Click 4
I am just recovering from my week at Click 4, the 4th annual California Photo Festival, in the central coast area. I now find myself rapidly preparing for the big east coast photography convention, Photo Plus Expo and I thought I’d squeeze out a blog post before I leave.
The festival takes place in October, generally over the Columbus Day weekend—this year it happened during the week, from Oct. 7th thru Oct. 11th—5 days of fun packed workshops, seminars and photo safaris. I taught 12 workshops & seminars, exhausting but very fun. The festival is very well managed by the amazing (and this year, very pregnant) Victoria Schmitt, and there were few glitches save for the inevitable weather cancelations. I always have a lot of fun at the festival and I get to hang out with some amazing photographers and instructors!
Every year, one of the first workshops, or photo safaris is the “Horses on the Beach” group shoot. This is so popular that it has become almost a cliche and most attendees manage to get a great shot of horses and riders running along the waters edge at sunset. I am usually tasked with finding some alternative subject to shoot and this year we had a group of belly dancers that modeled for us…
The belly dance group had great colorful costumes and they were a lot of fun to photograph
As it turned out, this year it was overcast the evening of the shoot, so there was no sunset. However, this did not pose a problem for my group and we got a lot of cool movement shots of these colorful dancers.
Separate lighting directions were placed into the separate RGB channels to create this colorful effect with white light flashlights.
The last full day of workshops had me doing a seminar/demo on Hollywood style glamour photography. I was fortunate to have the amazing Amanda as my last minute model substitute! You can see how I achieve some of my glamour effects here: A Better Glamour Image
Amanda Valena was my model for the Hollywood Glamour workshop where I shot, retouched, and applied several special enhancements in a 3-hour session.
My last workshop was a sunset walk on the beach with the amazing Amanda as my model again. As is usual for me with these sort of workshops, my students all got many more good shots than I did…
Here the sunset light is being bounced back into the shadow side with a silver reflector. The Pismo Beach pier is in the background.
On final sunset shot as the sun drops behind a cloud back on the horizon.
The California Photo Festival is always a blast, and I look forward to sharing it with you all next year. If you’ve never sampled the pleasures of California’s central coast, make it a point to join me next year at the Click 5 festival.
Up Coming Events
Bobbi Lane and Lee Varis, Fuji-X Photographers, are hosting the Venice Carnival Photo Tour for a seven day event that includes photographing the amazing costumes and an exploration of this gorgeous city.It’s an extraordinary event, and we will help you capture the fun and revelry along with the rich architecture and the splendid light.
This is Bobbi’s 13th and Lee’s 10th time photographing Venice Carnival and we have made many friendships with the top models with their elaborate costumes. We arrange private shoots with the costumers, including the opportunity to photograph them in a gondola. Lighting is of great importance, and we provide extensive instruction in both natural lighting, and working with flash. This is essential for the dawn shoots of costumers at St. Mark’s Square, combining flash with the background to create stunning and magical effects.
Join Bobbi & Lee on a five-day, small group photographic exploration of the many diverse and ethnic areas that comprise this grand mosaic that is New York. The photo locations are ones that out-of-town visitors and many residents rarely visit. We will walk the streets, ride the subways, and be always in the thick of it. Lunches are in restaurants that are consistent with the ethnic demographic of the neighborhood. The experience offers you many opportunities to photograph the daily life of people and explore colorful and remarkable locations that make up the richness of this city.
Join us on a magical photo adventure, designed especially for beginners featuring Agra, Jaipur, Pushkar Fair, Ranthambhore, and Udaipur. Begin your visual odyssey at the majestic Taj Mahal in Agra, capturing its timeless beauty and intricate details bathed in the soft hues of sunrise. Experience the wild beauty of Ranthambhore, with its majestic tigers and diverse wildlife providing unparalleled photo opportunities. In the Pink City of Jaipur, explore the opulent palaces and bustling markets, where the vibrant colors and architecture beg to be photographed. Move on to the Pushkar Fair, a kaleidoscope of Rajasthani culture, where camels, traders, and traditions blend seamlessly, offering an array of captivating shots. Conclude your journey in Udaipur, the ‘Venice of the East’. with beautiful palaces around Lake Pichola. Throughout your adventure, rest assured that your comfort and safety are our top priorities, with accommodations in the best hotels and dining in top-rated restaurants, ensuring a worry-free and enriching experience for every guest.
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