Sean Duggan Blog

Santa Fe Bound...

Vintage Observation Car  [Canon 5D]
Santa Fe, New Mexico   July 31, 2007
(click in the image for a larger version)

I am heading to New Mexico early Sunday to teach a new 5-day class at the world famous Santa Fe Photographic Workshops: The Creative Eye: Digital Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials. There's actually a few spots left, so if you're one to act on impulse and you're in the area and you have the time, think about joining me in "the City Different" for a week of photography, Southwest style, stunning landscapes and creative imaging.

The photo above was taken on my last trip there in the summer of 2007. This old train car has been a fixture in Santa Fe for years and I always love to stop by and admire its fine lines and retro styling (and take a few photos, of course!). The raw image was processed entirely in Lightroom, which is one of the areas we'll be covering during the workshop this coming week. The Before and After view, as seen in Lightroom, is below (click in the image for a larger cversion).

My aim is to try and post an image each day of the workshop (Monday through Friday), but sometimes during a workshop week the days are very full and we'll see how successful I am at keeping to that goal. After the class ends on Friday I'll be exploring New Mexico for a few additonal days in search of new vistas for my pinhole photography project, Artifacts of an Uncertain Origin.

Upcoming Workshops:

Photoshop Retouching & Restoration Essentials
May 16 – 17, 2009  Monterey, California

Real World Digital Photography I
June 7 – 13, 2009  The Maine Media Workshops
Rockport, Maine

The Creative Digital Darkroom
July 6 – 11, 2009  CT Media/Photography Institute
Farmington, Connecticut

The Windward Coast

Makapu Beach {Canon 5D]
April 1, 2009   Oahu, Hawaii
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another shot from my recent trip to Hawaii. This view is looking up the windward coast of Oahu. On the left is Makapu Beach with Manana Island (also known as Rabbit Island) on the right. This is a panorama made from two source exposures and assembled using the Photomerge feature in Photoshop CS4. I've been using Photomerge since it first came out in Photoshop CS and while that first version was a bit clunky at times and often prone to errors and awkward diagonal blending, with each new version it has gotten better and better. The Photomerge in Photoshop CS4 is a real pleasure to use.

Coming Up in a Week:

The Creative Eye: Digial Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials
Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 27  May 1

Boogie Boarders

Boogie Boarders  [Canon 5D with a Lensbaby Composer]
April 2, 2009  Honolulu, Hawaii
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another image from one of my end of day Lensbaby strolls along Waikiki Beach last week.

Next Workshop..

The Creative Eye: Digial Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials
Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 27  May 1

Destination

Destination
[Canon 5D with a Lensbaby Composer, 2.5 seconds]
Honolulu, Hawaii  March 30, 2009

Another image from my Lensbaby Composer walkabout along Waikiki Beach a few nights ago. The blur in this photo, however, is caused as much by the handheld exposure time of 2.5 seconds as it is by the optical qualities of the Lensbaby. This image may be considered too blurry by some photographers' standards, but I really like the way this turned out. It has a dreamy, almost storybook quality to it that I feel works well for this scene. Although sharp focus is one of the most desirable technical qualities for many types of images, the more subtle and ambiguous qualities offered by the creative use of blur can also result in memorable and evocative photographs. By softening the sharp specifics of the scene, the image enters the ream of metaphor and symbolism, becoming more a photograph of an idea, or a dream, or a hope, than a photograph of a specific place.

Next Workshop...Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 27  May 1

Waikiki with a Lensbaby

By a Glittery Shore
[Canon 5D with a Lensbaby Composer, 0.8 seconds]
March 31, 2009 Honolulu, Hawaii

I'm in Honolulu this week teaching a series of three short workshops for Pacific New Media at the University of Hawaii.  I have the new Lensbaby Composer with me and took it out for an inaugural outing the other evening when I went for a stroll along Waikiki Beach. I've been a fan of the Lensbaby since the first version and have followed it's development an evolution over the years. The design improvements in this new incarnation are very impressive and the Composer is the easiest to use Lensbaby yet. I'll have a more complete review of this very unique lens once I return from Hawaii (and after a few more Lensbaby outings).

A Note on This Image: In addition to the blur effect created by the Lensbaby Composer, this is also a handheld shot with a shutter speed of almost 1 second and this is also contributing to the blur effect. Depending on the level of blur that you choose to create, in Lensbaby shots with shutter speeds more sutiable for handheld photography there is usually a sweet spot that is in focus.

Join Me in New Mexico

My next workshop is coming up at the end of this month at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in  Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's called The Creative Eye: Digital Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials and it runs from April 27 through May 1. Click on the title of the class for more information.