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Places To Go: |
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Stack Ice is a phenomenon that occurs late in the winter. As Lake Superior cools eventually ice will form on the surface. It is rare for Lake Superior to completely freeze over in fact most of the time it remains open water even in the dead of winter. Some of the best places to find stack ice are:
Gitchee Gummi Park, located on the north end of Duluth at the start of the Scenic North Shore Drive.
Split Rock State Park, check out the area near Elleson Island below the lighthouse.
Grand Marais' Artist's Point, this location is great to photograph with or without stack ice. East Bay next to the Artist's Point can fill up with great stack ice if the winds are blowing in the right direction.
For more information about other places to go in the Midwest try:
a great source for Midwest travel and things to do.
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Items For Sale |
I have cleaned out my storage closet! Here are a few items I am selling:
Canon 70-300mm DO IS lens.
Lists new for $1200, excellent condition. Cost: $800
Sinar F 4x5 camera, recently refurbished by the factory, needs a new regular bellows. Comes with wide angle bellows, rail extension and storage case.
Cost: $350
Toyo 45G 4x5 Monorail camera. Very good condition. Comes with 2 lens boards, and carrying case.
Cost: $350
If you are looking for chemical darkroom equipment ask me--chances are I'll have it!
If you are interested in any of these items call (218) 834-0756, ask for John. |
| Spring Break 2008
March 29-March 30 |
| Mounds View High School
Spring Break 2008 is sponsored by the Twin Cities Area Camera Club Council. It is two days of photographic seminars.
John Gregor of ColdSnap Photography will be presenting on Saturday. Specific time and topic is yet to be determined.
ColdSnap Photography is donating a door prize of one free seat in the workshop "Digital Spring Color" June 19-22, 2008. As a sponsor ColdSnap will have a informational booth during the entire Spring Break event.
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| Tuscan Dream Exhibit
Feb 16-March 30 |
| The Tuscan Dream Exhibit is now showing at Waterfront Gallery.
Waterfront Gallery is located at 632 First Avenue, Two Harbors MN 55616.
Hours: Wed-Sat 10-6, Sun 10-3.
In addition to Fine Art Photography and Photographic Education, Waterfront Gallery features; Custom Framing, Books, Notecards, Hand-made Jewelry, Music, Journals, and other fine gifts.
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| The Color Of Tuscany
Sept 6-13 |
| "The Color Of Tuscany" Photographic Workshop has 5 openings left!
Call (218) 834-0756 to register.
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Winter Newsletter
March, 2008 |
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Greetings!
March 4th,
March is "Cabin Fever" month. It is not quite spring yet our thoughts turn to boating, canoeing, biking, fishing, or a hundred other summer activities that we are planning. March is also typically the best month for "stack ice" along the shores of Lake Superior. Last year due to an unusual storm with strong easterly winds we experienced stack ice as high as 50 feet in some places; it was incredible. For great places to see and photograph stack ice see the "Places To Go" area of this newsletter. March historically has great snow for cross-country skiing, down-hill skiing, snow-shoeing, photography, or simply enjoying the fresh look. Don't worry Spring will eventually arrive but Winter still promises as few good sights, and photographic opportunities.
Wishing you good light and good shooting,
John |
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We are in the process of preparing for the 2008 Minnesota Roadtrip! Randy and I have successfully lead two previous road-trips. The first year we visited Thief River Falls, Warren, and other communities along the Red River Valley of the north. The second year we visited Pipestone, Springfield and New Ulm. During these road-trips we have photographed; 3 county fairs, 2 demolition derbies, a tractor pull, a stock car race, a country farm auction, a volunteer fireman's benefit dinner (that included a ride in the fire-truck) a street-dance, a family dairy farm, a buffalo ranch, about 6 different Scientific and Natural Areas, several State Parks, and countless other photographic opportunities that we came across in small town cafes or main street businesses.
This year we are planning another great Minnesota Roadtrip! workshop. Our destinations this year include the Headwaters of the Mississippi River, logging mill and logging operation in the north-woods, a birch bark canoe builder, some of the most scenic parks and lakes in northern Minnesota, a Lion's Club Pancake Breakfast, and finally the 53rd Annual North Star Stampede. The North Star Stampede is a small town (Effie, MN) Rodeo. For more information to to www.northstarstampede.com. Last year Randy, Val, and I photographed this event. We had a blast. The access to behind the scenes activities and action is unmatched at any event. Ok so the cowboys may not be Triple A class, but the action is awesome and the human interest is as good as it gets. This year's Minnesota Roadtrip! promises to be one of the best yet.
For more information go to: http://www.coldsnap.com/workshops/w_6day.htm#RoadTrip or call (218) 834-0756. |
Increase Dynamic Range In Your Photos
One of the frequent problems that landscape photographers face is how to deal with situations where the light range within a scene exceeds the dynamic range of the digital sensor. Here is one method to deal with this situation:
1) Open the image in Adobe Camera Raw. Adjust the exposure for the highlight detail. Adjust the White Balance for proper color balance and adjust the Detail for image sharpness. Process the image and open it into Photoshop.
2) Open the same image again in Camera Raw. Adjust the exposure for shadow detail. The White Balance and Detail settings should remain at the previous settings, so leave them be. Process the second image and open in Photoshop.
3) With both images open in Photoshop activate the darker image. Select All (Control A for PC users or Option A for Mac users) while holding the shift key use your pointer tool to click and drag the image to the lighter image. When you let go of the mouse the image should snap to a pin registration layer over the lighter image.
4) Close the darker image as you will no longer need it.
5) If you look at your layer palette you will notice you have a Background Layer and Layer One.
6) Click on the Background Layer and Select All/Copy.
7) Click on Layer One. Using the icon at the bottom of the Layer Palette create a layer mask for this layer. Holding the Alt Key (or Option Key) click on the white layer mask, you will notice that the Layer One mask is now blank white.
8) Go to the Edit Menu/Paste. You will now see a B&W image.
9) If you have a hard edge tree line you may want to add a small amount of Gaussian blur to soften the edges. (Go to the Filter Menu/Blur/Gaussian Blur. Choose a small radius less than 1.5 and choose OK.)
10) Go to the Layer Menu/Flatten Image.
11) A slight Curves Adjustment layer to increase contrast will help the overall look of the image.
The resulting image will have a high dynamic range and should not require any burning or dodging to bring out highlight or shadow detail.
There are still spots left in the March 13-16 "The Digital Image and Fine Art Printing With Photoshop." |
| 2008 Workshop Schedule
2-Day Workshops:
"The Art of Seeing Photographically"
Des Moines, IA April 19-20
"The Art of Seeing Photographically"
Bloomington, MN May 17-18
4-Day Field/Lab Workshops:
"Digital Spring Color" Two Harbors,MN
June 19-22
"Digital Fall Color" Two Harbors, MN
October 2-5
5-Day Field Workshops:
"The Minnesota Roadtrip" Effie, MN
July 23-27
8-Day Field Workshops
"Tuscany, Italy" Italy
September 6-13
4-Day Computer Lab Workshops:
"The Digital Image and Fine Art Printing"
Two Harbors, MN March 13-16
"The Digital Image and Fine Art Printing"
Two Harbors, MN November 13-16
"The Scanned Image and Fine Art Printing"
Two Harbors, MN November 20-23
Coming in 2009:
Superior Shores, The South Shore and Michigan UP, June 2009.
Newfoundland July 2009.
Both of these workshops promise to be favorites and will fill fast. Call now to be added to our wait list.
For more information go to www.coldsnap.com |
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