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• Featured Participant/Volunteer Images
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Featured Participant/Volunteer Images
Bosque and White Sands Workshop
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Featured Partner
Arizona Highways magazine
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The October issue of Arizona Highways features Fall Color Scenic Drives.
Arizona Highways Photo Workshops is proud to partner with the magazine again this year to present the Second Annual Arizona Highways Online Photo Contest. The Grand Prize is an Arizona-based Photo Workshop.
For more information and to enter the contest, visit arizonahighways.com.
Would your organization consider being a partner? Please call us toll free at 1.888.790.7042.
What Our Participants Say About...
Denali and the Grizzlies of Hallo Bay
with Ralph Lee Hopkins, August-September 2009
“A totally enriching experience in subject matter, adventure, newly acquired photographic skills & group camaraderie.”
— Elizabeth L Hershkowitz
“We enjoy in the field, in the moment sharing of photo tips with the guests and photo leader. It helps to have reminders of trying new and different techniques while in the moment vs. waiting for a critique. Overall, we get better photos that way!”
— Bill & Linda Klipp
“Ralph Lee Hopkins & Jack Jordan prepared me to appreciate the particular location of its workshop and be receptive and excited about the unexpected.”
— Will Bracken
“Friends of Arizona Highways workshops has great locations and instructors, plus their trips are well organized and great fun.”
— Robert Gaunt
Spirits of the Navajo Workshop
with LeRoy DeJolie, September 2009
“Not only is LeRoy an excellent photographer he is the best & most knowledgeable instructor I’ve had.”
— Charlotte Whitaker
“Set a goal and obtain it from Arizona Highways Photo Workshops.”
— Wally Jarrett
“Absolutely top rate, they broke the mold after they made LeRoy. Both of your trip leaders were great!”
— Paul Fuqua
“Always inspirational. Learning points more than planned.”
— Jim Ryder
Photo Marketing in the Digital Age & Digital Asset Management
with Edward McCain, September 2009
“Friends of Arizona Highways, the workshops are amazing, full of knowledge and loads of fun.”
— Christine Limongello
“Wonderful and informative.”
— Marilyn Price
Shoot-n-Photoshop Weekend
with J. Peter Mortimer and Steve Burger, September 2009
“Amazing & extremely helpful experience.”
— Wendy Lewis
Visit our Calendar page for a complete list of 2009 workshops.
Arizona Highways Photo Workshops is pleased to announce the launch of our new online registration site!
For your convenience, we now offer a secure way to register for and purchase workhop spaces online. Just click the registration button for any workshop and the desired quantity will be added to your "cart" to start the registration and checkout process. Please contact us with your feedback about the registration site or if you experience any technical problems.
Featured Workshops: Time is Running Out on Our Last Workshops of the Year
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Lake Powell by Houseboat
with Gary Ladd
November 14-18, 2009
Cost: $2,995
Find out more about this workshop and view itinerary...
Lake Powell, with its awesome red rock towers and shimmering blue-green water, offers a bountiful feast of photographic opportunities. Its broad bays provide expansive views of lake, sky and desert, while slivers of water twist into picturesque side canyons. In off-season months Lake Powell — known as a bustling summer paradise to water skiers, swimmers and boaters — transforms into an empty, quiet wilderness.
With houseboats serving as base camp, you’ll have easy access to sites within Padre Bay, Face Canyon, Labyrinth Canyon, Weathering Pit Ridge, and Dominguez, Padres & Cookie Jar Buttes. Workshop leader Gary Ladd has years of experience houseboating Lake Powell. His intimate knowledge of the lake and its side canyons is second to none.
Come and immerse yourself in this spectacular environment! Register now to reserve your space.
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Bosque and White Sands
with Bruce Taubert
November
29-December 3, 2009
Cost: $1,995
Register by October 15
Find out more about this workshop and view itinerary...
Join wildlife photographer Bruce Taubert for an unparalleled opportunity to photograph two of New Mexico’s gems – Bosque del Apache and White Sands National Monument.
You’ll spend two photo-filled days in the birder's paradise of Bosque del Apache, where you can expect to see tens of thousands of migratory snow geese, sand hill cranes, shorebirds and ducks that make this wetland their winter home. Bruce will share techniques for photographing birds in flight, and will explain how to include habitat in your compositions to create more appealing images. His extensive background in animal behavior will be invaluable for anticipating the birds’ habits and activities.
Register now to take advantage of the dual opportunities this unique workshop has to offer!
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Yellowstone in Winter
with Henry Holdsworth
January 20-26, 2010
Cost: $3,995
Register by December 6
Find out more about this workshop and view itinerary...
For many photographers, winter is considered prime time in Yellowstone National Park. The summer crowds are gone, wildlife have developed their most luxurious coats and the majestic animals are not as shy about approaching roads and boardwalks as they are during the park’s busier seasons.
On this workshop, you'll spend two days in the Lamar Valley photographing the wildlife inhabiting this breathtakingly picturesque area. Wolves, bison, moose, elk and the other park denizens should be out in abundance.
The remainder of your time is spent near the warm geyser basins at Mammoth and Old Faithful, where elk and bison congregate to ward off the cold. Most of Yellowstone's roads are snow packed during winter months, so when unable to travel by van, we’ll ride snow coaches from one fabulous location to the next.
The price of this workshop is all-inclusive, covering transportation, lodging and meals for the duration. Register now to reserve your space!
Weekend Workshops: Demystifying Digital Photography
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D-SLR from the Ground Up
with Jeff Kida
November 6-7, 2009
Find out more about this workshop and view itinerary...
Do you ever feel stuck in the ‘Program’ mode of digital life? Are your histograms flat and lifeless? Are you ready to scale taller visual peaks with your digital SLR? Then this course is for you.
We'll start with the language of digital photography, then review how the camera works, controls, short cuts and the best settings to use in different situations.
Naturally we’ll discuss the art of photography lighting, composition and timing. You’ll learn how to transfer and save your photos to your computer and you’ll also discover how easy it is to size images for both print making and email.
Mark your calendars, this one is sure to get your pixels flowing! Register now.
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Point-n-Shoot: More Than Meets the Eye
with Jeff Kida
December 4-5, 2009
Find out more about this workshop...
We think point-and-shoot cameras have gotten a bad rap in the photography world, so we’ve decided to roll up our sleeves and show those digital SLR snobs how point-and-shoots can compete at practically every level!
Take our class and we’ll demystify the icons and menus that seem to have replaced shutter speeds and f-stops. We’ll show you that histogram is not a secret code word for genealogy and that white balance can be a very powerful tool and therefore a good thing to know. We will delve into tripods, self-timers and fill flash. Since this is now photography without film, we’ll discuss the best way to capture your images when shooting, RAW, TIFF or JPEG and then how to best archive them in your computer.
We’ll spend one evening together in the classroom and make a seamless transition to field work early the next morning at the Desert Botanical Garden. After we adjourn for a well-earned lunch at the Garden, there will be a chance to look at work and reinforce your new found photographic techniques. And naturally, we’ll work on light and composition.
This workshop is a lot of fun, educational and very low on the stress meter! Register now to reserve your space.
 Leave Room: The photographer was careful not to frame this Harris’ antelope squirrel too tightly, thus reinforcing the reality that it’s in the wild with room to roam. |
Photography Tip
Excerpted from
Arizona Highways Photography Guide: How & Where to Make Great Photographs
Photographing Wildlife: Practicing Patience
by Tom Vezo
Finding Your Subjects
Passion, patience, and persistence: these are the three qualities that you’ll always find in successful wildlife photographers.
When I discover an area that has good potential for wildlife photography, I keep going back until I get the image I envision. It’s this vision that keeps me motivated—that’s the “passion” part of the equation.
The “patience” begins with scouting. When I first get to an area, I look at where the light is coming from. For most of my photography I like to keep the light behind me. Is it a morning or afternoon shoot, or both? What do the backgrounds look like? For me, backgrounds are as important as the subjects. If they’re too confusing or bright, I usually won’t shoot in that area.
Then I study the other creative potential in the vicinity. What color will my backgrounds be? If they’re typically blurred green or tan, will that make my likely subjects pop out, or will it camouflage them? Once I start shooting, I begin to see other possibilities, and then I try to implement a plan to capture that potential.
An example from my own back yard, literally: I wanted to capture an image of the Cooper’s hawk that often frequented my yard to prey on the smaller birds at my feeders. I knew the hawk would like a high perch from which to chart its hunting strategy. I put up a saguaro skeleton where the light would fall behind me in the afternoon and the bird would stand out against blue sky. The saguaro skeleton would give the feel of the desert and add color and texture to the image. I set up my blind in the afternoons and on the fourth day I got exactly what I wanted: a beautiful adult Cooper’s hawk in the warm afternoon light.
When you’ve spent a couple of hours waiting for your subject and your patience is beginning to wear thin, stay another 15 minutes, and then another and another. Every investment of time gives you a better chance of getting what you want. My anticipation usually prevents me from getting bored, and I’m always watching other things going on at the location.
Patience, sprawling from hours into days and weeks, equals persistence. The key is to keep going back to a promising location because every day brings new possibilities. Animals’ routines and interaction with each other is no more predictable than that of our own species. When I’m photographing my subjects, I try to capture every kind of event in their lives—feeding, courting, copulating, fighting, interacting with their young, chasing, fleeing, flying, and maybe even sleeping. Actions that tell stories about animals’ lives are potentially more interesting than simple portraits in good light. However, I’m never averse to an expressive portrait, either—it can express character and provide an intimate look at the beauty of a wild creature that we seldom see so closely.
For more photography tips and ideas, order your copy of Arizona Highways Photography Guide: How & Where to make Great Photographs at arizonahighways.com.
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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.
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(File size: 4.6 MB. Copyrighted material for reference only. All rights reserved. Cover photo © David Halgrimson.)
© 2009 Friends of Arizona Highways Foundation. All rights reserved.
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