Stepping up

I usually write blog posts at the weekend but today is an exception. After spending last week relaxing in Texas this week is the first of three Professional Studies courses, and if the first two days of this course are anything to go by it will be a time of working hard and learning lots.

Yesterday we worked in class from 9:30 a.m. to around 6:30 p.m. This morning we started at 6:30 a.m. at a nature reserve about 45 minutes drive away and finished at 6.00 p.m. Tomorrow we start at 6:30 a.m. at a different nature reserve just over an hour away. Thursday we get to sleep in - class starts at 8.00 a.m. at a town an hour and a quarter's drive away. Despite the early starts the class, The Business of Outdoor Photography, is really enjoyable and well worth it. Friday is a normal class day - at least as far as the hours go.

As with other courses at RMSP the teacher, Darrel Gulin is someone who is out there doing photography and has been marketing his work for 25 years, 19 of them full time. Getting the benefit of that much experience from someone who is an excellent teacher is pretty cool. The class assistant, Jimmy White who is an RMSP graduate from 2009, also takes a pretty mean picture and is a great help and encouragement.

So, bleary eyed, we turn up at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge while it is still dark and then shoot pictures from first light. We then head back to class, select the best 5 photos, process them, and then hand them in by noon ready for them to be shown later in the afternoon. Considering we were all in a very small area of the park at the same time and seeing essentially the same things we had a great variety of interpretations of what we saw and the photos we all turned in were very impressive. I'm getting to enjoy outdoor photography a lot. Here's my take on Lee Metcalf.