Southern Utah photography workshop

Forms, Whit Pocket, 2015. Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness, AZ. Copyright © Lynn Radeka.

Please join us for our 2017 Southern Utah photography workshop! Lynn Radeka and Ron Gaut will be hosting this photographic workshop open to all photographers, traditional and digital, of any experience level. Lynn Radeka has hiked, camped and photographed in Utah's amazing National Parks and Monuments since the early 1970's. Southern Utah is truly a unique American West wilderness landscape and photographer's paradise, including vast photogenic areas of Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Arches and Bear's Ears National Parks and Monuments. This workshop will feature some of Utah's most remarkable grand scale and intimate Canyon Country locations. We will photograph stunning Indian ruins, arches, Indian petroglyphs, Indian pictographs, grand vistas and intimate canyon details. Along the workshop route are the towns of Moab, Hanksville, Green River, Monticello and Blanding, allowing the opportunity to recharge ourselves with showers, restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores on route to our destinations. All participants should be prepared to camp every evening at established campgrounds and remote wilderness campgrounds unless our exact itinerary (not known yet) brings us close to modern accommodations. A detailed list of camping locations and our exact itinerary (not known yet) will be mailed to every participant far in advance of the workshop. Each day will end at our campfire gathering where we will have the opportunity to talk photography in an enjoyable, relaxed atmosphere.

This workshop is open to all photographers whether shooting large or small format black and white or color, traditional or digital! Lunches along the jeep trails or between hikes will be provided by Lynn Radeka and Ron Gaut, but each participant is expected to be self-sufficient with regards to campground breakfasts and campground dinners. We will be sharing cooking items such as camp stoves, lanterns, utensils, etc. Please inquire about any concerns or limitations. Depending on our exact itinerary, a 4WD vehicle may be necessary. Participants who are not able to bring their own 4WD vehicle can arrange to ride the jeep roads with other participants. 4WD rentals are available in the town of Moab should we run short of available 4WD vehicles. Lynn Radeka will be reviewing each day's shoot on a laptop computer and commenting on possible image manipulations and improvements. For photographers shooting traditional film formats (large, medium or small) Lynn or Ron will shoot a similar digital shot on the scene when possible so that we can make appropriate comments and suggested print quality enhancements (including contrast masking) on the computer in the evenings. Digital photographers will enjoy the array of interesting software programs and techniques we may be demonstrating in the evenings including focus stacking for extreme depth of field and HDR for controlling extreme contrast. More importantly, the workshop flow will be largely determined by the needs and desires of the workshop participants, ensuring a very enjoyable experience for everyone.

Rainbow Over Bluffs, 1994. Arches N. P., Utah. Copyright © Lynn Radeka. Pussy Willows, 2016, Utah. Copyright © Ron Gaut.

Horseshoe Canyon, 1985. Canyonlands N. P., Utah Copyright © Lynn Radeka

Lynn will be handing out ClearWhite white balance filters to those photographers interested in digital photography, and durable cutout cards (an aid in visualizing compositions) to those shooting large format film. He will be assisting attendees in obtaining the best exposures and white balance settings using RAW format for those photographers shooting digital, and zone system methods, previsualization, exposure, development, view camera controls and selection of filters to those photographers shooting traditional large format. All participants will be given a discount code for products from ProgreyUSA (world class filters and filter holders). This photography workshop will also teach the use of contrast masking in your previsualization routine. This will help traditional photographers learn how to previsualize images with the intent of applying contrast masking (or other specialized darkroom procedures) to the final prints. Surprisingly, this often results in images being shot that otherwise might be passed up due to lack of local contrast on the scene or elements that aren't well separated from surrounding detail. The intended use of masking can alter the exposure and development given to the negative. Both before and after the workshop, each participant is invited to participate in our Canyonlands and Southern Utah Workshop internet forum, for all participants to view, critique or discuss. These workshop forums have proven to be a fantastic sharing and learning tool in Lynn's previous workshops, and participants are welcome to view any previous workshop forums if they desire. Some of the locations (depending on road and weather conditions, time, etc.) that we may be visiting are Capitol Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Bear's Ears National Monument and the Escalante Canyons area. Tag-alongs are not allowed on this workshop. This workshop is limited to eight paid participants. Please see the signup details below. This workshop is proudly sponsored by: ProgreyUSA, world's finest quality filters and filter holders and by ClearWhite White Balance Systems and by Lowepro, finest camera bags, backpacks and cases

About Lynn Radeka Influenced in his early work by Ansel Adams and Wynn Bullock, Lynn Radeka’s professional photography career spans more than forty-five years. His love of the grand landscapes and intimate details of the American West was born on his first trip to Death Valley in 1966. Lynn Radeka’s Black and White photography has been featured in eight National Park posters and several calendars including the calendar series Radeka: The American West and several ghost town calendars published by Browntrout publishers. In 1989 and 1990 he was commissioned to do the photography for five full-color books, resulting in a 2 year journey that took him through the back roads, historic places and ghost towns of the entire American West. Lynn also has the honor of being a featured photographer in the book publication "World's Top Photographers: Landscape" and has been published in B&W Magazine, View Camera Magazine and other photography publications. Lynn Radeka currently teaches workshops in Death Valley and Canyonlands National Parks, and Contrast Masking workshops in his home darkroom. He is the producer and co-author of the Contrast Masking Kit - a technical manual for traditional film-based photographers. Lynn feels completely at home using a 4x5 view camera for his film-based work and more recently a Sony A7R mirrorless camera for his digital work. Please visit the bio page of this website for more information. About Ron Gaut Ron Gaut discovered the outdoors at an early age and developed a deep passion for wilderness and photography. Not surprising, with Ron's 30-year engineering background and thirst to learn about photographic processes, in the early 1990's he began to experiment with many different films, developers, silver papers and alternative processes. He quantified much of his work by sensitometric analysis to determine the film/developer and paper/developer combination properties for different film and paper development methods, submitting the results as thesis papers at a local college. Influenced in his early work by Ansel Adams, John Sexton, Lynn Radeka, Ray McSavaney, and other contemporary "west coast" landscape masters, Ron traveled and photographed the southwest with his 4x5 view camera. Ron Gaut is an expert in digital techniques. "I enjoy the digital workflow. However, there is a steep learning curve to becoming proficient and printing your own work is essential." Ron uses Lightroom for global adjustments and Photoshop to fine-tune his images before printing. He has firmly established himself as an accomplished photographer and printer, receiving awards and accolades from critics and through photography competitions.

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