Photographer of the Month – March 2021

Tom and I celebrate the great images being created by our community of photographers each month by selecting a Photographer of the Month. For March we selected a travel story created by Melissa Stanton using Adobe Spark. We hope you enjoy Melissa’s images as much as we do!

Congratulations to March 2021 ‘s featured photographer – Melissa Stanton

Melissa photographing Red-crowned Cranes in Hokkaido, Japan

The Story … about Adobe Spark

I always love reading the trip reports and seeing all the images that were created. I decided to look at the software and found it was so simple to use:

Plop the images in there, write a few words and it works like magic!

I learned to code in high school and created web pages. It was nothing like Adobe Spark. It took me longer to figure out what images I wanted to use, then it took me to design the pages.

To view Melissa’s Spark on the Japan in Winter Workshop: Click here

About Japan

I loved the Japan trip. It was my first time to Asia. There were so many things we saw and did.

I really liked the look on Tom’s face every time they brought out another course of food. My favorite page from the Spark Story is the Octopus page. I can just imagine Tom’s face looking at it. We all want our photographs to evoke emotion. The emotion can be disgust. Photos can’t all be pretty flowers!

The local fish market in the town of Kushiru, Japan

On this page I loved her gold shoes. They thought I was taking a full body image and were happily waving at me. I just wanted her shoes.

The Geisha district in Kyoto. Japan

The Cat Cafe in Tokyo was intriguing. You go in and play with the cats. I have visited a Cat Cafe closer to home in Cleveland. You make an appointment, get yourself a cup of coffee and play with the cats with an eye towards adoption.

I think a wine bar would be better….a few glasses of wine and the cat is looking pretty cute.

The Cat Cafe in Tokyo caught Melissa’s eye

A Tip for using PhotoShop:

Start your Spark by adding all of the photos. I hate writing. To be able to create this and just throw in a few sentences here and there was perfect. I would rather just have the photos tell the story.

Give me a blank page and I’m just going to stare at it. When you already have photos with great backgrounds added, it is easy to write a description.


On Melissa’s Horizon

Brown in Alaska at Silver Salmon – I cannot wait!

Lofoten, Norway with those crazy Bols

Dubai with a friend to see the World Expo

Melissa in her element – Fairbanks, Alaska

If you would like to learn how to use Adobe Spark , we have a one session class this Thursday, April 1 at 5 pm for just $59. Click Here

We are excited to be headed into the field this April and May for workshops in Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Yellowstone National Parks. For a full listing of upcoming workshops: Click Here

Online Services

Greetings from Tom and Cree!

We are delighted to see so many of you working on your photography skills why staying home. In an effort to support you while workshops have been suspended, we are offering several new online services for photographers who want to learn at home.

We have created a web page with 2 at home options as well as several options for when travel restrictions start to lift. We have plenty of time in May and June to support your learning. Check out the new Services Webpage

Here is a sneak peak of what we are offering:

Online Custom Editing Instruction

Details: Interested in improving your Lightroom or PhotoShop skills? Learn from working pros, Tom and Cree. They will be using the images you took so everything applies to your learning. Step by step instruction on a screencast video will allow you to learn new skills and be able to save the results for future sessions and growth.

What is included:

  • Pre-session consultation to determine your interests and program preference: Lightroom, PhotoShop, On1 Presets
  • 5 video screencasts of 5 of your images – Tom or Cree will edit your photographs explaining the steps along the way
  • Follow up trouble shooting when you are working on your own images

   


Live Image review

Details: You select the images and we share live feedback with you on Skype or FaceTime. We will schedule the session and contact you in advance to find out what you are interested in learning about.

What is included:

  • Pre-session consultation to determine your interest and goals for the review
  • Private 30 minute review session to critique up to 20 images on Skype or Facetime

If either of these options interest you, give us a call at (970) 631-9383 by email at creetbp@gmail.com or send us a note on our Contact Form

Warm regards,

Cree & Tom

Patagonia 2019 Workshop

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