Photograph of the Month May 2021

Tom and Cree celebrate the great images being created by our community of photographers each month by selecting a Photograph of the Month. For May we selected an image of a black bear created by Bruce Moore on our Yellowstone in Spring Workshop. We hope you enjoy Bruce’s images as much as we do!

Congratulations to May 2021 ‘s featured photographer – Bruce Moore

Bruce and his Imperial Satellite 127 camera

The Story … 

I have been taking photos since I was ten years old. My first camera was an Imperial Satellite 127. I sold flower seeds door to door to earn points. When I had enough points I picked the Satellite camera.

I love cameras. They are like art pieces to me. I have about 50 lenses and 30 cameras in my home. I learned more about my camera on this workshop than any other I have taken. Learning to adjust exposure compensation and ISO quickly on the top of my camera helped immensely.

I also learned to try and get as low as possible when taking wildlife images. It looks like I am eye level with the black bear (photo above) even though I am 20 ft above him. The bear helped a lot. He looked right at me. That really made the picture.



May 2021 Photograph of the Month

I heard Tom clicking away next to me – his camera sounded like a Gatling gun. So I took about 18 photos of the bear and I have three that I really like.

Each camera only has so many pictures in their life. I take every click seriously. Besides, I don’t have the patience to look through 5000 photos.

EXIF Data: Nikon D800 with a 150-600mm Sigma lens

Aperture Priority mode f11, 1/640 sec, ISO 4500 Exposure Compensation -.03



Bruce’s tips for shooting wildlife photography:

Make sure you have the right lens on for the subject matter. When we were photographing the wolf on the bison kill, I noticed that several people in the crowd had the wrong lens. One person was using a 100 mm lens and they would have to crop too much to be able to see the animal.

I had just bought a 150-600 Sigma lens for the trip. It was worth it for the wolf shot alone. When I returned home, I went right out and got the teleconverter to go with it.

On the Madison River in Yellowstone



About Yellowstone National Park

I signed up for Tom and Cree’s Yellowstone in Spring Workshop because I had never been to Yellowstone before. I learned it is very spread out.

It is an amazing place. You can be an amateur and take really phenomenal photographs in Yellowstone with just a little bit of knowledge…..and the help of really good guides who know where to put you.



Bison calving season is in May in YNP

On Bruce’s Horizon

Grand Teton National Park in September – in search of grizzly bears and moose



Bruce on the boardwalks with one of his cameras

Tom and Cree are headed to Madera Canyon in Arizona for new hummingbird workshops in July – 1 space left: click here.

For a full listing of upcoming workshops, including our Easter Island Workshop in January 2022: Click Here

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

Photographer of the Month – April 2021

Tom and Cree celebrate the great images being created by our community of photographers each month by selecting a Photograph of the Month. For April we selected an image created by Brian Kennedy on our Utah Landscapes Workshop. We hope you enjoy Brian’s images as much as we do!

Congratulations to April 2021 ‘s featured photographer – Brian Kennedy

The Story … 

We were at Sunset Point and Tom was ahead of everyone. Tom pointed out how the light was hitting different formations.

The sun was peaking in and out of the clouds. A shaft of light came through and hit the formation we were looking at.

I was shooting at f11 because I knew that was a good setting for my lens. I used focus peaking to focus. I was looking at the image in the viewfinder and the histogram was perfect. The entire image was red because of focus peaking.

To edit the image I just set the white point and the black point and it looked great.

April 2021 Photograph of the month

EXIF Data: Canon mirrorless R5 with a 100-400mm lens

Aperture Priority mode f11, 1/80 sec, ISO 160 with focus peaking

About Bryce and Capitol Reef

Bryce Canyon was on my bucket list. I’ve seen pictures of it. I love sunsets and sunrises. With the red rock, how can you not want to photograph there?

Sunrise at Inspiration Point

In Capitol Reef, I was learning new features of the new mirrorless Canon R5. I was practicing focus peaking. I love focus peaking. After that section of the trip, I was a focus peaking fool.

Like the histogram, focus peaking is a tool. I have been dissapointed in the past when I get home from a landscape shoot and parts of the image were out of focus. With focus peaking I know what will be in focus and what will not.

The iconic barn at Capitol Reef National Park

Michael Iles and I approached the barn at Capitol Reef and we noticed there was no lock on the gate. We walked into the pen and got a better angle and were able to get a bit closer to the barn. I used the 24-70 (lens) with the R5.

Brian’s tips for shooting landscapes:

Tip #1: Get to the spots early.

Tip #2: Know your equipment. I did better in Bryce then in Capitol Reef because I understood my equipment better.

Petroglyphs at Capitol Reef

On Brian’s Horizon

Death Valley National Park

Acadia National Park – 4th trip there

Bucket List: Costa Rica, Alaska Brown Bears, Yellowstone in Winter, Canadian Rockies

Brian photographing on the Scenic Drive in Capitol Reef National Park

Tom and Cree are headed to Yellowstone National Park next for two May wildlife workshops. For a full listing of upcoming workshops, including our new trip to France: Click Here

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

Photo of the Month – February 2021

Tom and I celebrate the great images being created by our community of photographers each month by selecting a Photo of the Month. For February we selected images by Sherry Reese that she edited in our PhotoShop 2 Class. We hope you enjoy Sherry’s images as much as we do

Congratulations to February 2021 ‘s featured photographer – Sherry Reese

Elk Rut Workshop September 2020

The Story … 

In PhotoShop 2 we had daily assignments to develop our PhotoShop skills. Reviewiing my old photos, I was looking for an image to change the color of something. I thought of the image with the yellow umbrella. I had always wanted to do something better with the image in editing. Before when I tried editing it in Lightroom – I was unsuccessful.

When the PhotoShop 2 class came along, it gave me the skills to remove tricky objects…..like the guy behind the woman with the umbrella. It wasn’t the umbrella color that I wanted to change. I thought the yellow color was beautiful. It was the green bag in her hand.

I also wanted to mute her surroundings. The sky was blown out and distracting in the background. In PhotoShop 2 I learned how to work with skies by using selection tools and adjustment layers.

After editing the photo, I realized that now it is the picture I was hoping to take in the moment. Tuscany 2018

A low key edit of Tibetan women and a butter lamp

Editing in PhotoShop instead of Lightroom:

PhotoShop is transformational. I could easily leave Lightroom out of my workflow now. In PhotoShop you can do everything and more. And, my workflow is easier now. I don’t have to worry about missing photos or catalogues.

One of my favorite features of PhotoShop is the ease of object removal. My favorite tools to use for this are the spot healing brush and the patch tool. They are both easy to use.

I also like the ability to work in layers in PhotoShop. I can manipulate one part of the image, and leave the other part alone with the use of layer masks.

The PhotoShop high pass filter brings out details of old boats in Scotland

A Tip for using PhotoShop:

I thought PhotoShop was going to be so complicated and that I wouldn’t be able to understand it.

Then I realized that you don’t have to use everything PhotoShop does to make it work for you. It seemed like a mystery before and now it no longer does.


Sherry created the reflection in this image by flipping a layer vertically

On Sherry’s Horizon

Brown Bear Safari in Alaska in June

Hawaii – perhaps without a camera!

Galapagos Islands in August

Sherry on her second trip to Patagonia’s Prieto Moreno Glacier

March classes start soon and we have a few spaces in Bird Photography and Adobe Portfolio class. Click Here We have been working on a BRAND NEW class for March: Travel Photography: learn tips for unique street photography, food photography, the travel story, working with architecture and more. Click Here

What’s Coming Up

Greetings Photographers!

Brrr it’s cold! Places all over the country are seeing record temps and we have been busy photographing winter. Between backyard birds puffed up from the cold, ice crystal macros and our local eagle tree, Tom and I have been on the go. Here is what is coming up at Tom Bol Photo Workshops….

Upcoming Onine Classes – the last few!

We have posted our last three online classes in March. We are so impressed with the learning and images that have been created by you during these classes. After March we plan to be scouting new locations and offering workshops in the field.

Here is what we are offering in March:

New Class: Travel Photography  Details:  Ready to take your travel photography to the next level?  Can’t wait to hit the road this summer? Join Tom and Cree for five days of creative ideas and techniques for travel photography-all online.  After photographing over 80 countries and frequently shooting assignments for tourism bureaus and travel publications, we have some tips to help you learn new techniques. March 15-19 M-F from 10-11:30 am or 5-6:30 pm. Cost $349

Last Class: Bird Photography:  If you have traveled with us in the field before, you know that Tom and Cree have a life long fascination with birds. We have been photographing birds ever since we first picked up a camera. We want to share with you what we have learned through the years about photographing birds from the Arctic to the Antarctic and all points in between.  March 8-12 M-F from 3-4:30 Cost $349

Adobe Portfolio: Are you an Adobe Lightroom or PhotoShop user? Did you know you have a free portfolio program included in your subscription? Move beyond posting on social media and create a portfolio to share your best photos with friends and family. This class covers everything you need to know including writing an artist statement, creating galleries, setting up a contact form and choosing an overall theme. March 13 and 16 from 10-11:30 am. Cost: $249

The local eagle tree in Fort Collins, Colorado

Scouting Report

One of our favorite parts of running a workshop company is scouting our new locations. We continually offer new destinations and want to be sure that our new locations will be perfect for you. With all the interest in bird photography we will be heading to Madera Canyon in Arizona to photograph hummingbirds in the next few months. We also plan to visit the swamps of Louisiana to look for nesting herons and egrets among the cypress trees.

Last summer we scouted the Colorado high country for a wildflower workshop with jeep access to the higher alpine bowls. Look for that workshop based out of Silverton in July 2023.

Interested in whales and calving Glaciers? We plan to visit Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska to scout for an early June trip.

In the Media

Check out Tom’s recent blog for Singh Ray Filters on using their Gold N Blue filter to create dramatic winter images: click here

Are you signed up for Tom’s tri-weekly blog? He writes about everything from the warmest socks around, to customizing camera buttons. This is a great place to learn about the newest mirrorless lenses and shooting techniques.

Upcoming Events and Presentations

Join us for our Happy Hour Image Celebration on February 19 at 7:00 SMT to see the best images created in February’s Macro for Cabin Fever, PhotoShop 2 and From Lightroom to PhotoShop. classes. See our latest portfolios from our current Adobe Portfolio class. Contact Cree at creetbp@gmail.com for a Zoom link.

Tom speaks online with the Evergreen Camera Club in Colorado on 15 Tips to Improve Your Photography on Wednesday, March 10 at 7 pm.

Tom will be presenting online to the Loveland Photographic Society on 15 Tips to Improve Your Photography on Monday March 8.


We always love hearing from you! creetbp@gmail.com or (970) 631-9383  

Warm regards!

Cree and Tom

Happy New Year from Tom Bol Photo Workshops!

Greetings Photographers!

Welcome to the new year! Our friend Phil Bartlett from New Zealand is calling 2021 the Year of the Camera and we are out photographing almost daily already. Change is coming and we are looking forward to getting back into the field as new vaccines start to roll out and become more widely available. We hope your new year is also off to a good start. Here is what is happening at Tom Bol Photo Workshops….

2023 Workshops

We have started posting workshops for 2023 on our website. Our first session for the Chilkat Eagles Workshop has already filled and the second one is filling fast (read more). We added several workshop that filled quickly in 2021 like our Utah Landscapes and Spring Birds in Texas and brought back some of our favorites like the Redwoods and Rocky Coastlines.

We will continue to add more workshops in the next few months as we finalize trip logistics. Look for new workshops with Strabo Photo Tours to Tanzania and to France, where we will visit Monet’s gardens at Giverny!

.

Chilkat Eagle Workshop in 2019 See Highlights

Upcoming Onine Classes

We hope to be winding down our offerings on online classes in the next few months. We have really enjoyed teaching photography and editing skills online while staying home. We are already getting questions about whether we will continue offering online classes after we begin our regular workshop schedule.

It is not too late to sign up for these classes in January and February:

New Class: Macro for Cabin Fever:  Details:  Ready to get creative this winter with macro photography and not even leave your home? Join Tom and Cree for a three day macro photography class that picks up where our spring classes left off. The focus for this class will be everything but flowers. Dust off your Studio in a Box, charge up your Lume Cubes and get ready to try something new. Feb 8, 10 and 12 MWF from 10-11:30 am Cost $289

Power Workflow:  Overwhelmed with your photography workflow? Want to learn how to get your images from the field to “ready to use” as efficiently as possible? Join Tom and Cree for three ninety minute sessions of tips and techniques for maximizing your workflow efficiency. We will cover 1) Workflow Overview and Shooting Habits 2) Reviewing and Choosing Images and 3) Editing and Backup Strategies Jan 25, 27, 29 MWF from 3-4:30 Cost $249

All About Speedlights: Whether you own a dedicated speed light or are brand new to flash photography, we will teach you all about speed lights! Transform flat gray urban scenes into moody, compelling photos using a single speed light. Create a compelling travel portrait in 5 minutes. Learn to use flash to enhance landscapes and nature photography all in 5 daily sessions. February 15-19 from 5-6:30 pm Cost: $349

See all of our online classes by clicking here

Ice Macro from Fort Collins, Coloroado

Out and About

Just after the new year, we took advantage of cold winter temperatures to drive up the Poudre Canyon near our home in Fort Collins. We photographed ice and water using the Singh Ray Gold N Blue polarizing filter. Look for an upcoming blog post from Singh Ray with some of our images.

We continue to use our backyard bird blinds almost daily to photograph songbirds that live in our neighborhood. Spending time at the Laguna Seca Ranch and Santa Clara Ranches in South Texas last February inspired our new habitat. We have as many as 15 species of birds visit daily. Bushtits and Red-Breasted Nuthatches are two of our favorites!

Upcoming Events and Presentations

Tom and Cree will be starting off a new Speaker Series called Adventures in the Wildest Places Travelogue Series for the Massachusetts Audubon Society on Friday, January 14 at noon ET. This series is organized by our friend and fellow NOLS instructor, Doug Lowry, Read More

Join us for our Happy Hour Image Celebration on January 29 at 5:00 SMT to see the best images created by our participants in January classes. Contact Cree at creetbp@gmail.com for a Zoom link.

Tom speaks online with the Evergreen Photo Club in Colorado on 15 Tips to Improve Your Photography on Monday, February 8. Thanks to Sam Rush for the referral!

Tom will be presenting online to the Santa Clarita Valley Photographers Association on 15 Tips to Improve Your Photography on Tuesday February, 9. Thanks to Jeff Barlow for organizing this.


We always love hearing from you! creetbp@gmail.com or (970) 631-9383  

Warm regards!

Cree and Tom

What’s Coming Up at TBPW December 2020

Greetings Photographers!

We hope you are enjoying the holiday season! Tom and I are photographing every morning from our backyard bird blinds. We fill up a large thermos with coffee and wait for the birds to come in for their portraits! We took the cover photo of the finch with snowberries just this morning. As we move towards the New Year we wanted to let you know what is happening at Tom Bol Photo Workshops….

New and Upcoming Online Classes

Everyone seems to be signing up for classes in the last few weeks. And we appreciate it! Online classes are filling quickly. Several of you will be receiving a class from a loved one as they have been popular Christmas gifts this year! We have added new sessions for existing online classes and will continue to create new classes to help everyone stay creative in the next few months.

New Class: Macro for Cabin Fever:  Details:  Ready to get creative this winter with macro photography and not even leave your home? Join Tom and Cree for a three day macro photography class that picks up where our spring classes left off. The focus for this class will be everything but flowers. Dust off your Studio in a Box, charge up your Lume Cubes and get ready to try something new. Feb 8, 10 and 12 MWF from 10-11:30 am Cost $289

Power Workflow:  Overwhelmed with your photography workflow? Want to learn how to get your images from the field to “ready to use” as efficiently as possible? Join Tom and Cree for three ninety minute sessions of tips and techniques for maximizing your workflow efficiency. We will cover 1) Workflow Overview and Shooting Habits 2) Reviewing and Choosing Images and 3) Editing and Backup Strategies Jan 25, 27, 29 MWF from 3-4:30 Cost $249

Bird Photography:   If you have traveled with us in the field before, you know that Tom and Cree have a life long fascination with birds. We have been photographing birds ever since we first picked up a camera. We want to share with you what we have learned through the years about photographing birds from the Arctic to the Antarctic and all points in between.  Jan 25-29 from 3-4:30 SMT Cost $349

Ice Macro from Fort Collins, Coloroado

Advanced Landscapes:  Ready to take your landscapes to the next level. This class targets advanced concepts that are not normally covered during our workshops. Learn to create emotion, meaning and purpose in your landscapes while also learning new technical skills like focus stacking and maximizing acuity in your images.  January 11, 13 and 15, 2021 from 2-3:30 pm SMT Cost $249

PhotoShop 1: From Lightroom to PhotoShop:  Learn the basics of PhotoShop for photographers in just 5 days. We will spend 1.5 days reviewing tools to remove objects. We also cover working with layers, layer masks and changing backgrounds. January 11-15 5-6:30 pm SMT Cost $349

PhotoShop 2: Applied Layers:  Interested in moving beyond using simple tools in PhotoShop for your landscape and travel images? This class is the perfect progression from our ” PhotoShop for Landscape and Travel Part 1″ class. We will take your understanding of tools, layers and masking in PhotoShop and apply it to new ways to take on landscape and travel images.  Think of this as an applied PhotoShop class. Feb 8-12 from 5-6:30 pm SMT Cost $349

Adobe Portfolio Create your own online portfolio of photographs and digital artwork. This two session class will cover the basics of using Adobe Portfolio to create a webpage with all of your best images. There are also two 1 on 1 working sessions with Cree to personalize the content. Best part: Adobe Portfolio is free for Adobe subscribers. January 24, 26 Sun & Tues from 10-11:30 am Cost $249

See all of our online classes by clicking here

Update on Workshops in the Field

We are looking forward to traveling again in 2021 and are optimistic about the new vaccines coming out. We have all had to put travel plans on hold this year and we know that it has been frustrating for everyone.

We managed to run six workshops in the field this year and felt very good about the safety of the locations and the conditions for each of those workshops. In addition we offered 14 new online courses to keep hundreds of you involved in learning more about photography and editing.

We postponed many of our workshops this year and will be offering them in 2021 and 2022 instead. We will continue this strategy of postponing workshops until travel conditions improve and vaccines are readily available to participants who want to travel. Instead of canceling our trips months ahead of time, we try to wait until two months before the workshop to evaluate the conditions for travel. If you have questions about upcoming trips, we always encourage you to contact us.

Presentations for Camera Clubs and more….

We are currently reaching out to photographers through local clubs and organizations. We can schedule a presentation for your club on a variety of topics.

Tom will be presenting on Bird Photography for the Westbridge Camera Club in Ohio on January 4. Thanks Roberta Kanye for coordinating this!

Tom and Cree will give a joint presentation on Bird Photography: Afar and Closer to Home to the Massachusetts Audubon Society on January 15 at noon ET.


We always love hearing from you! creetbp@gmail.com or (970) 631-9383  

Happy Holidays!

Cree and Tom

Trip Report: October Rocky Mountain National Park Workshop

We want to share the highlights of our workshop to Rocky Mountain National Park last week. With high winds, wildfires and spectacular sunsets there was plenty to keep us on our toes. The abundant wildlife and late fall foliage provided plenty of subject matter for our small group of photographers

Click here to see the report

Thanks for taking a look at our website. We hope to see you soon, either online or in the field!

Tom and Cree

RMNP Night Skies Workshop

Back into the Field

Tom and I have plenty to be excited about this month. We just finished our first two sessions of the new online Advanced Landscape Class and the second session of Adobe Portfolio. We will have a list of upcoming classes in October and new classes for November below. To see Tom’s latest work for Nikon on multiple exposures click here

Our biggest news is that our first workshops in the field since the co-vid outbreak start next week. We have two Colorado getaway workshops starting this Sunday. Both of these Elk Rut Workshops are full. We are offering shorter trips, closer to home with fewer people on them (only 6). In October we have our second set of getaways with space available on the Oct 10-13 Rocky Mountain National Park: Night Skies and Elk. At just $999 we expect it to fill soon.

We wanted to share some of the new practices we will be using on these upcoming trips to make sure that our entire group stays safe. We are using these “best practices” after plenty of discussion, research on CDC guidelines and coordination with the National Park Service. These practices will likely change as the health situation changes in the next few months. Before each workshop we have started holding online Zoom pre-trip meetings to discuss which practices are in place ahead of the start of the workshop. We want all participants to feel informed and comfortable with their choice to participate on our workshops.

How we’re addressing COVID-19 at TBPW 

First, we would ask anyone who is feeling sick to stay home. Also, anyone who has had contact with anyone with Covid in the last 14 days we would ask to stay home.  Pretty obvious, but we want everyone feeling healthy before the trip. 

-We will have all meetings and shooting sessions outdoors.  We have decided to only meet outside during these workshops, and won’t be having any lectures indoors during these short workshops.  Outside fresh air is safer than being indoors in groups.

-We will ask everyone to wear a mask, and we will be wearing one as well. 

-We will maintain social distancing as much as possible.

-We won’t directly touch anyone’s camera. 

-We won’t ask anyone to carpool together unless they are with family or close friends and make their own decision to ride together.

-We will do morning temperature checks. Get ready for ‘doctor Tom and Cree’!

-We won’t plan any group dinners at restaurants.  Participants can choose how they plan to eat meals: at the hotel, take out or at local restaurants.

As always, if you have questions about upcoming workshops, please get in touch at creetbp@gmail.com


Upcoming Classes

October offerings

Creative Camera Craft: The perfect class for the well rounded photographer who wants to try something new. October 26-Nov 6 Click here to see more. Cost $349

PhotoShop 1: From Lightroom to PhotoShop: The perfect class photographers who know Lightroom and want to start using PhotoShop. October 26-30 Click here to see more. Cost $329

PhotoShop 2: Applied Layers: Learn to use smart objects, blur filters and convert color into compelling black and white images. Nov 2- 6 Click here to see more. Cost $329

PhotoShop 3: Beyond Applies Layers: Our newest class: learn to create painterly images, advanced skies and how to use the blend if function. Nov 2- 6 Click here to see more. Cost $329

All About Texture Overlays: Join Cree for a two day class on making creative images in PhotoShop using your own texture images. This is a great way to practice simple layer use with later masks October 27 & 29 Click here to see more. Cost $149

New Classes:

Look for new online classes in November including:

Bird Photography

High Key Low Key: editing , lighting techniques and more

Photo of the Month – August 2020



Tom and I celebrate the great images being created by our community of photographers each month by selecting a Photo of the Month. For August we selected Lynn Satterfield’s image from our online Texture Overlay class
. We hope you enjoy Lynn’s images as much as we do. 

Congratulations to August’s photographer – Lynn Satterfield

Lynn at the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina

The Story … 

The wagon was at the estancia where we stayed in Patagonia. It was at sunset and the light came in really nice on the wagon. I took the photo handheld. It was a pretty good photo before I did anything with texture layers.

I asked myself can I make it look rustic, like it was old and wearing down. This concept just seemed to go with the wagon.

The August 2020 Photo of the Month

To create the texture image for the overlay, I just went into the kitchen and pulled all the pans out to see what I had. I used the Nikon Z6 to photograph it because it’s so light. I turned the pan right side up first. Then I turned it over and the back side was even better.

I cropped the texture layer a bit because the edge didn’t add anything to it. I put a bit of gold color in it to warm the image up. I added texture and clarity as well. That was about it, really.

Lynn’s texture layer created by photographing the back of a baking pan with her Nikon Z6

The Data: .

ISO 400 35mm 1/125 f 16

The Gear: Nikon D500 for background, Nikon Z6 for texture


About Texture Overlays:

Doing texture layers helped me understand layers and blending modes in PhotoShop. With the layer masks, it just seemed to click that you could use them to bring out parts of the texture and hide the texture in other parts.

Texture layers give you a feeling of creating and being an artist. Taking a photo anyone can do. This technique makes the image your own vision.

A goose texture overlay image from Lynn Satterfield
The golden pond texture Lynn chose for her goose image

Tip from the Photographer … 

Don’t be intimidated by layers. Experiment. Put different textures on and see what they look like. the wagon texture was about 46% opacity. I used the lighten blend mode after going through all of them.

Lynn experimenting with a second texture on the Patagonian wagon

On Lynn’s Horizon

Bears and Glaciers Workshop and Australia/Tasmania Workshop in 2021

She also wants to work more with speedlights and editing in PhotoShop.


Lynn in action in the bird blinds at Laguna Seca Ranch in South Texas

The Patagonian wagon image was taken on a workshop with American Nature Photography Workshops Click here to learn more

There is another Texture Overlay class starting at the end of October. To see a schedule of online classes with Tom Bol Photo Workshops Click Here

What’s Coming Up at TBPW

Greetings Photographers!

Happy summer from Fort Collins, Colorado! Tom and I just returned from a short trip to Utah to photograph landscapes and the night sky. Tom will be using some of those images in his brand new class Advanced Landscapes. We saw very few people in Capitol Reef National Park or Escalante National Monument during the height of summer. We especially loved having the place mostly to ourselves at night.

Online Classes

Our first round of speedlight classes in early August was a big success. Students used gels and softboxes to photograph everything from stemware to film noir in a phone booth in Iowa. If you are looking for ways to stay creative and learn something new, it is not too late to get involved. We have five online classes coming up via Zoom in the next few months. To read more or sign up, just click on the title of the class to learn more:

All About Speedlights:  Whether you own a dedicated speed light or are brand new to flash photography, we will teach you all about speed lights! Even better, we’ll show you how to get started for less than $100 in gear. Transform flat gray urban scenes into moody, compelling photos using a single speed light. Create a compelling travel portrait in 5 minutes. August 24-28 M-F 4-5:30 pm Cost $329

Advanced Landscapes:  Ready to take your landscapes to the next level. This class targets advanced concepts that are not normally covered during our workshops. Learn to create emotion, meaning and purpose in your landscapes while also learning new technical skills like focus stacking and maximizing acuity in your images.  Sept 14-18 MWF from 5-6:30 Cost $249

PhotoShop for Landscapes and Travel: From Lightroom to PhotoShop:  Learn the basics of PhotoShop for photographers in just 5 days. We will spend 1.5 days reviewing tools to remove objects. We also cover working with layers, layer masks and changing backgrounds. Oct 26-30 from 2-3:30 M-F Cost $329

PhotoShop for Landscapes and Travel: Applied Layers:  Interested in moving beyond using simple tools in PhotoShop for your landscape and travel images? This class is the perfect progression from our ” PhotoShop for Landscape and Travel Part 1″ class. We will take your understanding of tools, layers and masking in PhotoShop and apply it to new ways to take on landscape and travel images.  Think of this as an applied PhotoShop class. Nov 2-6 from 2-3:30 M-F Cost $329

Creative Camera Craft:  Learn to transform the ordinary to the extraordinary with your camera. Whether you are an engineer or an artist, this class will offer new camera tips and creative solutions in your photography.  Technology has changed what camera settings we use, and how we shoot.  New creative styles are evolving with this new technology.  This class will show you how to approach a variety of subjects, and how camera craft will bring your vision to reality. Oct 26-Nov 6 from 5-6:30 M-F Cost $329

Not what you are looking for? We also offer Private Editing Lessons if one on one is more your style!

See all of our online classes by clicking here

Update on Workshops in the Field

Like many of you, Tom and I can hardly wait to get back in the field and teach workshops in person. We have been continuing to monitor the news on covid19 and are developing our own covid protocol for trips. We plan to hold meetings on Zoom before trips to discuss our safety guidelines and recommendations before trips depart.

Colorado Getaways

We launched our first “Colorado Getaways” Workshops last month. These trips are designed to be shorter, less expensive and have fewer people on them. Both sessions of the Elk Rut in Colorado filled within two days of our last newsletter. We will be adding a new set of dates for the elk workshop and 2 Colorado Getaway Night Sky Workshops in the next few weeks.


We love hearing from you and seeing your work on social media. If you are a facebook user, please consider joining our private group called Photos for Inspiration TBPW at https://www.facebook.com/groups/653824312128583. We encourage our supporters to use this site to share their current work and receive supportive feedback from the TBPW community. We feel very lucky to have your in our community!

If you are signed up for a workshop and have any questions about it’s status, please get in touch at creetbp@gmail.com or (907) 631-9383  

Warm regards to all of you!

Cree and Tom

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