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Last week I attended the Shooting the West photography symposium in Winnemucca, Nevada. (Winnemucca is a small town smack dab in the middle of nowhere, western Nevada…just in case you were wondering.)
Nevada sunset by nbanjogal, on Flickr
I've been wanting to attend this symposium for a few years now, but I didn't ever get around to it because I couldn't quite justify canceling the college classes I teach for a whole week. But…this year, they tempted me beyond what I was able to bear by dangling a three-day time lapse class in front of me. So, I registered early enough to get one of the few spots in the time lapse class, arranged to teach my classes via online webinar, and finally drove five hours across the desert to get to the symposium. It didn't disappoint.
First, I just have to say that the symposium crowd is a fun and cool bunch--very western (which made me feel quite at home) and just genuinely friendly and kind. It's also quite an older crowd--lots of old-timers! I think I was one of the younger attendees (and I am no spring chicken!). But it was fun to rub shoulders with old film shooters who don't have much use for Photoshop.
In addition to the three-day time lapse class, there were many speakers on a variety of subjects--I was able to hear from the likes of Ben Willmore, M. D. Welch, Jeff Ross, Tom Bol, Douglas Keister, and several others. I found them all inspiring and took lots of notes. Got a tired butt in the meanwhile.
And then there was the time lapse class, taught by Grant Kaye, assisted by Mike Okimoto. I loved it! I feel like I learned a ton, and yes, I might have eventually figured some of it out on my own by surfing YouTube and watching Lynda.com videos, but I appreciated having a good, experienced instructor right there to answer every question and guide me along the way--what I learned in a few days would probably have taken several months on my own (and that's assuming I would have made the time to do it on my own--I have a tendency to procrastinate things I want to do for the sake of things I have to do…like work).
I made quite a few little time lapse clips throughout the week, and I compiled a few of them into this little video I've linked below. It's a rather plain and imperfect little time lapse video, but I had a dang fun time putting it together. We had almost no clouds during our class, so I tried to focus on shadows and other things that might show change.
Oh, and I came home from the symposium with yet another lens. One of my classmates had a Nikon 500 mm and shot some fabulous time lapse images of the moonset…I was really coveting his 500, and since there's no way I'll ever be able to afford that lens, I picked up the next best thing--a Reno camera store had a booth there with a Tamron 150–600mm…so I bought it. Sigh…
I also came home with more expensive gear on my wish list. I thought I might be done after I acquired the 150-600 because my lens wish list is nearly complete. But I really liked shooting time lapse. Really, really liked it…enough that I think I want to add rails and an automated pan and tilt head to my gear. Sigh again...
Anyway, I'd highly recommend the Shooting the West symposium if any of you live close enough to attend next year. Maybe we'll run into each other.
And I'd highly recommend Grant Kaye as a time lapse instructor--he was very clear and methodical in his teaching. I had a blast, and I'm anxious to get out there in my own environment and shoot more time lapse.
Nevada sunset by nbanjogal, on FlickrI've been wanting to attend this symposium for a few years now, but I didn't ever get around to it because I couldn't quite justify canceling the college classes I teach for a whole week. But…this year, they tempted me beyond what I was able to bear by dangling a three-day time lapse class in front of me. So, I registered early enough to get one of the few spots in the time lapse class, arranged to teach my classes via online webinar, and finally drove five hours across the desert to get to the symposium. It didn't disappoint.
First, I just have to say that the symposium crowd is a fun and cool bunch--very western (which made me feel quite at home) and just genuinely friendly and kind. It's also quite an older crowd--lots of old-timers! I think I was one of the younger attendees (and I am no spring chicken!). But it was fun to rub shoulders with old film shooters who don't have much use for Photoshop.
In addition to the three-day time lapse class, there were many speakers on a variety of subjects--I was able to hear from the likes of Ben Willmore, M. D. Welch, Jeff Ross, Tom Bol, Douglas Keister, and several others. I found them all inspiring and took lots of notes. Got a tired butt in the meanwhile.
And then there was the time lapse class, taught by Grant Kaye, assisted by Mike Okimoto. I loved it! I feel like I learned a ton, and yes, I might have eventually figured some of it out on my own by surfing YouTube and watching Lynda.com videos, but I appreciated having a good, experienced instructor right there to answer every question and guide me along the way--what I learned in a few days would probably have taken several months on my own (and that's assuming I would have made the time to do it on my own--I have a tendency to procrastinate things I want to do for the sake of things I have to do…like work).
I made quite a few little time lapse clips throughout the week, and I compiled a few of them into this little video I've linked below. It's a rather plain and imperfect little time lapse video, but I had a dang fun time putting it together. We had almost no clouds during our class, so I tried to focus on shadows and other things that might show change.
Oh, and I came home from the symposium with yet another lens. One of my classmates had a Nikon 500 mm and shot some fabulous time lapse images of the moonset…I was really coveting his 500, and since there's no way I'll ever be able to afford that lens, I picked up the next best thing--a Reno camera store had a booth there with a Tamron 150–600mm…so I bought it. Sigh…
I also came home with more expensive gear on my wish list. I thought I might be done after I acquired the 150-600 because my lens wish list is nearly complete. But I really liked shooting time lapse. Really, really liked it…enough that I think I want to add rails and an automated pan and tilt head to my gear. Sigh again...
Anyway, I'd highly recommend the Shooting the West symposium if any of you live close enough to attend next year. Maybe we'll run into each other.
And I'd highly recommend Grant Kaye as a time lapse instructor--he was very clear and methodical in his teaching. I had a blast, and I'm anxious to get out there in my own environment and shoot more time lapse.
