California Redwoods Workshop With Sapna Reddy

As a landscape photographer I (Sapna Reddy) find myself truly fortunate to be living in California. The 900 miles along the pacific coast strewn with dramatic rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, majestic mountains, desert lands and redwood forests offer enormous opportunity to the wanderer, observer and photographer within us. In that gamut of choices one of the most intriguing subjects is the Redwood forest. The Giant sequoia grows inland while the more delicate Redwoods hug the coastline. The former is an impressive subject to photograph while the latter is more challenging. One of the reasons why the Coastal Redwoods are sought after by photographers is because in the early summer months when the coastal fog rolls through the forest it has a profound impact on simplifying the composition and creating an overall ethereal feel to the scene. Distractions are reduced, light is softened and tonal contrast is subdued, making it possible for strong simple patterns to emerge.

Usually in the last week of May and the first few days of June the Rhododendron begins to bloom. It adds the perfect accent color to the scene. Also in those moments of frustration when the trees simply do not seem to be lining up appropriately for your composition, few moments spent in photographing a beautiful flower or the intricate details of the forest floor, help to calm the mind down before returning to the task of finding order in the chaos. These particular woods are so beautiful that hiking in them is a true reward in itself. A walk amongst the Giants hundreds of feet tall and hundreds of years old is both a humbling and an awe inspiring experience. On this workshop in addition to the forest photography we will have the opportunity to do seascapes along the rocky Northern California shore. We will hopefully be there in time to catch the coastal blooms which offer a dramatic foreground element.

During our journey in the field you will learn:
-How to distill the scene before you to create an evocative image.
-Find compelling compositions that convey a strong visual story.
-Observing the nuances of light and finding the best light for the scene.
-Focus stacking, focal length blend, and perspective blend.
-Mastering the technical details of image capture including bracketing and exposure blend.
-Choice of focal length and creative ways to use lens distortion.
-Using filters.

During the dedicated post-processing sessions you will learn: 
-Planning your shoot. Learn to predict weather using apps.
-Blend multiple exposures as well as images in Photoshop.
-Final image rendition for focus stacking using Photoshop and Helicon focus.
-Learning how to use luminosity masks for tonal adjustments.
-Specific steps that can be taken in post-processing to strengthen the visual pathway through your image.