Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures is an intensive photo workshop program. Chris and I enrolled in one called Lighthouses of the Outer Banks, in late October and early November of this year. Up well before daybreak each day and out to places along the coast, lighthouses, and fishing piers, we would photograph for a couple of hours and return to our Inn for breakfast. There would be another shoot in the evening.
With limited time we would download our images and choose two, one from the night before and one from the morning. I found there was barely time to select, much less edit and felt hampered by my limited editing skills. Then the group, 12 participants and the 2 instructors would critique. They were tough, but insightful critiques.
Margo Pinkerton and Arnie Zann are more than accomplished photographers. Besides an incredible list of credentials (National Geographic, GEO, Time, Life and more), they are inspired leaders.
I had a lot of difficulty. I got caught up in the admonishment to find my own vision, not to do iconic lighthouses or other photos and found myself grasping to break away from the group and do something momentous. It failed. Finally at the end of the workshop it came together and I got a couple shots that pleased me immediately. The one above was my favorite.
But, now home, and going through all the photos at leisure, I am finding additional images I like. In several cases I wonder why I shared the images I did with the group as some of these please me far more. Oh well. I am enjoying them now. With minimal editing, so far, here are some of those.
The first two are part of the same series as the large photo at the start of this blog. Slightly different angles, changing the mood with the light balance and the changing light, all the time standing in the water and feeling the outgoing water pull at my feet and the tripod legs. Somehow the feel of the photos mirrors the physical pull of the water. I have used small images for this layout, but clicked on one and you can see the whole group, as a slide show, at full size on your monitor.
2 comments:
Beautiful! What/where are the ones that look like steps going out into the water?
Jaimie, these were old pilings for some structure, perhaps a drainage pipe. Taken early morning, before the sun was up, Outer Banks. Slow shutter speed gives the sense of softness to the water
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