>Peter Jones has requested hekp in promoting this event throughout the
>southwest. Fell free to pass it along to any who may be interested.
Below is more info on Peter Jones photography workshop at Carlsbad.
Mark Minton
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 hsingle...@ccgma.org. For more
information or if you have further questions, please contact Peter at
pjca...@gwi.net. You may also visit his website at www.pjcaver.com
