Editor’s note: Just back in the office and truly inspired by what he learned, our colleague and design director Rick offers this first-hand report from the Summit Series of Photography Workshops in Boulder, Colorado. This most-recent program was organized and managed by Rich Clarkson & Associates, LLC of Denver in conjunction with our friends at Aurora Photos. The topic is one we’re excited about: “DSLR Filmmaking for Photographers”.

“As a photographer and design director at Lowepro, I find myself looking for workshops that will help take my photography to the next level. I just got back from a Summit Series of Photography Workshops in Boulder and I have to say—I am completely impressed.

I attended the Aurora Multimedia workshop. The content was extremely valuable and the instructors and presenters were excellent. Multimedia is a fast-growing segment and many photographers are evaluating how to learn about it, get comfortable with it, and add it to their photographic tool belt.

The workshop covered the entire aspect of multimedia–from the medium’s pace of change to how to capture audio for your project. Bob Dotson of NBC’s American Story provided invaluable tips on interviewing and how to dig deep to get the “real” story. Rob Finch taught us more than we wanted to know about editing. Corey Rich gave us demonstrations on equipment set-up for a two-camera interview.

And other professionals such as  Kevin Moloney (New York Times contract photographer and photojournalism professor at the University of Colorado) and Hans Weise (video director at National Geographic) walked us through how to capture sound and tell better stories.

Another great benefit was meeting and interacting with the other attendees, many of whom are award-wining photographers in their own right.

If you want to learn more and grow as a photographer this is a terrific resource. I am ready for another.”

Rick

Thanks to Derrick Story, our Lowepro photo evangelist who wears many hats as a pro photographer, writer and teacher of all things digital. We’d also like to thank our co-sponsor, Nik® Software for making this event possible. We’ll give you a little recap of the webinar: A Fresh Look at Familiar Subjects in Black and White Using Silver Efex Pro 2.

Please check back in a few days to watch Derrick’s webinar in its entirety at your convenience. You can go to our Ask the Pro page for postings of past webinars and sign-ups for upcoming events.

In today’s session, Derrick talked about learning to see subjects differently–in color versus black and white. Derrick explained how Silver Efex Pro 2 aids in overall image management workflow and when working on fun, personal projects. His personal project to share? Black and White Las Vegas. He shared great examples of how black and white can “open up” an image and change the point of view–even give us more information about the shot.

Derrick particularly enjoys street shooting with CSCs like the Olympus PEN models. He’ll use a smaller camera on a JOBY GorillaPod tripod to make it easy to capture images in a more fluid and discreet way. He packs this light kit in a DSLR Video Fastpack 150 AW (it fits his camera gear, MacBook Air and a few personal items). A very low-profile approach!

Working in Aperture (you also can use Lightroom), Derrick demonstrated how to use Silver Efex Pro 2 to view various presets of a shot, apply different tones and add different borders. He shared a ton of tips–so you’ll want to tune into the full webinar to experience this hands-on instruction for achieving the looks you want in black and white.

Derrick is a senior contributor for Macworld magazine where he writes a digital photography column, and he’s a regular presenter on the popular training site, Lynda.com. He is the author of many books, including The Digital Photography Companion (O’Reilly Media, publisher). Online, Derrick has formed a virtual camera club called The Digital Story that’s open to all photography enthusiasts. The site features weekly podcasts, daily posts, training videos, and reader-submitted photos.

We’re thrilled to be exhibiting at WPPI, held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (Booth #124). But we realize that many of you can’t make it to the show. So we’ve planned a little something extra this week for everyone who follows our show coverage.

WPPI attendees leaving the Conference Center after class. Photo by Derrick Story.

Each day during the show (Mon. – Wed.), we’ll give away one Lowepro bag. To throw your hat in the ring, all you have to do is comment on a daily blog post about the event (starting with this one), or comment on a post about WPPI on the Lowepro Facebook Page. You can do both if you’re so inclined.

We’ll announce all three winners (and the bag each won) at the end of the week. As always, this is void where prohibited. Stay tuned over the next 3 days as we report on the people and events at WPPI. And maybe you’ll have a little Las Vegas luck… no matter where you are.

Derrick Story is the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro.

We’ve had so much fun working with the some photographers from SmugMug San Diego. A SmugMug User Group (SMUG) is a mug-to-mug gathering of photographers.

A SMUG is a place where you can learn, teach and meet up with other photographers who share a passion for photography. SMUGs are a great way to connect with other local photographers. With groups from Hawaii to London, SMUGs are all over the world.

A few months ago, we asked them to test a few products out for us and let us know what they thought. So, we gave them a handful of bags from our new line, the Event Messenger Series and what we got back was so much more than what we expected. The feedback was invaluable, the images were spectacular, the video was fantastic and the lasting relationship is priceless.

Make sure to check out the great work done by the participating photographers, Jason de Alba, Angela Powell Wolfe, Andrea Garvin, Tracy vanDam, and David Crewe.

Our thanks go out to John Paul Caponigro for sharing his expertise on the Art of Traveling during his webinar today. For any of you who missed this educational and inspirational event, we’ll provide a brief recap below. You can experience the complete webinar in a few days on our web site. Visit our Ask the Pro page for information on this, past and upcoming webinars.

John Paul discussed how he prepares for making the most of a photography adventure, both physically and mentally. He touched on a crucial first step: the art of packing. He focused on choosing the right camera bag to make the journey easier. Two of his favorite Lowepro bags are the Pro Roller x100 (wheels are a good thing!) and CompuDay Photo 150.

He also shared his secrets on the creative components of traveling: research, goal setting, storytelling and journaling. Each of these components is core to the adventures he takes and workshops he leads in some of the most beautiful and remote places on the planet. You’ll want to see the sites he searches, apps he uses and books he looks to for guidance.

An internationally renowned fine artist, John Paul is based in Cushing, Maine. Learn more about his imagery, workshops, newsletter and upcoming trips by visiting his web site.

Robert Beck catches an epic snowboarding moment

Winter X Games POV from Robert Beck

This just in!

Two more over-the-top and cool images from sports photographer Robert Beck.

You can see that Aspen is the place to be this weekend for the pinnacle in winter action sports and athletic artistry. Thanks so much for taking time to share this with us, Robert.

Robert Beck sent us these fabulous images straight from Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado where he is covering the 16th annual Winter X Games. More than 200 of the world’s best athletes in skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling take part in this four-day competition.

Check out these photos: a shot from the men’s slopestyle elimination, plus one of Robert with his gear—that’s a Pro Runner 450 AW backpack in the foreground) one of his Lowepro go-to bags).

Robert’s impressions of covering this event? He shares them here.

“All work and no play! The X Games are all about long days. We start at 9am and get home at 11pm. We got about ten inches of snow Thursday night and it’s a beautiful morning today. The games are almost a sensory overload—there’s always something going on. Shooting guys hucking mega ramps on skis? Shooting guys doing flips on snow mobiles?
Yes. So much action. So little time!”