Coastal Brown Bears

Salmon Run, King Salmon Alaska

Salmon Run - Coastal Brown Bears in Alaska Tour -Announced!

November 7, 2019

Our adventure begins at our remote, riverfront lodge- deep in bear country, accessible only by bush plane. Each morning we will head out via boat to photograph wild coastal brown bears as they fish for salmon on the shoreline. We will be visiting at the height of the salmon run which translates to a plethora of photo opportunities. During this time it’s possible to see over 20 bears in a single day as well as a variety of other wildlife including moose, seal and walrus, beaver, wolverine, porcupine river otter, fox, caribou, wolves, eagles on nests, etc..

Our back country lodge sits on 160 acres of prime river frontage in an iconic section of the Alagnak River known as the upper braids. This river runs through Katmai National Park. Katmai is one of the most prized destinations for wildlife viewing in Alaska, with the highest population of brown bears in the world.

All guest cabins, including the main lodge (where we will have our meals together) have spectacular views of the Alagnak river ,making this a true wilderness experience.

I will work closely with each of you a well as our guides to make sure that we maximize our photo opportunities each day; this will require us to be flexible. On all of my nature workshops I never have a set itinerary, since we are working around wildlife and local conditions.

Included: 8-days, round trip bush flights to lodge from King Salmon Alaska, all meals while at the lodge, all accommodations at the lodge are double occupancy cabins.

Not Included: Flights to/from King Salmon via Anchorage. Tips for the driver/guides/housekeeping, laundry, alcoholic beverages.

Dates: July 25-August 1st, 2021

Price: $7895. dbl occupancy

Deposit Information:
A non-refundable deposit of $2,000 due now to hold your spot. Final payments are due November 30, 2020 via check or wire transfer only, fees on both ends are the responsibility of the participant. Credit cards will not be accepted for any payment other than deposit. Full payments are always welcomed via check or wire transfer . All checks made payable to: Denise Ippolito LLC.

Please be sure to check your calendar carefully and to check out my Workshop Policy Page.

Note: Purchasing travel insurance is strongly recommended.

*A detailed additional information file/ gear list will be sent out once our entire group is together. Please do not book flights until you have heard back from me that the trip is a go. Minimum/Maximum 10 participants.

*World-class fly-fishing available-inquire within.

TO SIGN UP-CLICK HERE.

Bent Tree Abstracts

November 6, 2019

I created the image above using the original capture below as my base image. I am always on the look out for source material that can be used to create digital artwork. On my recent visit to Skyline Drive in Virginia, I played around a lot with pan blurs and I wasn’t quite happy with most of them. That’s when I decided to create one that appealed to me in Photoshop. When deciding what I wanted to create I instantly thought about a photo of a stand of bent trees that I saw once. I also liked the idea of a hand-painted look. So I made my own loose interpretation of those bent trees.

To make any adjustments in Photoshop, I always start on a duplicate layer so that I can make targeted adjustments. This is an important step.

The first thing I did was add some blur to my original capture using the Blur Filter inside of Photoshop. Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Next I used the transform tool and inside of the tool I used warping to make some of the changes seen here. I made several selections and repeated this process until I was happy with the results. I also cloned some spots, etc.. In Nik Color Efex Pro I made a some color tweaks.

If you want to learn other ways that I use the warp tool in Photoshop you can check out one of my eBook-”A Guide to Creative Blurs” or “The Creative Art of Photography” both of these eBooks have examples of how I use Motion Blur and Warping.

Original capture- 1/6 sec at f/22, ISO 400. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera and Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Lens.

Below is my second attempt at another bent tree abstract. I used a non-blurred image as my base image for this one. I posted it on Facebook and they seemed to like it. Though the first image is my favorite, both were loads of fun to work on and I will be using both of them in my new eBook “The Art of Abstracts”, coming soon…. Thanks for taking a look.

Moving Grass- Subscription Bonus

November 3, 2019

I wanted to share how I remove blowing or moving grass from a scene. We have all been there, you are photographing an animal and it is windy out… blades of grass or reeds are blowing all over the place. They are annoying to try to work around but most especially when they are directly in front of your subject. Those grasses can be tricky to clone and even more difficult if your subject has hair or fur.

I created a work around by necessity. On my last safari we had conditions like I described above. My subject was a lion. It’s mane was under attack from grasses-blowing in the wind Since my lion was holding very still, I tried slowing down my shutter, that kind-of worked well for some of the shots. But for some, it was of no use. I captured many images (probably too many) in a series with my Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 20 fps. But because I had captured so many, I had several shots in a row with the grass in a different position but the lion remained in the exact same spot, not having moved at all. So I decided to get rid of the grasses by layering my images. I have used this technique several times with moving people in a scene so I knew it worked.

Bring your images into Photoshop, in this case I used just two but you could use more if needed. To bring them into Photoshop I select “open as layers” -this will bring my images into Photoshop with them stacked on top of each other. Since they were identical except for the placement of the moving grass I added a layer mask and revealed the portion of the lion’s mane that did not have grass on it. It was just that simple. I also removed some other background distractions using the same layer mask. A tiny bit of cloning or added blur could be used for slight touch-ups if needed. I did not clear out all the grass—I could have, but I wanted the grass and slight blur to still be a part of the image.

Shot through the front windshield while driving 35 mph (I was not the diver) with my Olympus-gotta love the 5 axis image stabilization.

Skyline Drive

October 31, 2019

I just returned home form a three-day camping and hiking trip in Virginia. I stayed at a campground about 15 miles from Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive is one of America’s most scenic byways and runs the entire length of Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains. With 75 overlooks through 105 miles of manicured, tree laced, winding roads; it could not have been more lovely—well, maybe if I had hit it at peak color <grin>. Maybe next time…

When we first arrived at Skyline Drive the colors were super saturated, heavy to orange and yellow. In the early mornings, the overlooks were filled with dense fog. Each stop was more beautiful than the other—it was a lot to take in. I love trees and could photograph them all day long but it was more of a camping trip than photo trip so I tried not to spend too much time on photography.

Our campground was clean and quiet. The only sounds we heard were from neighboring cows in the meadow. We stayed in Luray; there are famous caverns in that town but we did not check them out. We were busy doing a lot of forest bathing and exploring.

I decided to bring my Olympus gear on this trip because I knew I wanted to hike and it is incredibly lightweight. I also did not want the hassle of setting up a tripod over and over again; I I brought one just in case. I packed my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II , Olympus ED 12-40mm f/2.8 and my Olympus 40-150mm lens. I also brought my MeFOTO GlobeTrotter Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod but never used it. For every photo here, I used the 40-150mm lens which is effectively an 80-300mm. The top photo was captured from a moving vehicle through the slightly dirty front windshield.

I got home late last night and am writing this just before heading to bed. I had so much fun on this trip—mostly because it wasn’t a well planned trip, we didn’t even know where we were going to stay when we left Jersey. A true adventure!

Topaz Glow and Impression applied to create a leaf abstract.

My New Safari Packing Tip

October 28, 2019

Every time I go somewhere for a workshop I am faced with early morning wake up calls. This is a GOOD THING… I love early morning light and once I am up, I am ready to go. But I am also a procrastinator. I wait until the very last minute to get out of bed. I allow myself 15 minutes to get up, brush my teeth and hair, wash my face, get dressed and get my gear together. If you are like me, some of these tips may help. You may have a few good tips of your own you would like to share.

First I start with the way I pack my checked bag. I do have a hard case bag and believe me this has helped with fragile items in the past.

While I am home going through my clothes and deciding what to take with me. I pick out five pairs of safari pants, matching safari shirts for each pair of pants and because I like to wear a tank top-I pick out a coordinating tank top for each outfit, next I pick out a matching buff for each outfit and a pair of short ankle socks.

Now for the fun part, I take five plastic hangers. I put one pair of pants on each hanger (folded over the bottom piece of the hanger) then I put a matching shirt on the same hanger and button the top button, over the hook of the hanger I put a tank top and matching buff, inside the top pocket of my safari shirt I put a pair of my socks. Each hanger now has a coordinating outfit ready to go. After I finish with all of these sets of clothes, I take all five hangers together and fold them neatly together in my suitcase, when I get to my location, I take them out as a group and hang them up. They are remarkably, not wrinkled and each outfit is ready to go. Since most safaris are around ten days I plan on wearing each outfit twice. I can use the plastic hanger to hang clothes after washing them out myself (they dry very quickly) or get them laundered at camp.

In addition to these outfits I pack an extra pair of pants, 2 extra tank tops and 2 extra socks. I also always bring 2 safari hats. I can’t tell you how many folks have lost hats on safari. I also bring 2 lightweight fleeces and a beanie hat. I also pack rain pants and a rain jacket.

If I am going somewhere cold, I make adjustments to my packing. I use base layers instead of safari pants and shirts, I wear snowboard pants ( I pack 2 pair) over the top of my base pants. I wear stretchy fleeces over my base layer shirt—2 if really cold a warm jacket. I wear smart wool socks (I pack them and my tripod head in my boots) and use smart wool buffs, boots, gloves, hats and scarves, etc.. you get the idea.

No matter if I go somewhere warm or cold I always travel with shower shoes or flip flops, mine are lightweight plastic, they are also worn in camp or around the lodge-but most of all they keep my feet free of germs in the shower. These I pack on the outside flap of my gear bag for additional cushion for my gear.

My toiletries are all in a ziploc bags that I have been re-using for years. I have my toothpaste and toothbrush together with dental floss in one. I have shampoo,conditioner, comb and shower gel in another. I have all of my additional items including things like, band-aids, after-bite, neosporin, hydrocortisone, deodorant, nail clippers, sunblock, etc.. in another bag.

I never have to sort through my suitcase looking for a pair of socks or matching shirt again. I also get my camera gear bag together and make it a habit to clean my lenses each night before going to bed.

GEAR BAG

I always bring (2) camera bodies.

Sony Alpha a9 mirrorless camera--my go-to camera for wildlife

Sony Alpha a7R III Mirrorless Digital Camera

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens

Sony FE 24-105mm f/4, G lens

Sony FE 1.4x Teleconvertor

Sony FE 2X Teleconvertor

MeFOTO GlobeTrotter Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod/ black -comes with its own head.

Rocket Blaster Dust-Removal Tool (Large, Black)-if you have an inferior rocket blower -throw it away and get a good one.

Hoodman lens wipes-these are amazing.