Exotic Birds – Poison Dart Frogs – Monkeys – Waterfalls – Wild Pacific Beach
All of this and more is to be found in one of the most biologically exciting places on Earth – Coast Rica’s remote Osa Peninsula – and we’d like to share the best of it with you. Envision original primary rainforest rising up a low ridge from a pristine and entirely undeveloped Pacific beach, stretching as far as the eye can see. Native toucans, scarlet macaws, and four species of New World monkeys cruise through the trees, while dramatic waterfalls roar in the jungle. Numerous species of visually striking frogs inhabit the area, including three species of colorful poison dart frogs, red-eyed tree frogs, masked tree frogs, and massive cane toads in their native habitat. Hundreds of exotic bird species abound. In addition to the toucans and macaws, long-tail hermit hummingbirds, trogons, blue-capped manakins, crested caracaras, ibis, various raptors and myriad other species are readily photographed. The forest itself is stunning, with old-growth trees full of character and beautiful graphic compositions just waiting to be discovered.
Instructors Daniel Beltrá and Justin Black will share their creative approaches to photographing rainforest fauna and flora, as well as the dramatic landscape. Hands-on in the field, we will cover long-lens and macro wildlife techniques, control of composition and light, fill-flash, control of focal plane and perspective with tilt-shift lenses, panoramic stitching, and other techniques that can be used to great effect in this amazing place.
CLICK HERE to read Justin Black’s article “Frogs of the Osa” in Outdoor Photographer magazine
Click “read more…” below right for more information and the photo gallery…
Boulder Mountain rises to the west of Capital Reef National Park in the picturesque Aquarius Plateau of South Central Utah. It is the highest timbered plateau in North America, with over 50,000 acres of rolling forests of pine, spruce, fir, and aspen, as well as expansive meadowlands. The area features the dramatic red rock canyons and sculpted formations for which southern Utah is famous, but it is a little known and refreshing alternative to more heavily trafficked southwestern locations.
Situated immediately adjacent to the majestic Grand Staircase descending toward the Grand Canyon and the canyons of the Escalante, this place is a creative photographer’s dream come true.
The author and desert wilderness advocate Edward Abbey once astutely observed:
There are more hills, holes, humps and hollows, reefs, folds, domes, swells and grabens, buttes, benches and mesas, synclines, monoclines, and anticlines than you can ever hope to see and explore in a lifetime.
We’ll add that the quality of light and atmosphere here are superb.
Jack Dykinga has become one of the greatest practitioners and teachers of nature photography, specializing in Southwestern landscape. This workshop combines eight field sessions to an array of locations that Jack knows like the back of his hand. Three critique sessions of participant photographs made during the session will build on Jack’s highly effective projected lectures on composition, qualities of light, and working the scene to distill the essence of the image. Assistant instructor Justin Black will provide support thoughout the workshop and keep the itinerary on track. The class size is limited to fifteen to ensure that everyone gets the time and attention they need, both in the field and the classroom.
Basecamp: Our group will be virtually taking over the Boulder Mountain Lodge, an intimate arrangement of buildings and outdoor common areas located on a 15-acre bird sanctuary at an elevation of 6650ft. In addition to beautiful rooms, the welcoming and comfortable lodge offers an array of amenities. Our meals will be provided by Hell’s Backbone Grill, a highly rated gourmet restaurant featuring southwestern flavors. Our group meals provide an informal setting to socialize and address specific interests that may not be covered during lectures and classroom discussion.
Jack and Justin will share specialized techniques and insights drawn from decades of experience in landscape photography to help you make this sublime landscape sing in your work. This Creative Core workshop deals heavily with composition, working a scene through changing light, exposure control, developing creativity, essential gear and creative tools, fundamentals of digital workflow, an introduction to digital exposure blending and stitching, and a great deal of photography in the field followed by highly constructive group critiques. Creative Core workshops are general outdoor photography workshops and the emphasis of any individual participant’s work is up to them, whether they wish to focus on classic landscape, abstraction, color, black and white, HDR, panoramics, multiple exposures, or all of the above. Any enthusiastic photographer will feel right at home in this workshop.
We supply materials in advance of the session to get newcomers up to speed with basics having to do with digital camera set-up and techniques, essential equipment recommendations, and other guidelines to ensure that everyone is ready to make the most of the experience.
Lodging, all meals, and beverages are included in the package. Breakfast and dinner is served at the renowned Hell’s Backbone Grill each day, and the grill provides box lunches as well.
Please contact us promptly to reserve your space. A deposit of 50% is required at time of booking to reserve space, with balance payable 60 days prior to workshop start date.
Join Daniel Beltrá nd Justin Black for this unique photographic experience in the land of fire and ice.
Storybook waterfalls gushing over volcanic formations… Icebergs on black sand beaches… Orange-billed Atlantic puffins perched on sea cliffs… Deep sapphire hues in ancient glacial ice… steaming geothermal rivers flowing through a multi-colored volcanic landscape…
This is Iceland, land of fire and ice. Astride the Mid Atlantic Ridge, this geologically active island is being ripped in two by the opposing movement of the North American and Eurasian Plates, while magma surges through the Earth’s fractured crust to fill the void of displaced land. The ice cap and glaciers feed pristine rivers, and over 100 volcanoes and countless geothermal springs dot the landscape.
Renowned photographers Daniel Beltrá and Justin Black will lead this twelve-night photo workshop for ten participants, emphasizing photography in the field at amazing locations selected on our prior Icelandic travels. Our small group will travel in comfort in a specially customized bus with room for everyone to have a window seat, complete with Wi-Fi and numerous power outlets to enable us to edit our images while we’re on the road.
Click the “read more” tab below to continue… read more…
Characterized by the ebb and flow of tides and fog, California’s sleepy Sonoma Coast features light, atmospherics, and landscape as fine as the region’s famous pinot noir. Dramatic headlands, sea stacks, and beaches are sculpted by the Pacific waves and the action of tectonic plates along the San Andreas Fault. The rugged beauty here offers unending opportunities for passionate photographers. This advanced workshop is geared for photographers who are fairly comfortable with the fundamentals of photography and digital workflow, and who seek higher-level mentorship.
Instructors Jerry Dodrill and Justin Black will lead eight field sessions to explore remote coves, sea arches and tidepools, coastal ridges and steep canyons filled with redwood forest. They will share insights that will help you to refine your creative vision, composition skills, and field techniques, understand the practical implications of human visual cognition, explore ways to use the element of time to expand your creative horizons, and help find ways to add greater purpose and meaning to your photography.
Our basecamp at historic Timber Cove Inn, located on a headland with dramatic views of sea stacks and surf, serves as an excellent position from which we will set off for a range of photographic objectives from Bodega Bay’s bluffs and sand dunes to the Russian River, Fort Ross, and the sculpted tufoni sandstone formations and wind-sculpted bishop pines at Salt Point. We will visit mysterious Bowling Ball Beach and the historic Point Arena lighthouse. A special feature of this workshop will be field session in a scenic ridge-top vineyard and a private wine tasting with the wine maker.
Photographer Jerry Dodrill has spent the last dozen years living and photographing along the Sonoma coast, chasing light and storms, and seeking out the exceptional opportunities offered by this little-photographed landscape. The Sonoma Coast is a photographer’s dream come true in contrast to the restricted access and crowds of more heavily trafficked destinations further south. The subject matter and freedom to explore the coastline is exceptional, and photographers are able to pursue their creativity without distraction.
Point Reyes National Seashore and the Marin Coast are truly a photographer’s playground, rich with diverse subject matter – landscape, seascape, flora and fauna – with ever-changing light and the beautiful interplay of sun and marine fog. It’s the perfect setting for a workshop focused on developing creativity and honing skills. The talented team of Jerry Dodrill and Justin Black will teach you to take control of the finer points of composition, exposure and tonal control, and specialized techniques for approaching this sublime coastal landscape.
Scheduled during the spring wildflowers season and during mid-week to avoid weekend crowds, we will spend our morning and evening field time at locations along the Marin County coast as far north as Tomales Point and as far south as Marin Headlands. Old-growth redwood forest, the blooming flanks of Mt. Tamalpais overlooking the Pacific, seastacks and cliffs, wild beaches, headlands, tule elk, seals, sea birds, and more make this place very special indeed.
My good friend and colleague, Jerry Dodrill, and I started our photographic exploration of this astonishing landscape when we worked with the late Galen Rowell, leading workshop groups to the Marin coast from Galen’s gallery in Emeryville. Jerry has chosen to spend the last eleven years here, chasing storms and photographing along edges of land and sea, earth and sky, fog and light. As Galen pointed out in his book Bay Area Wild, this piece of coastline is a spectacular natural treasure, despite being within easy day-trip range of a major metropolitan area. Those who live nearby just might begin to take its wonders for granted, but it is amazing what you can find here when you approach it with eyes wide open. –Justin Black
This four-day, four night Creative Core workshop deals heavily with composition, working with changing light, exposure control, essential gear and creative tools, fundamentals of digital workflow, and introduction to digital exposure blending and stitching, and an intense schedule of photography in the field followed by constructive group critiques. Creative Core workshops are generalist outdoor photography workshops and the emphasis of any individual participant’s work is up to them, whether they wish to focus on landscape, macro, wildlife (as the opportunity presents itself), abstraction, color, black and white, HDR, panoramics, multiple exposures, or all of the above. Any enthusiastic photographer will feel right at home in this workshop. In our experience, most participants will be solid intermediates with a couple relative beginners and a handful of advanced photographers. Jerry and Justin each have over a decade of experience successfully accommodating a range of experience levels at workshops.
Very often, we are amazed by the way in which the beginners teach the advanced students a thing or two about unrestrained creative openness and serendipity, while the expertise of the advanced students can be a welcome resource for the rest of the class. We supply materials in advance of the session to get newcomers up to speed with basics having to do with digital camera set-up and techniques, essential equipment recommendations, and other guidelines to ensure that everyone is ready to make the most of the experience.
Lodging, all meals, and beverages are included in the package.
The Olympic Peninsula offers an astonishing array of landscapes and micro-climates in a relatively compact area. From its dramatic rocky coast and tidal pools, to old-growth temperate rainforest, to alpine meadows, glaciated peaks, and vast wilderness, it seems to have it all. Marine fog pours through mountain passes, filling inland valleys while ridge-top meadows in full bloom bask in the sun. Roosevelt elk bugle in the lush forest, home to some of the world’s largest trees. The snowcapped splendor of the Olympic Mountains provides a constant backdrop. No one knows this majestic place better than the award-winning photographic team of Terry Donnelly and Mary Liz Austin.
Click the “read more…” tab below right to continue and see the photo gallery.
© 2024 VisionaryWild, LLC, All Rights Reserved
2200 19th St. NW, Ste 806, Washington, DC 20009
E-mail: info@visionarywild.com | Tel: 1-202-558-9596 (9am to 5pm, EST)
Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions
