News

The Night Skye News for February, 2012

Wow. Nearly a year has passed since I sent out a newsletter, and much has transpired since then. The last newsletter was just after the terrible disaster in Japan, and I’d like to thank those of you who contributed to The International Red Cross (and other NGOs working for disaster relief) after my print offer and call to aid. Together we raised over $600 for recovery efforts in Japan! I hope you are enjoying your prints.

Upcoming Workshops and Tours:

March 26- June 11 NESOP Night Photography

After a break for the winter term, I’ll again be teaching my Night Photography class at the New England School of Photography on Monday nights starting March 26. See the school’s website for details and registration information. This is an introductory level class intended to give students a strong foundation in urban Night Photography. The class consists of 1 lecture session, 3 critiques, and 4 location shoots.

May 3-6: Night Photography at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

I’ve been invited back to Sleepy Hollow to offer a third full moon Night Photography workshop on the cemetery grounds. This 3 night workshop has proven to be very popular, and is the most affordable workshop I offer. As always, we expect the Headless Horseman to make an appearance during the workshop. This workshop is almost full, reserve your spot today.

May 20-June 4: Scotland Photo Tour- Orkney and Shetland

After an incredible trip to Scotland’s northern archipelagos of Orkney and Shetland, I’ll be leading another tour to the Islands with local photographer and guide Sam Gardener. In addition to the standing stones, we’ll see puffins and other sea birds, as well as Shetland ponies. There will be plenty to photograph during the endless summer twilight known locally as “Simmer Dim”. Read about this tour, and see images from previous trips.

July 1-4: Mastering the Night at Mono Lake and Bodie

Scott Martin joins me again for our fifth Mono Lake workshop together. This year, we’re offering an advanced Night Photography workshop for alumni and other people with some night photography experience. We’ll be introducing Lightroom Four as it applies to Night Photography, and emphasizing combining light painting with image stacking for extremely long exposures, and high ISO shooting for short exposures showing star points instead of trails. As always, we will photograph at Bodie Ghost Town, and we are also trying to arrange for a post-workshop bonus night at Bodie for a small group on a first come, first serve basis. It’s all about the permits. If there is sufficient interest, we might also add a one day intensive pre-workshop on Basic Night Photography skills.

We’ve also been thinking about offering a workshop farther south on Highway 395 in 2013 that would include the Bristlecone National Forest, and the Alabama Hills. Give us some feedback, and let us know if you’d be interested in 395 South, the intro to NPy pre-workshop, or the extra night at Bodie. Get the details, and register soon, this one always fills quickly.

October 17-30: Scotland Photo Tour-The Hebrides and Highlands

This year for the first time, I’m offering two Scotland trips, one to the north, and this one to the west. We’ll begin on the Isle of Lewis, and also visit Harris before slowly making our way to the Highlands by way of Skye. This is my first fall trip, and the light will be completely different, with the sun low in the sky for most of the day, and long, dark nights- perfect for full moon Night Photography. Copious details here.

Feb: 2013- Death Valley

This one’s still in the planning stages, but Scott and I will be offering our first Death Valley workshop in February of next year. For those of you who may have attended one of The Nocturnes Death Valley workshops, we’re intentionally planning a very different experience, with different locations. Stay tuned for details.

Scott recently presented at Photoshop World in Las Vegas with our friend Russell Brown, who has been doing some really great night work in the last couple of years. The image of the Milky Way that you see here is a stitched panorama Russell created by combining 8 images, each one was shot at ISO 6400 on a moonless night at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. Russell’s presentation on his Stack-a-Matic Photoshop script was a highlight of last year’s Night Photography Festival, and we’re excited to work with him to put this new workshop together.

Recent News:

Book Update:

Night Photography- Finding Your Way in the Dark continues to receive wide acclaim. The book is more than two thirds of the way through the third printing, and has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian! I’m working on a revised edition, but no word yet from Focal Press when it will be published. Rumors of an impending book on Light Painting are still just rumors at this point, but it’s in the works.

Brazil

I had the honor of being a featured speaker and workshop instructor at Editora Photo’s “Estudio Brasil” conference in Sao Paulo last November. The conference coincided with the release of the Portuguese version of my book, so the timing was perfect. I spoke to an audience of 800 people via simultaneous translation, and demonstrated light painting on a stage before the same crowd. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but the event was a real blast- including the workshop with 25 non-English speaking students!

Odds and Ends

My friend Susan Merritt is the art coordinator for the Boston convention centers, and she installed an exhibit of my Night Photographs from Scotland at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston that runs through the end of the month. Thanks Sue!

Finally, I’d like to give a shout to my friend Stu Jenks, who has provided the soundtrack for me as I wrote this newsletter. I’ve been listening to Stu’s album, “West of the Fire, Volume II”, an ambient work he composed to accompany an exhibit of his photographs. Stu and I finally met last year at the Night Photography Festival that Scott and I produced collaboratively with The Nocturnes to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary. We had been communicating by email for more than ten years, so when we finally met it was like seeing an old friend. Anyway, you should check out Stu’s photography, writing, and music- all of which can be found on his website. Check it out! .

That’s all for now. I hope to see you out under a full moon sometime soon.