January 2009

In case you didn’t read the fine print – and it appears that most of you did not – here is the list of prizes being offered for the winners of the ANPW..

Prizes: Prizes will be awarded to each winning photographer. The prize package is subject to change at the full discretion of the Aperture Nature Photography Workshops.

As of October 1, 2008 the prize package includes but is not limited to:

1 Firewire Drobo – approximate value $500
1 Lensbaby Gift Certificate – approximate value $350
1 Premium subscription to lynda.com value $375
1 set of all current Peachpit Press Photo-related books – approximate value $500
1 ThinkTank 360 Photo Bag – approximate value $350
1 Apple Aperture 2.1 – approximate value $200
1 Lifetime Pro Membership to Photrade – approximate value $500

All food, hotel** and ground transportation at the workshops plus admission to all National Parks and related venues. Free training from the accompanying professional photographers and $275 travel money to cover transportation to and from the venue.

Entrants must be available to attend the workshop. Workshops cannot be rescheduled. In the event that a winner cannot attend, they will forfeit all prizes and an alternate will take their place. There can be no exceptions.

Jennifer Wu showed some of the ANPW workshop participants how to shoot a pano using a tilt-shift lens. Watch the video on Vimeo.

Here’s a blog post from winner Nikki Frantz. She seemed to have a good time. Have you entered for your chance to win?

We’ve published a few behind the scenes images from the recent Yosemite ANPW. This gallery was built in less than five minutes using Aperture.

Win one of four seats to Yellowstone workshop in April, 2009! We’ll be escorting four lucky winners to the Yellowstone area April 29 – May 2.

Our submission site for this contest is on Flickr, use this address. http://www.flickr.com/groups/anpw/

Each winner will win a cash travel allowance, hotel, food, ground transfers, as well as prizes from our sponsors. It’s free to enter. You get to keep all Copyrights to your images. There’s no catch. Please read the complete contest rules for more information.

I can’t believe it came and went that fast, but the Aperture Nature Photography Workshop at Yosemite is in the bag. The winners, John, Kimberley, Nichole, and David were absolutely lovely people, eager and hungry to learn. Good photographers all, they really applied themselves. I was proud of all of them. I was also very impressed with some of the images that they captured.

Steve Simon took the lead teaching Aperture and the winners all seemed to enjoy the classroom instruction as well as the field work. Several times I heard the students say that they didn’t know Aperture did this or that!

The four winners were also thankful for their prizes. I saw several of the ThinkTank 360 bags in use on the workshop! That was fast.

I have posted a few images I made at Yosemite on my Flickr account. Liana Lehua will edit some video, and we’ll post links to some of the student work next week.

It was a great workshop. Nobody complained about lack of cell service, limited Internet connections or a real lack of food choices out in the middle of nowhere.

Instead, they just all lived, learned and loved photography. What better way to spend a few days? I’m lucky to have met these people and to have been there.

We’re going to open up section three of the contest in a week or so. Be ready. YOU could be taking the trip to the third ANPW in Yellowstone National Park!

Next week, I’ll head out to Yosemite with Jennifer to do some scouting for the workshop. The winners all arrive Wed. night, when we’ll do some slide shows and have an orientation. We’ll fan out and start making photographs Thursday morning and teach Aperture in the afternoons.

Liana Lehua will be documenting the whole event, so stay tuned afterwards for more details of how things unfolded. And wish us luck. We’re hoping for snow!

Kimberly interviewed by Liana Lehua

I have always known that any activity can be fun depending on the people involved. So, how lucky am I that the next ANPW workshop in Yosemite will be a great activity AND we’ll have great people in the field together. Meet Kimberly Haugen, just one of four contest winners who will be enjoying the Yosemite winter with us.

Kimberly’s location: Scottsdale, Arizona

Online photo gallery, website or blog
http://littleknoll.blogspot.com

Main camera body and equipment used:

Canon 40D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM
Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L
Canon 50mm f1.4
Canon 70-210mm
Canon Speedlite 580EX II

Your dream photography trip (location):
Anywhere in Africa.

What are you passionate about shooting? What do you shoot? (Example: portraits, sports, landscape, etc.).
I am passionate about shooting the peoples of Africa. When I’m not in Africa, I enjoy capturing portraits of friends and family.

What are you most looking forward to during the ANPW experience?
I am looking forward to learning everything I can from the pros. Since nature photography has never been a focus of mine, I am excited to learn how they visualize shots, the best lighting to shoot in and proper framing. I’m also looking forward to the Aperture training. My image processing is such a confusing mess, I’m looking forward to being able to streamline that process and save me a lot of time.

What do you do for a living? How do you make the time for your photography?
I am a video director/producer by trade so images are a part of my daily life. But I love the challenge of still photography. Video captures and uses 29.97 frames per seconds to tell a story. Still photography is more of a challenge to a story and convey your message in a single frame.

What is your favorite aspect of photography? (Example: being outdoors, the art and science of capturing the image in the camera, telling a story, etc.).
I enjoy capturing a fraction of a moment in time for generations to enjoy. I find myself like a little child on Christmas morning when it comes to actually being able to see the images I captured. I enjoy the creative aspect of photography and how several photographers can shoot the same subject and capture completely different images.

Are you planning on buying any new gear specifically for the workshop between now and the workshop?
No, I’m not planning on purchasing any equipment. However, I have rented two lenses. Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II and Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS.

What inspires you?
The entire continent of Africa inspires me. I consider my time shooting here in America preparation for when I shoot in Africa.

What is your image processing workflow?
I have no image workflow. That is one of the things I am looking forward to learning with the Aperture application training.