Photocamp Utah 2010

Photocamp Utah 2010 was an awesome event this year, if you live in Utah and have an interest in photography, you really should have been there. For me the highlight of the event was hearing from Zack Arias. The man is real, easy going and completely down to earth.

He was the afternoon keynote speaker. What did he speak about? Well if I were to sum it up as a single phase: “How to succeed” of course from a photographers view point. Pretty simple topic, but really difficult to cover. I was able to watch over Zack’s shoulder for a bit as he prepared his speech and spoke with him while he worked. Here is the thing I came away with, Zack totally practices what he teaches, and tells you exactly how he got where he is, and how he plans on getting where he is going. He is totally humble willing to learn and to share what he knows.

You can watch a stream of his presentation here. One of the first things he talked about in his presentation is how we should know our gear as photographers. I mean really know our gear. Now this comes from a guy who shoots two systems, Canon and Nikon. As an example, while I was looking over his shoulder I commented on a picture he has up. He tells me exactly how he shot it, using a feature that I was unaware of in my camera. The thing is I felt like I knew all the features of my camera, but here I am learning a feature previously unknown to me.

What was the feature? Nikon cameras have a “Multiple Exposure” mode. Now Zack had a couple of really cool pictures using that feature. One I asked Zack about you can see here. So now I have a new shooting mode to play with and have decided to dig out the manual and see what else my camera can do that I have been ignorant of! I tried it out at photocamp while Zack was talking.

Now my result really sucks to say it mildly but the look was done in camera! I toned the image afterward in lightroom, but nothing else. I can see all sorts of cool effects I could get from this mode! Moral of the story, is back to square one for me! I need to learn my tools better!

Could I change settings on my camera blindfolded?

Need to work on that one a little bit (mostly there).

Do I know everything my camera can do?

Nope need to work on that one too!

Make sure you come to photocamp next year!

Got Photocamp Utah Print?

There is less than 10 days till Photocamp Utah. Have you created your print for the print display? In case you some how missed the news look here to learn more. Hurry if you haven't, there isn't much time left! The hardest part has been picking which photos to use for the print display. I decided to go with people photos as that is what I usually prefer to shoot.

Indecisive as I have been, I have printed and mounted several photos. The thing is that I thought the printing would help narrow it down! The photos look even better printed! Decisions... ...decisions!

I am going for something that will tell a story. Originally I thought I would share self portraits, as that is one of the things I tend to do that seems to stand out from the crowd (most photographers are much more comfortable behind the camera). Also I toned down how many photos to share on the 11"X14" print. My original montage was nuts and way to busy (see below). In printed from, the original montage turned out images the size of wallets. I have decided to do a side by side with two images sharing the same theme...

Of course there is always time to change my mind, there is still 10 days till show time!!!