PICADADAY

Cultivating the rice by hand in Okinawa, Japan.

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY: MATADORU

HERE IT IS. RIGHT OUT OF THIS MORNING'S EMAILS:

Dear Mike,
Today I'm really stoked to announce the launch of MatadorU's 2nd program: Travel Photography http://matadoru.com/courses-list/travel-photography. As with our methodology in the Travel Writing Program, this course isn't just "how to take travel photos," but an immersion into the life of a professional Travel Photographer working today. Within the first month, students complete lessons on equipment and technique, then get right into building successful WordPress blogs, creating networks of colleagues, pitching work to editors, strengthening their brands, and powering up their portfolios and blogs so they can get assignments, generate ad revenue, and expand their audience as photographers and new media professionals. We're especially excited about the teachers who will be working directly with students in this program, including Matador's own Lola Akinmade and Paul Sullivan. Their recent assignments as pro photographers have sent them to Morocco, Istanbul, and Iceland to name a few. As well, we have Gail Mooney, whose work has been published in National Geographic and Smithsonian. There is a lot more to explain about the program, including lifetime access to the forums and Market Blog, as well as the direct feedback offered in the Photo Labs. But instead of talking about it all here, I invite you to learn more about the Travel Photography programhttp://matadoru.com/courses-list/travel-photography We look forward to having you join our community. Please contact us with any questions!
Sincerely,
David MillerMatadorU Team

Now, I'm in kind of a rush and just copied, pasted and borrowed the words outa my email 'cuz, ya'll know me; I hate typin' and that Spellchecker and those HTML Codes that are always messin' up my website and blogs. I'm in a hurry and don't feel like fixing LINKS and all that stuff. So, if you want to learn more about the course, CLICK ON THE TITLE TO THIS POST AND "BINGO" IT TAKES YOU RIGHT THERE!

I Will Teach You To Be Rich

It's rainy season here. Not much Wildlife shooting goin on, but I haven't given-up on the Wild Boar quest, yet, just slowed down a little bit.

Anyway, while I'm waiting for sunshine to break out all over, I got into some Travel Writing and will post a few Links here as my stories hit the magazines.

Getting on the WWW and trying to learn how people become Travel Writers has been a blast and I've met some amazing folks along the way.

You've got to check this Nora Dunn out. She'll teach you how to travel around the world for FREE ! So, whether you're a photographer, just trying to scrimp enough money together for your next lens, or someone who just wants to walk out the door, never look back and go out and see the world, you should look and see what she has to say at: http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/cheap-travel/

What's all this got to do with the picture I posted? That's a $40.00 slab of Australian Steak being cooked, right in front of me at one of the most expensive Tourist Trap Restuarants in Naha Okinawa, Japan and it didn't cost me a Dime !

Tell me what you think of Nora's Article and I'll teach you how I did it !

Flowers n' Ferns

Luckily I packed almost all my camera gear in a bag for this trip. Thinking I'd get some nice close-ups of the Azaleas it was kind of disappointing the way the weather turned out. The wind in the mountains and harsh sunlight kind of wilted all the flowers.

When you go out on a shoot like this, you better be flexible. Mother Nature takes a turn for the worst, you just have to outsmart her. For this shot I got up high in a tower and looked down into a valley where the wind wouldn't have much effect on me or the scene. I set my tripod in a position where a concrete barrier protected it from the breeze. The Giant Ferns in the upper-center of the frame weren't moving, so I knew the valley was also, sheltered from the wind. I stopped-down a few clicks on aperature and used the camera's 2 second timer, held my breath and fired-away.

To this day, I couldn't tell you what an Azalea looks like; even if I tripped-over a flock of them ! What I really wanted was the picture of the Giant Ferns ! About a month ago, I shot this curly wachamakallit, golden plant sprouting at the base of another mountain. I was on a Cherry Blossom assignment that day and it was another windy day on the top of a mountain with me trying to get nice, slow shutter speed shots of (ugh) flowers moving in the wind ! The gal writing the story I was shooting for spotted the plant on our way down the hill and started shooting it with her point and shoot (toy) camera. I noticed the way the sun was hitting it, just right and knew if I took the time to set-up my tripod, it'd be too late; the sun would move. So, I just laid down behind a log and rested my lens on a log and captured it !

One of the things I really like about the web; if you post something (you have no clue as to what it is) on a website and be honest about it, somebody out there will tell you. A few days after I posted it, it was identified ! It's a baby Giant Fern and IT's EDIBLE ! To me, that's what Flower Photography should be all about !

Now, all I have to do is find out the scientific name of these Giant Ferns and I might get a Nature Magazine to buy them. I can Google that easy. Meanwhile, anybody out there who can tell me how you cook them ?