"I have a hugely expanded toolkit that I can use confidently, not only for landscapes but for all of my photography.

"I have a hugely expanded toolkit that I can use confidently, not only for landscapes but for all of my photography." ~ Alex Lapidus 

Alex just completed Sairam Sundaresan's excellent "Storytelling Landscapes" mentorship. We're SO impressed, Alex!! Read the post, folks, and check out the rest of his fabulous work here ––> https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104294083885937159989/albums/5929262800698079217

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For anyone who has read this far, consider mentoring someone else here (or more) ... some people don't even know where to start with their cameras and you could be the change they need in their lives. Even the smallest bit of knowledge can be passed on and you can create your mentorship in many different ways. Imagine the feeling of taking someone to their next level, paying forward the knowledge you've received and watching someone blossom with enthusiasm and accomplishment!

Originally shared by Alex Lapidus

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Onward and Upward!

Plus Post Week 11B/Double Final for Sairam Sundaresan's Storytelling Landscape Photography Mentorship

Well, it took me a long time to finally finish my assignments for Sairam, just because he taught us so much!  This is the first image in which I've ever blended multiple exposures; in the past, I've never done much processing to most of my images, and I rarely have used anything but Lightroom.  I had to finally understand layers, masking and blend modes -- and that just for one of the four photos assigned for one of the 12 weeks of the program.

I won't steal his thunder by trying to enumerate all the topics he covered for us.  Suffice to say that there are many things that happen in the making of a great landscape photo; some happen in the field, but many others happen beforehand in researching, planning and preparing, and afterwards in editing and processing.  I haven't suddenly become an amazing landscape photographer -- and that's not necessarily a primary goal for me considering the amount of work I now appreciate goes into it -- but I have a hugely expanded toolkit that I can use confidently, not only for landscapes but for all of my photography.

Sairam is a wonderful teacher: clear, thorough, enthusiastic, encouraging.  I was supposed to assist him with the logistics, rather than to be a student, but he inspired me to really think about the material, and to go out and do the assignments with everyone.  He also assembled a wonderful group of photographers to participate, who were very engaged in the program, supportive of each other (and of me), and have some brilliant work to show for their efforts.

I've chosen not to share the album with this post for various logistical reasons, but I've created a public album of some of the work I did for my assignments, at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104294083885937159989/albums/5929262800698079217 .  Some of the photos you've seen publicly, others not yet.

This program was part of the G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers, led by Robin Griggs Wood, Ron Clifford and Tamara Pruessner.  I had the great fortune to participate in Robin's first G+ Mentorship ART Program for Photographers (and to assist with two subsequent rounds), and recently to assist in mentoring the Camera Basics: Beyond Automatic program as well.  Robin and her colleagues are well on the way to creating Photography U. here, to the great benefit of the community.  I would definitely urge anyone interested to follow the Page for more info, to keep an eye out for future classes, and to become a mentor yourself if you're able to help!


The photo is from Arches National Park, and I'll also share it for #headsupmonday  with russ vallelunga (HeadsUpMondays); #nationalparksmonday  with Juan Pons (NationalParksMonday); #naturemonday  with Rolf Hicker and Kate Church; and of course #landscapephotography .