall if they’re merchants. But everyone needs to settle this for themselves. If your initial impulse is to withhold, ask yourself why – and if it’s for lack of generosity, it might be time to change that. If your first reaction is to shell out a dollar, ask yourself if there aren’t better – and more generous – ways to give back. Sometimes it is money, sometimes it’s not. For me, it usually isn’t. But that doesn’t for a moment exclude a reciprocal, generous, exchange – allowing photography to be an act of giving as much – or more than – an act of taking. You make these decisions with both your head and your heart. But merely giving a buck when the hand goes out is probably not the best solution. Of course not everyone will agree with me, I’m ok with that. But I do think we all need to raise the bar on this.

Lastly, there’s a new website coming for my ebooks – it’ll make it much easier for you to browse the books, take a look at coming books, and see which authors are coming out with new books. It’s been rebranded and I’m really excited about it, but most of all I’m excited about the coming books from people like Dave Delnea, Kevin Clark, and Gavin Gough – all photographers I look up to and learn from (and for that reason they are also in VisionMongers, alongside Zack Arias, Joe McNally, Chase Jarvis, and others). There’s good things coming, folks. And the emphasis will still be on vision and education, not buying more gear. And we have no plans to make them any more than $5 each. I’ll update you as soon as I can. For now, I’m taking a break from writing the ebooks, allowing me to work on the next print book, and allowing you to catch up on your own reading. But I have plans. Oh, do I have plans…

See you tomorrow.

I call this one, “She’s a Babe, I’m an Idiot.” So does she.

Yesterday my wife and I marked 6 years of marriage and so today we’re off to British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast for 3 days of hanging out sans internet. Can’t wait. So while I’m doing that, here’s some details – a few recaps, a few new items.

1. On Wednesday Scott Kelby’s Guest Blog spot was by Tyler Stableford. Tyler’s post was moving, and worth a read. And refreshingly free of gear talk. More why, less how, and heart to spare. You can find Tyler on Scott’s Blog HERE.

2. Scott Bourne asked me to host the most recent edition of PhotoFocus, so if you’ve got an hour to kill listen to Scott and I yapping, you can click HERE for Episode #20 of Photofocus.

3. I’m excited to tell you that the dates and details for Lumen Dei 2010 are soon-coming. We’ve got the basics nailed down, so put Sept. 12-25, 2010 on the calendar and wait for more details. As always, there will be room for about 8 people, and spots will go fast. Last year we sold out in less than 3 days.Details will be announced here and on Matt Brandon’s blog as soon as they’re available.

4. Jack Hollingsworth has a poll going to see “which published Photography Author would you like to spend intimate, workshop weekend with at the seaside cottage/studio of @photojack” So go put in a vote, even if it’s not for me. I think this kind of thing would be amazing. But don’t let the whole “intimate weekend” thing mislead you. There will be neither candles nor any slipping into something more comfortable. Unless y’all vote for Joe McNally instead, and then all bets are off.

5. At the beginning of the week I announced the BIG FAT BUSINESS CARD GIVEAWAY THING, be sure to enter. I’ll be drawing the winner at the end of the month.

6. Ralph Clevenger’s new book Photographing Nature is now out. The Fed Ex guy came with mine yesterday which really ticked me off because I thought it might be the first copy of VisionMongers and it wasn’t. Neverthless, hardly Ralph’s fault. Like anything put out by Peachpit Press it’s a thing of beatuy and I’m looking forward to tucking into in preparation for my safari workshop in Kenya this January. And it’s the same size as Within The Frame, and VisionMongers, and Chris Orwig’s Visual Poetry, so they’ll all look great on your shelf together.

7. This article appeared in the Deseret News (Utah) on October 29th and is worth a read. I want to have all the sympathy in the world for the gal losing her gear, but leaving all your gear in the car is just plain stupid. Not that I haven’t done it (and had it stolen, for that matter) but still… It’s a good reminder to be vigilant and insured and for the love of Alfred Eisenstadt don’t leave ALL your harddrives in the car. Backup your stuff. Do it now. Now back it up again and put one of those backups somewhere safe, and preferably not on your own property.

8. Finally, if you missed it. I’m always grateful for you as a community and I’ve created a collection of wallpapers for the iPhone I’d like you to have. You can find all the details on Wednesday’s post HERE.

Have a great weekend. Go shoot something you love. Unless you’re with someone you love as I will be, then it might just be best to put the camera down for a spell. See you on Monday.

Well, we landed in Delhi about 2 hours ago and now that we’re settled in day rooms at the hotel I can send the postcard from Ladakh that I’ve been meaning to send. I shot this at sunset in the Nubra Valley. We got spent 2 days in Hunder after driving over the highest motorable road in the world, some of us on Royal Enfield motorcycles. That’s me below on my buddy Russ’ Thunderbird at 18,500ft. It was spectactular!

The trip was so enjoyable. We’re a pretty organic tour and we limit our numbers to 8 participants; as such we operate more like a family and it’s tough to say goodbye. We saw some incredible scenery, spent time in some great monasteries, shot thousands of images, and ate some incredible food.

Special thanks to the participants that joined us, and to Ami Vitale, a lovely, vibrant photographer with no end of talent. Ami is a world class photographer and she was brave (crazy?) enough to throw in her lot with us as a special guest teacher. We had such a great time together. Also, she has a weird thing with jumping.

I’ll be showing more of my images over the coming weeks, including a desktop wallpaper for October, but the bulk of them will get stored in the secret archives and get used for the next book(s). Speaking of books, the next eBook – “TEN MORE” – will get announced in the next 12 hours of so (update: it’s now up and info is HERE).

Off to Frankfurt in 12 hours, then to Calgary, then to Vancouver, then home. Oh man, I can’t wait to get home!

9pm, New Delhi. The Lumen Dei team is madly packing right now. We’re on a 4am bus to the airport to get the early flight to Ladakh. We spent our today in Nizamuddin Darga, then to Old Delhi for lunch at El Jawahar near Jamma Masjid, and then a couple hours in the chaos of Old Delhi before returning to the hotel to download images, work on them, talk about them, and have a cold beer and great meal together. Tomorrow to the cool and altitude of Leh. There won’t be a hint of internet and if there is I won’t be on it, so we’ll see you in 12 days. Cheers!

PS – Having a great time, wish you were here, etc.

Hello from Delhi. First day of the Lumen Dei Tour and already up to our necks in new experiences and already being prodded further steps down the road of our photographic journeys. Our team is fantastic – wonderful photographers, all of them, and all with a great sense of humour. We spent the morning around Jamma Masjid in Old Delhi, then the afternoon at Nizamuddin. Tomorrow we’ll do it in reverse to take advantage of different light.

I learned something today about the way I see light. It seems I look at problems to be solved, whereas a photographer like Ami Vitale looks at opportunities. The image above is a great example. I first saw the scene (left)  and thought the light was too bright, the dynamic range too high, and dismissed the scene entirely. Then I watched Ami shoot, and instead she used the “problem” to her advantage, exposed for the hand and allowed the rest to go to dramatic shadow. My way of seeing was problem based, hers was opportunity based. I saw “here’s why this light stinks,” and she saw “here’s why this light is amazing.” So then I shot the one above, but it’s a poor imitation of a better shot I saw Ami take.

Anyways, it’s a journey and each time I learn something new I get closer to expressing myself better. Man I love teaching

Tomorrow another day in Delhi, then off to Ladakh. If I post between now and then, consider it a bonus. Otherwise, see you when I get back from Ladakh.

Hello from Delhi. Writing this close to 5am and in a couple hours the 3rd Lumen Dei Tour begins. Yesterday the four of us – Matt Brandon (below), Gavin Gough, Ami Vitale, and I, hung out around Delhi scouted a couple places, and between frames laughed our asses off. Had a great time and can’t wait to unleash Ami (above) on this team. She’s not only a brilliant photographer and truly lovely human being, she’s a riot and I’m officially adopting her as my twin sister. Several of the team arrived early and did some shooting around Delhi yesterday as well – Jon McCormack’s blog has some initial images HERE.

Will try to post something tomorrow morning, but don’t count on it, it’s about to get crazy busy. Namaste! Khuda Hafez!

Here’s the August wallpapers in both 2560×1600 and 1280×853, shot in Ladakh on last year’s Lumen Dei tour. I’m posting it now because in just over a month 8 very lucky folks plus Matt Brandon and I, will be traveling to Ladakh with Ami Vitale. I can’t wait. There’s something magical about the land in Ladakh and while I normally lean heavily to photographing people, it’s hard not to get sucked in by the way the heavens and the earth connect so physically in this place.

Click the image above to get the small wallpaper, and HERE to get the large one.

We had an unexpected opening in our sold-out Lumen Dei tour in Ladakh, India, this September. This is a chance to spend two weeks with Ami Vitale, Matt Brandon, and myself in some breathtaking places honing your skills. Ami’s not only a brilliantly talented photographer (National Geographic, etc.) but she’s a lovely gal with way too much energy, a keen eye, and a big heart. Details are HERE on the Lumen Dei site. This one’s going to go fast, so if you want in, it’s now or never. If you want in, send me an email HERE. Updated May 18: Spot filled!

I was going to end this week off with a list of photography bloggers who are dishing it up consistently well, but I’d like to give y’all a little more time to weigh in on that. So I’ll post that next week. In the mean time, something a little more along the lines of brainfood.

Sometimes I find myself saying things and before they’re out of my mouth I realize it’s too late and I come off sounding like one of two people: Grandpa Simpson or Mary Poppins. The other day I put a comment on Twitter to the effect that great photography happens at the junction of vision and craft, to which my smart-alec wife replied: “I think “the junction of craft and vision” sounds a bit hokey. Is that where Engineer Discipline hooks the Engine of Hard Work up to the Train of Possibility?” Yeesh, have I become a total cornball?

And then just this morning I started writing this article and started with, and erased, a rant about Program Mode and the way camera companies seem more and more to be playing the “this camera’s so good, now there’s no reason not to shoot like the pros” card. Suddenly I realized that the next step for me was complaining about this newfangled VCR technology and yelling at kids to get off my lawn.

But. I still have a beef. If my friend Ron Carroll chimes in here a couple times a month it’s often as the elder statesman reminding me to be gracious and positive. So with his voice in my head, let me re-word my rant into something more, uh, uplifting-ish. Ok, that’s a stretch, how about less rant-ish? Ok, here goes.

Nothing the camera companies will ever do to their cameras will make shooting “like a pro” (whatever that means) automatic. There will never be a “shoot like a pro” mode and I’m reminded of this every time I or someone else jokes that the P on the camera’s mode dial stands for Professional. While “being a pro” seems to imply that all professional photographers create photographs that transcend mediocrity – OH! How I wish this were true! – it just isn’t so. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the designation of professional means you make money at this, nothing more. It does not mean your work is excellent, your vision has stopped evolving, or your craft is at its apex. It certainly doesn’t mean your work is better than other photographers who have chosen to do this avocationally. In fact, it could mean the opposite. Doing this professionally often means deeper ruts into which we fall.

I’m digressing (but I think the rant’s gaining momentum. Sorry, Ron. I tried. I am a weak man)

Somewhere along the road we lost sight of this simple, fundamental fact about photography – it’s an aesthetic craft. How much light hits the film plane/sensor plane is important for a decent exposure, but if that’s how we define a “good photograph” then dear Lord, take me now. Randomly choosing an aperture of f/8 because it lets in just the right amount of light isn’t photography. It’s math. Our cameras are really good at the math, but lousy on poetry. And that’s what photography is. I don’t want to steal his thunder, so I’ll skirt the analogy, but Vincent Versace wrote a beautiful, and profound, Afterword in my book, Within The Frame, and it’s had me thinking ever since. Sure even in poetry math has its uses to describe metre and rhyming structure, but it’s role is descriptive, not prescriptive. Poems are about passion. So is photography. And the minute I allow my camera’s math to determine the look of my image is the minute I concede that, in fact, photography is nothing more than framing things and letting the camera do the work for me. Every aperture setting, every shutter speed, has an effect on the aesthetic of the image and it should be you, not the camera, making those choices as they correspond to your vision.

To me this means shooting on what I call AV/EV Mode. I shoot in AV mode, consciously choosing the aperture because the first aesthetic choice I generally want to make in regards to exposure is the depth of field. Then I use the histogram to tell me if I’ve got something close to a good digital negative, and I use the EV compensation to bring the exposure closer to my ideal. Some of you will do this using TV mode. Some will use Manual, and even others will use Program and shift the aperture/shutter combination. For the image at the top of this post I shot on Manual mode to allow me the most control over my panning. However you do it, I encourage you to reconsider the role your camera’s mathematical brain has in contributing to the poetry of your images.

Thus endeth the rant.

Have a great weekend. When Monday rolls around it will be a mere 3 weeks until the book is released. You can almost hold your breath that long.