[PBSS] Fw: [NMCAVER] Help with posting info on a cave photography workshop

Sun Sep 14 09:12:42 CDT 2008

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Peter Jones 
  To: John Lyles ; Ray Keeler ; Carl Kunath 
  Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 6:44 AM
  Subject: Help with posting info on a cave photography workshop

  Morning, Gents: ?Peter Jones here. ?Hope you are all well and caving your asses off these days. ?I writing to ask each of you if you could help me out with a cave photography workshop I'm teaching at Carlsbad Caverns National Park on October 22, 23, 2008, about a month away from now. ?What I am requesting is if you could past some information for me on any of your local caving internet services/blogs within the states you live in. ?This is the second cave photo workshop I'm running, the last one being in 2006 on my way out to Convention in Bellingham. ?This one is taking place in conjunction with the Dedication Ceremony on Oct 25 for the newly rebuilt Visitors Center at the Park. ?I've asked the Park and the Carlsbad Cavern Guadalupe Mountains Association to be in charge of the registration and advertising. ?I regret to say that they haven't really done a whole lot with it. ?They've been moving back into the facilities after a year or more in trailers, but they are also understaffed and overworked these days. ?As such, it pretty much falls back on me to get the word out. ?I've sent info to a couple of photography ?schools (Santa Fe Workshops and The Center for Creative Photography at U AZ in Tucson) in the area, but I doubt that they've done anything with the posters other than use them in the bottom of birdcages. ?I was treated somewhat similarly here at the Maine Media Workshops in nearby Rockport, even though I took two classes there over the years. ?Such is life when you're dealing with huge egos.? 

  This class is really meant to be directed at people who visit the cave as tourists and have dismal results with their point and shoot cameras. ?However, a few cavers are already signed up for it. I certainly have no problem at all?in teaching cavers how to take better photographs underground and in fact really welcome the idea. ?The rub is that there is a fee of $200 for the two day workshop since it is a fundraiser, of sorts, for CCGMA and thus Carlsbad Caverns NP. ?It's a super cheap class so I hope it will be in the realm of even cheap cavers to take the class. ?I know for sure that there are plenty of cavers out there with cameras who don't have a good idea on how to use them underground, so this would be a good class for them. ?Besides, we get to go into Lower Cave and do some flash photography for the day. ?There's certainly some nice stuff down there, all right along the trail in a safe location and non-invasive environment.

  Attached below is the poster the Park is using in the bookstore to promote the workshop. ?I've also attached a more descriptive write up about the workshop. ?You are certainly welcome to either print and post it at local camera clubs or simply repost on local caving blogs. ?If it's not in your domain to do so, perhaps you could tell me who to contact for putting the listing up on the blogs.

  I'm quite pleased to be heading back to the Guads for a couple of weeks around that time. ?I'm starting the trip with a four day/two night trip into Virgin and The Cavernacle, the most beautiful cave room I've ever seen. ?It will be a true Photo Extravaganza. ?That's followed by the workshop, then a presentation at the Park's Projection Theater room entitled "A lifetime of caving in the Guadalupe Mountains". ?That same afternoon and the following day, I'll be he photographer for the Dedication Ceremony itself thanks to the Park's generous offer to pay me for my services (yeeaaaa!!). ?On top of that is The Cavern Arts Project in which several of my prints will be hanging alongside those of Ansel Adams. ?A good name association. ?Doesn't get much better than that. ?Will any of you be coming to the DC on the 25th? ?If so, hope to see you there. ?Should be a big event.

  Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer here. ?Although I like small classes for their intimacy, I would prefer to have something closer to a full class than an empty one. ?Only four students so far. ?It will just be what it will be.

  Cave on, gents!

  Peter Jones
  Shot in the Dark Cave Photography
  80 Mountain St
  Camden, ME 04843
  207-236-6112
  pjcaver at gwi.net
  www.pjcaver.com

  WELCOME TO
  THE CAVE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
  AT
  CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK
  OCTOBER 22, 23 2008

  This is the second Cave Photography Workshop (CPW) at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The class is scheduled to fit into the week-long lead-up to the Dedication Ceremony of the newly rebuilt Visitors Center at the Park, scheduled for Saturday, October 25.? This class will be a two day novice to intermediate level class in digital photography techniques in Carlsbad Cavern.? The class will run from 8 AM to approximately 5 PM both days.? It is designed specifically to help you learn how to use your digital camera from the (under)ground up.? Participants should feel at ease about taking the class as there are no foolish questions you can ask (perhaps a few foolish answers will be given, though).? You will be here to learn and your instructor will be here to help you do just that.

  Each student is expected to have their own digital camera and they should be reasonably familiar with how to use it on a basic level.? You? should know how to turn it on, where the batteries and memory cards are located, how to focus and take a simple photo with it.? You will also need a sturdy tripod to set your camera on for long exposures in the cave.? You should bring several sets of replacement batteries and a charger if you use rechargeable batteries.? They should all be fully charged each day.? It is also wise to bring along some extra memory cards on which to store your images.? A five hundred megabyte or one gigabyte memory card will be good for a day?s worth of photography.? Having extras is better than just one single large card as they can be corrupted, leaving you with no backups. You should also bring along the instruction manual and/or CD that came with it for your camera.? Because there are many different cameras on the market, you should have the tools (instruction manual) with you to learn how to use it properly.? If you do not still have the instructions, please contact the instructor at the e-mail address listed below.? If you have a laptop computer, you should bring that with you as well for storage and manipulation of the images.

  The fee for the class is $200/person for both days and is limited to twelve people.? The fee is for the class only and does not include meals or lodging.? Information about lodging is available from the Carlsbad Cavern Guadalupe Mountain Association who will register you for the class.? In extenuating circumstances, single day participation is allowed at a fee of $125/person/day, although this is discouraged. ?

  The class will begin promptly at 8 AM each day at the newly rebuilt Carlsbad Caverns Visitors Center (VC).? The class will meet each morning in the Projection Theater in the VC where a visual presentation will be made to help you learn how to use your camera.? We will cover how to locate your Menus in the camera;? Manual vs Automatic exposure; Setting the Image Size; Adjusting the Image Quality (compression); Setting the White Balance; ISO setting; Shutter Speed and Aperture settings; Exposure Compensation; Using the on-camera Flash and its limitations; Using Wide vs Telephoto focal lengths.? It is best if you can familiarize yourself with this information by reading the instruction manual before the class as it will save considerable time.? Don?t worry if you don?t understand it on first reading as it will all be explained as part of the workshop.

  After the morning lecture, we will enter the cave through the Natural Entrance and descend the trail to several predetermined locations for taking photos.? These will be areas that offer good photo opportunities and are convenient for a large class to work in without crowding the trail.? When we reach the Underground Lunchroom, we will take a one hour break for lunch and reconvene in the same location at a specified time.? >From there, we will enter The Big Room and stop at predetermined locations? for further photo opportunities for the remainder of the day.? The class will end at approximately 5 PM.

  On the second day, we will meet once again at the VC for another lecture on processing your cave images on your computer.? We will cover the most basic techniques of cropping and leveling your images; adjusting levels, brightness and contrast;? color correction;? outputting your images for web photos or printing.? We will then cover some basic aspects of flash photography:? getting your flash off the camera plane;? single vs multiple flash;? balancing ambient and flash light sources.? After the lecture, we will proceed directly to The Big Room once again to finish photographing what we might have missed on the first day.? After an hour break for lunch, we will head into Lower Cave for some flash photography opportunities.? This will require wearing hardhats and lights which will be provided by the Park.? You will need to bring along a set of 4 double A (AA) batteries to power the headlamps as the Park no longer supplies the batteries.? We will descend a couple of short ladders and proceed along the well-marked passages to the first photo opportunity at the Colonel Boles Formation.? All the lighting setup will be provided by the instructor for these shots as it is an instructional class.? You may bring your own lighting equipment if you wish, but your opportunities to use them will be limited.? From there, we will backtrack through the passages and take several more shots along the way.? Class will end at approximately 5 PM once again.

  For those who wish to learn more about processing your digital cave images in the computer, there will be a brief two hour meeting the next morning where the instructor will teach more advanced techniques of layering and adjustments to your images.? This portion is free and optional for those who took the class.? Time and location will be determined and announced during the class.

  Your instructor for the class is Peter Jones of Shot in the Dark Cave Photography.? Peter has been a caver and photographer in the Guadalupe Mountains, home of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, for nearly 40 years.? His work has been on display at the Park for many years.? In 2003, Peter spent three weeks photographing all of Carlsbad and several other caves within the vicinity for the Park?s Public Domain Photo Gallery.? He was also the instructor of the first CPW in 2006.? He has worked for National Geographic Television, helped coordinate and shoot a NOVA filming project and was the subject of a public TV special on caving in the Guadalupe Mountains for Anyplace Wild Television.? He has authored numerous books and articles on cave photography techniques, been published in many magazines and newspaper articles with his cave photographs and is a cave photography instructor.? His work has been displayed in numerous museums including the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.? His work is available through the Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association Bookstore at the Park.? He makes his living as a potter in Camden, Maine under the name Mountain Street Pottery.

  To register for the class, contact The Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association at (515) 785-2486 or by e-mail at hsingleton at ccgma.org.? For more information or if you have further questions, please contact Peter at pjcaver at gwi.net.? You may also visit his website at www.pjcaver.com

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