Explorations in Photography

In earlier posts on InMenlo, I’ve shared some of my explorations in photography – around Menlo Park and, sometimes, elsewhere. I’m hoping that this post represents perhaps the first in a new series where the focus is on sharing the most interesting new things I’ve discovered related to my explorations as a Menlo Park-based fine art photographer! By the way, in between my posts here on InMenlo, you can follow my photography posts on my personal blog at www.sjl.us or by following me on Flickr.

Before I dive into my latest explorations in photography, we’d like to ask for your help. If you’re a Menlo Park/Atherton-based photographer – amateur or professional – we’d love to hear from you. Please consider authoring your own guest post here on InMenlo to share some of your photography – and your recent learnings! If you’re interested, just send me a quick email (to scott@inmenlo.com) and I’ll followup directly! Maybe you’d be interested in joining a community of Menlo Park/Atherton photographers?

Now, let’s get back to my recent explorations! Since I started getting back into photography some six or seven years ago, I’ve learned much of what I know from attending workshops – with other great photographers. Earlier this month, I drove up to Bend, Oregon to take a workshop from two of the great outdoor landscape photographers: Sean Bagshaw and Zack Schnepf. (Both are part of the Photo Cascadia group – where, along with their colleagues, they consider a number of workshops in Oregon and Washington during the year. These workshops are fairly priced and very valuable for ramping up your skills for landscape photography.)

This weekend workshop in Bend was a special treat for me since it had been almost a year since I’d seriously done much landscape photography work. Sean and Zack are masters at shooting landscapes – and we had an amazing weekend with their leadership in and around Bend. The image above is a panorama shot early on Sunday morning as part of this workshop – at a magical place known as Sparks Lake – about 10 miles west of Bend, Oregon. Click here to see a larger version of this image from my Flickr account.

Here’s another image from the Bend workshop – taken at sunset at Smith Rock State Park near Terrebonne, Oregon. This image is a blend of two exposures taken with the camera (a Nikon D600) on a tripod.

In addition to workshops – which I try to do once or twice a year – my photography has benefited from a number of online tutorials where the focus is on the post-processing of images, from following several great photographers online, a few superb photography eBooks, and visiting several recent exhibitions of great photographers and artists. In future articles, I’ll try to share more of these – and hope you’ll also email me or post a comment below with your suggestions about what you’ve been learning that’s helped to advance your enjoyment of photography.

Meanwhile, let’s go take some amazing pictures!… or, as Ansel Adams said: “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”

Scott Loftesness is a co-founder of InMenlo and a Menlo Park-based fine art photographer. His personal blog is at http://sjl.us.