The “Classic” Zion Shot – my version
Yesterday I spent the entire day exploring some of the common and uncommon reaches of Zion National Park. I am really enthused because I solidified plans for my Fall 4×6 Zion Workshops. There will be magnificent geography to absorb and photograph. Read more about these workshops at http://www.bobkulonphoto.com/training.html
Here is what is probably the most common picture taken at Zion from the bridge that is 1 mile north of the Visitor’s Center. This is my take on the magazine cover classic…
“4 x 6″ Photo Excursions Announced
No folks, that isn’t a medium format film being referenced, it means 4 days / 6 participants. Read on…
4 x 6 Photo Excursion #1
Northern & Western Zion National Park
and Surrounding Areas
September 21, 22, 23, & 24, 2009
- 4 days — 6 participants
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday — held during the week to minimize tourist disturbance
- Morning & Evening Shooting; instruction, discussion, relaxation, and replentishment break midday
- Transportation to shoot locations included
- 2 instructors; 2 SUVs
- $395 + personal expenses
- Details to be posted soon – call or email now if interested.
- Subject to availability. Once payment is made, your reservation is considered firm. I accept check, Visa, and MasterCard. Please contact me now to reserve your dates at (435) 673-3817 or bob@bobkulonphoto.com
4 x 6 Photo Excursion #2
Southern & Eastern Zion National Park
and Surrounding Areas
October 19, 20, 21, & 22, 2009
- 4 days — 6 participants
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday — held during the week to minimize tourist disturbance
- Morning & Evening Shooting; instruction, discussion, relaxation, and replentishment break midday
- Transportation to shoot locations included
- 2 instructors; 2 SUVs
- $395 + personal expenses
- Details to be posted soon – call or email now if interested.
- Subject to availability. Once payment is made, your reservation is considered firm. I accept check, Visa, and MasterCard. Please contact me now to reserve your dates at (435) 673-3817 or bob@bobkulonphoto.com
Announcing: 1-on-1 Workshop Program
Effective immediately, I am offering private instruction. This has been something that I find rewarding, enjoyable, and frequently requested.
This educational service will be offered on a 1-on-1 basis in my studio office in St. George, Utah. This facility is fully equipped with three powerful work stations, multiple calibrated monitors, Photoshop CS4, Lightroom 2, and host of professional photographic applications to render the ultimate in image presentation. I use the very latest in printers: the Epson Pro 7900 and the Epson Photo R1900. Your prints for the day are your to take with you.
I plan to meet your needs in individual training centered on five possible themes:
- Creativity (concept, approach, possibilities, exercise, etc)
- Image management (ingestion, ranking, key-wording, archiving, etc.)
- Editing (the basics and more)
- Output (print, web, video, etc)
- Presentation (matting, framing, hanging, selling, etc)
These sessions are aimed at the Outdoor Photographer facing the challenges of natural light. This encompases, landscape, scenic, nature, street, and documentary work. (For now, studio and flash components are not a consideration.) This a natural outgrowth of many of the topic and concepts I have been teaching for years at seminars and DSLR Boot Camps.
Obviously, that is a broad palette from which to choose. I will work you ahead of the session to define and prioritize your needs so the program is crafted to be of most use to you.
I am very close to Zion National Park (and hundreds of other equally amazing scenic gems). As a result, you can come to the park, and take private lessons with me.
The base charge for a day of private studio lessons is $275/day, prepaid at time of reservation. I live 2 hours from the Las Vegas airport along I-15. Should you wish to book 2 or more days in a row, you are welcome to use my comfortable guest bedroom gratis. Significant others that merely observe or have their own agenda are not charged.
I also will accompany you into the field for shooting if you need my skills for guiding and/or photographic instruction. The same terms apply.
This offer is subject to availability. Once payment is made, your reservation is considered firm. I accept check, Visa, and MasterCard. Please contact me at bkulon@hotmail.com or 330-635-7557.
I sincerely hope to see you in the glorious Southwest – the best concentration geography and art in our country.
High Desert: The exploration begins
I just spent a few days with my buddy Jerry Emery guiding me to some of the scenic treasures around home. There is an amazing place called Snow Canyon State Park about 5 miles north of me. Slick rock, sandstone spires, high desert flora, lava beds, amazing geography. No real photography yet; just getting oriented and marking the GPS. I plan to make these places repeated, persistent haunts to capitalize on “being in the right place at the right time”. Tomorrow there may be a light dusting of snow in the canyons.
My first series of field workshops will entail the treasures of the High Desert.
Zion: After the Storm
Rainbow in Zion Canyon
Basalt on Slick Rock
Snow Canyon Palette
Slick Rock | Slick Jerry
In the back of my mind
I am moving to St. George, Utah – that is hardly news. The reason, put simply, involves opportunity, climate, quality of life, spiritual growth, a natural beauty.
I wanted to mention a few ideas I have that may be of interest to my NE Ohio friends. No promises, but here’s what my sketchy plans are…
- Workshops – I will be organizing popular destination Photo Tours commencing this Fall. Conceptually, these will involve the obvious (Zion, Bryce, etc.) as well as the hundreds of insider secret locations that have equally glorious scenery and easier access. The durations and timings will be a bit varied. Weekends, mid-week, all-week. There will be much assistance in the field, but no classroom component itself. Note: for Zion workshops, we must wait until November for automotive access, prior to that park tour buses must be used. I plan an October photo tour with golden aspens; December or January tour for special winter vantages.
- One-On-One – this will become a very large part of what I do. For people wanting the personal insight into advanced methods, discovery of those little out of the way treasures, and specific interests. I will book myself by the day. Here’s the deal. You fly into Vegas on your dime; I’ll pick you up and cart you around in my SUV; I’ll put you up in my guest bedroom/bath in the Heart of St.George; I’ll pay for gas; you pay for all your own meals. Price? $495/day or portion thereof. Subject to availability.
- Fine Art Fairs – I am not giving up on this. The market out West is much healthier and I am doing some long range planning. Obviously, my catalog will change dramatically to suit the market. I will be doing Western Landscapes, floral macros, stone abstracts, graphic derivatives, black and white. My urban abstract work and garden work will probably be reserved for my own pleasure and enjoyment. I am phasing out note cards except for smaller fill-in shows. I intend to open a real online store to avail you of my new Western work in finished editions.
- Instruction – I intend to become an operative instructor rather than an entrepreneur. I will be seeking teaching gigs with colleges, tourist spas, and community organizations. DSLR Boot Camp will take a back seat for a while – great concept, but I’m the new kid in town. I need to establish credibility.
It's all in my backyard!
It certainly bears repeating
Yesterday I sent out a mass email with a ton of news. For the sake of posterity, here’s what what was included…
Pre Holiday Art Shows
I am participating in 5 different Fine Art Exhibition/Shows from the middle of November through mid-December. I have had many customers ask to be reminded of these, so this is the first nudge I will be sending out. Remember, I will have the standard assortment of prints and cards that you have come to know, but, I will also have many new “standout” wall prints, ready to hang, printed in an amazing metallic finish. These make a wonderful gift. The photographs have been selected from my 2008 best sellers, so you will have many to choose from. In addition, the themed collector card sets that have proven popular would make the ideal holiday gift. I will have a high-definition large-screen video display of my offerings in my booth at these events making it very easy for you to make choices. I planned to be stocked up and ready to meet your holiday shopping needs. Here we go with the events…
- November 14, 15, and 16 – Cleveland By Hand Art & Craft Show – I-X Center – www.clevelandbyhand.com
- November 22 and 23 – Cincinnati By Hand Art & Craft Show – Duke Energy Convention Center – www.cincinnatibyhand.com
- November 28, 29, and 30 – Christmas In The Colonies – Medina County Fairgrounds – www.christmasinthecolonies.com
- December 5, 6, and 7 – Butler Holiday Craft Show – Butler Institute of American Art – www.butlerart.com
- December 20 – Countryside Conservancy Holiday Market – Happy Days Visitor Center – Route 303 in Boston
Gallery Exhibition
Once again, I have been honored to have a exhibition of my recent photography project at the Butler Institute of American Art. The exhibit, entitled “Call it a Loan; Borrowing a Piece of the Pacific Northwest”, will run at standard museum hours thought the end of 2008. It is timed in conjunction with Butler’s re-certification process and was personally selected to represent them by the management. It goes without saying, my gratitude for this opportunity is beyond words. You will find this exhibit on the second floor in the digital art wing. Once the exhibit closes, these works will be for sale, so contact me to reserve your art before it is gone. Here is the accompanying Artist’s Statement.
Never did I expect that a set of return trips to the Pacific Northwest would start a maelstrom of brain waves beckoning me to grow and explore this wondrous place. For three weeks during the Spring of 2008, I traversed three distinctly different regions of our Northwest: The Oregon Coastline; The Columbia River Gorge; and The Palouse Region of Southeast Washington. Sometimes I captured what I saw; at other times I only absorbed, reflecting rather than documenting.
This became a rich catharsis for me as I began to understand life unfettered in the realm of nature. What you are viewing here today is an exhibit of eight personal selections from a collection of about fifty that I show as examples of my photographs from this period. In making decisions to cull the exhibit, I reached inward for my inspiration – this is something one can easily do when commercial return is not the primary motive. You are looking into my soul.
From a technical standpoint, these are digital photographs taken using modern full frame SLR cameras and high quality lenses. I am somewhat of a stickler for technique and tend to spend a great deal of effort planning and executing to assure a striking outcome. Each image was carefully seasoned and cajoled in my processing system to bring out a “walk right in” characteristic. As such, I interpret with forethought. I do not simply document. After all, this is art.
This exhibit has been produced on Kodak Endura Professional Metallic Media to bring out a lustrous, striking gallery look with richness and head-turning capabilities. It is my first venture away from personally handmade pigment prints. I like the results and will be offering this option in the future.
Announcing DSLR Boot Camps 2009 Series
The DSLR Boot Camps have been around now for a few years and nearly 100 photographers have taken advantage of the in-depth training afforded them. Times change and so do we. I have decided to expand the class offerings to cover a broader range of interests as well as the varying levels of expertise. While these have not been planned out to the Nth degree, here is what you can expect. All classes have a size limit of 12 and are held in Brunswick at my well-equipped training facility. More dates will be added as these fill up. I am now taking reservations with 50% deposits…
- DSLR Boot Camp 101 – Photographic Principals and Camera Operation – 1/17/09 & 1/18/09 - 16 hours including guided field exercises – $159
- DSLR Boot Camp 201 – Photoshop CS4 Throughput- 1/24/09 & 1/25/09 – 16 hours – $229
- DSLR Boot Camp 202 – Lightroom 2.0 Throughput – 2/7/09 & 2/8/09 – 16 hours – $229
- DSLR Boot Camp 301 – Lightroom/Photoshop Interactions – 2/14/09 & 2/15/09 – 12 hours – $159
- DSLR Boot Camp 401 – Achieving Critical Artistry - 2/21/09 & 2/22/09 – 12 hours – $159
Please note that the above dates have been updated since this original post was placed online. The Boot Camp sessions now take place in a logical sequence and allow the requisite weekend off for the Super Bowl!
Field Workshops
I have many field workshops in the planning stages for next year. Stay tuned as I announce…
- Field Macro Photography
- Winter B&W Abstracts
- Panorama Extravaganza
- HDR Workout
- Spring Wildflowers
- Garden Scenics
- Fall in NE Ohio
- UP Michigan in Fall
- Spring in NE Ohio
