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Greetings,
This month is mainly workshop news. I’ve been rather occupied with personal matters these last several weeks and have yet to get to those video tutorials I hinted at in a previous newsletter. But perhaps I’ll be able to get back to those soon.
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Palouse! (and Olympic)
As things are opening up in the state of Washington, I am still planning on conducting my Palouse workshop June 16-21. Right now, it’s a pretty small group and I have a couple of openings. And the hotel has plenty of space.
I know this is short notice, but if you’re in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or just within comfortable driving distance and you want to join us, just reply to this email and I’ll send the sign up and hotel details.
And as Washington continues to open, the prospects for my July Olympic National Park workshop with John Barclay are brightening. We’ve had a cancellation or two in that trip so if you’re interested, be sure to contact John, as he’s the one handling registrations.
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Sitka
Unfortunately, I’ve had to cancel my two Sitka photo tours. These tours featured at least three trips out on Sitka Sound to photograph Humpback whales (and, with some luck, maybe some Grays or Minkes), sea otters, seals, sea lions, birds, fishing boats and more.
On top of that is the city of Sitka and its surroundings: harbors, Totem Park, Harbor Mountain, and a trip to the Raptor Center for a private raptor shoot.
I’m in the process of rescheduling these tours for 2021. The likely dates are August 2-7 and August 7-12 and each trip is limited to four participants.
Four of those who were signed up for this year’s trip have transferred this year’s registration to next year’s tours, so space is limited.
If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll notify you first when I open the trips for registration. In the meantime, you can get some more details by visiting my Sitka page.
If there is enough early interest in these tours, I’ll look into scheduling a third tour.
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Auroras
 We have no idea about what will happen with the aurora tours this September. Right now, I'm planning on them happening but much will be up to the government of Canada and, of course, the status of the Covid-19 outbreak.
That being said, some people have dropped out of the tours and there are spaces available. This year's trip is well-timed for fall color too. We plan these trips around the new moon so that the sky is best for auroras and stars. This year's new moon falls at a time when the fall color should be around its peak. This won't be the case in 2021. But fall color is a bonus and the auroras are what we're mainly after.
If you're interested in filling one of our empty spaces, send John Barclay an email and he'll let you know if and in which tour space is still available and how to sign up.
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Colorado Tripod
You may remember from last November’s newsletter that I mentioned getting to see a new tripod from Colorado Tripod Company at the Out of Oregon event I taught at last October.
At that time, I pre-ordered their 4-Series tripod. This tripod is slated to be 70” tall and since I’ve been wanting to get a taller tripod ever since I started photographing auroras (a lot of camera up-pointing is done with auroras, like with the picture above) I placed the order. At that time I was hoping they’d be shipping within a couple of months. But that didn’t happen and there were design delays or something. Not a big deal, I’ve been having a good relationship with my current Gitzo for over 12 years and I plan to continue that.
And I’m not tripod monogamous. In fact. I’ll have three tripods when the new one arrives. And that will make us … A thruple? Trigamous?
Anyway…
There’s been some movement on the 4-Series. Apparently, the design is done and they’re moving into manufacturing. There are even some new and exciting pictures on their website.
I’m hoping to have one in my hands before my next aurora trip. Until then, I can only dream of tilting my camera to the skies without contorting myself to look into the viewfinder. I’m getting too old for that … stuff!
(I have no affiliation with Colorado Tripod Company. I'm just lusting after that tall, tall tripod)
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That's all for now.
Stay safe, stay healthy. Get those pictures edited. You know you've been putting it off!
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