Monthly Archives: December 2013

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

LAST CHANCE TO SAVE 10% ON NEXT YEARS WORKSHOPS

EMAIL RECIEVED BEFORE MIDNIGHT WILL HIOLD YOUR 2014 SPOT!!

We are proud to announce the full wave of workshops and tours for His Light’s Workshops 2014 Season  & Bill Fortney featured at Jack Graham Workshops!!!. We hope you find some events that will meet your needs!  Please review our offerings and read the registration information carefully.  We’ve made many changes for 2014 to make your experience better than ever!  Smaller groups, exciting new locations and many new features to make your experience better than ever.

VERY SPECIAL OFFER   –  Register for any of these workshops by December 31s, 2013 and take a 10% discount off the workshop or Tour Fee    *(excluding Ireland)!

Old Car City – White, GA    –     Americana Workshop    –    March 12th – 16th, 2014

Limited to  15 Attendees   $799.  Workshop Fee 

Leaders:  Bill Fortney & Jim Begley 

If you love old trucks, cars, and antiques, Old Car City is a paradise or rust and color!  Jim Begley will teach the various methods of doing HDR on the images of these classic cars.  This is a workshop so we will do approx. 50% field shooting and 50% classroom time.  This has become one of our best attended workshop locations so act soon if you want one of the 12 spots for this years trip to Old Car City!!!!  Catch my, soon to be released, Kelby Training class on Old Car City!!!

Arches/ Canyonlands & Night Photography  –    March 26th – 30th, 2014   SOLD OUT   *Taking Waiting List Customers.

Limited to  15 Attendees   $999.  Workshop Fee     ONLY 1 SPOT

Leaders:  Bill Fortney, Jim Begley, Bill Pekala, and Snake Barrett 

Astrophotography specialist Bill Pekala, and, soon to be, former head of Nikon’s NPS (Nikon Professional Services) and the full His Light team will guide you through Arches and Canyonlands with a special emphasis on night time photography!  Arches and Canyonlands are two of the National Park Systems most stunning parks, a few of the crown jewels of the the Utah Red Rock country! Moab is a great destination  and we will all get to chow down on one of America’s best burgers and Milt’s Stop and Eat!!  Could it get any better than that!

Ireland Adventure the West Coast   –    April 13th -20th , 2014     Easter in Ireland

Limited to  10 Attendees   $2,495.  Lodging, ground transportation, tour leaders, breakfast each day     * does not include air fare

$350. additional for single occupancy rooming.

Leaders:  Bill Fortney & Scott Diussa

Explore the Emerald Isle’s West coast with leaders Bill Fortney and Scott Diussa.  Scott is NPS Field Manager for Nikon, and formerly Bill’s boss at Nikon!  Visit such quant villages along the west coast of Irleand as Dingle, Glenngariff, Doolin, Moher, Kilkee, and Bunratty Castle.  Enjoy a leisurely pace to explore the pubs, people, music, and faith of the Irish people. This is a wonderful chance to discover the beautiful, rural side, of the Emerald Isle.

New Orleans, Louisiana  –    May 7th – 11th, 2014

Limited to  12 Attendees   $995.  Workshop Fee

Leaders:  Jim Begley, Chuck Barnes and Snake Barrett

Come join us as we travel around the iconic southern port city of New Orleans. We’ll hit the streets of the French Quarter taking images of the architecture, music and street scenes. Boarding a streetcar we will head for the Garden district to make photos of antebellum mansions and pristine gardens. We’ll stand on the steps at Jackson Square, sipping Cafe Au Lait or hot chocolate, eating beignets from Cafe Du Monde as we wait for sunset.

Even though we won’t be in the city during Mardi Gras, we will get to visit the largest working warehouse for storing and creating the fantastic floats that adorn the parade routes. Taking a short ferry ride across the great Mississippi River at night, will give us the opportunity to photograph the city lights.

We’ll stay on the edge of the French Quarter at great hotel. We don’t recommend that anyone rents a car, as parking is at a premium. We can walk to the French Quarter and hop streetcars to any other locations.

Come join us and as they say “Laissez les bons temps rouler” (Let the good times roll)

Grandfather Mountain / Blue Ridge Parkway  –    May 28th – June 1st, 2014 

Limited to  12 Attendees   $899.  Workshop Fee        ONLY 4 SPOTS

Leaders:  Bill Fortney & Jim Begley

One of only two United Nations Biospheres in America.  Grandfather Mountain in Western North Carolina is on of the most beautiful mountains in the Blue Ridge Range of the Appalachians.  Fantastic wildlife habitats for bear, cougar, eagles, and deer allow close shooing in a natural setting.   Add to that the wonderful waterfalls at Linville Gorge, and the Blue Ridge Parkway, all in the High Mountain spring!  Join us for this great Spring workshop!

Columbia Gorge, Oregon  –    June 12th – June 15th, 2014 

Limited to  12 Attendees   $995.  Workshop Fee 

Leaders:  Jack Graham & Bill Fortney

To Register Contact:  Jack Graham    2014 Workshop Registration Form

Or Visit   www.jackgrahamphoto.com 

The Palouse, Washington State  –    June 19th – June 22nd, 2014 

Limited to  12 Attendees   $995.  Workshop Fee 

Leaders:  Jack Graham & Bill Fortney

To Register Contact:  Jack Graham    2014 Workshop Registration Form

Or Visit   www.jackgrahamphoto.com 

Nashville Ricky Skaggs Workshop  –    July 30th  – August 3,  2014

Limited to  15 Attendees   $799.  Workshop Fee

* Includes a ticket for the Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder concert at the Ryman Theatre

Leaders:  Bill Fortney, Jim Begley, and Country Music Legend, Ricky Skaggs, and Snake Barrett

Join Jim, Ricky, and I for a great Americana workshop in Music City, Nashville, Tennessee. Great Americana locations like Canonsburg Village, Nashville’s Broadway at night, and the city scape with river reflections.  Add to all of that we will visit the American Picker’s Antique Archeology Store in Marathon Motor Works area.  Photograph priceless guitars and portraits of Ricky in conjunction with Dury’s Camera and guest lighting instructor Nick Coury!  Fee includes a ticket to the Ryman Theatre performance of Ricky and Kentucky Thunder, this years performance was fantastic!

Great Smokies Close-Up Workshop  –    August 13th – 17th

Limited to  8 Attendees   $899.  Workshop Fee 

Leader:  Bill Fortney

An intense workshops in close-up field work in the perfect place for incredible varieties of subject matter from dew covered insects to dew drops ion spider webs and much, much more! We will also enjoy the great streams, and mountain views of The Great Smoky Mountains. Classroom time will be spent on all the most important principles of close range shooting!

Badlands – Black Hills Tour  –    September 23rd – 28th

Limited to  12 Attendees   $995.   Workshop Fee 

Leader:  Bill Fortney & Jim Begley

One of the most unique and varied landscape regions in South Dakota.  The Badlands, The Black Hills, Custer State Park and the incredible waterfalls of Spearfish Canyon.  Set in the wonderful weather of fall in this unique and historic region.   Visit Historic Deadwood, and drive up the beautiful Nemos road, this will be a tour you will never forget.  Lodging in Wall, SD will be the famous Cowboy Cabins, and we will visit the famous “Wall Drugs!”

Brown County Indiana in Fall Workshop  –    October 15th – 19th       Only 4 Spots left.

Limited to  8 Attendees   $899.  Workshop Fee     SOLD OUT

Leader:  Bill Fortney & James Haverstock

One of the best places to photograph fall foliage in America.  Covered bridges, forests filled with a great variety of deciduous trees, the wonderful village of Story, and Nashville, Indiana. The Indiana rolling hills and quant barns make for a wonderful place to enjoy the brisk weather!  Many great photographic surprises wait for us in Indiana!

Acadia National Park –    October 21st – 26th, 2014 

Limited to  12 Attendees   $995.  Workshop Fee 

Leaders:  Jack Graham & Bill Fortney

To Register Contact:  Jack Graham    2014 Workshop Registration Form

Or Visit   www.jackgrahamphoto.com 

Great Smoky Mountains N.P.  in Fall Workshop  –    October 29th – November 2nd   SOLD OUT

Limited to 12 Attendees   $899.  Workshop Fee     SOLD OUT

Leader:  Bill Fortney & Jim Begley

There is few other places in America as spectacular as the Great Smoky Mountains in fall.  Our workshop is planned for the end of October at the back end of the peak foliage.  Why? Simple the park guests are starting to leave, and the stream beds are covered with beautiful leaves, perfect for intimate landscape shots in the brooks, rivers, and in Cades Cove.  Wild life are active, and a good number of leaves are still hanging in the trees.  This will be a workshop with an emphasis on finding the picture in the picture, extraction!  We promise you will leave a more observant and effective photographer!

Nelson Ghost Town – Las Vegas Neon Sign Museum,  Nevada –    November 9th  – 121th, 2014 

Limited to  12 Attendees   $995.  Workshop Fee 

Leaders:  Jack Graham & Bill Fortney

To Register Contact:  Jack Graham    2014 Workshop Registration Form

Or Visit   www.jackgrahamphoto.com 

IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION 

We take reservations as people contact us, usually by email or phone calls,  that they want to be included in one of our events. However a reservation is not complete until we receive the information below and a Deposit.

DEPOSITS – The deposit amount is specified with each workshop and it is due at the time of the actual booking of a workshop.  Your space in the workshop is not reserved until your deposit is recieved.  The full balance is due 60 days before the event.  If we do not receive the balance at that time we reserve the right to give your spot to the next person on the wait list. The deposit is $300.

You can mail a check of $300. to:

Bill Fortney /His Light Workshops
160 Whirlaway Trail
Corbin, KY   40701

Or call either  (606)-528-6119 or (606)-344-0455 and we can take your credit card over the phone.

If you cancel your workshop the following applies.
If cancellation is received at least 90 days prior to the start of a workshop, you will get a full refund, when we fill your space.

For cancellations received 31-89 days prior to the start of a workshop the deposit will be forfeited, but can be applied to a future workshop.

Cancellations received 0-30 days prior to the workshop, all deposits, and workshop’s fees will be forfeited.  However, 100% of forfeited funds can be applied to a future event.

If His Light has to cancel an event, all funds are completely refunded.

** Note additional workshops may be added… Check my blog and the His Light Workshops Website for future offerings

For Space in any of these events please reach me at:   [email protected]

or call:  (606)-528-61  Home Office   or   (606)-344-0455  Mobile phone

I got a few emails after yesterday’s entry.  The most interesting was; “you’ve covered the image quality, and the lens sharpness, but surely there are more reasons why you’ve gone this direction!?”  Happy to expound on that because it contains some important opportunities to talk about photography.

1.  Small cameras do not threaten people you would like to photograph, who may not know you!   The quality of the image that comes out of say a D4 is truly spectacular, but most people get nervous when you point a big camera and  lens in their face.  By contrast a small non-imposing mirror-less camera doesn’t seem to bother people at all.  So I’m getting a lot better people images than every before.

2.  One of the cool facts is that smaller sensors don’t need as big a lens to cover there circle of confusion.  It’s easier and less expensive to make highly corrected lenses when they can be physically smaller.  When lenses can be made smaller they can be made physically stronger and they can take much smaller filters, which are less expensive!

3.  Smaller cameras and smaller lenses mean smaller camera bags, and less weight!  If you take the Fuji System I’m currently carrying, (three bodies, 7 lenses, filters, batteries {lots of batteries}, chargers, and other accessories comes to around 14 pounds.  The same system with my Nikon gear would top out at 30 pounds or more!

4.  Relative cost of high end lenses.  One of my favorite lenses is the new 23mm f 1.4 Fujinon lens (remember that the sensor in the Fuji X series bodies are APS-C size,  so the 23mm would be the equivalent of a 35mm lens)  In my Nikon System a 35mm f 1.4 lens costs over $1,600 takes 77mm filters and is twice as big as my Fujinon 23mm f1.4.  Plus the 23mm f 1.4 from Fuji costs at least $600. less.  Quality?  The Nikkor is fantastic, but then so is the Fujinon, maybe a hair better!

5.  The optical viewfinder on the X-Pro-1,  and X100s are even brighter than DSLR viewfinders.  If you shoot a lot of available light, the rangefinder type optical viewfinder on the Fujis are fantastic!  The bright line frame lines are great when you want to keep track of what is happening outside the imaging area.

6.  The biggest advantage is that the X System camera allows you to shoot a single frame and have it processed, in camera, into three different color or monochrome palettes!  Did you get that?  You shoot a single frame and you get three separate files in any three palettes of your choosing.  I have my cameras set for Velvia, Provia, and Monochrome.  The Provia is almost identical to the classic Fuji film, the Velvia is a little overblown, but you can adjust all the parameters in the settings.  The monochrome is the most beautiful rendition I’ve ever seen come straight out of the camera.  I rarely have to even take them into NIK Silver Efex Pro unless I want a much more or less contrasty image. This is a huge plus since you don’t have to go out searching for just monochrome images or do lengthy monochrome processing.

7.  The best image stabilization I’ve used before the Fuji System is that in the VR II in Nikon’s newest lenses.  The Optical Image Stabilization in the lenses featuring it with Fuji are just as good!

8.  Lens speed is excellent.  My 14mm is a f 2.8, the 23mm is f 1.4, and 35mm f1.4, the 60mm Micro is a f 2.4, the only slower lens is the 55-200 (80-300 equivalent) is a f 3.5-4.8, not fast, but as 80-300 goes faster than most!

9.  Noise, I covered this before, but this is the biggest advantage to the X System.  Noise is virtually non existent all the way to 3200 and only barely visible at 6400, believe it or not it’s usable even above that!  One of the tremendous advantages for me is the ability to once again shoot hand held if needed!!!

10.  Easy to understand, familiar, retro controls that take you back to the days you learned how to use a camera!   As hard as I tried, I always missed a real aperture ring, a shutter speed knob, the feel of metal dials!  When you feel complete comfort with the operational aspect of a cameras it just feels right.  The new Nikon Df played on that theme, a throw back camera that took you back to the past, some love it. some don’t, I for one am absolutely back in my comfort zone with the X System cameras and lenses!

Hope that at least partially answers the questions.

Blessings,

the pilgrim

This Christmas I’m thankful for many miracles, the coming of a Savior who changed our lives, and the blessings of this life.  Family, friends, faith, and the joy of being a photographer.  Brian Stefl and his family stopped though Corbin, and had breakfast with Stephen Hart, Wesley and I and then I got this wonderful Christmas Card from him and his wife Carrie!  It just reminded me of the greatest joy, people like him, and Jim Begley, Jim Haverstock, Richard Small, Jack Graham, Carl Turner, Snake, and Chuck, Raymond, Ted, Ron, Susan, and Lynn, Don, well you get it, lots and lots of great people that make this life, here worth while!

Then there is the new lives that join us!  We welcome into this world Olivia, born to John and Sarah Walrath.  They are blessed this Christmas.

The next blessing I’m enjoying this Christmas season is a renewed love for photography! Retiring has helped me focus on the more pure aspect of seeing, searching and enjoying the process.  The switch to a lighter system has lifted my spirits as well!  I’m loving the freedom it brings!

Merry Christmas,

.

the pilgrim

December 26th –   Gearing Up for 2014!

Thanks for riding along with me this past year, I promise to do my best to keep it interesting, and inspiring in the year to come, enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,

I’ll be back the 26th!

Blessings

the pilgrim