• Featured Workshop: Horses and Cowboys
• Featured Participant/Volunteer Images
Quick Reference Links
Featured Participant/Volunteer Images
Monument Valley/Canyon de Chelly Workshop
Featured Partner
Sightseeing This Summer? Don't Miss ...
The Arizona Highways Travel Show features the latest information on Arizona destinations, including Tucson, Sedona, Grand Canyon and Lake Powell, as well as photography demonstrations and hiking workshops. Get the lowdown on lodging, dining, scenic attractions and more!
May 30–31, 2009; 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Phoenix Convention Center Hall F
For more information, call 480.838.9123 or visit arizonahighwaystravelshow.com.
Would your organization consider being a partner? Please call us toll free at 1.888.790.7042.
What Our Participants Say About...
Wildflower Weekend Workshop
with Colleen Miniuk-Sperry, March 2009
“Photography gives us a chance to express ourselves and Colleen encouraged us to find our vision. This workshop gave me a chance to discover myself and I am excited to participate in more!”
— Emily Brownlee
Portraits of Tombstone Workshop
with Steve Burger and J Peter Mortimer,
February 2009
“Everything I expected and more! Group presentations, individual instructional assistance, peer assistance. Group level of knowledge was very similar, which helped a lot.”
— Richard Wood
Watson Lake Weekend Workshop
with Colleen Miniuk-Sperry, January 2009
“I got some of the best shots I’ve ever taken, I learned a lot about D-SLR after shooting film for over 30 years.”
— Rob McEathron
Visit our Calendar page for a complete list of 2009 workshops...
Chihuly Weekend Workshop: April 16-17
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 See more Chihuly exhibit photos from Friends of Arizona Highways Photo Workshops volunteers... |
Chihuly: The Nature of Glass
Photo Workshop
by David Halgrimson
Imagine... the artistry of Dale Chihuly and the beauty of Desert Botanical Garden, all captured by you and your camera. See the wonderful and vibrant colored glass sculptures throughout the Garden on a two-day photo workshop.
Chihuly is known worldwide for his glass sculptures and glass art pieces. He has many Garden exhibitions and museum showings in progress and this is Chihuly's first exhibition in an outdoor desert.
Come join us April 16th and 17th for a truly unforgettable experience as you receive expert advice from Arizona Highways Photography Editors, Peter Ensenberger and Jeff Kida. There are only a few spaces left, so call now to reserve your place in this unique workshop!
Find out more and view itinerary...
Enter your photos from the Chihuly exhibit to become eligible to win an Arizona-based photo workshop from Friends of Arizona Highways Photo Workshops. The contest is proudly sponsored by Desert Botanical Garden, Arizona Highways magazine and Friends of Arizona Highways Photo Workshops.
• Enter CHIHULY: The Nature of Glass Photo Contest by June 1, 2009 at arizonahighways.com.
• Visit CHIHULY: The Nature of Glass exhibit through May 31, 2009 by making reservations at Desert Botanical Garden.
Featured Workshop: Horses and Cowboys
 With accuracy and confidence, Jorge Rodriguez executes a precision roping maneuver from horseback known as mangana a caballo. |
Cost: $2,295
Volunteer Trip Leaders: Art Foxall, Jack Jordan and Ashley Schutt
View Itinerary...
To think of the Southwest and its cowboy past is to conjure up pictures of wranglers in dusty jeans and jangling spurs, driving horses through desert arroyos studded with magnificent saguaros. It’s still possible to capture such classic American scenes, and we’ll help you do just that at the picturesque White Stallion Ranch.
The ranch encompasses 3,000 acres of pristine Sonoran Desert bordering the Saguaro National Park near Tucson, and offers a relaxing escape surrounded by bubbling fountains, blooming palo verde trees, chile ristras and rustic wagon wheels. Here you’ll have outstanding opportunities to photograph working cowboys up close. Ranch activity includes cattle penning, horse drives, barrel racing and small-arena rodeo events. Also included as our schedule permits, is an opportunity to photograph Charros in costume at a separate location as they perform lariat tricks on horseback.
And, of course, with his extensive skills as a photojournalist, Arizona Highways Photo Editor Jeff Kida will also help you craft remarkable photos of cowboys and cowgirls at work around the ranch during both spontaneous and planned portrait activities. You'll have ample opportunity to study the use of natural light and how it can often be improved with such aids as flash and reflectors, and fieldwork will be supplemented by illuminating photo critiques aimed at improving compositional technique.
At the White Stallion Ranch you'll experience "true" hospitality, from the True family that own and operate this magnificent property. You'll immediately feel at home here, as you stroll from your cottage to the corrals, past cactus gardens and farriers at work. We'll keep you busy taking great photographs, but just in case you want a change of pace, horseback riding, basketball, swimming and tennis are also available between shoots, or you can relax in the activity center or fitness center.
The price of this workshop is all-inclusive, and covers transportation, meals, model fees and accommodations during the workshop.
Submit Your Photos!
We're always looking for photos for our Web site, brochure, newsletter and itineraries. We do not pay for the use of photographs, but we will do our best to include a photographic credit. You can either send us a CD or a DVD with your photos. Please send no more than eight (8) images per workshop you've attended. We do not return CDs or DVDs and ask for the following when sending a digital submission:
- Acceptable file formats are TIF or JPG.
- File size should be 300 dpi with the long dimension about 7 inches long (about 2100 dpi). This equates to a file that is about 8MB. Files that are larger may be returned to sender, as they take too long to load on our computers.
- Please submit 8-bit photos rather than 16-bit.
- Enhance your photos before submitting them if they need it. What you submit should be a final product, not one that still requires a lot of level or color adjustment.
- Do not submit photos with layers. If you do some enhancing work, flatten the layers before submitting the image.
- Name your photos appropriately so that they can be distinguished from those of your fellow students. The preferred format is:
- FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME_description.extension. Here is an example: JOHN_DOE_monumentvalley.jpg
- Download, fill out and submit an Image submission form to accompany your photos.
View/Download Image Submission Form...
For more information on the image submission process or if you have any other questions, please call the office at 602.712.2004 or toll-free at 1.888.790.7042.
Photography Tip
Excerpted from
Arizona Highways Photography Guide: How & Where to Make Great Photographs
For more photography tips and ideas, order your copy of Arizona Highways Photography Guide: How & Where to make Great Photographs at arizonahighways.com |
Gear: Packing Camera Bags
by Jeff Kida, Arizona Highways Photography Editor
Choosing photo equipment is a very personal decision. Camera to camera, bag to bag, project to project, each of us will select and pack it differently. Shooting close-ups at the botanical garden might only require a single camera body, a 100mm macro lens and a light-weight tripod. Literally, a walk in the park. Attempting to capture rodeo action for me involves the use of two or three camera bodies outfitted with zoom lenses of different focal lengths, a 600mm telephoto lens, and a monopod. These are clearly very different tool kits based on intended results.
With each equipment acquisition, it’s very important to familiarize yourself with the new item. Whether it’s a camera, lens, or filter, study the manual, test it and examine the results before you go into the field for an important shoot. This way, when a big event arrives, you will be comfortable and relaxed knowing you have tried and tested everything thoroughly.
My basic travel kit consists of:
- Two digital camera bodies, which are the same model. This way, I’m not searching for controls;
- Three lenses — a 17-35mm wide-angle zoom, a 60mm macro, an 80-200mm zoom;
- One flash, one cable release, and a polarizing filter (circular);
- Lens cleaning fluid, lens cloth, memory cards in a wallet, extra batteries, and a tripod;
- A small collapsible reflector and diffuser.
A more complete kit would add extension tubes for close-up work, a 300mm telephoto lens, and a second flash.
I like to be mobile and responsive when I’m on location. Traveling locally, I use a digital backpack, which holds the above-mentioned gear and has a compartment for a laptop behind the straps. Often, on arrival I unpack just what I need and work with individual cameras slung over each shoulder. When it’s hot, I pack memory cards and batteries in a fanny pack that I wear facing forward for quick access. As the temperatures drop, I sometimes use a photo vest over a jacket and load up the pockets with needed supplies.
When I fly, I like to keep a basic photo kit with me in the cabin. When traveling with a lot of gear that has to be checked with baggage, I use Pelican cases that are made of hard, durable plastic and have “O” rings that protect the contents from moisture and dust. I also use these any time I’m working from watercraft. Note: I keep my memory cards with me at all times. These contain the images for which I’ve worked hard — why let them go missing with checked luggage?
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Photography Made Simple:
Field Session Workshop
By Alan Brown
April 24-25, 2009 or May 29-30, 2009
Our Photography Made Simple II workshop is a two session program designed to help you improve your photography by demonstrating the use of your histogram, lens openings, and depth of field.
Whether you use a point-and-shoot camera or a sophisticated D-SLR for photographing your family vacations, or simply want to create art for the walls of your home, our instructor will teach you how to understand your camera and its functions better and how to apply them for photographing moving objects such as animals and people.
Find out more about this workshop and view itinerary...
Request a Brochure
For a free printed color brochure or to have one sent to a friend, visit our Web site to fill out a mailing form. Our brochure is published annually. Please visit our Web site for the most current information available about each workshop.
Download a PDF brochure...
(File size: 4.6 MB. Copyrighted material for reference only. All rights reserved.)
© 2009 Friends of Arizona Highways Foundation
All rights reserved. Copy or transfer of any image without permission is strictly prohibited.