UK Puffins & Gannets 2019 - Spots Open

UK Puffins & Gannets Photo Adventure with Denise Ippolito
June 15 through June 22, 2019: $4999, 7 nights. Limit 8 photographers-spots available

This UK trip offers unparalleled opportunities to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Gannet. As well as Arctic, Sandwich, and Common Terns. On one of the islands that we stop at Arctic Tern chicks line the pathway. Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls are constantly harassing the Puffins trying to grab their fish that they bring in by the mouthfuls. This makes for some great photography. But don't worry the Puffins are quick to slide into their burrows. To sign up CLICK HERE.

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Itinerary
During this photo adventure we will have 5 scheduled Puffin landings at two of the Farne Islands. We also have one Bass Rock Landing scheduled. Bass Rock is one of the world's largest gannet colonies with over 150,000 gannets at peak season. To land on "The Rock" is truly a special event. You will have the opportunity to walk through the colony and see the interaction at point blank range. These large seabirds will most likely be on eggs during this time. There will be many different types of behavior to capture including; mating, squabbling, landing with nesting material, nest care, eggs being warmed by their feet, sky pointing and more... We will be briefed by one of the Bass Rock caregivers before landing and they will be there to assist us while we are there. Please keep in mind this landing is weather permitting and the boat captain will have the final say as to whether or not the boat will sail on the scheduled day. Participants wishing to sign up must be in good physical condition -able to climb a flight of stairs.

There is a beautiful castle nearby and we will go there one evening after dinner to capture a sunset shot of the castle from one of my favorite spots. We may also visit a second castle if the schedule permits.

Details
Fly into Edinburgh International Airport (EDI) on the first morning of the trip -June 15th. I will meet you at the airport and we will drive to our cottages from there. Group meeting time will be in the detailed PDF file so be sure to book your flights accordingly. In the PDF I will also go over gear selection, clothing selection as well as electrical outlets, currency and much, much more...

We will be staying in two upscale country cottages that are lovely with beautiful views of the countryside. The cottages boast a large living area and lots of open space for informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The shared rooms are nice-sized, each with a private bathroom. There are also two laundry rooms, so no need to bring loads of clothes! Single supplements are limited, please inquire within.

All ground transportation including a group transfer to and from the airport is included. All boat fees, national trust fees, and permits are included in the price.

All breakfasts, lunches and dinners are included. All boat lunches will need to be prepared by you in advance, taken with, and consumed at your leisure. I usually eat mine on the short boat trip from one island to the other. There will be at least one or two nights of take out and one fish and chips dinner. All other dinners will be at local restaurants. Desserts and all beverages as well as all snacks are not included.

Deposit Info
A non-refundable $2,000 per person payment is required to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on January 29, 2019. Please make all checks payable to “Denise Ippolito LLC”. Overseas folks can pay their balances via wire transfer; the registrant is responsible for the fees on both ends. If I do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date above I will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Travel Insurance
Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options.

*All scheduled landings are weather permitting.

Crossing Genres

Years ago, I was told by one or two top photographers that it was best to specialize in one genre of photography. They insisted that by crossing over to other genres, not only would I dilute my brand but would leave something on the table. I was also told the same by a promotional rep that I hired for about a minute-until I realized he and I were not on the same path.

This could all be true, but for me, my photography was and still is a journey with no end in sight. I consider crossing genres the same as cross training— being able to stretch those muscles not always reached by one steady course. 

I have learned that there are a lot of little nuances that exist between genres. Exploring these differences is a great way to grow as a photographer. This has also forced me to work with a greater variety of camera bodies and lenses. Right now I am shooting with Sony, Canon and Olympus.

Most bird photographers are really good at using super and intermediate telephoto lenses; they may on occasion use a wide angle lens. I know a lot of flower and landscape photographers that don’t even own a super telephoto lens. By the same token, I know a lot of bird photographers that don’t own a macro lens or a super wide angle lens.

What I am really talking about here is versatility, getting out of a rut -being open to explore new frontiers and conquering the line between genres. I know it has kept me interested in my own photography and I have been able to become a better photographer by doing so. Someday when I grow up or old whichever comes first, I’ll pick a genre and specialize in it—for now I am just enjoying what comes next.

*The above image was created from a boat near Bass Rock aka The Rock. Bass Rock is home to a gannet colony of over 150,000 at peak season. This year my two tours to the UK are scheduled to land on The Rock. I have a couple of spots left on the first tour. To learn more about this trip or to sign up for it CLICK HERE.

And the Winner Is....

During my recently concluded Charleston workshop I offered a challenge to my clients. There was a fountain in the downtown area that looked extremely hard to shoot-many walked right past it. The shot was difficult at best and I knew that if I made it a challenge most of the participants would put forth a greater effort. As the complaints kept coming in- that the scene was hard and it wasn’t interesting…I started telling them that the prize would be huge, never letting them know just how huge it was, until everyone was finished shooting the fountain. I then announced that I was offering a free spot on my upcoming Olympic Peninsula workshop (TBA -soon) for the winning image.

To be honest, on my workshops when I offer prizes for shooting challenges, they are never this big, but I wanted them to dig deep and really try; I also wanted to tell them all about my upcoming workshop since I was busting at the seams. I can’t wait to get out there next month and scout. I am giving a presentation to the Olympic Peaks Camera Club, Sequim, WA . I know a few of the members; everyone is welcoming me to the area with open arms and they will be assisting me in my scout-since some of the members know the area like the back of their hand.

Back to the contest, Scott Young (the winner) really tried both in the capture and in post processing, I was rewarding the effort more than the image but they did not know this and are probably just now finding that out. My thoughts are this: If you are going to take a photo-it should always be your very best, or there is no reason to even take it. Every image should be your best foot forward—-always!!!

Some of the workshop participants were not inspired by the subject and did not enter and that is ok. You need to be inspired. My challenge inspired some of the clients to look harder, work longer, dig deeper—and that is what it was all about.

Scott shares his post processing steps for anyone that is interested. The before and after image are included below. He did a great job! Click on each image to see the full version.

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Final image

FROM SCOTT:

1. Initially, I had no idea how to approach the assignment, which seemed impossible to me. My first inclination was to try to do a zoom blur with the fountain at center but those looked terrible. I was lucky to find an angle where I could use the iron "fence" and vines to frame the fountain and leave most of it showing through. It bugged me that I could only get substantial leaves on one side but, because of the angle, there was no way to get around that without a lot of messy cloning. 

2. I did normal processing on the single raw frame in PS Camera Raw. 

(The next steps I have mostly learned from Denise's e-books and lectures and some trial and error)

3. Next I applied Topaz Simplify (BuzzSim preset) at 40% opacity to "soften" the feel of the fountain, vines, and iron fence.

4. Then I applied Topaz Impression (Davinci Sketch I) to the image to isolate the fountain and vines from the distracting elements around them.  

• I have found that using the "Masking" controls within the preset,  I can tweak the coverage of the vignetting effect of Davinci so I used that to include more of the vines at top and bottom. 

• Using the preset "Color" controls I changed the "Overall Saturation" slider from -1.0 to +.15 to bring back the colors in the central area of the image (fountain and vines)

• Once back in PS, I used a layer mask to further tweak the coverage of the Davinci effect and to emphasize the fountain/vines in the center. I applied the Davinci effect at 100% opacity except for the masked areas. 

5.  In the original image the rising sun caused the fountain to have a "peach" color cast, which I liked, but I thought it was better to have the color of the fountain match the color of the vines so I used the Image-Autocolor control to return the fountain to the natural gray tones. I hated to give up that peach color, though!

6. The last thing I did was to add a "Levels" adjustment layer, brightened the image, and then used an inverted layer mask to only increase the highlights of the white water cascading and pooling in the fountain base. 

In reading back over this it sounds like a lot but I use these particular filters, pre-sets, and masks frequently so I can do them pretty quickly.  

To see more of Scott Young’s images from Charleston, check out his gallery HERE.

Visual Lines in Landscapes

One of the strongest elements of composition is the use of visual lines.  You often hear them referred to as leading lines, s-curves, image flow or roadmaps. They are actually just a way to lead the viewer’s eye slowly and carefully through a photo or to draw a connection between two or more objects in the scene. They are also help to create depth within an image.

The goal, however, is essentially to “walk” the viewer’s eye around the image without a direct exit or straight line out; making sure that they stay engaged in the scene along the way. A straight leading line that brings the viewer to a primary point of interest can also be very effective.

Some of you may be having questions like; how do I find these visual lines? Are they hiding? I can never find these lines or s-curves, why? The answer is that sometimes we find them and sometimes we create them, and other times they are simply just not there.

To find the “lines” I start by taking my camera off of my tripod so that I have complete flexibility to inspect the scene. I like to walk around the scene looking for elements that I can use as leading lines or foreground elements. I also like to get down low or get to a higher vantage point to change my perspective. I often times will change out my lens if I can’t find anything useful. I find that a wider angle lens for some landscapes works much better and other times a medium zoom lens is the ticket, there is no set lens to use. It is not a technical matter with exact numbers or equations. You really have to rely on what looks good to you. I take many test shots and review the images on the back of my camera before I even get my tripod set up for the actual shot.

Sometimes I need to de-clutter or simplify the scene. To do that, I start by taking away unnecessary elements from the edges, including the top, bottom and both sides. Moving your camera position or having a zoom lens can be helpful with this. Otherwise, I like to employ “human zooming” -- just moving your body. Another way to eliminate distracting background elements is by getting down very low. By getting low you can make some background elements virtually disappear.

I will also turn to B&W to help me simplify a scene.  I often set my Picture Style on my camera to Monochrome so that I can get a look at what the photo will look like in B&W before I capture it, I find this very helpful when trying to compose in a cluttered situation.

To create a visual journey when there are no obvious leading lines available I will look for color, contrast, light, darkness, sharpness, blur and even sun rays to help me create those lines. In the example image below I used the receding water to help create a visual line for my image.

The truth is that sometimes you will have to work harder, trying to find interesting and innovative ways to draw the viewer into your photograph, be creative and resourceful.

Tanzania 2020 Officially Announced!

Tanzania – March 9-19th, 2020 / $7995.00 based on per person sharing basis (10 nights). Maximum 7. We will use three stretch Toyoto land cruisers with three rows per vehicle so that everyone gets their own row.

Join Paul McKenzie and Denise Ippolito for our first Tanzania Photo Tour . Our dates have been chosen to coincide with the wildebeest,  zebra and gazelle calving season. The large numbers of young and inexperienced animals are a magnet for Africa’s predators. The big cats – lions, leopards and cheetahs along with hyenas and jackals are extremely active during this period and your chance of seeing and photographing predator-prey interaction and kills are very high during this period. But the calving season also means young adorable calves and tender momentswith their mothers.  

Day 1 (March 9) – Arrival in at Kilimanjaro International airport. Transfer to and overnight in Arusha town, Tanzania.

Day 2 (March 10)– Drive to Lake Manyara – about a 3 hour drive. Afternoon game drive in Lake Manyara. Overnight Lake Manyara.

Day 3 (March 11)– Early morning game drive in Lake Manyara. Drive to Ngorongoro crater (about 3 hours) – late morning/afternoon game drive in Ngorongoro crater. Proceed to Lake Ndutu (2 hour drive). Overnight Lake Ndutu and stay for five nights.

Days 4, 5, 6, 7 (March 12, 13, 14, 15)– The Lake Ndutu area is the main wildebeest and zebra calving area and has large concentrations of Cheetah, Lion and Leopard.

Day 8 (March 16) – Drive to the central Serengeti. Our camp is in the vicinity of the Moru Kopjes. The central Serengeti is similar to the Mara but on a much bigger scale, ie endless rolling plains. The landscape is punctuated by rock outcroppings known as kopjes which are a magnet for Lion prides. Everyone’s dream shot are lions on these kopjes. There is lots of game and plenty of all the big cats (lions, leopards and cheetahs)

Day 9 (March 17) and day 10 (March 18) – Central Serengeti.

Day 11 (March 19) – After an early morning game drive, drive to airstrip (1 hour drive) for morning flight back to Arusha.

Guests can then fly out that evening from Kilimanjaro airport for their international flight or stay overnight in Arusha to take a flight on March 20th.

The price includes all meals, including the first night’s dinner in Arusha; all accommodations are on a per person sharing basis as well as the flight back from the Serengeti to Arusha. It does not include international flights, drinks at our camps and lodges, laundry and other miscellaneous items as well as tips for the camp staff and our drivers- approx. $400.00 per person.

An additional information sheet will be sent once the group has been gathered.

Deposit

I will need a $2,000 non-refundable deposit made by pushing the “Deposit button” in order to hold your spot. The second payment of $3,000 is due on April 15, 2019 and the final payment of $2,995 is due on Sept. 1, 2019. All payments except for the deposit must be paid via check only, made out to “Denise Ippolito LLC”. Overseas folks can pay their balances via wire transfer; the registrant is responsible for the fees on both ends. Sorry, there are no discounts given to non-photographer spouses for this trip.

Travel Insurance- I urge everyone to purchase travel insurance for a major trip like this.

This trip needs a minimum of 7 to go, please don't purchase your flights until I have confirmed. All deposits will be refunded in full if the trip does not run.

*Single supplements are available for the trip at $1400.00pp. Please inquire as to availability. If you or I are unable to line up a same sex roommate for you, you will be charged the single supplement on a pro-rated basis.

TO SIGN UP FOR THIS FANTASTIC TOUR CLICK HERE.