DIGITAL NATURE COURSE
Holiday Overview
Day One
Arrival at Orca Country Inn. Welcome session followed by evening meal.
Day Two
Sumburgh Head RSPB Reserve & South Mainland
After breakfast we will spend a short time going over camera settings, exposure and composition before heading out to our first location, the extraordinary cliffs at Sumburgh Head.
There we will go through all the important aspects of field technique and action photography. Awaiting our arrival on location will be Puffin, Guillemot, Fulmar, Great Skua, and Shetland Wren. While Gannets pass by, close to the head.
In the late afternoon we will return to assess our day’s work and begin to look at our workflow on the computer in the digital light room.
Day Three
Landscapes and Nature of South Mainland
This beautiful part of Shetland will give us a full day taking photographs of dramatic sea cliffs, and tranquil bays with sand and rocky shores.
The abundance of wildlife will allow for a fascinating array of subject matter. We will focus our attention on composition and choosing the right lens, while you choose what to take
pictures of.
Once again, we return late afternoon to the computer suite to work on our digital technique.
Day Four
Mousa RSPB Reserve
Private boat charter will transport us across Mousa Sound to this uninhabited island where the RSPB protect and manage one of the UK’s best locations for viewing Harbour Porpoise, and with luck Killer Whales. On the island- Great and Arctic Skua, Eider Duck, Oystercatcher, Shetland Wren and Black Guillemot, as well as one of Shetland’s largest Harbour Seal colonies, living beneath the shadows of the 2,000 year old Broch, the finest example of Pictish architecture in the world.
After spending the late afternoon back in the digital light room, we will return to Mousa after our evening meal to photograph the extraordinary spectacle of Storm Petrels returning to
nest and feed their young in the Broch and surrounding dry stone walls. This will allow us to experiment with flash techniques.
Day Five
Landscapes of the West Side – Wildflowers and Birds
We will journey to the wild west of Shetland where the vast expanse of untouched wilderness provides unmatched opportunities to photograph Landscape and Moorland birds.
We will also experiment with Macro Photography, looking at the hundreds of vividly coloured wildflowers that grow throughout the summer months.
After a full day on location there will be a further opportunity for digital tuition after the evening meal.
Day Six
Bressay and Noss
Noss National Nature Reserve .The cliffs on the island’s east side have one of the most spectacular sea bird cities in the world – a photographers’ paradise – with 45,000 Guillemot, 8,000 Gannet, 2,000 Razorbill, hundreds of Puffins and many other sea birds.
We will travel around the island from Lerwick with award winning tour operator Dr Jonathan Wills on board Dunter III, who will take you closer than you can imagine possible to the cliff’s seabird colonies, and introduce you to the local seal population. He also has underwater cameras to show what is happening under the waves.
In the afternoon we will hopefully be photographing seals at close range, before visiting the Iron Age Broch on Clickimin Loch and focussing on local wild flowers on our return journey.
We return to the computer room for another session before our evening meal.
Day Seven
Morning Photography & Assessment Day
The whole day will be spent assessing what has been learned during the week. We will start out on location in the morning to make sure field and photographic techniques are fully understood. Then we shall return to the computer room for our final session.
Day Eight
Breakfast and departure.
Computer Room Projects
Photoshop Tools
Optimizing Photoshop
Raw vs Jpeg
Histograms and Exposure
Cleaning and Adjustments
Sharpening
Creating and Stitching Panoramic images
Expanding the Dynamic range and HDR
Raw Conversions
Layers and Layer Masks
Advanced Black and White conversion
Monitor and Print Calibration
Field Techniques
Metering
Lighting
Flash
Composition
Focus & Sharpness
Stalking & Camouflage
Equipment and its correct use
