Photography workshop in Las Vegas and vicinity.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

I have embarked on a new venture, starting next week. I figured that since so many photographers are organizing workshops, I would organize one as well. Being a Pentax user, I reserved my workshop for owners of Pentax equipment only. It's a smaller market, but Pentax users are a special group and I like Pentax users' mentality. If you are a Pentaxian, you already know what I mean.

My workshop is simple but effective. It has been limited to four people. We will be based in Las Vegas for three days. The lodging is included, and a coffee table book of the entire workshop, with the participants' best pictures, is also part of the bundle. The book will not only remind the partakers of what they've learned during that week, but it will hopefully remind them of the new friends they've made.  I own a good variety of Pentax lenses to cover most situations and my lenses will be available to share with everyone in the group.

We will do three photo shoots; Night Photography, the Neon Signs boneyard and Red Rock Canyon. We will have one period each day to study the e-book, followed by an adlib questions and answers session.  The workshop is aimed at beginners and amateur photographers. It’s perfect for those moving up from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR. A free copy of each participant’s Pentax camera will also be given.

The workshop is based on my e-books, and all functions of the Pentax cameras will be reviewed, in the same non-technical way as in my e-books. The core of the workshop will be to understand and use the three elements of photography; Aperture, Shutter Speed and Sensitivity. Why, how and when one of the elements should be prioritized.

I have been to these locations numerous times and I know when and where the best images can be made. Red Rock Canyon will be an early morning shooting, the Neon Signs boneyard will be a daytime shooting and the Night Photo-Shoot will take place…well...at night.

Las Vegas is a fun place to be, and the location makes it ideal for couples.  One can participate in the workshop while the other can engage in other activities. There will be plenty of time left each day to enjoy Las Vegas as a couple. A great way to attend a workshop is to include your spouse/partner in the plans.

I will post some of the images next week and elaborate on the participant's feedback.

If you are interested in attending a future workshop, please email us at: 
brqyvn@gmail.com  Subject Las Vegas and vicinity workshop.

Thank you for reading, and we hope to meet you at a workshop,

Yvon Bourque

The new generation of photographers, iPhone, smart phones and mirror-less cameras.

Cellular phone, Digital camera and video cam, computer, all in one small package.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

The new photographers

You would have to live under a rock not to know how far photography has evolved in just the last few decades. It’s pretty much a given, when you talk to someone about photography, that you are talking about digital photography. Chances are that if you are under twenty years old, you never used a film camera in your life. That’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. 

Technology has evolved so much, that even an iPhone can capture equal or better pictures than most of the currently available digital point-and-shoot cameras. The new iPhone 4S has a Sony 8-Mega Pixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor and a newly designed f/2.4 lens with an equivalent focal length of 38mm (when compared to a 35mm camera). It can produce good 8” x 10” print and even bigger. However, less and less people care about printed images.

I my  SLRs cameras but I guess technology is about to pass me by if I don't do something soon.

The newer generations of photographers don't make prints, they share their images on the Internet and  email them to each other. There is nothing wrong with that, it's a young people's world after all, and it has always been that way. Did you know that Flickr has more images posted that were taken by iPhone, than any point-and-shoot or DSLRs. It's just so practical. The iPhone (or other smart phones) are with you all of the time. You can take a still image or a good video, and post that on the Internet in minutes.

Big and heavy DSLR, my favorite type of camera, in Pentax, Nikon and Canon.

The size is obviously an advantage. Speaking of sizes, DSLRs have to be somewhat bulky because of the prism and mirror.  Sony has recently announced the NEX-7, a compact digital camera with interchangeable lenses, 24 MP sensor, great Electronic View Finder, tilting LCD screen, and top-notch image quality.

Sony new NEX-7

I love my DSLRs, but soon, I too will probably get a mirror-less camera because it just makes sense and it's so portable. Companies have tried for several years to introduce a good mirror-less camera, but the Sony is the first that makes a lot of sense. It has an APS-C sensor with 24 MP. Now that's the wave of the near future.

I will always keep my DSLRs, as I also kept many of my 35mm SLRs, now gathering dust... but I like to look at them. They will soon have new companions...the DSLRs.

You either go with the flow or you are left behind. The day I stop going with the flow, is the day I will start pushing daisies.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

Daily: "Is this a keeper or a dud"? - No.11 / 365

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,


* Keeper or dud?

* Worthy of enlargement and framing?

* Could it be incorporated in a future book?

* Could I sell the image to the public?

* Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?

* Whatever?

 
 

Daily: "Is this a keeper or a dud"? - No.10 / 365

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

* Keeper or dud?
* Worthy of enlargement and framing?
* Could it be incorporated in a future book?
* Could I sell the image to the public?
* Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?

* Whatever?

 

 

 

Daily "Is this a keeper or a dud"? - No.8 of 365

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

Yesterday, I received several comments about the Sprinklers image of Yesterday. Many wanted to see a landscape image of the sprinklers photo shoot. I decided to display it today.

* Keeper or dud?
* Worthy of enlargement and framing?
* Could it be incorporated in a future book?
* Could I sell the image to the public?
* Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?
* Other comment:

Daily "Is this a keeper or a dud"? - No.7 of 365

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

What do you think?

Sprinklers

Daily "Is this a keeper or a dud"? - No.6 of 365

Email:  brqyvn@gmail.com

December 3, 2011

Hi Photographer friends,

Is this a keeper or a dud No.6?

I am continung the one picture a day for the next 365 days. I want to see what I can produce in a one year period. Out of these 365 pictures, how many will be keepers? This is also posted on Twitter, Google + and Facebook. If you'd prefer to view this year long essay through a social Media, let me know. Include your email, and I will send you an invitation.  brqyvn@gmail.com

* Keeper or dud?
* Worthy of enlargement and framing?
* Could it be incorporated in a future book?
* Could I sell the image to the public?
* Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?
* Other comment:

Comments are not always pleasant, but they let you know what people think.

Daily "Is this a keeper or a dud"? - No.5 of 365

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

December 2, 2011

Hi Photographer friends,

Is this a keeper or a dud No.5?

I am presenting one picture a day for the next 365 days. I want to see what I can produce in a one year period. Out of these 365 pictures, how many will be keepers? This is also posted on Twitter, Google + and Facebook. If you'd prefer to view this year long essay through a social Media, let me know. Include your email, and I will send you an invitation. brqyvn@gmail.com

Keeper or dud?
Worthy of enlargement and framing?
Could it be incorporated in a future book?
Could I sell the image to the public?
Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?
Other comment:

Comments are not always pleasant, but they let you know what people think.

Daily "Is this a keeper or a dud"? - No.4

 Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

Is this a keeper or a dud No.4?

I am presenting one picture a day for the next 365 days. I want to see what I can produce in a one year period. Out of these 365 pictures, how many will be keepers? This is also posted on Twitter, Google + and Facebook. If you'd prefer to view this year long essay through a social Media, let me know. Include your email, and I will send you an invitation. brqyvn@gmail.com

Keeper or dud?
Worthy of enlargement and framing?
Could it be incorporated in a future book?
Could I sell the image to the public?
Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?
Other comment:

Comments are not always pleasant, but they let you know what people think.

Is this a keeper or a dud No.3?

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

Is this a keeper or a dud No.3?

I am presenting one picture a day for the next 365 days. I want to see what I can produce in a one year period. Out of these 365 pictures, how many will be keepers? This is also posted on Twitter, Google + and Facebook. If you'd prefer to view this essay on a social Media, let me know, include your email, and I will send you an invitation.

Keeper or dud?

Worthy of enlargement and framing?
Could it be incorporated in a future book?
Could I sell the image to the public?
Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?

Other comment:

Comments are not always pleasant, but they let you know what people think.

Keepers or duds? No. 2

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

 Hi Photographer friends,

Keeper or dud?
Worthy of enlargement and framing?
Could it be incorporated in a future book?
Could I sell the image to the public?
Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency?
Comments are not always pleasant, but they let you know what people think.

Keepers or duds?

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

I’ve been shooting for more years than I care to admit. Let me just say that my first good camera was a Pentax Spotmatic, when they could still be purchased new. That said, my shoe boxes full of memories are in a closet and will likely only be revisited by my children when I’m pushing daisies.

I embraced digital photography from the day Digital cameras were available. Yep! I started with a Sony Mavica, then several Nikon Coolpix cameras and finally went back to my preferred brand, Pentax. Pentax has always built excellent cameras and they have been at the leading edge of technology for more than fifty years. No…they’re not the top seller, but they are the best bang for the buck.

My first Pentax DSLR was the *ist-D, then the K100D, and the K10D, the K20D, the K-x, the K-7, the K-r and currently the K-5. I acquired a lot of images with my digital cameras and have thousands of saved image files on my hard drives.

I have written several books on photography, all from the point-of-view of using Pentax equipment. I’ve given myself a new project; I am going to retrieve what I consider my best shots, tweak them with today’s more advanced Photoshop, and present one image a day. The subjects are going to be all over the map. What I’m looking for is comments about these images.

Keeper or dud?

Worthy of enlargement and framing?

Could it be incorporated in a future book?

Could I sell that image to the public?

Should that particular image be available through a Stock Photography Agency, and so on?

Comments are not always pleasant, but they let you know what other people think.

Are DSLRs (Digital single lens reflex) giving way to smaller non-reflex cameras?

  

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends.

Are Digital single lens reflex cameras giving way to the smaller  non-reflex cameras.

(A single-lens reflex (SLR) camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system (hence the name "reflex", from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system.)The trend with the newer generation of photographers seems to be the use of small cameras without the pentaprism/mirror arrangement of typical DSLRs. I always liked big cameras because they are easier to stabilize...more weight = less shaking. However, this is all changing with technology. Most digital cameras now have some kind of shake reduction system. With the evolution of technology, smaller sensors can now produce images as good as the top DSLRs of just a few years ago. The EVF cameras (Electronic View Finder) have evolved as well and there are no latency anymore.

I recently acquired the new Pentax Q cameras. It is currently the smallest interchangeable lens camera system in the world. I suspect it won't be for very long as other manufacturers are introducing models of their own. To my surprise, this little camera is very capable despite the small sensor. I believe we have definitely entered in the mirror-less digital cameras.

Wind the clock back just ten years, and big was in. Now big is on its way out and small is in. There are always going to be some people that will not accept new technology and will swear that in the good old days, camera were better built and that you had to be a real photographer to use one of these. At weddings, you would see the "Uncle Bob of the world" with their SLR cameras, but the Professional Photographer was always easy to spot with the big (D) SLR, Medium format camera or the good old twin-lens Mamiyas, that used to be the king of wedding photography.

The new generation of photographers, (the new generation period), don't give a hoot about big and impressive cameras. It's not about impressing others anymore, it's about taking pictures, anywhere, anytime, with or without a degree in photography. Just put your mirror-less camera in auto-everything and you're good to go. Heck, cell phones now have cameras built-in with image quality better or equal to expensive dedicated  digital cameras. Furthermore, with the cell phones, you can send your image via the internet immediately to friends and family. How cool is that?

I can't understand why no camera maker has come up with a Digital Camera with built-in internet access through cell phone companies 3G and now 4G networks. Look at the Apple iPad 2, it has a camera and for only $20.00 per month, you can access the internet via Verizon and AT&T.  It's time to wake up manufacturers. Don't let technology pass you over. Just think of the generations of tomorrow, everything will be done instantly via an even better and faster internet system.

You can hang-on to your big cameras, (and I personally will) but soon, they will join other items on dusty shelves as relics of the past. It just the way it is. You either embrace progress or eventually you are left behind. It's a young people's world, always has been and always will be.

The best you can do to stay young, is to adopt the way of young people. This is the Twenty-First Century, you don't have be in a rocking chair and wait for the big one. 

Thank you for reading, and don't get mad, it will come to past,

Yvon Bourque

Words of wisdom!

 Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Some people spend hundreds of dollars for a good camera. Some people spend thousands of dollars for an advanced DSLRs. There are those people that even spend tens of thousands of dollars for the best camera on the market. The bottom line, my friends, is that the best camera in the world is the one you have with you... and that could simply be a cell phone.

Is it just me? It seems that there is less traffic on photo blogs and forums.

 Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

Is it just me or is it a factual new trend? I follow about one hundred blogs and forums related to Digital Photography. In the past six months or so, I noticed a decline in visitors and interactive comments. I'm not talking about my blog, I'm talking about all blogs in general. Even the most popular sites have less comments, or threads (in the case of forums).

Are people more engaged in social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter? I belong to both, and once in a while, I do find interesting sites on Twitter. As for Facebook, it has become more of a soap box central than anything else, and beside, I don't really care what people have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

My favorite site for photography is Photo.net, and of course their Pentax Forum section. They have something for everyone and for every make of cameras. Then again, the Photo.net Pentax forum is not as active as it once was. Certainly, not everyone has learned everything there is to know about photography, did they? If they have, I missed the boat as I still have a lot to learn.

Maybe the traffic has moved to another media, and if it has, can someone tell me where? I just got a new cell phone, and I opted to get the new iPhone 4 from Verizon. I was nearing the end of my two year contract and was able to get the iPhone at a very reasonable price. I already had unlimited minutes and Internet, so it's a good deal. I have been downloading Apps by the dozens and there are indeed quite a bit of information about photography. Is that what people are  using now?Are we getting even more isolated?

 I love the iPad 2 and will be getting one as soon as I save enough money to purchase one. I will get the Wi-Fi version as my Verizon iPhone also serves as a WI-Fi Personal Hotspot  for up to five additional devices. Of course, at home I will use Wi-Fi already installed on my network.


So the question remains, Is it just me or is there a new trend of communication?

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque