A Classical Documentary

It’s time to present another of the participant’s work from last year’s online workshop. Pat Callahan made a classical, visual documentary story for his personal photo project when participating in the online workshop «Finding Your Photographic Voice» last year. And he did it with conviction and through a entrancing narration. In his portrayal of the Irish village Courtmacsherry, Pat captures the daily life of its villagers, whether kids and youngsters having fun in the harbour, a quiet moment of in the local pub, a burial or the bliss of a wedding.

The strength of Pat’s visual portrayal of Courtmacsherry is his well-developed talent both to perceive good composition and finding those smaller or bigger moments that bring the story together. He is a master of the decisive moment as articulated by Henri Cartier-Bresson. His eye is sharp and his technical skills foster the stories each of the photos tells so well, as it does the overall narrative of the photo essay.

What really impresses me with the essay is Pat’s ability to get close to the people he photographs. I mean both literally and on an emotional level. The people he photographs aren’t even noticing Pat, they go about doing there things as if he is not present with a camera. People clearly trust him. They let him into their sphere and into their lives, as if he is one of them. From that standpoint, he quietly and gently goes about photographing whatever they are doing, seemingly unnoticed and without interrupting the proceedings.

The black and white format fits perfectly the story of a village where time seems to have stood still and life goes about as it has done for decades. The photos become a glimpse into time long forgotten in most other places, where the community and care for each other is still the important factor in life.

If you like to see more of his work, look up the website and blog of Pat Callahan.

Later in the spring Blue Hour Photo Workshops will start up another round of the online workshop, more specifically May 22nd. If you are interested, you will find more information about «Finding Your Photographic Voice» here on the web site of Blue Hour Photo Workshops. Furthermore, if you sign up before the end of April you will get the workshop for a discounted price. Only this week left for the reduced price!

Joy- and Colourful

Vigdis Askjem participated in Blue Hour Photo Workshops’ online workshop «Finding Your Photographic Voice» last year. For her personal project at the second half of the workshop, she chose two approaches, one was photographing details and light, and one was shooting people in various activities, such as during a festival or kayaking along the coast of Norway.

I have had the pleasure of having Vigdis attending one of my regular workshops (in Villajoyosa in Spain) and then last year the online workshop. Over time she has developed her vision and her photographic voice, and has a distinctive way of capturing whatever she is aiming her camera towards. Colour and light seems to be very important in her approach. And then Vigdis has a refined ability to capture the decisive moment when photographing people or movements.

Despite the two very different approaches for her personal project during «Finding Your Photographic Voice» her photos still have a very characteristic expression. Her way of shooting is the way she sees the world, whether it’s joy, people or close-ups we find in her photos. There is a certain vividness no matter what. There is exhilaration even when she captures something as mundane as a tower. It’s not only what we see, but layers of added details that brings forth a deeper story or a deeper understanding.

I really like the surprise factor in her images. They are—in one way or another—unique in that she shows me a world view I don’t usually see. They convey her curiosity and her thrill in exploring the landscape around her. If you like to see more of her work, look up the website and blog of Vigdis Askjem (unfortunately only in Norwergian).

Later in the spring Blue Hour Photo Workshops will start up another round of the online workshop, more specifically May 22nd. If you are interested, you will find more information about «Finding Your Photographic Voice» on the web site of Blue Hour Photo Workshops. Furthermore, if you sign up before the end of April you will get the workshop for a discounted price.

The Magic Pond

© Lee Cleland

© Lee Cleland

© Lee Cleland

© Lee Cleland

© Lee Cleland

Over the next couple of weeks, Blue Hour Photo Workshops will present the work of participants of last year’s online photo workshop «Finding Your Photographic Voice». First out is Lee Cleland. During the last four weeks of the workshop each participants work on their own personal project, and Lee chose to photograph a small and elusive pond, surrounded by an open cluster of trees. The pond is situated in a large and lush landscape, and provided Lee with amble opportunities to convey its magic trough a gentle and distinct vision.

Lee approached the project from a variety of angles, capturing the open landscape, details in and around the pond, the small animals living of the pond, its plants and the different ambiences that occurred over time. Her photos have a quiet aesthetics, using a subtle and secluded colour palette. They clearly show she has a refined eye which radiates through her sensitive and unique voice.

What I really like about Lee’s work is that she constantly tried out new approaches over the four weeks she was working on her personal project. In the beginning, she came back with some beautiful landscape pictures, one that can be seen in this little selection above, and she also quickly started to shoot the small inhabitants of the pond. Soon she started to experiment with various techniques, such as using flash, using long handheld exposure time, and using different aperture.

The final product is a beautiful series of quiet landscape and nature photos. They convey the magic of the intriguing pond—they are magic in and of themselves. For more of her photography, please look up Lee’s blog Beyond Purgatory ~ A Photographer’s Paradise.

Later in the spring Blue Hour Photo Workshops will start up another round of the online workshop, more specifically May 22nd. If you are interested, you will find more information about «Finding Your Photographic Voice» on the web site of Blue Hour Photo Workshops. Furthermore, if you sign up before the end of April you will get the workshop for a discounted price.

Develop Your Photographic Voice

Do you want to develop your unique photographic voice? Then Blue Hour Photo Workshop’s online photo workshop «Finding Your Photographic Voice» will help you on the way. I, the teacher Otto von Münchow, am starting another round of my acclaimed workshop in May this spring. I promise it will be quite an experience and of course more importantly, an indispensable aid to expand you photographic seeing and how you are able to express your vision through the development of a distinctive voice.

The workshop runs over eight weeks. I know; eight weeks sound like a huge commitment, but remember I always try to be flexible and let participants catch up if they can’t deliver each week. How much work you have to put down for it to be worthwhile, various from one person to another. Some shoot an hour or two each week, while others may spend time photographing each day of the week. Naturally, the more time you spend photographing the more you will benefit from the workshop, but in the end, it’s all up to you.

However the approach is, I think everybody who has participated in the workshop over the years, feel they have grown photographically over the eight weeks’ span. I am so confident that this is a great way to develop you photographic voice, that if you sign up and are not happy I will reimburse the money you spent on it.

During the workshop, you will receive a booklet in which I discuss the week’s theme and give ideas to how to approach a specific photographic challenge in order to develop your photographic voice. And then you will get weekly assignments. The booklets add up to a valuable book. However, the real value of the workshop is the individual feedback you get to every assignment. Every week I will record a video with your submitted pictures and my comments to each of them. This will all add up to around three hours or individual and indispensable feedback.

It’s not the most inexpensive photo workshop in the market, but no other workshop offers this kind of individual feedback, that is really what will help you develop your photographic voice. The regular price is 320 dollars, however, if you sign up and pay before April 30th, you will get it for only 220 dollars.

Do you want to develop your photographic voice? Why don’t you sign up for the next workshop starting as of May 22nd? You will find more information here.

This is some of the feedback from participants that took «Finding Your Photographic Voice» last year:
Lee Cleland: «I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of the course and the way it was laid out. The critiques were most valuable to me and often pointed out things I would never have picked myself.»

Vigdis Askjem: «I think it’s great that you are thorough in your photo critique. The course has really pushed me and given me new ideas and understanding in relation to photography and subject. I note that I am currently hungry for creative work.»

Pat Callahan: «I thought the best aspect of the workshop was the quality of the feedback every week. It was obviously thoughtfully prepared and professionally delivered. It was well balanced, covering both what I did well and what I could improve.

I have been fortunate to have attended workshops with a few renowned photographers, and the feedback was less carefully prepared and less insightful (and much more expensive). I also liked the pace of the course, the two month remote delivery was very manageable. I would highly recommend your workshop!»

Phil J. Vaughn: «I appreciate your hard work in teaching the workshop. I consider it to have been a valid and valuable learning experience. When I am out on a photo trek, I find myself silently repeating: “Watch your framing. Open up the view. Work the scene.” I enjoyed the opportunity to hone skills a bit more.

Working toward a “finished” project as a goal is helpful and directive. It is likely that most photographers don’t have the kind of goal and are just taking photos as they appear. It’s good to think in a new direction.»

See Beyond the Subject

Many people’s reaction to a rainy day sounds something like this: «Oh, it’s a nasty day; everything is going to get wet on my way to work.» But to a child, a rainy day means puddles to jump in, raindrops to catch, and the possibility of rainbows. And to a photographer, those puddles, raindrops and stormy skies with rainbows can mean great photographs, if you are looking at things for their positive potential.

If you believe there is beauty and interesting stuff around you, you will see it, more and more, as you open yourself up. You just need a willingness to explore and find what’s extraordinary in the ordinary things around you. It doesn’t matter what the subject is: A flower blossom, an abalone shell, a lichen-covered tree. Your goal is to get past what the thing is, and look at it for any visual delight it might offer.

It’s human nature to want to define what something is—a flower, a piece of granite, a type of tree. But more important for you as a photographer, you need to get beyond what it is and see it more deeply. Ask yourself things like, «what does bark look like up close?» or «what are the colours in this piece of rock and what would it look like wet?»

You can train yourself to see beyond the subject by asking how you feel about what you are seeing. What does it express to you? Are you drawn to the subject for its texture? Its shape? Is the light expressing a certain mood? Is the scene funny, or sad? When you get in touch with what you feel, you draw from a deeper well of vision and will find ways to photograph your subject that express this. If you don’t have any feelings about your subject, this, too, will be reflected in your pictures. They may end up being static, lacking expression and possibly lacking a focal point.

The inside of your house may not be interesting to photograph, but it’s a great place to begin learning to see more deeply. Go into your kitchen and notice the chrome reflections and design of kitchen items, their colours and shapes. If you want to make picture, great. If not, use the exercise as a way to begin seeing the things around you. Or, take a walk outside and look at a tree. Notice the texture, the pattern, and the shape of the tree. Walk around it and notice how the light changes its attributes, bringing out texture, form and shape. Or visit your garden or a neighbour’s yard and look at the variety of design in plants and flowers.

The only rule when doing an exercise like this is to leave you assumptions and expectations behind, opening yourself up to seeing what’s really there. Go beyond you left brain, which tells you, «it’s only a rusty old engine and listen instead to the right brain, which says, «look at all those wonderful patterns in rusty texture. The more you move into the right side of your brain, the more you’ll see.

There are so many wonderful pictures to be made when you look at the world with curiosity. Just imagine now how many photographic opportunities there are waiting for you within close range of your home. The potential is endless.

A Low Hanging Sun

Learning to understand and use light is one of the key elements to make your photographs stand out. But it’s also a challenging skill to master. Light can come in so many forms and have so many qualities. If you want to handle light, the best way is to practice one kind at a time. Here is a one that almost never fails to produce captivating photos.

Light helps tell the story of the photograph. The right light can transform an otherwise ordinary scene into something extraordinary. It can set the mood in a photograph. Light can help isolate an image. It can also reveal form and texture. It can create a feeling of depth. Light has so many qualities; an endless array of ways it can strike and bring out a subject that books have been written about it.

If we limit ourselves to natural light, more specifically sunlight, in particular one kind always makes an experienced photographer’s heart beat a little quicker. Have you noticed how beautiful the light from a low hanging sun is? I am not talking about sunset, although that is indeed beautiful. No, I am rather thinking about sunshine either a little earlier than sunset, like late afternoon or equally beautiful; some time after sunrise in the late morning.

Most experience photographers know that the light in the morning or in the afternoon is gorgeous, particularly when used as side light, that is light that falls on the subject from one side. Generally, side light is a very modulating light, it is a key light to bring out dimensions and textures, and it makes object appear three-dimensional by the distinct shadows it creates. Side light is usually regarded as very attractive and appealing and more so side light from an early or late sun.

Depending on the time, light from a low hanging sun may cast a warm tint on the subject, but what I really want to emphasize is the modulating quality of a low sun. The light sweeps across the scene, creating a pattern of striking highlights and shadows as it comes in from a low sky.

Position yourself so that the light from the sun comes in from one side relative to yourself. Almost anything you photograph in such light will turn into a pleasing photograph. You can hardly spoil it. What about sun from an open sky, is that not suppose to be harsh and rather unforgiving, you may ask. Yes, when the sun is high on the sky that is so, but when it gets closer to the horizon the sun rays moves through the atmosphere at an angle and thus have a longer way to pass before it hits the ground. That forces the sun rays to scatter into the atmosphere, more than at midday, which makes the sky into a light source of its own and wraps the sunlight around any object lit by the sun.

The sunlight in the morning or in the afternoon creates an extraordinarily beautiful light. Try it out yourself and I am sure you will be convinced—if you haven’t already given it a try.

Natural Light Indoor

Nothing beats natural light. It’s versatile, so beautiful and always changing like a facet, thus always surprising. Even in places, you recon you would need to use artificial light; you may take advantage of natural light. Think indoor. Your first thought may be to turn on the flash, but instead of its harsh and contrasting result, here is a different approach.

Light from a window or an open doorway brings the beauty of natural light indoor. What more is, it’s a soft and diffused light that wraps around the subject you photograph—as long as you don’t let direct sunlight through the window or doorway.

Furthermore, window light is a natural light that we are all familiar with in our day to day lives. It is easy on the eye and easy for us to decode in a photograph because we are so familiar with the way light rattles around in a room. A large window is essentially a huge softbox that will diffuse light into the room and around the subject you place in front of it. Window light can be wonderful for photographing portraits or still-life subjects.

As mentioned, it’s diffused but still directional so that it brings out the forms of whatever you photograph. One could call it «quiet light» because it has a peaceful quality to it. It reduces contrasts, which makes it easier for the camera to record details in both the deeper shadows and the brighter highlights, which in turn makes it possible to see more details in the final picture.

By using light from the window almost anyone with a good camera and lens can take exceptional indoor images. The soft nature of window light makes it very flattering; the shadows that appear on the face are very natural and don’t accentuate any features.

You can use light from a window in many ways, lighting the subject from behind or affront. However, probably the most beautiful light from a window or doorway is when you use it to cast a sideways light on the subject. Side-lighting will really bring out the forms and details in the subject.

The photo above was lit from an open doorway only. The light brings out the characters of the elderly couple and brings out the weathered faces sculptured from a long life on a farm in Cuba.

What about giving this approach a try? I am sure you will find window light both easy to handler and resulting beautiful images.

Cuba Colours

Cuba is a country of colour and sensual heat. It moves differently than any other country in the world. Maybe it’s due to the fusion of stiff Eastern European communism with Caribbean salsa. And maybe it’s exactly the contrast that makes Cubans more alive and outward going than even other cultures you will find in the Caribbean. Of course, it has not the least to do with the rich cultural heritage of the Cubans. Cuba is after all where the music son were born and spread to the rest of the world as its offshoot salsa.

During Blue Hour Photo Workshop’s «Street photography in Cuba» you will get ample opportunity to both experience and photograph the Cuban colour and heat. That is really what makes the country and it’s people so attractive for photographer from near and far. The workshop takes place from April 29th to May 6th this year.

For more information about the workshop you can sign up by clicking the link:

Capturing the Atmosphere in Night Photos

When you want to capture photos in the night, there is in particular one thing you should be aware of. Obviously everything is going to be darker and thus you would most likely need to use a tripod or at least amp up the ISO-setting significantly. Otherwise, the captured photo will be very blurry—which of course can be used creatively if that’s your intention.

However, what I really have in mind is quite something different. When you capture a landscape or a cityscape you will most likely get part of the sky in the photo. If the sky is pitch black, it will become a boring, uniformly dark, negative space. Night, right? After all you attempt to shoot in the night which means the sky would be black.

Look at great photos of «nightscapes», though, and you will see that the sky is never pitch black. Instead, there is a flicker of blue light or some lighter parts in the sky that makes the sky much more interesting than a flat and boring black sky.

The trick to get a more dynamic night sky, is not shooting during night time, but rather just before the night sets in. When you shoot during the late dusk or during the few minutes before twilight turns into night, you will be able to capture a much more interesting sky. The photo will still look like a night shot—as long as you keep the exposure dark enough or process the photo as a night shot.

So don’t shoot night pictures at night, but rather just before the night sky takes over, and you will capture a photo with much more atmosphere and dynamics.

Cuba Workshop Getting Filled

Our photo workshop in Cuba kicking off on April 29th is getting some traction. Over the last couple of days, we have reached more than half the maximum amounts of participants and expect more will sign up over the next couple of weeks. If you have been pondering about attending, maybe now is a good time to figure out whether you want to join or not.

Cuba is more popular than ever. The country is changing rapidly, and if you want to experience some of the «old» Cuba now is really the time. Don’t get us wrong, changes are good, development are good, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to experience something that soon will be all but history. Like any other country is developing, so is Cuba. The hardworking farmers are slowly by slowly no longer ploughing with bulls, traditional culture is vanishing and of course ever more tourists have an enormous impact on Cuba—like they have in any country.

The Blue Hour Photo Workshop «Cuba in Essence» will take you to some of the most amazing places in Cuba. This is really a street photo workshop, and we promise you will be able to capture some amazing photos. And the two workshop teachers will help you develop your photographic vision. During the Cuba workshop you will become a better and more confident photographer, no matter your present level.

You will find more info about the photo workshop «Cuba in Essence» on this site.