Wow what a year, 2013! I can’t wait to get this one started! I am once again so blessed to be able to take part in so many events and workshops! I will be doing a bunch of His Light Workshops, several wonderful workshops with Jack Graham, and doing some other photo events. From time to time some of my friends ask how they can know where I will be running workshops and speaking, so here is my full 2014 Schedule as of today. You can get more information on His Light on the His Light Blog above, at www.jackgrahamphoto.com and I’ve enclosed the links for most of the other events!
January 25-26 Speaking at Wilderness Wildlife Week, Pigeon Forge, TN
http://www.mypigeonforge.com/events/wilderness-wildlife-week/
February 6-9 Speaking at Photo Pro Expo, Covington, KY
http://photoproexpo.com Use the code: PPE BF14 and save 10%
All attendees get the Full NIK Filters Suite absolutely free!!!!
February 22- March 1st Shooting and Relaxing in St Croix, US Virgin Islands with my Bride!
March 12-16 His Light Workshop at Old Car City, White, GA
March 26-30 His Light Workshop featuring Bill Pekala, and Jim Begley, Moab UT.
April 7-11 Speaking at Photoshop World, Atlanta, GA
http://photoshopworld.com/?gclid=CKvJ7J7G4LsCFcZZ7Aod8X4ARg
April 12-20 Tour of Ireland, His Light with Scott Diussa, West Coast of Ireland
April 30-May 4th Speaking and teaching at The Florida Bird Festival St. Augustine FL
http://floridasbirdingandphotofest.com
June 12-15 Columbia Gorge Workshop with Jack Graham
www.jackgrahamphoto.com
June 19-22 Palouse Workshop with Jack Graham
www.jackgrahamphoto.com
July 30 – August 3rd Nashville Ricky Skaggs His Light Workshop Nashville, TN
August 13-17 Close-Up Workshop in The Great Smoky Mountains
September 2-5 Speaking at Photoshop World Las Vegas, Nevada
September 23-28 Badlands/South Dakota His Light Workshop, Wall S.D. and Spearfish S.D.
October 15-19 Brown County Indiana His Light Fall Workshop, with Jim Haverstock
Brown County State Park, Nashville, IN
October 21-26 Acadia National Park with Jack Graham
www.jackgrahamphoto.com
October 29 – November 1 Great Smoky Mountains Fall Workshop
November 9-12 Nelson Ghost Town with Jack Graham Boulder, Nevada (near Las Vegas)
www.jackgrahamphoto.com
I sure hope you will get out to some location this year and say Hi! I really enjoy hearing from you guys and it’s extra nice to get to know you face to face! God has so richly blessed me to get to do some of the wonderful things I’m privileged to do, all Glory and Credit goes to Him! My prayer for you is a wonderful, safe, blessed, and fun New Year!!!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
Photo Note: One of my favorites from 2013, Zabriskie’s Point, Death Valley N.P. Fuji X100s, ISO 3200.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 2nd, 2014 at 9:57 pm
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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
(Admission included in workshop cost)
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
One of my favorite locations is the Palouse region of eastern Washington. We will spend our days exploring many of the back roads that offer landscape found nowhere else in the United States. The Palouse is the richest wheat growing area in the U.S. due to location, rainfall and rich soil.The Palouse country presents endless photographic opportunities. Bountiful, lush patterned-filled green hillsides are everywhere. Numerous old barns and classic scenes of rural America make up the landscape. This is not only one of the most beautiful areas in the world … it’s a photographer’s paradise.June is the perfect month to be there as the rolling hills are deep green. The cloud patterns found in the springtime make it even better! From countless locations, you can literally look in every direction and see what may be described as a watercolor painting of different shades of green. The patterns of the hills, the old barns, fences and scenes of some of the small towns that dot the roadside serves as subject matter for our workshop.We will be based in Colfax, Washington. This is a central location with easy access to the surrounding region. (See lodging and travel information below).We will drive through towns like Colfax, Garfield, Teoka, Dusty, and Steptoe and of course Palouse itself and view the landscape from Steptoe Butte and Kamiak Butte.I can guarantee that this workshop will be informative and will produce many great images. You will not believe how quick the days fly by photographing in this region.
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: billfortney@earthlink.net
or call: (606)-528-61 Home Office or (606)-344-0455 Mobile phone
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 31st, 2013 at 2:11 pm
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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
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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 28th, 2013 at 12:26 am
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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!
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 24th, 2013 at 5:27 pm
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