Friday, July 10, 2015

Expressive Digital Balck and White Landscape:

Several years ago while working on a commercial photography assignment I was asked a question which has stuck with me ever since.  The question?   Whats in your tool kit?  In other words, what do you need to get the job done?  A camera is a tool, and a powerful one at that.  Its not so much about the camera, but how its used.  Good photographs require the photographer to slow down, see, and personally express the world in front of them. 
Landscape photography is formed by the point of view of the photographer; it is a spiritual experience, the reflection of a culture. Historically, the great masters of black-and-white landscape used large-format cameras and traditional film processes. Now advances in digital technology have opened new opportunities for photographers who wish to explore the aesthetic and technical aspects of digital black-and-white landscapes. 


On location daily, we take the time to see and fully express the spirit of the black-and-white landscape as we discover a place and the secrets of its beauty. We consider the concept of landscape and how it is connected to the cultural, social, and geographical aspects of our environment.

In the classroom, we combine traditional Zone System methodology with new digital processes in Adobe Lightroom to forge a complete digital grayscale workflow. We learn to express in black and white our personal interpretations of landscape. Blending traditional, new, and emerging techniques and technologies, we discover the extraordinary possibilities of expressive digital black-and-white landscape work. 

Join us September 21-25 for Expressive  Black and White Landscape Photography.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Meet Roxanne Stout...



My art work explores the connection we have with the world of nature, how one moment can be forever remembered in our memory, and how putting together remembered moments make up the whole picture.
I would call myself a collage artist. I began as a painter as a very young child. And in college I studied biological illustration. The mysteries that nature shares have always intrigued me. 
I live at the base of the Cascade Mountains and from my home I look down on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon. Overhead is the Pacific Flyway, the ancient sky-path of thousands of migratory birds. This is my inspiration.
it was almost two years ago today that I taught at Pacific Northwest Art School for the first time.  We drove up from Southern Oregon and rode the ferry across to Whidbey Island where we rented a lovely house overlooking the water.
My workshops were a joy and as we created our hand made books the excitement was contagious. We stitched, printed, collaged, painted our hearts out all the while laughing and making new friends.
Since that time my life has changed and many exciting things have come my way. I spent the whole year working on nine chapters of a book for North Light Books called Storytelling With Collage: Techniques for Layering Color and Texture that will be released early in 2016.


I got a job teaching Mixed Media Art Journaling at Oregon Institute of  Technology where they have been expanding their art program.  I've had my art work in some wonderful shows and taught many beautiful workshops. I even have a magazine article in one of my favorite magazines "Mingle" that hits the shelves soon, on July 1!

If I could say why I love teaching Art Workshops it would be because there is nothing so wonderful as seeing my students faces light up while they create. To me art is more than just drawing and painting, it is the process of creation and it is this process that gives us so much joy.
I had an interview once by Connie Solara from Dirty Footprints Studio.... she asked me what my main purpose as an art teacher was, I said without even pausing that it was to help people find there light. I still feel that way You can hear the interview here...
http://www.dirtyfootprints-studio.com/2014/11/21-secrets-conversations-with-roxanne.htmlMacintosh HD:Users:rocky 


In my Book Of Windows workshop July 10th-13th we will be completely immersed in bookmaking and creating wonderful pages based on the theme of windows, not only what windows look out upon, but what we see when we look inside of a window from the outside.
We will use all sorts of wonderful tools and materials that I have been saving just for this workshop, not to mention my stash of beautiful vintage finds.
We will take small field trips out to the beach or into the forest and picnic overlooking Penn Cove.
I  would love to inspire and guide you during my four day workshop, A Book Of Windows. If you love mixed media art... this is the place for you to be!!


Wednesday, March 25, 2015


What do Creativity and Sean Kernan have in common?  Quite a bit!  This talented and gifted instructor always takes it to the next level...follow Sean's latest link and "see" for yourself.




http://thisweekinphoto.com/thefix-006-creativity-photographers-sean-kernan/

Sunday, March 22, 2015

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Black and White

Face it: digital monochrome is superior to black-and-white film and conventional printing. You'll understand this in my upcoming workshop, “Black and White and Not Quite.” To get a suggestion of why this is, read the sections What to Expect in the Workshop, and Getting to Monochrome below.

Blue Mosque (Istanbul) infrared capture

A Little History

I received my first camera, a Brownie Hawkeye, in 1957. I shot black and white print film. Now, nearly 60 years later, I'm again loving monochrome imaging.

During my early career as a photographer—when I covered NASCAR and NHRA races—I shot about ten times as much B&W film as color, principally because four-color offset printing was expensive and we didn't publish a lot of color in the magazines where I worked.

Since then color became more popular: It became more affordable for consumers but also for publishers and professional photographers; Kodak, Agfa, Fujifilm and others offered a wide variety of color negative and transparency films. With the advent of digital photography, color became the default image capture mode (although monochrome could have been, and would have been superior).

About a dozen years ago, I had an idea for primarily monochrome output in which I created images with mostly sepia tonality, leaving in just a dash of some of the underlying colors. Then I started processing HDR images, again with an overall toned monochrome feel but a hint of original color peeking through.

What got me thinking about B&W even more was the availability of infrared-converted digital cameras. My first was a Canon G10, which really got my creative juices flowing when I took it to Istanbul and Bulgaria. In case you don't know, IR images come out of cameras (at least when you shoot raw) reddish monochrome. OK there are extended range IR conversions that produce false color IR, but I didn't go that way.

I recently had a Nikon D7100 converted. The lower noise in the D7100 images, coupled with the ability to use better lenses, has me again enthusiastically shooting IR.

Make no mistake: I still use my color camera to capture images destined for monochrome treatment. Right now that's a 36MP Nikon D800. With a full-frame sensor, wide dynamic range and low noise, it provides great raw material for black and white processing.

Color conversion to monochrome

What to Expect in the Workshop

Throughout this four day “non-linear” workshop we'll alternate between theory, examples, demonstrations, field work and processing.

So you take home some compelling new imagery from Whidbey Island, we'll discuss how to identify and visualize good subjects and compositions. You'll see how black-and-white shooting differs from working in color and can provide opportunities way beyond color. To mix things up, exercises will give you a chance to demonstrate to yourself some often misunderstood principles of photography, providing concrete ways to better control what you capture.

We'll also mix up shooting locations, covering iconic scenes and some of my secret spots. We take good advantage of the shorelines, forests, farms and structures that make Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve a visual treasure.

Color/monochrome comparison

Getting to Monochrome

Speaking of processing, we're going to cover many workflow options in the workshop. With so many choices, I'll help you zero in on what's the right path for you when you see me step through the ins and outs of:
  • Lightroom
  • Photoshop
  • Nik/Google Silver Efex
  • Topaz B&W Effects
  • DXO Filmpack
  • On Software Perfect B&W 9
In addition to the actual conversion processes, we'll explore how to maximize color images for later monochrome conversion. Just as we choose the right color scenes to create compelling monochrome photographs, we can optimize the color content of our captures to achieve our artistic goals in B&W. 

I most cases, you can download a 30-day trial version of these programs just before the workshop, then decide which to invest in after you've seen where each might best fit your workflow.

Some programs and topics we'll explore include:
  • Raw file conversion in Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw and DXO Optics Pro
  • Working in the LAB color space
  • Creating luminance masks and employing them to optimize single exposures and bracket sets.
  • Adding pop to color precursors or mono images with Topaz Clarity
  • Performing local adjustments without masks in Nik Viveza 2
  • Building maximum tonal range from bracketed exposures in HDR Efex 2 … or Photomatix, Photoshop, Enfuse or a great HDR program you've never heard of.
  • Adding finishing touches (such as selective color and toning) and preparing for printing.
Join me to sharpen your general skills and learn how to consistently produce B&W photographs that will have viewers saying, “Wow!”

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Pigments of Your Imagination

LOVE alcohol inks. My new book is #1 on Amazon in painting!!!!!! YEA Join me for a FUN workshop in August