Badlands National Park Workshop…

Badlands National Park provides endless photographic opportunities! As one of my friends on Google+ wrote, “an alien looking landscape” which just about sums it up! I expected to see Curiosity, the Mars rover at any moment. The terrain is otherworldly, providing wonderful opportunities for creative work such as long exposure and infrared photography. Our group came away with beautiful and creative photographs, and we all hope to get back here soon again.  Co-leader Jason Odell and I had a great time with our workshop group, it was hard to say goodbye, and I hope we all can work together again on a future trip.

This long exposure photo, along with the first photo, was made with a Singh-Ray 10 stop neutral density filter. The clouds create expressive patterns in the sky, accentuating the drama of the Badlands landscape. I used Nik Color Efex Pro with the first photo, a combination of Tonal Contrast, Skylight, and Glamor Glow filters. The photo above was converted to black and white with Nik Silver Efex Pro. Both are part of the Nik Collection by Google, which we taught during class and image review during the workshop.

Infrared in the Badlands is a perfect match! I brought several infrared cameras for everyone to use during the workshop. I’m pretty sure we have a few IR converts! 🙂 This abandoned old car takes on an entirely new look photographed in infrared. Black and white conversion works out beautifully with infrared, removing any trace of color. Nik Silver Efex Pro has great presets to start with including Full Dynamic or High Structure, which accentuates the detail in the image. Photography captures the foundation of the image, the right touches in post processing makes it perfect.

Here we are at the Badlands! I’m going to miss everyone, a very talented and creative group. If you are interested in long exposure, I’ll be giving a presentation in Amherst, Massachusetts for NECCC on Long Exposure Creativity July 12-14. This fall I’ll be giving talks on long exposure, infrared, artistic imagery, along with twilight photography workshops at the Festival of the Cranes in Bosque del Apache. I hope to see you there!