Ocean and Bixby Bridge, CA.

This is a photograph of the Bixby Bridge, officially the “Bixby Creek Arch Bridge” on Hwy 1 near Big Sur. This photograph was taken during the night photography workshop with Harold Davis.

For this photograph, we crossed the street to a turnout to get a different perspective.

For more about my workshop experiences, you can read this post.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 346sec at f/8.0
Focal Length: 16mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Date: September 26, 2009

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Car Trail – Bixby Bridge, Monterey Wharf, CA.

This is a photograph of the Bixby Bridge, officially the “Bixby Creek Arch Bridge” on Hwy 1 near Big Sur. This photograph was taken during the night photography workshop with Harold Davis.

A looong exposure setup very close to the bridge to try to get an interesting perspective.

For more about my workshop experiences, you can read this post.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 326sec at f/8.0
Focal Length: 10mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Date: September 26, 2009

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You can see more of her work at her website – www.michellekawka.com.

On to the interview:

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Tell me a little about yourself. How did you get into photography?

MK:I got into photography when I studied in Italy in college. I found myself constantly taking pictures. The idea of sitting behind a desk and being an office for 40 years of my working life was not appealing, so I figured I would try and turn this hobby that inherently clicked with me into a career !

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: What are your primary photography interests? And why do these topics interest you?

MK:I love shooting people and places. They interest me because I find it a challenge to draw authentic emotions out of people and capture it through the camera. I love shooting places because I believe travel expands your world view and makes you a more aware person in your own community and how you relate to the world.

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Can you talk about your experience photographing the 200 portraits for the thisisourqueens.com website?

MK:ThisisOurQueens.com is a project that highlighted the diversity of New York City’s borough of Queens. Queens County, New York is a borough of over 2.2 million people.It is the most ethnically diverse county in the world. Forty-six percent of the population is foreign born and over 138 languages are spoken throughout the borough. The website is the brainchild of Dave Kerpen, who created it as part of his campaign for borough president. He hired me to create a series of 200 individual portraits of people who live, work or are from the borough to highlight the borough’s incredible diversity. The most memorable part of the project was exploring the borough’s different neighborhoods and meeting a wide range of people from all over the world. I photographed Sikhs at a temple in Richmond Hill, was blessed by an evangelical Christian woman on the street in Jamaica, found a surfer at Rockaway Beach from Kansas who works in Ozone Park and took a portrait of a professor from CUNY Queens College who’s work involves the study of climate change in Antarctica. At the project’s completion, over 25 countries and 6 continents were represented by the people of Queens County, New York. All 200 portraits may be seen at http:www.thisisourqueens.com.

ThisIsOurQueens.com was named one of the best projects of 2009 by the American Society of Media Photographers and one of the photos was displayed the ASMP booth at Photo Plus Expo in New York this past October. The full interview about the award can be read here: http://asmp.org/articles/best-2009-kawka.html.

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: As a woman photographer, can you talk about experiences & unique challenges you face when you are outside shooting?

MK: Photography can be an extremely physically demanding profession, lugging around heavy equipment and being on your feet for hours at a time. One of the challenges is the perception that women are not physically capable of a photography career. However, I also think people are less threatened by a woman photographer and are more able to trust her, and when shooting people, trust is the most important element to get a good picture.

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Do you have any suggestions, opinions and/or words of advice for other women in photography?

MK: Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not a profession for women.

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: What is your current project? Can you talk about it?

MK: My current project is getting an exhibition space of all 200 portraits from the ThisIsOurQueens.com project. I am contacting galleries and museums who would like to feature the work.

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Any recommendations? (like Photographers, Photo techniques, Music, Books, quotes, food..anything?)

MK: The more photos you take, the better a photographer you will be. Practice really does make perfect in this profession.

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Can you mention how people interested in your work can contact you?

MK: They can email me at michelle@michellekawka.com.

Photograph by Michelle Kawka, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

Thanks Michelle!

[poll id="23"]

Moonlight by Bridge, CA.

This is a photograph of the Bixby Bridge, officially the “Bixby Creek Arch Bridge” on Hwy 1 near Big Sur. This photograph was taken during the night photography workshop with Harold Davis.

The previous evening was a very foggy evening. All of us had our fingers crossed and we were rewarded with a great night. We reached Bixby bridge when there was still light and setup. As the night proceeded and it got darker, the moon made her appearance. I was totally taken in by the moonlight on the surf pounding on the shore. And the cars making their way across the bridge made those very nice trails in this long exposure.

For more about my workshop experiences, you can read this post.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 254sec at f/8.0
Focal Length: 10m
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Date: September 26, 2009

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Hole in the Wall Rock, Pfeiffer Beach, CA.

This was the last photograph made when on the night photography workshop with Harold Davis. On Saturday after photographing the Bixby bridge (more about this next time), at about 9 in the evening, one group decided to go out to Pfeiffer beach. Seven of us headed there on this gorgeous moonlit night. This was my first time visiting Pfeiffer beach. This beach is located on an unmarked turn off Hwy 1.

We hiked down to the beach with our flashlights and headlamps on. Once on the beach, we turned almost all artificial lighting off and let our eyes adjust to the serenity of the night and prepared to take some night photos. This rock is called “Hole in the Wall” rock for entirely obvious reasons. For this photo, the moon had set just behind the rock on the top left, creating a halo around the entire rock. Supposedly, once a year, the sun sets through the hole in the wall. I hope to be one of the photographers there to shoot it this year!

For more about my workshop experiences, you can read this post.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 268sec at f/4.5
Focal Length: 10mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Date: September 26, 2009

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Carmel Mission Nook, Carmel, CA.

The second day of my night photography workshop with Harold Davis, we stopped for a brief visit to the Carmel Mission. Also known as Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, this mission is a Roman Catholic mission search in Carmel-by-the-sea. It is a US National Historic site. Here is the Wikipedia link for those interested in learning more about this mission: link.

This was my first visit to this historic and still functioning church. It was very beautiful, a sound photographic subject for another day. As you enter the church from the visitor’s entrance this gorgeous statue in a nook greets you. The evening sun brings out the nice reddish colors in the compound wall, giving this nook some serious charm.

For more about my workshop experiences, you can read this post.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 1/750 sec at f/4.0
Focal Length: 40m
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
Date: September 26, 2009

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Some of Varina’s photographs which I love are these gorgeous landscape photographs. You can check out her website photographybyvarina.com for more of her work. Varina and her husband Jay, whom I have interviewed previously work as a team and teach workshops. I had the pleasure of attending their IHDR seminar in the bay area earlier this year. Here is a link to their upcoming workshops. They are really good, patient teachers and I learnt a whole from them. Varina provides very interesting insight and explains the technical aspects of photography very clearly.

Oct 20th Update: Here is another interview of this amazing photographer: http://www.photobards.com/interview/varina-patel-11.html

Anyways, on to the interview:

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Tell me a little about yourself. How did you get into photography?

VP: I am 33 years old, and Photography has been a part of my life since I was very young. I took my first photography class in 7th grade, and by the time I reached high school I was sure I wanted to become a professional photographer. I majored in art when I started college, but I changed my major after a short time – photography seemed an unrealistic and impractical career choice. In the end, I graduated with a degree in Information Technology… which has been extremely useful now that photography has gone digital. I use the knowledge I gained in all those college classes to build my websites and handle the technical side of the photographic business.

I went pro in 2005 – shooting stock images for several agencies, and taking occasional jobs shooting hotel interiors for Marriott. I still shoot for stock regularly, but my focus is now on wilderness and landscape photography. I process all my images with Photoshop, which I’ve been using since 1994.

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: How did you get into landscape photography, your primary interest? What keeps you interested?

VP:During my first two years in college, I spent hundreds of hours in the darkroom trying different techniques – and inhaling noxious fumes. I started shooting landscapes with my black and white film camera in 1994, but it wasn’t until I met Jay in 2005 that I began to shoot landscapes primarily. I attended one of his early workshops in Death Valley that year, and I’ve been shooting in the wilderness ever since. Jay and I were married in 2007, and we now teach workshops and seminars across the U.S. together.

Maintaining an interest in landscape photography is easy. I am very lucky to be able to shoot with Jay, whose passion for wilderness photography matches mine. We travel together as often as possible – usually about once a month. Furthermore, because I work freelance, I am not bound by the rules of anyone else’s game. I am in this simply because I choose it – and that goes a long way towards keeping it fun.

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: What do you look for and what are trying to convey when you make your lovely landscape photographs?

VP:More than anything else, I am in pursuit of perfect light. As I stand behind my camera, it is my goal to capture each location in a completely unique light or from a different angle. I want to present the location to the viewer in a way that makes them long to break away from the moment and stand where I stood. Some of the locations I photograph are visited by hundreds of photographers each day – so it’s a real challenge to present something new and different each time. I research each location extensively so that I know where the sun is going to rise and set, and what the weather will be like. I watch humidity levels and cloud cover, and I pay close attention to storm fronts as they move through. I try to be prepared so that I am in the right place at the right time… and once I’m there, I look for an interesting foreground object, and plan my composition.

Because I can’t stay in a location as long as I’d like, I try to know as much as possible before I get there. I check tide charts, fall foliage and spring bloom dates, and topographical maps before I travel. I don’t choose a location and go shoot – instead, I choose the best conditions and position myself so that I have the best chance of capturing that perfect shot.

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: As one of the few women in landscape photography, can you talk about your experiences & unique challenges you face?

VP: My biggest challenge as a woman is balancing my responsibilities as a mother with the demands of my job – a challenge that millions of women deal with every day. I am extremely fortunate to be able to stay at home with my children most of the time. I can process and print my photographs from my home office, and my children know that they are always my first priority. I am out of town for a few days each month, and I enjoy my time away – but I always look forward to coming home to my kids. Jay and I have six children between us – four are mine, and two are his. We spend all our free time with them – swimming, fishing, sledding, riding bikes, playing soccer, camping, hiking, and traveling. We are a very active family, and although I am completely exhausted at the end of every day, I truly love spending time with the children.

Another challenge for female landscape photographer is the physical aspect of the job. I am much smaller than most men, but I have to hike just as far and carry just as much heavy gear. I train year-round so that I can handle any trip. Each week, I run about twelve miles for cardio training, and spend a few hours in the gym doing strengthening exercises. It’s hard to fit this kind of training into my already busy schedule, but it’s essential if I’m going to carry heavy camera gear fifteen miles into the desert, or hike a trail at ten-thousand feet.

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Do you have any suggestions, opinions and/or words of advice for other women in landscape photography?

VP: Women around the world grow up believing that they aren’t strong enough or smart enough. I don’t believe that. If we can get beyond the stereotypes we’re raised with, we can do anything. When you are doing something you love, motivation comes easily… and hard work pays off a thousand times over.

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Are you working on any project right now? Can you talk more about it?

VP: Jay and I are currently working on several new ventures. First, we’re preparing a series of webinars (online classes or seminars) for those who are interested in learning more about our techniques, but can’t join us for on-location seminars or workshops. We’ve had many inquiries about online courses, and we’re pleased to be able to offer classes that will meet the demand.

Additionally, we are in the process of building an entirely new website that will provide a wealth of information for photographers and fans. The site will offer articles, free wallpaper downloads, and information on upcoming seminars, workshops, and webinars… and we have a few surprises planned as well. We are very excited about this newest project, and we can’t wait to get it up and running.

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Any recommendations? (like Photographers, Photo techniques, Music, Books, quotes, food..anything?)

VP: Although I’ve read hundreds of books and thousands of articles in magazines – the internet has been my greatest resource by far. Websites like NaturePhotographer.net and OutbackPhoto.com offer fantastic articles for beginners and professionals alike. Sites like FredMiranda.com allow photographers to post their photos and exchange critiques with others. We all learn from each other on these sites, and even the most inexperienced can participate. I’ve been posting my photos online for years, and I am enormously grateful to all those who took the time to honestly critique my work… my photography is much better because I listened.

Photograph by Varina Patel, All Rights Reserved,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Can you mention how people interested in your work can contact you?

VP: Just drop me an email anytime – varinac@msn.com. You can find my website at www.photographybyvarina.com or by googling my name. You’ll find a wealth of information on my site – galleries, upcoming classes, articles, free downloads, news, travel data, and more. My blog provides regular updates (though it tends to be a bit thin in summer, when my children are home all day) – you can check it out at http://photographybyvarina.blogspot.com. I can also be found on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Thanks Varina!

Comments are welcome!

[poll id="22"]

Wharf Reflections, Monterey Wharf, CA.

One last photograph from the first night of my night photography workshop with Harold Davis. I was attracted to the reflection on one of the wharf windows. There was also a light inside which made this fascinating.

This is one of my first photos to use the LAB color space and editing techniques taught introduced to me by Harold Davis’ workshop. After the workshop, I got hold of a copy of Dan Margulis’ “Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace” book. As I am reading through the book and applying some techniques, I am quite blown away by what I can achieve. I love how I can subtly enhance color / sharpening etc. I will continue experimenting in the LAB colorspace.

For more about my workshop experiences, you can read this post.

Question: How many people do you see in the photograph?

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 15sec at f/4.0
Focal Length: 40m
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
Date: September 25, 2009

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The Wharf, Monterey Wharf, CA.

One more photograph from the first night of my night photography workshop with Harold Davis. This was a shot of the Monterey wharf. The tungsten lighting in the original looked horrible, but I love how the photo works in black and white.

For more about my workshop experiences, you can read this post.

Question: How many people do you see in the photograph?

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 10sec at f/4.0
Focal Length: 17m
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
Date: September 25, 2009

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Longtail Boatman, Thailand.

On a choppy Saturday afternoon, we took a boat from AoNang back to Railay West. We got onto the longtail boat and set off, against the direction of the wind and the waves. The boatman had to work really hard steering the boat. Looking, I had to take this photo, to try to show the hard work the sinewy boatman had to put that day to get us back to our hotel, against the forces of nature.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Powershot G9
Exposure: f/2.8 at 1/1600s
ISO: 80
Flash: Off
WB: Daylight

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