Monthly Archives: August 2016

Eastern Sierra Fall Adventure with Lumix Luminaries in attendance

August 25, 2016 by sverma | 0 Comments

Eastern Sierra Fall Color Adventure

October 20-23, 2016

Based in beautiful Mammoth Lakes you will traverse the Sierra capturing nature’s beauty and amazing locations…

Lee Vining Creek, Lundy Lake, Bodie Ghost Town, Mono Lake and many more.

You’ll receive hands-on help to find and capture amazing pictures. Have fun with great people and inspirational photographers.

Panasonic’s Mark Toal, Suzette Allen and Jon Yoshinaga will be at the workshop and will have a loaner trunk of Lumix G Series cameras for you to use.

The Sierra Adventure is ideal for beginners to advanced photographers

Click here for more info and to register

Posted in Photography

Out of New York – 2016

August 23, 2016 by sverma | 0 Comments

Are you familiar with the Out of Chicago Photography conference? Now the producers Chris and Malinda have put together another amazing, inspiring, and fun photography conference bringing it to New York City.

As the “Shooting-est Photography Conference on Earth”, not only will you learn in a classroom setting with photographers like Lindsay Adler, Bryan Peterson, Rick Sammon, Valerie Jardin, and MORE, but they’ll also take you on the streets of Manhattan to use what you learn! One of the many reasons for its success is the smaller, more intimate class size. You will be in a classroom with no more than 60 people (other than the keynote speakers), and you will be able to interact with your favorite instructors!

Out of New York is set for Friday and Saturday October 14 and 15, 2016. Included in your fee is 2 full days of classes along with many social photowalks to choose from. There will also be opportunities for educational, smaller photowalks for an additional charge. Check out the Sunday, full day on-the-street workshops too! Sign up at www.outofnewyork.com or email malinda@outofchicago.com for more information.

Here is what attendees from the Out of Chicago 2016 event had to say:

Attendee Jessica Zoller Kaplan posted in the 2016 Attendee Facebook group…

“As I continue to process the many amazing moments of this weekend, I’m feeling inspired, motivated and grateful to have been a part of something so special. Thanks to Chris, Malinda, Michelle and the whole team for your work on this incredible conference. (I’m already signed up for OOC2017 – are you?) Thanks in particular to Angie, Ron, Levi, Bryan, Valerie, Tim,Ken, Steve, Steve, Eugene, Corwin, James, Rick and Scott for your wisdom and encouragement. My feet and shoulders were aching last night, but the view from Maggie Daley Park made it all worth it.”

Per Bette J. Kauffman, “Thanks to Chris Smith and the ‪#‎OOC2016‬ team for a terrific experience.”

From Jim Jones

“HUGE thanks go out to Chris Smith and the entire army of volunteers and speakers – Out of Chicago 2016 was phenomenal! It was fun, educational and inspiring! Grateful to have met so many great people and to have learned from so many awesome photographers and instructors. You guys are awesome!!!”

Posted in Photography

Eastern State Penitentiary

August 14, 2016 by sverma | 0 Comments

I had the opportunity to visit the ESP on my way to the Art in Nature Festival where I am presenting Color Management and Workflow.

The ESP invites artists to create work that address ESP’s themes—including issues of crime and justice, architectural history, and the site’s fascinating past. Ruth Scott Blackson is one of the artists who has created a fascinating piece of work entitled No Trace Without Resistance

As you can see from the image, Ruth applied new paint chips, coated in gold leaf, to the flaking walls of this cell. Quote from the ESP site “In the resulting “shimmering constellation,” sunlight on the installation may entice the visitor in the same way an inmate may have been forced to concentrate on the walls during solitary confinement. The prison’s neglect reveals something surprising and rare underneath.”

And the as you walk through the cell blocks – you see cell after cell all in arrested decay. Al Capone – spent his time in a rather elaborate cell – the age old radio still plays.

The other inmates did not have such comfort as you see in the typical cell below.

Though each cell block had a Barber Cell with a centrally placed Barber’s Chair there are currently just two that remain.

Like the spokes of a wheel the never-ending corridors of the ESP.

Posted in Photographs, Photography Tagged Cells, Eastern State Penitentiary, ESP, Prison |

Whales – Cape Cod

August 3, 2016 by sverma | 2 Comments

Humpback Whale Bubble Feeding while Gulls and Sheerwaters pluck fish out of the whales mouth.

We had an exceptional whale watch on July 23rd. Having been on many whale watches, this was my first time experiencing Humpback Whales bubble feeding. This method of feeding behavior is when the whales blow clouds or rings of bubbles around a school of fish. The bubbles then rise around the fish which are trapped inside the column of rising bubbles while the whales rise up with their mouths open and trap the fish using baleen as the filtering mechanism. “Bubble feeding” is unique to the Humpback whales.

Humpback Whale Kick Feeding

We were also fortunate to watch a fairly recent feeding method that has been adopted by the Humpback Whales – “Kick feeding” where the whale pounds the surface of the water with its tail before diving and blowing a bubble ring. It is believed that the tail pounding stuns the fish and makes them easier to catch.

All Monica’s images were captured using a Panasonic Lumix GX8 and the Lumix 35 – 100 mm f/2.8 lens