OUR WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES ARE FILLING UP - CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE FOR FULL WORKSHOP AND CLASS DETAILS-you can click on individual workshops below

Take the opportunity to experience a Blue Ridge Workshops adventure in photography.  Our workshops are designed for all levels and provide the attention you require and the locations you will love and the level of photographic education you need to get you incredible, memorable, images and bragging rights.  Below is a listing of workshops and links to help you decide which workshop or workshops you want to sign up for.  If you have any questions about a workshop you can reach us via email or phone  Here is a link to contact information

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Therapy.  That’s what it is.  I find that when things are just becoming too much, and the news media bombards me with nothing but bad news, every day, all day I reach for something that has always smoothed my way.

Photography and the creation of images with my own personal touch, from the actual capture to the final output has always been therapy for me.   There is nothing like a day out, except a few days out, or a day in to work with my camera gear and computer and printer.  It just takes me away from the daily grind and the sometimes not great news that seems to be running unchecked in every news media.

I find new places, meet new people, where photographic opps are abundant, and I either have a chance to be on my own or with folks with the same photographic interests I have.  I attend lectures and classes to grow my skills.  And when I have a chance to see my final output, it just makes me feel better all around.

So, at LOW COST, Blue Ridge “ THERAPY” Workshops, you will hopefully find a chance to CREATE, RELAX, MEET NEW FRIENDS, and do something that really MAKES YOUR DAYS BETTER, and FOCUSED.

Think about which workshop you would like to join, either a day workshop or multi day workshop.  I know that there is most certainly something that will be A GREAT GETAWAY for you.

Elliot

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WORKSHOP SCHEDULE FOR 2009 SPRING - SUMMER-FALL- filling up quickly

April 17,18,19    Shenandoah Photography Workshop    Shenandoah and Surrounding area                            Click for details

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April 25th          The Backroads of Leesburg, Virginia     Leesburg, Virginia                                                    Click for details

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May 2nd            How a blacksmith turns iron into art    Near Flint Hill Virginia                                                Click for details

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May 3rd            Greenspring Gardens-Macro/Landscp   Fairfax, Virginia                                                         Click for details 

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May 22,23,24    Cape Charles & the Beauty of The Eastern Shore                                                                 Click for details

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June 12,13,14   Macro/Closeup/Tabletop Photography   Sperryville, Va.                                                         Click for details

-All around the Shenandoah

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July 11th           The Lilypons in Full Bloom                  Adamstown Maryland                                               Click for details

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July 18th           Rappahannock-Just you and us on special private farm land                                                Click for details

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October 2,3,4   The Sea,beaches,archetecture,&                                                                                        Click for details

birds of Cape May New Jersey

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Oct.23,24,25    The Beauty of Shenandoah in the Fall   Sperryville, Va                                                         Click for details

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Nov.6,7,8         The Wonderful World of Chincoteauge  Chincoteauge Va.                                                     Click for details

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Dec. 29th         Holidays in Frederick Maryland             Frederick Maryland                                                 Click for details

Visit the many churches in all of their Holiday splendor.

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FINE ART WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES ARE COMING TO BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS

While we have the workshops planned, we do not have firm dates yet as to when they will occur BUT WE SHALL REAL SOON.   These are workshops, presented by Barbara Ellison, that promise to take you further and deeper into the fine art concepts, from special printing techniques providing exquisite and unique output, to the presentation of your finished prints.

Presentation, the final print and how it is shown to those friends, customers, organizations that are so important to you is what it is all about.  Learn from Barbara Ellison, one of the best, and innovative Photographers in the in the region, how all of this is done, and how you create your own personalized look, in three individual classes.

More information is available at our web site.  RIGHT HERE.   

YOU CAN GO DIRECTLY TO BARBARA'S WEB SITE HERE TO SEE HER INCREDIBLE WORKS OF ART.

If you would like to learn more or sign up on a list so you can be contacted with dates and additional details - please log on to our contact information, here and we'll add you to the answer back list in regards to these workshops.

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JOIN BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS AT THE MEADOWLARK PHOTOGRAPHY EXPO - MARCH 7TH AND 8TH, 2009

Since 2002 Meadowlark Park has hosted this wonderful show, where the camera clubs of Northern Virginia, display their best of the best images for your pleasure.  There are vendors from different companies displaying their wares, and  will have tables set up, offering specials on products

PLEASE BE SURE TO COME TO THE BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS BOOTH WHICH  LOCATED BY THE MAIN DESK, AND THE ENTRANCE TO THE PHOTOGRAPHY DISPLAYS AND  LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS, CLASSES, LECTURES AND SPECIAL SERVICES WE HAVE TO OFFER

There will be lectures by various photographers which are listed on the Meadowlark Website.  (click here)  for more information on this very worth while event.

BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS WILL HAVE A   D R A W I N G    FOR ONE 3 DAY WORKSHOP AND FOR ONE 1 DAY WORKSHOP, AT THE BOOTH.  PLEASE JOIN US AND SIGN UP FOR A CHANCE TO WIN.

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PENN CAMERA - WILL BE DISPLAYING AT MEADOWLARK PARK ON MARCH 7TH AND 8TH. VISIT PENN AND ALL YOUR FAVORITE REPS - FOR SOME VERY SPECIAL SURPRISES

CHECK OUT YOUR LOCAL PENN CAMERA STORES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Also Check out our Meadowlark story above, for more information on lectures and events that will take place over two wonderful days.

BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS - WORKFLOW & IMAGE PROCESSING SOFTWARE CLASSES ARE WAITING FOR YOU TO SIGN UP

ADOBE LIGHT ROOM AND WORKFLOW CLASS WITH BRIAN ZWIT-just click.

Adobe Lightroom in it's most recent 2.0 version is more refined than ever, and will streamline your workflow from Capture to output in no time at all.  Primarily designed for Raw images from most camera makes, it is also a wonderful program for processing Jpegs and Tiffs formats.

Our January 24th class was filled up in a very short perod of time and the March 28th Class is already on its way to selling out.  Please be sure to click above  for more details about the class, and for registration.

NIKON CAPTURE NX2 AND WORKFLOW CLASS TOGETHER WITH NIKON RELATED  SOFTWARE WITH BRIAN ZWIT-just click

This is Nikon's premier program for processing Raw and More images as only Nikon can.  This is extremely powerful software that understands Nikon Images better than any other software out there. There are four more seats available, and to register and become a part of this class please click above on Nikon Capture above.

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WHAT OUR STUDENTS HAVE SAID ABOUT OUR $99.00 LIGHTROOM CLASS-PRESENTED BY BRIAN ZWIT

ALL FROM EMAILS ON JANUARY 25TH 2009

Hi Elliot,

I had an absolutely great time at the workshop and all the teasing about my "laptop" computer, was totally fun!  I thought the class was incredible and I left with a very strong sense of how to use Lightroom 2.  Also, I thought Brian was a very thorough teacher and his sense of humor added a lot of fun to the class.  All in all, I could not have asked for a better situation to learn Lightroom 2.  I can't think of one negative about yesterday.   I wish Barbi and I did not have to leave so quickly yesterday, but the camera store was closing at 6pm, and by then it was already 5:45 pm.  Believe me, I would have stayed a lot longer if I could have.  Thanks for making the class such a fantastic one to take.  You will be seeing me a lot more I imagine, too.  I'm very passionate about digital photography,  I've had to put it on hold for many years.  Now I'm finally taking the time to learn all about it.  I'm trying to learn everything I can about photography, Photoshop, Lightroom 2, etc., so that sometime I can do something part-time in photography, even if at first it has to be on a volunteer basis, in order to acquire all the skills I need.   So, you will be seeing me around (smile).

Thanks for the tip on the case for my computer.  I have not had the chance to look it up (that's the next thing I'm doing), but I'm glad to see there is one made for a 24 in. screen.  I"m sure it is really sturdy and well made.  I was hoping to get a case for that computer, but I did not really know where to look.  So, thanks a million for the suggestion.

At the camera store I picked up the Colormunki for calibration of my monitor and printer,  since Brian had mentioned it in his talk.  They also said at the store that Colormunki is the best calibration system there is.  I'll be in touch about the private class for the Nikon D700.  I definitely would want to take one.  I got a camera on a professional level, as I want to go the whole way with photography on a professional level.  So, with the Nikon D700 I will not outgrow it for many, many years (smile).

Thanks again and tell Brian he was great yesterday!

Tara

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Dear Brian and Elliott,
 
I want to thank you both for an excellent program on Adobe Lightroom. I learned a lot and was mentally exhausted by the time I got home. I attended the same Lightroom program as Elliott put on by Scott Kelby of NAPP a couple of years back. That program was informative and entertaining, but Brian's presentation was far more useful in actually getting to the nuts and bolts of the program.
 
 
Monte


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I think what was remarkable about his entire teaching of the class was his extensive knowledge not just of Light Room but how he was able to answer everyone's questions about how it interacted with other software programs that they either use now or have in the past.  He is so knowledgeable about photography.  He is a tremendous resource.
 
 Tierney

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IF WE GET ANY SNOW, HERE'S A FEW TIPS-LEARN TO SEE WHAT YOUR CAMERA SEES AND HOW TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR EYE VS THE CAMERA'S METER

Most camera light metering systems can have difficulty exposing a scene with mainly snow correctly. Camera meters read the light that is reflected off the subject they are aimed at. In most situations where there are many shades and colors present in a scene, this poses no problems and a correct exposure is easily achieved by the camera. This is because a cameras meter may read off many different areas in a scene and is calibrated to average out areas of equal darkness and lightness. However when a scene is predominantly made up of one color or shade, metering problems can occur.

The colors or shades or light or dark areas that pose the most problems are black and white. Metering off a mainly black or very dark colored scene will fool many meters into assuming that there is very little light, despite the presence of bright lighting. That will cause the image to become overexposed, turning blacks to dull grays. Scenes with mainly white coloring or shade cause equal difficulties, this time though the meter assumes that there is more light present than there actually is, even when light levels are quite low. This causes underexposure and what should be white in shade becomes a dull shade of grey in the final image.

Snow is white and can reflect more light than other colors and can fool the camera into underexposing. Instead of crisp white snow appearing in  you might be forced to deal with a dull grey appearance of snow and darker colors and areas in the image losing detail.  Now before we go any further it must be remembered that there must be a certain amount of white snow in the image area before an incorrect reading be caused. That white snow mixed with other darker tonal areas or colors will help a metering system compensate.

To counteract underexposure, when whites are turning to grey, the scene should be deliberately overexposed. For cameras with a manual exposure system, this isn't a problem. Simply take a meter reading and overexpose the correct exposure by one or two stops.

Bracketing will ensure one good image. If there is an object of mid grey in the scene, take a close up reading of that object and adjust your exposure for that, recompose and take the photo.

A spot meter that is either built into the camera or hand held is a tremendous help in these circumstances.

Cameras with only automatic exposure systems such as film and digital compacts may be constrained by their lack of control but there are a few ways to 'fool' these cameras into exposing correctly. Many cameras focus and expose when the shutter release button is pushed half way down. In that case point your camera at another area within the same distance, i.e. a group of trees.   Depress the shutter halfway and hold it, locking the exposure and focusing reading. Recompose on the original scene and press the button the rest of the way.  Some cameras have separate buttons for locking exposure on a specific area.

Some cameras may have limited control of the metering system such as Exposure Compensation override. Both of these can be adjusted to under or over expose an image.  Digital cameras compensations are usually indicated as EV's with a range usually on an average of 2 to 5 ev increments in either direction. plus or minus.

My experiences have shown me that most cameras today have some kind of exposure compensation which allows anywhere from 2 stops compensation to 5 stops compensation.  Usually for snow you can use anywhere from 1 to 2 stops over exposure to get the snow white.

As with anything else, practice, practice, practice.  If your camera can bracket exposures then certainly try that too.

All of this of course is about getting snow white.  But what about mood shooting.  How about wanting to express the chill.  How about the blueness of winter cold.  How about the golden glow of morning or dusk lighting, streaking across newly fallen snow.  How about ice crystals, or leaves frozen in water.

While making snow white is one thing you might want to achieve, do not forget your own personal twist to winter.  Experiment by changing white balances.

Experiment with fill flash.  Experiment, Experiment.

Of course a little bit of snow would not be a bad thing to try this out.  I don’t think I’ve seen one flake this winter in my parts of Virginia.  Well be careful what you wish for.  It is snowing as a finish this article.

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STEVE UZZELL WRAPS UP HIS SERIES OF LECTURES TO A RECORD CROWD

On January 13th, Steve Uzzell presented to a packed audience, the last of three very inspriing and motivating lectures on behalf of Blue Ridge Workshops.  We could not be prouder to have had Steve take the time out of his world hopping schedule to join our group and present these three lectures.

Steve has agreed to schedule these lectures again for later in 2009 with new and inpiring images from his travels and we should have schedules posted for those in the very near future.

For those of you who were fortunate enough to attend Steve's lectures, you have taken another step to perfecting your photographic skills and we at Blue Ridge Workshops thank you.

Steve's web site can be found here

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 If would like to be put on a list for the next Steve Uzzell lectures please email us at BLUERIDGEWS@MAC.COM

FIRMWARE UPGRADES FOR NIKON D3, D700 AND CANON 40D LINKED BELOW

FIRMWARE UPGRADES AVAILABLE THROUGH DPREVIEW

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CAMERA STORE RETAILERS OR LOSE THEM FOREVER-by Elliot Stern

THE WALK IN CAMERA STORE – AND THE ADDED VALUE THEY PROVIDE
SUPPORT THEM NOW OR THEY MIGHT NOT BE THERE WHEN  YOU NEED THEM

For many, the ability to sit in front of a computer and order pretty much anything you want, has become very common place.  However, while the temptation is great, when it comes to camera gear, that temptation really should give way to common sense.  Common sense should tell you that all of the new digital products are highly technical, changed in design, and require a hands on with a competent sales person.

What you COULD EXPERIENCE when you by from many mail order sources.

A)No service
B)No immediate hands on
C)No ability to inspect what you are buying
D)No one to ask questions about your anticipated purchase
F)Difficult, if any return policy
G)Possibly illegally imported products NO. U.S. WARRANTY NON US PRODUCTS

What you should expect from your local camera store.
    You should expect a good experience

1)    You should expect a sales person in the store to greet you.

2)    You should expect a store to have sufficient staff so that you do not have to wait too long.  At certain times of the year it is inevitable that you may have wait, but the wait and the advice should be worth it.

3)    You should have a 90 percent expectation that the product you are looking for is in stock and you can see it.

4)    You should expect to have knowledgeable salesperson that can explain the product and provide the features/benefits.

5)    You should be offered extended warranties where applicable to the product.

6)    You should expect that the dealer is offering some kind of return policy.

7)    Prices should be fair, and so should you as the customer.  The value of being able to handle the product and have the product explained to you, not only when making the purchase but long after the purchase HAS been made, along with other services that dealers provide all impact the overhead of the store and the bottom line.  Be fair.

8)    Make sure you check into continuing photography education.

Most good camera stores IN YOUR LOCAL AREA also have a web site from which you can purchase, but nothing replaces the eye to eye contact with a salesperson, the touch and feel of what you want to purchase.

I have always supported local stores and especially the camera stores.  It has always been important to me to establish good relationships with the sales personnel, and work with them as much as possible.

In our current times it has become so very important to use local businesses, because the economy could force many of them to go out of business.  The support of local camera stores is of the greatest importance.

IF WE LOSE THEIR VALUABLE SERVICES – AND THE ABILITY TO WORK EYE TO EYE, BECAUSE LOCAL CUSTOMERS WHO USE THEIR KEYBOARD INSTEAD OF TRAVELING TO THE CAMERA STORE, THEN IT IS MORE THAN LIKELY THEY WILL NOT BE THERE WHEN THE TIME COMES THAT YOU NEED THEM.

S U P P O R T    Y O U R     L O C A L    C A M E R A    S T O R E   R E T A I L E R S

Es-BRW...

Welcome to the January, 2009 newsletter.

In this Issue

	OUR WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES ARE FILLING UP - CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE FOR FULL WORKSHOP AND CLASS DETAILS-you can click on individual workshops below
	WORKSHOP SCHEDULE FOR 2009 SPRING - SUMMER-FALL- filling up quickly
	FINE ART WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES ARE COMING TO BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS
	JOIN BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS AT THE MEADOWLARK PHOTOGRAPHY EXPO - MARCH 7TH AND 8TH, 2009
	PENN CAMERA - WILL BE DISPLAYING AT MEADOWLARK PARK ON MARCH 7TH AND 8TH. VISIT PENN AND ALL YOUR FAVORITE REPS - FOR SOME VERY SPECIAL SURPRISES
	BLUE RIDGE WORKSHOPS - WORKFLOW & IMAGE PROCESSING SOFTWARE CLASSES ARE WAITING FOR YOU TO SIGN UP
	WHAT OUR STUDENTS HAVE SAID ABOUT OUR $99.00 LIGHTROOM CLASS-PRESENTED BY BRIAN ZWIT
	IF WE GET ANY SNOW, HERE'S A FEW TIPS-LEARN TO SEE WHAT YOUR CAMERA SEES AND HOW TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR EYE VS THE CAMERA'S METER
	STEVE UZZELL WRAPS UP HIS SERIES OF LECTURES TO A RECORD CROWD
	FIRMWARE UPGRADES FOR NIKON D3, D700 AND CANON 40D LINKED BELOW
	SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CAMERA STORE RETAILERS OR LOSE THEM FOREVER-by Elliot Stern

THINGS YOU MIGHT FIND OF INTEREST

Why Blue Ridge Workshops invites the use at workshops of DIGITAL BRIDGE CAMERAS

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C L A S S

Trying to figure out your new Digital Slr Camera, Click here for information on getting ahead of the technology with ONE ON ONE classes, or Classroom classes.

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C L A S S

Don't know what to do with all of  your digital images.  How to store, database, adjust, work with, and output your images Click Here....

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C L A S S

Get Busy with Adobe Lightroom, here is a deal that can't be beat.  Learn how to adjust RAW images as well as Jpeg and Tiff.  ADOBE LIGHTROOM Click Here

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C L A S S

Learn to use Nikon's own and highly acclaimed Capture NX2 RAW PROCESSING SOFTWARE.  Designed to process Nikon raw files as only Nikon understands how to do.  CLICK HERE

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C L A S S

Just got your Nikon D90 DIGITAL SINGLE LENS REFLEX and need some ONE ON ONE instruction?  Click Here

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C L A S S

Don't want a one on one class for the Nikon D90 Digital Slr and would prefer a regular classroom course with  14 other students then Click Here

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For Nikon shooters who want to learn more about the creative lighting system (cls), send us an email at BLUERIDGEWS@MAC.COM

or go to Penn Cameras Web Site. Click here.

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Check out our Fine Art Classes and Workshops, coming soon.  Just click here for all the details. Dates and Times will be posted in the next couple of weeks

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Do you know family members, friends or people at your workplace, who have an interest in expanding their photographic knowledge, then perhaps you should have them contact Blue Ridge Workshops, by forwarding this news letter to them.  They can contact Blue Ridge directly by clicking on this whole item.

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LINK TO CANON 40D, NIKON D700, NIKON D3 FIRMWARE UPGRADES

S H A R E     T H I S    N E W S L E T T E R

W I T H    A    F R I E N D

J U S T    C L I C K    B E L  O W

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