Contact:
Grays of Westminster
www.graysofwestminster.co.uk
40 Churton Street, London, SW1V 2LP
Tel: 0207 828 4925
Fax: 0207 976 5783
Email: info@graysofwestminster.co.uk 2010 Programme 2011 to be confirmed

09.15    Registration with coffee and tea served on the terrace of the Manor.

10.00 -11.15 Heather Angel  What makes a memorable image?

Pictures of the natural world which transend language barriers and create an instant rapport are rare. It may be high speed action, amazing behaviour, dramatic lighting or an intriguing design that arrests the eye. If you rely on coming across them by chance the odds of acheiving many in a year will be slim.  But by conceiving the essential ingredients, you can reduce the odds of being successful. Drawing both on images taken over time as well as recent unseen ones, Heather will show some throught-provoking images which she hopes will stimulate a lively discussion. 

Copies of Heather’s books – including Wild Kew, which is the basis of the 2010 summer exhibition at Kew Gardens – will be available this weekend.

11.15   Break for mid-morning refreshment: tea, coffee, mineral water on the Terrace.

11.45 - 12.45 Nikon Total Imaging System - John Clements

Regardless of your choice of  Nikon camera, you need to know how to achieve the best from it using Nikon optics plus Nikon Speedlights and software; so the NTIS will be fully explained. In a live shoot environment, using flash illumination inside, John Clements will demonstrate how to create images to cover various genre of natural history photography, explaining every step of the way from taking the initial image to the end result. As images are shot, they will appear on screen. John will then talk through as he fine-tunes and improves upon them in camera. Each vital camera feature – from focusing and exposure with many other considerations – will be detailed and exact settings explained during the shoot. 

Jpegs – working within a limited time frame, Jpegs allow a speedy way to go straight to print. 

NEF Raw files – using Nikon Capture NX2 and John's broad experience of post-capture techniques to generate imagery to professional imaging standards. 

During the event John will use the Nikon WT4 Wifi system, the Creative Lighting System and components of the Nikon software system 

13.00   Lunch

14.00 onwards there will be a choice of four sessions. You may attend them all or be selective. Please note that Giles' Photoshop session will be aimed at different levels as the afternoon progresses. The sessions are outlined here with details of each below.

·         14.00 - 16.15 Practical Macro session with Heather Angel in the garden

·         14.00 - 16.15  Outside Practical session with John Clements

·        14.00 – 16.30 Photoshop Techniques with Giles Angel 

·          Outside Practical session with Flying Falcons and John Huxley – time to be announced

14.00 - 16.15 Practical Macro session with Heather Angel inside and in the garden

An opportunity for you to get to grips with macro photography guided by Heather who will demonstrate how to take still life subjects indoors, selecting the lighting which is most appropriate for the subject – whether it be window light, flash, a light box, a light tent or fibre optics. Nikon cameras and lenses will be available for you to use and flowers, fruits, shells and fossils will be provided for this still life session. This is a marvellous opportunity for you to gain instant feedback on composition and lighting from Heather. She will also show you how to modify natural lighting to get the best results for macro work outside using reflectors, diffusers, and fill-in flash  

PLEASE BRING A MACRO LENS, TRIPOD AND FLASH

A few Micro Nikkor lenses will be available to borrow from the Nikon stand. Indeed, these workshops are an excellent opportunity to handle and try out Nikon equipment before making a purchase.

14.00 - 16.15  Outside Practical session with John Clements

Following on from his morning presentation, John with continue to explain how to get the best out of the Nikon Total Imaging System; this time ­– weather permitting ­– using available light outdoors.  

Outside Practical session with Flying Falcons and John Huxley – time to be announced

By popular request, the birds of prey are back – ideal subjects to achieve stunning action images – both as stills and HD video with the latest DSLR Nikon cameras! 

14.00 – 16.30 Photoshop Techniques with Giles Angel

Giles is a professional photographer and digital retoucher. The start of this session will be pitched at the beginner and will move onto more advanced and specific techniques as the afternoon progresses.  

·    Introduction to a colour managed workflow

·    Editing your images using Adobe Bridge

·    Workflow in Bridge (editing, renaming, applying raw corrections)

·    RAW v JPEG

·    RAW conversion tips & techniques

·    Simple colour correction / variations

·     Introduction to adjustment layers

·     Levels – adjusting colour balance

·     Preparing images for print and the web

·     Precise colour correction with adjustment layers

·     Replace colour

·      Black and white from colour

·      Masking

·      Solarisation / colour effects

·      Content aware scaling

·      Panoramic stitching and panoramic headgear. Photo Merge (to create panoramics) in CS3 / CS4

·     Dodging and burning selective areas (CS4 comparison)

·      Shadow and highlights tool

·      Combining different raw conversion exposures using masks

·       Editing masks using paint brushes and gradients to make selective exposure and tonal adjustments

·       Working with mask and adjustment levels with reference to levels and curves

·       Selectively correcting areas using masks

·       Pseudo HDR. Working with multiple adjusted raw files (Single) image and using masks to selectively

·       Introduction to HDR 

16.15   Afternoon Tea and Coffee or cool drinks served on the Terrace.

16.45   Practical Session with Heather AngelHeather will demonstrate various gadgets for aiding outdoor photography and demonstrate how she works in the rain.

17.00   Workshop closes