Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Photography workshops, tours and classes

Photography workshops, tours and classes
Lisa and Tom Cuchara have been teaching photography workshops together for over 13 years. They have taught workshops and presented programs at the New England Camera Club Council Conference, and at a number of camera clubs and for the Connecticut Association of Photographers. They offer camera, post-processing and on location classes and workshops. They also offer individual one-on-one workshops. They are patient and enthusiastic, and both very passionate about photography. Lisa's exuberance is contagious and she will inspire you with her skill and enthusiasm. 

You can see what they are offering here: http://www.meetup.com/Image-Enhancement/.  Sign up today (free) to get notified of new workshops are they are posted...

Highlights:
  • Textures Workshop (flower setups, take photos of texture, and learn post-processing using textures)
  • Night photography 
    • at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (or Woodlawn Cemetery)
    • at Longwood Gardens
    • at Trolley Museum
    • at local parks, beaches and piers
  • HDR 
    • (and Macro) at Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead Museum (with tripods)
    • Morovian Tile Factory (with tripods)
    • HDR  (with tripods) at Grand Central Terminal
    • HDR and Architecture inside at Gillette Castle (with tripods)
    • HDR and Architecture at the various theaters (Warner, Palace, Bushnell, Landsdowne Theater, Victory, Sterling Opera House, etc.)
  • Models and Architecture at the Morovian Tile Factory
  • Models at Grand Central Terminal
  • Photo Hi-Jinx (photo setup) Workshop
  • Macro Workshops at various locations
  • Classes on using your Camera, Exposure, Manual, HDR photography, etc.
  • Classes on post-processing (emphasis on layers and masks) 
  • Classes on post-processing using plugins in Photoshop and Lightroom
  • Classes on processing RAW images with ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) in CS6 and CC, 
  • Classes on post-processing using Lightroom (emphasis on the Library & Develop modules)
  • Project Nights -- come and work on a HDR or other photography project. We all have lots of images in our computer, these project nights are designed to get your photographs processed and for you to learn a particular post-processing skill you want to learn.

Contact                                          BREAphotos@comcast.net for more information.
Website:                                        http://www.BREAphotos.com
Classes and workshops:           http://www.meetup.com/Image-Enhancement/

Also, sign up for Lisa's Blog: http://lifethrulisaslens.blogspot.com/ (free) to receive information about photography -- photo ops, new products, reviews, workshops, articles, exhibitions, etc. etc.

Bio. Lisa and Tom, MNEC, are passionate about photography, both behind the lens and in the digital darkroom. They teach photography a variety of image capture and post-processing workshops and seminars, in the classroom and in the field. They love to photograph nature, but find capturing the essence of people equally intriguing. From birds and flowers to babies and HDR, they appreciate the world around them and embrace the challenge of interpreting what their eyes see and their hearts feel via the camera lens. Tom and Lisa are both very active in many local, national and international photography organizations. Tom is currently the Chair of the Connecticut Association of Photographers (CAP). Both Lisa and Tom are past presidents of the New Haven Camera Club, Lisa is also their webmaster and blogmaster. They have been photographing weddings, babies, parties, portraits, etc. professionally for over 15 years and have their own Photography Studio in Hamden. Their portrait philosophy is based on “We do not remember days, we remember Moments”. They have had many successful gallery exhibitions and their photographs have appeared in Adirondack Life, Wild Bird, Birder’s World, in calendars, on the cover of the Wolf Conservation Calendar and on the cover of paperback novel. They have presented a variety of instructional programs and workshops (Photoshop, Digital Workflow, HDR, RAW processing, Travel photography, Bird photography, plus fun and interesting travelogue slideshows at NECCC, PSA, and many other camera clubs and other organizations.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Thinking of Warmer days

On this cold winter day I am thinking of warmer days...





 




Photography workshops, tours and classes

Photography workshops, tours and classes
Lisa and Tom Cuchara have been teaching photography workshops together for over 13 years. They have taught workshops and presented programs at the New England Camera Club Council Conference, and at a number of camera clubs and for the Connecticut Association of Photographers. They offer camera, post-processing and on location classes and workshops. They also offer individual one-on-one workshops. They are patient and enthusiastic, and both very passionate about photography. Lisa's exuberance is contagious and she will inspire you with her skill and enthusiasm. 

You can see what they are offering here: http://www.meetup.com/Image-Enhancement/.  Sign up today (free) to get notified of new workshops are they are posted...

Highlights:
  • Textures Workshop (flower setups, take photos of texture, and learn post-processing using textures)
  • Night photography 
    • at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (or Woodlawn Cemetery)
    • at Longwood Gardens
    • at Trolley Museum
    • at local parks, beaches and piers
  • HDR 
    • (and Macro) at Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead Museum (with tripods)
    • Morovian Tile Factory (with tripods)
    • HDR  (with tripods) at Grand Central Terminal
    • HDR and Architecture inside at Gillette Castle (with tripods)
    • HDR and Architecture at the various theaters (Warner, Palace, Bushnell, Landsdowne Theater, Victory, Sterling Opera House, etc.)
  • Models and Architecture at the Morovian Tile Factory
  • Models at Grand Central Terminal
  • Photo Hi-Jinx (photo setup) Workshop
  • Macro Workshops at various locations
  • Classes on using your Camera, Exposure, Manual, HDR photography, etc.
  • Classes on post-processing (emphasis on layers and masks) 
  • Classes on post-processing using plugins in Photoshop and Lightroom
  • Classes on processing RAW images with ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) in CS6 and CC, 
  • Classes on post-processing using Lightroom (emphasis on the Library & Develop modules)
  • Project Nights -- come and work on a HDR or other photography project. We all have lots of images in our computer, these project nights are designed to get your photographs processed and for you to learn a particular post-processing skill you want to learn.

Contact                                          BREAphotos@comcast.net for more information.
Website:                                        http://www.BREAphotos.com
Classes and workshops:           http://www.meetup.com/Image-Enhancement/

Also, sign up for Lisa's Blog: http://lifethrulisaslens.blogspot.com/ (free) to receive information about photography -- photo ops, new products, reviews, workshops, articles, exhibitions, etc. etc.

Bio. Lisa and Tom, MNEC, are passionate about photography, both behind the lens and in the digital darkroom. They teach photography a variety of image capture and post-processing workshops and seminars, in the classroom and in the field. They love to photograph nature, but find capturing the essence of people equally intriguing. From birds and flowers to babies and HDR, they appreciate the world around them and embrace the challenge of interpreting what their eyes see and their hearts feel via the camera lens. Tom and Lisa are both very active in many local, national and international photography organizations. Tom is currently the Chair of the Connecticut Association of Photographers (CAP). Both Lisa and Tom are past presidents of the New Haven Camera Club, Lisa is also their webmaster and blogmaster. They have been photographing weddings, babies, parties, portraits, etc. professionally for over 15 years and have their own Photography Studio in Hamden. Their portrait philosophy is based on “We do not remember days, we remember Moments”. They have had many successful gallery exhibitions and their photographs have appeared in Adirondack Life, Wild Bird, Birder’s World, in calendars, on the cover of the Wolf Conservation Calendar and on the cover of paperback novel. They have presented a variety of instructional programs and workshops (Photoshop, Digital Workflow, HDR, RAW processing, Travel photography, Bird photography, plus fun and interesting travelogue slideshows at NECCC, PSA, and many other camera clubs and other organizations.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Skimmer

I've been trying for a long time to get a shot of a skimmer skimming.  This requires a lot
of patience because they are not always in the correct spot you want.  Lots of fun!  

Technical Information:  

Gitzo Tripod, Wimberley Gimbal Head, 
 Canon 7D, 500mm
with 1.4ext., 

shot in AV mode, 500 iso, 1/1250 at F8 and +2/3 exp comp. 

 

Tern Feeding chick

Lisa and I photographed the tern chicks early one morning.  I laid on my belly to get a good angle and to eliminate the distracting background.  There are lots of birds so its hard to focus on one because there is so much action. I try to wait and watch for a few minutes to see what transpires before I pick my spot.  Of course if there is feedings going on I'll move in quicker. This little guy bit off more than he could chew.  He couldn't swallow the fish (actually looks like an eel or snake) so 'mommy' literally yanked it away lifting him
off the ground!  He is one tough chick! 

Technical Information:
Canon 7D, 500mm with Canon 1.4ext.,
400 ISO, AV Mode,
Exposure Comp. +1/3,
1/1600sec at F8.
Gitzo Tripod and Wimberley Gimbal Head

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Posing Tips for How to Look Your Best in Photographs

This is a very good article for our models! And for people in general.

Dear Model: Posing Tips for How to Look Your Best in Photographs

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Stephanie at the Moravian Tile Factory

Here is a sneak peak of our photo session Sunday at the Moravian Tile Factory. Stephanie was great, lots of expression, easy to work with, and I love all three outfits!













 





Friday, August 16, 2013

"THE" Red Chair Panorama

Here is my version of "THE" Red Chair Panorama. I just had to try it after seeing Tony Sweet's photograph at the recent Triple Header (the audience clapped when they saw it, as they appreciated that it is hard to create an awesomely different image of such an iconic scene). I could not find Ton'y version online so I cannot link to his version for you to see his awesome originality.

I posted three versions, which do you like the best? the top one, the darker version or the Nik midnight blue version?

105 images taken at Eastern State Penitentiary -- 98 images (14 compositions, 7 exposures each, tripod not moved) were HDRed and stitched into this panorama. Then another composition (7 exposures, taken from the doorway) were taken and HDRed and then this HDR image was layer-masked back into the doorway. Versions 2 (glamour glow, duplex and detail extractor) and 3 (midnight and detail extractor) were processed in Nik.

Lisa








I cannot wait to go back and try again! We are leading a workshop to Eastern State Penitentiary on Sept 21st and we will have the entire place to ourselves before the public arrives. 

Thursday, August 15, 2013

More about the 77 image panorama from Eastern State Penitentiary.

I got a bunch of questions about the 77 image panorama that I posted yesterday from Eastern State Penitentiary so I thought that I would elaborate...


I cannot wait to go back and try again! We are leading a workshop to Eastern State Penitentiary on Sept 21st and we will have the entire place to ourselves before the public arrives. 

I took 9 different compositions each of 7 exposures images from the hallway (without moving my tripod feet I took 3 compositions (7 exposures each) looking left left, another 3 looking right and one head on); all at 17mm with my back against the wall. I also took 2 compositions (of 7 exposures) each looking inside (21mm) with my tripod at the doorway.


7 exposures of each composition


I HDRed the 9 sets of 7 images into 9 images and then merged them into one. Cool, but you really cannot see inside very well.



I HDRed the 2 sets of 7 exposures into two HDR images and then merged them into one (photomerge).



 


Then I layer masked this (14 image) composite into the doorway. 


Then I applied Nik midnight and detail extractor. 




If you are not versed in HDR capture and processing you could just take 9 images (instead of 63) and photomerge them into one panorma.  You would not have detail in the shadows and highlights.  

And the bar would be across the door, which would obstruct the view inside (that is why I created another 14 image merged photo and layer masked that one image into the doorway so you could see the bed inside. 


No HDR, just 9 images stitched below


versus 63 images HDRed and stitched (inside of room not so good)


versus 77 images HDRed and stitched and layer masking the inside of the room 
The End Result

I cannot wait to go back and try again! We are leading a workshop to Eastern State Penitentiary on Sept 21st and we will have the entire place to ourselves before the public arrives. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A 77 Image panorama of Eastern State Penitentiary

77 Image panorama of Eastern State Penitentiary


After being inspired by Tony Sweet at the recent Triple Header in Hamden CT I had to try out a long hallway at Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) for a panorama.

  • -- I took 9 sets of 7 images from the hallway (3 left, 3 right and one head on) at 17mm, my back against the wall and then 2 sets of 7 images inside (21mm) from the doorway. 
  • I HDRed the 2 sets of 7 images into two images and then merged them into one. 
  • I HDRed the 9 sets of 7 images into 9 images and then merged them into one.
  • Then I masked the 14 image composite into the doorway. 
  • Then I applied Nik midnight and detail extractor. 
I cannot wait to go back and try again! We are leading a workshop to Eastern State Penitentiary on Sept 21st and we will have the entire place to ourselves before the public arrives. 

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Lisa earn's award for Best Amphibian at the Glennie Nature Competition.

Lisa earn's award for Best Amphibian at the Glennie Nature Competition. 

"The judging for the thirty-third (33rd) George W. Glennie Memorial Nature Salon was conducted on March 16 at the Greater Lynn Photographic Association's club house. The judges for this year’s salon were Jake Mosser, Art Vaughan, and Mike McNeill. It was a challenging competition with 900 images from clubs around the world. We had clubs representing the following 7 countries & 21 U.S. states "

http://mvcameraclub.org/Glennie/2013/ResultsSlideShow/Awards/bestOfCategory.htm