DIGITAL WINTER COURSE

Landscape - Birds - Seals - Otter.

Birds we are likely to photograph include:
Great Northern Diver
Black Guillemot
Long Tailed Duck
Iceland Gull
Glaucaous Gull
Purple Sandpiper
Ringed Plover
Turnstone
Whooper Swan
Shetland Wren
Rock Pipit
Twite
Fulmar
Shag
Eider
Curlew
Snipe

Mammals
Otter
Grey Seal
Common Seal

Landscapes
Ancient Brochs
Dramatic Seascapes
Ruined crofts
Locks and Voes
Rolling Vistas

 

Day One –
Arrival at Orca Country Inn. Welcome session followed by evening meal.

Day Two – Landscape and Birds of South Mainland

After breakfast we will spend a short time going over camera settings, exposure and composition
before heading out to our first location. This beautiful part of Shetland will give us a full day taking photographs of dramatic sea cliffs, bird-filled lochs 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 and mastering our exposures.

We will also include some bird photography including waders and wildfowl such as Whooper swan. In the late afternoon we will return to asess our day’s work and begin to look at our workflow on the computer in the digital light room.

Day Three –   Landscapes of the Westside

Today will be a full day out on location. Photographing the varied landscape of the west peninsula of Shetland. We will journey to the wild west of Shetland where the vast expanse of untouched wilderness provides unmatched opportunities to photograph Landscape Fine tuning our compositional and exposure techniques.

Evening asesment after Dinner.

Day Four –    Seals and Birds

Today we will stay closer to our base.
Visiting locations where Grey and Common Seals should give us spectacular views
as well as the opportunity to photograph birds such as Long tailed Duck, Eider, Black Guillemot,
and with luck Iceland and Glaucous Gulls.

Late afternoon return to the digital room  to continue with the digital workflow run through.

Day Five – Wednesday    Landscapes of the North  Mainland

Another full day out on location.  
Here in the north mainland lies the highest cliffs and most dramatic scenery in Shetland.
A landscape photographers dream.
We continue to fine tune our field techniques, as well as discovering new ones along the way.
 

After a full day on location there will be a further opportunity for digital tuition after the
evening meal.

Day Six –   Birds of South Mainland

Today will include photographing Shore birds such as Purple Sandpiper, Turnstone, Snipe, Ringed Plover and Curlew. In the afternoon we will hopefully be photographing seals at close range, before visiting the Iron Age Broch on Clickimin Loch

Day Seven –  Morning Photography  &  Assessment Day

 The whole day will be spent asessing what has been learnt 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 digital light room for our final session.

Day Eight – Saturday    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