Description
Join Olympus Educator, Lee Hoy, in Big Bend National Park during the peak time of summer storms and great starry nights. We will explore how to capture lightning and create amazing star trails, use focus stacking to maximize the depth-of-field in landscape images, creating long lens panoramics, planning for and capturing awesome black and white images during mid-day, and using exposure bracketing to create realistic HDR images. This is also a great time for macro photography as Big Bend is home to an incredible diversity of insect life!
The skies will be dark and/or the storms will be amazing! You never know what spectacular experience Big Bend National Park brings during Monsoon season! We will also spend some time discussing post-processing and offer an image critique.
Topics Covered
- Photographic techniques for landscape images including composition, exposure, long lens panoramics, focus stacking for enhanced depth of field, and proper HDR techniques.
- A variety of techniques for photographing lightning and storms. A variable or regular neutral density filter will be very helpful for capturing lightning unless you have Olympus where you can use the Live Composite mode.
- The importance of contrast and texture for making outstanding black-and-white images in mid-day light.
- How and when to use a tripod to ensure tack sharp landscape images.
- How to effectively select the proper focal length for landscape images.
- How to focus, expose, compose, and edit night sky images.
Post Processing for Landscape/Night Sky Images (Lightroom & Photoshop)
- Setting the proper white balance
- Adjusting basic settings to make your images their best
- Sharpening and noise reduction for your landscape images
- Making sure your colors are realistic
- Mass editing made easy
- Making the Milky Way pop in your images
- How and when to use custom masks in Lightroom
About the instructor
Lee Hoy is owner/operator of Big Bend Birding & Photo Tours, Lee focuses his time on helping others enjoy the beauty of the Big Bend National Park Region and serving as a freelance photographer when time permits. Publishing is fun, but his main interest is in helping others find that special bird or teaching them to capture spectacular images while they are visiting Big Bend National Park or surrounding areas. He is an award winning photographer and his images have been in Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine, Texas Highways, Bird Watcher’s Digest, & NANPA’s Expressions.
He also serves as a photography workshop instructor for Wildside Nature Tours and Kevin Loughlin with destinations such as the Galapagos Islands National Park, Ecuador, Amazon Riverboat Cruise, Costa Rica, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park in winter, and more.
His passion for teaching comes from a long line of educators in his past and having taught beginning birding classes, photography classes, and Lightroom classes. He has served as an instructor for Travis Audubon Society (Austin, TX), Williamson Audubon Group (Williamson County, TX), many Master Naturalist classes, and for the Texas Ornithological Society for which he is currently serving as a board member for the Trans Pecos Region.
Over 30 years of birding and photography experience in Big Bend National Park and the surrounding regions means Lee knows where and when to take you to the best location to find the right bird or get the right shot.
https://leehoyphotography.com/
Workshop Fee
The fee includes the workshop only. Transportation, lodging, park entry fees, food, and other miscellaneous expenses are not included. About a month before the workshop, all registrants will receive an email with a rough itinerary and planning details.
There will be a $100 fee for any spouse who wishes to join the group at our shooting locations, but does NOT photograph. Of course, our workshops include photography instruction, but they also include our guiding services and sharing our knowledge of the area.
Recommended Lodging
We recommend staying at Big Bend Far Flung Outdoor Center in Terlingua.
Phone: 432-371-2633
Mailing address: Far Flung Outdoor Center, P.O. Box 377, Terlingua, Texas 79852
It is highly recommended to stay in or as close to Far Flung Outdoor Center as possible to facilitate early departures for shooting sunrises.
Transportation/Entry Fees
Transportation to/from Terlingua and during the workshop is the responsibility of each participant. During the workshop carpooling will be necessary due to limited parking at several of the shooting locations. We will do our best to help coordinate carpooling. There will also be a fee per vehicle for entering the National Park and per person for the State Park. National Park Passes and Texas State Parks Passes are accepted at each.
*Participants should plan to arrive in Terlingua on or before June 8th at 2:00 pm and the workshop will conclude around 10:00 a.m. on the 11th*
Required Equipment
• Camera
• Lenses
• Memory Cards & Readers
• Batteries & Chargers
• Tripod
• Laptop (or note taking supplies)
• Sturdy Shoes
• Comfortable clothing (hiking boots, layers & rain gear)
• Sunblock
• Bug spray
Please review our class & event cancellation policy below.
Class & Event Cancellations
Tier 3: Excursions
Full refunds (less a $75 fee) will be issued to students who cancel at least 30 days prior to an excursion. Refunds will not be issued to cancellation requests made within 30 days of the start of an excursion unless the spot can be filled. If your spot is filled you will receive a full refund (less a $75 fee). If you do not show up for an excursion, your registration will be forfeited and you will not be permitted a refund of any amount or to reschedule.
Minimum Enrollment
Each class needs a minimum number of students to enroll before the class can “make.” If the minimum enrollment has not been met two business days before the class begins, the class will be cancelled. All students who enrolled in the class will be notified by telephone or email, and may transfer to a different class or be issued a refund (see refund procedure). We encourage all students to enroll as soon as registration begins. Please check your phone and email messages, including your SPAM.
How to Reschedule or Cancel a Class
Please contact the store at 512-467-7676 or email classes@precision-camera.com to cancel a class. Class cancellations or requests to be rescheduled that are sent through other channels, such as Facebook or Meetup.com messages, will not be honored.
