Whistler Arts Council- Workshops on the Lake

With the days just beginning to get longer and the snow still falling like nobody's business, it is hard to even think ahead to spring time let alone the summer.


However, the reality is that spring is just around the corner and the registration period for the Whistler Arts Council's 'Summer Workshops on the Lake' programs is opening on Friday March 16, 2012 at 9:00a.m.  

This spring I will be offering an introductory course to digital SLR photography at Millennium Place, welcoming the novice enthusiast who is looking to get the most from their camera!  The outline includes:

Camera Basics:  Review the many functions of a digital SLR camera.  Examine the effects of:

·         Shutter speed

·         Aperture value

·         ISO light sensitivity

·         Auto focus modes

·         RAW vs. JPEG

·         Exposure compensation/bracketing

·         Theory of thirds

·         Basic flash techniques

Image Correction:  An integral step to creating professional looking pictures.  This will cover:      

·         Levels/curves - the relationship between shadows, mid-tones and highlights in order to brighten or darken your image

·         Colour balancing

·         Cropping

·         Hue/saturation

·         Image sharpening

·         Dust removal

·         Vignette

Printing: The final step of your image production

·         Image sizing

·         Colour profiles

·         Where to find the best print quality and value for your needs

Photography Techniques:

·         Panning

·         Blurring

·         Freezing the motion

Organizational Behaviour:  As your passion for photography develops it is important to not only save and label your images properly, but also have them available on-line for others to see your work.

·         Cataloguing images

·         Backing up your work on an external hard drive or DVD

·         Creating a blog site

In the Field:  During the course of the two day workshop we will collectively venture out in the village with our cameras to photograph a subject, return to class to edit and then have a peer to peer critique session to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the individual photograph.  Topics include:

·         Environmental portrait

·         Sports action

·         Feature/lifestyle

To register please visit Whistler Arts Council 

La Nina... Welcome Back!

I'm not even sure if even groundhog Punxsutawney Phil could have predicted all of this snow when he came out and saw his shadow, indicating another six weeks of winter?  Let's just be thankful he did!

Whistler Blackcomb has just received 74cm of snow in the past three days and it is still coming down strong and steady.  With 32 feet of snow already fallen on the mountains both locals and vacationers are enjoying yet another phenomenal winter in this wonderland!

The first image here is special, as it is Brooke Finlay's first appearance on the Whistler Blackcomb homepage. A tear to her ACL on the following run put an abrupt end to her season, but days like this one are enough to keep a smile on your face for months to come.