 | Death Valley Fine Art Photography Summit
November 1st to 4th 2019 in Death Valley National Park, California
Organized by Alain and Natalie Briot
With Jeff Schewe, 2019 Guest Instructor We will be teaching the latest versions of Photoshop and Lightroom The Summit is followed by a three-day Photographic Vision Field Workshop
to the Eastern Sierra on November 5th, 6th and 7th, 2019 Details of the Photographic Field Vision Workshops are below
Zabriskie Point, Death Valley
Photograph by Alain Briot Announcing an exciting, photographic-instruction oriented field workshop with professional photographer and instructors Alain Briot, and Jeff Schewe. This event covers both the technical and artistic aspects of photography. The emphasis is using technical excellence to develop a personal photographic style. The goal is to help you learn how to create photographs that are uniquely yours.
We are pleased to announce exciting news: Alain Briot and Natalie Briot are offering a feature packed, one of a kind workshop during which we will not only take you to some of the most photogenic locations in the world but also teach you how to best process and optimize your photographs to create fine art photographs that you will be proud to display. You will have the opportunity to study and work 1 on 1 with Alain Briot and Jeff Schewe. And, you will return from this workshop with photographs that you will be proud to display and share.
| | Alain Briot Originally from France, Alain has been photographing the American Southwest since 1983. Alain and his wife Natalie have lived in the Southwest for over 20 years. Their intimate knowledge of this beautiful area inspires them to photograph and to share their knowledge with others. Currently, Alain works with Phase One P45 digital back mounted on a Haselblad Camera. His work is influenced by his training as an Artist at the Academie des Beaux Arts in Paris. In addition to creating Fine Art Photographs, Alain is a columnist for Luminous Landscape.com (Michael Reichmann) and several other web sites. His essays on photography are published and read worldwide. Alain also publishes the Mastery Workshop on DVD series, which are available on this site. Finally, Alain is the author of three best-selling books: Mastering Landscape Photography, Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity and Personal Style, and Marketing Fine Art Photography. Alain’s DVDs and books are available on this site. 2019 Summit Presentations:
Alain will be giving the following presentations during the Summit: 1 – Photographing Death Valley
The Summit starts with a presentation by Alain about how to photograph Death Valley National Park. Using a selection of his personal work together with maps of the area, Alain will show you where to find the finest locations, tell you the best time to be there, explain which lenses to use and much more. 2 – Foundational image processing
During this presentation Alain explains the most important aspects of image conversion, processing and optimization by teaching you the workflow he uses in his personal work. At the end of this presentation you will have a clear understanding of how to convert, process and optimize your images. You will also be able to use the same workflow that Alain uses to create his trademark images known for their unique color palette, soft contrast and other characteristics specific to Alain’s Personal Style. 3 – Using Composition to Express your Vision-Part 1
During the 2014 Summit in Death Valley, Utah, Alain gave two presentations on Personal Vision. This year, during the 2019 Summit in Death Valley, Alain will build upon these presentations by offering two sessions on how to use composition to express your vision. Mastering composition is fundamental to the creation of photographs that express your vision. Composition is the one thing that will make your work stand out as being unique, original and different from everyone else. In this first presentation Alain will explain what composition is and teach you both fundamental and advanced composition techniques. These include the golden rule, negative space, lines, light, color and many more. 4 – Using Composition to Express your Vision-Part 2
Vision is seeing what others do not see. But how do you show what you see to others? You do so by using composition to feature in your photographs what you see in your mind’s eye. In other words you express your vision by turning your ideas into images that everyone can see. How do you do that? To answer this question, in this presentation Alain will show a variety of compositions to demonstrate how ideas are turned into photographs that convey an artistic vision. Alain will teach you the exact techniques he used to create these photographs so that you can use them in your own work. 5 – Participant Photographs Review
On the last day of the Summit, Alain and Jeff will review the photographs created by Summit Participants. Alain and Jeff will explain what works in each photograph and offer suggestions to improve them. Alain and Jeff will also use Lightroom and Photoshop live to demonstrate which techniques can be used to improve each photograph. Personal Work
You can see a collection of photographs by Alain in his Online Portfolios. Alain will also have a collection of his Fine Art Prints for you to see at the Summit. | | | Jeff Schewe
Artist Statement:
I turned to photography because I was a frustrated painter. With photography there is an ability to create an image with spontaneity and freshness that painting does not allow. Over the years, I’ve still kept my love of light and design originally nurtured with painting. It is with a painterly sensitivity that I now approach my vision and perspective in photography.I like to shoot any subject as long as I can bring with it a unique viewpoint. Though my first exposure to photography was in the traditional darkroom, I now work by using a computer to digitally manipulate my images. The allure of total power and control over my images that digital imaging allows is so seductive that I now no long even maintain a darkroom. However, though my images are manipulated, I strive to work in a totally photo-realistic manner. Biography:
Jeff Schewe has been an award wing Advertising Photographer in Chicago for over 25 years. He is accomplished in tabletop, location, portraiture and particularly accomplished in computer imaging. Jeff shoots a variety of subject matter and likes to control as much of the production as possible. He does this by making his own models, designing and building his own sets, painting backgrounds and employing computer imaging. He has been doing his own imaging for over 15 years in house on his high-end Macintosh systems. Jeff Schewe is a Photoshop Guru’s Guru. He’s on the inside of the development and testing of Photoshop and has helped guide and direct many features since Photoshop 4.0. Short of some of the Photoshop engineers, there’s probably not many people who knows Photoshop like Jeff. As an indication of his skills and knowledge of fine art printing, he has been named an Epson Stylus Pro. He is a past Apple Master of the Medium and has been inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. He speaks regularly at Photoshop World. He is the coauthor of Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (along with the late Bruce Fraser) and is also coauthoring a book with Martin Evening titled Photoshop For Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop.
You can read Jeff’s complete biography and Artist Statement at this link
2019 Summit Presentations:
Jeff will be giving the following presentations during the 2019 Summit : 1 – Personal Work Presentation
In this first presentation on Friday evening Jeff will show a selection of his personal work and talk about the why and how these images were created. This is a fantastic opportunity to discover Jeff’s work and find out what motivates his creativity. 2 – Lightroom and Photoshop (using the latest versions)
Jeff, who is a world class expert in both Lightroom and Photoshop, will demonstrate the most useful and important new features of both the latest versions of Lightroom and Photoshop. This is your opportunity to get ahead of everyone else by learning this software with the top expert in the field and putting it to use immediately on your own images. This presentation will expand on Jeff’s best selling book: The Digital Negative. Additionally, if you bring your copy of the book Jeff will sign it for you. In this presentation Jeff will also show us a selection of his favorite tips and techniques. Be ready to learn something unique! 3 – Preparing photographs for output
Preparing photographs for output, either for print or screen display, is a critical aspect of creating a fine art image. Are you preparing your image files properly so as to maximize the quality of your output? In this presentation Jeff will teach you how to prepare your images professionally for a variety of output types so that your photographs look their very best on print or on screen. 4 – Printing from Lightroom and Photoshop
What looks good on screen does not automatically look good on print. In this presentation Jeff will teach you how to get the best possible print from your digital files, printing from Lightroom and from Photoshop. We are working on getting a printer to print your images with so you can see first hand the differences between screen images and printed photographs. We will also look at different papers to see how the same photograph looks like on different substrates. Finally we will have a selection of fine art prints on display, from both Alain and Jeff, for you to study directly. 5 – Participant Photographs Review
On the last day of the Summit, Alain and Jeff will review the photographs created by Summit Participants. Alain and Jeff will explain what works in each photograph and offer suggestions to improve them. Alain and Jeff will also use Lightroom and Photoshop live to demonstrate which techniques can be used to improve each photograph. Personal Work
You can see a selection of Jeff’s personal work in his Death Valley Portfolio as well as on his Online Portfolio.
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Playa Reflections, Death Valley
Photograph by Alain Briot
Summit Schedule
The Summit takes place November 1st to 4th, 2019 in Death Valley National Park, California followed by the Field Workshop November 5th to 8th. The Summit Hotel is the Oasis at Death Valley, which is located in Death Valley National Park. The closest international airport is Las Vegas, Nevada. Driving time from Las Vegas to Death Valley is approximately 2 hours. The schedule for the Summit was designed by Alain and Natalie Briot with three goals in mind: convenient travel arrangements, exciting photographic opportunities and a convenient place to conduct quality tutorials on image processing and fine art photography. Below is the 2019 Summit schedule: Death Valley Junction
Photograph by Jeff ScheweFriday, November 1st, 2019
Registration, opening remarks and Keynote address
Registration
We will meet you at the Oasis at Death Valley Conference Room, in Death Valley, California, on Friday afternoon at 4pm Pacific Time. Opening remarks, Keynote Address and Death Valley Photographic Locations Presentation
After registration is completed, the Summit will start with opening remarks and keynote address by Alain Briot, Natalie Briot and Jeff Schewe. After the Keynote Address Alain and Jeff will present a selection of photographs from Death Valley and explain when, where and how they were created. The goal of this presentation is to help you become familiar with Death Valley and with the different locations that we will be photographing. After this presentation you will have a very good idea about where you can photograph in Death Valley and what time of day is best for each location. You will also receive a map showing the photographic locations in Death Valley, together with detailed direction telling you how to get to each location. Saturday, November 2nd, 2019
Field photography & tutorial sessions
Sunrise: Field photography session
You will begin your day with a photography shoot. You will have the choice of photographing Death Valley from different overlooks. We will discuss some of the best locations for sunrise on Friday evening. Field sessions are self guided. Morning and afternoon: tutorials by Alain Briot and Jeff Schewe (see the list of tutorials in the biography section above)
After breakfast we will meet in the conference room at the The Oasis at Death Valley for a day of tutorials taught by Alain Briot and Jeff Schewe. Sunset: field photography session
The tutorial sessions will stop about two hours before sunset. You will then have the opportunity to photograph Death Valley at Sunset. Again, we will discuss which locations are best ahead of time (self guided). Evening
The conference room will be open in the evening for a supervised image processing session during which you will have the opportunity to work on your own images. Alain and Jeff Schewe will be available to help you with your photographs 1 on 1.
Moonset at Sunrise, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley
Photograph by Alain Briot Sunday, November 3rd, 2019
Field photography & tutorial sessions
Sunrise: field photography session
On Saturday you will have another opportunity to photograph Death Valley at Sunrise (self guided). Morning and afternoon: tutorials by Alain Briot and Jeff Schewe (see the list of tutorials in the biography section above)
After breakfast we will meet in the conference room at the The Oasis at Death Valley for a second day of tutorials taught by Alain and Jeff. After lunch, we will reconvene in the conference room to continue the tutorial sessions.
Sunset: field photography session
The tutorial sessions will stop before sunset. You will then have the opportunity to photograph sunset in Death Valley National Park (self guided). Evening
The conference room will be open in the evening for a supervised image processing session during which you will have the opportunity to work on your own images. Alain and Jeff will be present to work 1 on 1 with each participant. Salt Pans, Death Valley
Photograph by Jeff ScheweMonday, November 4th, 2019
Field photography and tutorial sessions
Sunrise: field photography session
Again, you will have the opportunity to photograph Death Valley at sunrise (self guided). Morning: tutorials by Alain and Jeff (see the list of tutorials in the biography section above)
After breakfast we will meet in the conference room at the The Oasis at Death Valley for a third day of tutorials taught by Alain and Jeff. Afternoon: group Photography Review
After Lunch we will reconvene in the conference room to review the photographs you created during the Summit. Each participant will present his or her work to the class. Participants and instructors will have the opportunity to offer critiques, compliments, comments and suggestions. This photography review will a great opportunity to receive feedback on your work. Participation in the photography review is voluntary. You are free to decide whether you want to participate or not. However, we strongly encourage you to participate because this is one of the most important learning opportunities offered to you during the Summit. Sand Dunes, Death Valley
Photograph by Alain Briot
Sand Dunes, Death Valley
Photograph by Jeff Schewe Photographic Vision Field Workshop
November 5th to 7th
Immediately after the Summit, Alain and Natalie Briot offer a three-day Photographic Field Vision Workshop to the Eastern Sierra Nevada. This unique Field workshop is scheduled on November 5th, 6th and 7th. This field workshop is designed to build and expand upon the concepts taught during the Summit by exploring the concepts of Creativity and personal style on Tuesday and then getting started designing and working on a personal project on Wednesday and Thursday. This workshop is also designed to provide you with a unique opportunity to visit and photograph several of the most beautiful landscapes in the Southwest, under the guidance of Natalie and Alain Briot who have lived here for over 20 years. You will acquire new photographic skills by conducting Photographic Skill Enhancement Exercises every day under the guidance of Natalie and Alain. We will depart from Death Valley on Tuesday morning for this extended workshop experience. Below is a summary of our schedule and teaching syllabus for this exciting Photographic Vision Field Workshop. Eastern Sierra
Photograph by Alain Briot
Tuesday, November 5th, 2019
Travel:
We will meet you at the The Oasis at Death Valley (the Summit Hotel, then travel with you to the Eastern Sierra Nevada with stops along the way for photography. Afternoon photography will be spent in the Mohave Desert, and sunset photography will be in the Alabama Hills, one of the most photogenic places in the Southwest. Alain and Natalie have been photographing this area since 1983 and know precisely where to go and at what time of the day to be there. Our travels on Tuesday will take us to areas that offer fantastic photographic opportunities all day long. Presentations and discussions on Creativity and Personal Style will take place during the day. We will stay in Lone Pine, California, that evening. Photographic Instruction:
– How to develop your creativity
– How to find and nurture inspiration Wednesday, November 6th, 2019
Travel:
On Wednesday we will continue our exploration of the Eastern Sierra Nevada. We will explore the area from Lone Pine to Bishop. Sunset will be near Bishop that evening.
Presentations and discussions on Creativity and Personal Style take place during the day. We will stay in Bishop, California, that evening. Photographic Instruction:
– How to refine your vision and personal style
– How to design and start a personal photography project Information about travel arrangements for the Field Vision Workshops will be emailed to you when you register Eastern Sierra
Photograph by Alain Briot
Thursday, November 7th, 2019
Travel:
On Thursday, we will leave Bishop and drive through the Eastern Sierra Nevada to Lee Vining. We will explore the area located between Bishop and Lee Vining, stopping to photograph little know areas that Natalie and I discovered through our explorations. Our final destination on Thursday is Mono Lake, one of the photographic jewels of the Eastern Sierra. We will reach Mono Lake in the afternoon, and we will spend afternoon and Sunset photographing this amazingly beautiful location. We will show you the best spots to be at for afternoon and photography, and provide you with all the help you need to bring back great photographs of this unique place. The workshop ends after Sunset. You can stay in Lee Vining that evening, the town closest to Mono Lake, or start driving back to your destination after sunset. Photographic Instruction:
– How to refine your vision and personal style
– How to design and start a personal photography project Information about travel arrangements for the Field Vision Workshops will be emailed to you when you register Mono Lake, California
Photograph by Alain Briot Additional Information
About Photographic Instruction
The instruction during the Summit and the Field Vision Workshops will consist of tutorials, presentations, question-answer sessions, photography reviews and photographic skills exercises . You will receive a syllabus and several handouts covering the subjects that we will study at the start of the Summit and of the Field Vision Workshops.During the Summit, all photographic instruction will be done at the Summit Hotel, in the conference room. We will cover how to photograph Death Valley National Park, as well as other locations near Death Valley, during the Summit. We will go over the specific challenges offered by each location, and will teach you how to overcome these challenges so you create professional photographs. You will then have the opportunity to visit these locations on your own, and you will have the freedom to select the location(s) of your choice. Once back at the Summit Hotel we will help you convert, optimize and review your photographs. The last day of the Summit we will review your work during a 3 hour photography projection presentation. During the projection, Alain, Natalie and Jeff will comment on each participant’s photographs and make suggestions for improvements and for reaching the next step with your work. The photography review is one of the highlights of this Summit.Don’t let this unique opportunity pass you by!
Seats in this unique workshop are in high demand. To be fair reservations are taken on a first come first served basis.If you have been thinking about building up your portfolio, if you have been thinking about becoming more serious about your photography, if you want to photograph some of the most beautiful photographic locations while receiving photographic instruction, if you want to learn how to best convert your photographs RAW, prepare them in Photoshop and other programs and create Fine Art Photographs don’t hesitate another second: sign up now. This event is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity!Location:
We will meet you in Death Valley, California, at the The Oasis at Death Valley. A special room rate is available to participants. All location shoots during the Summit will be in Death Valley National Parks or near Death Valley. All the photographic locations are within a short driving distance of the Oasis at Death Valley. All tutorial and review sessions will be conducted at the The Oasis at Death Valley.Number of participants:
The number of participants for the 2019 Summit is strictly limited to 40. This limit is set to insure a low participant to instructor ratio as well as a pleasant experience. Keep in mind that the Summit is a seminar-style event, and not a field workshop. The field workshop after the summit, are limited to fewer participants and are taught by Alain & Natalie Briot.What you will need
– A digital camera or a film camera and a digital camera. Photographers using any format cameras, from 35mm to medium format, 4×5 and other are welcome. If you only shoot film, you can bring scans of your photographs to work on during the Summit.
– A laptop with Adobe Photoshop CS5 and other imaging software you currently use.
– A USB Flash drive to transfer files for the review
– A vehicle as you are responsible for your own transportation to Death Valley and to the locations we will be photographing during the field workshop. Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra Nevada, California
Photograph by Alain Briot How to Register:
There are four ways to register for the 2019 Death Valley Fine Art Photography Summit: 1- Use the paypal buttons below: 2019 Fine Art Photography Summit:
$1195 |
2019 Death Valley Summit Vision Field Workshop:
$1495
Click below to register for both Summit + Field Workshop
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Both Death Valley Summit + Vision Field Workshop:
Regular price
$2690 ($1195 + $1495) Combo Special Offer:
$2290
only
You save $400 !
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2 – Download the 2019 Summit Registration Form, in PDF format, by clicking here 3 – Email Alain at alain@beautiful-landscape.com
4 – Call us toll free at 800-949-7983 (USA) or 928-252-246 (international) and register over the phone
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. A receipt will be mailed to you after your registration is processed and you will receive a confirmation over email. Registrations are allocated on a first come, first served basis. We recommend you act now because the Summit and the Photographic Field Vision Workshops sell out quickly. If you have any questions before registering, click here to send us an email inquiry. We are pleased to assist you with any questions. You can also call us at 800-949-7983 or 928-252-2466 . We are located in Arizona. How to make your hotel reservations in Death Valley, California
Summit participants benefit from a special group rate at the Ranch and at the Oasis at Death Valley which are the Summit Hotels. You will be emailed the hotel contact information (phone, email and address) as well as the code to get your discount rate, after you register. There is of course no obligation for you to stay at the Summit hotel. You are free to stay at any other hotel you like. Camping and RV facilities are also available near Death Valley if you prefer this option. The 2019 Summit Hotel is the The Oasis at Death Valley
Things to keep in mind:
– Food, lodging, transportation and park entrance fees are not included. While most participants stay at a hotel, some occasionally decide to camp. Similarly, some participants may want to eat with the group while others may prefer to be on their own. Finally, some participants may want to return several times to one location, while others may not want to visit this location. This arrangement provides for maximum flexibility while keeping the cost of this workshop to a minimum. It will gives you maximum freedom in planning your meals and give you time by yourself if you choose. – We will email you directions to Death Valley as well as a list of hotels in the Death Valley area when you register for the Summit. You will receive an email indicating our Friday evening meeting time as well as additional information approximately 2 weeks before the Summit. – A passenger car is suitable for this workshop since we will not drive on 4 wheel drive roads during the workshop. However, if you rent a car, we recommend you rent an SUV as it is more suited to this kind of activity. -We have a no tag-along policy. Spouses, friends, significant others and non-photographers need to be registered as full-time participants to join any aspect of this workshop. This includes meetings, photography reviews, lectures, meals, travel and all other aspects of this workshop. For further details read our Workshop FAQ.
– We do not carry cell phones because coverage is often unreliable or unavailable in the remote locations where we will be photographing. Instead, we use walkie-talkies to communicate with each other during field workshops, when we are on location and when we are driving. If you become separated from the group we will call you on your walkie-talkies to find out where you are. For these reasons we ask that you bring a walkie-talkie, such as a Motorola Talkabout or equivalent, to the Summit. Please set your walkie-talkie to channel 4-5. Fascinating Patterns with Mauve Color Palette, Death Valley.
Photograph by Alain Briot Cancellation policy
All monies are non-refundable. If you cancel participation in this workshop your registration fees may be transferred towards registration in another Beaux Arts Photography workshop under certain conditions. Transfer of fees to another workshop is not automatic and is decided solely by Beaux Arts Photography as a courtesy. We reserve the right to decide whether to transfer your fees to another workshop or not. You must register for another workshop scheduled one year or less from the starting date of the workshop you originally registered for. If you need more time we may be able to extend the transfer time beyond 1 year. Participants transferring from another workshop will be registered for this other workshop in excess of the regular number of participants. We can only accept two transfers per workshop. If you decide to attend a higher priced workshop, or if the workshop fee has increased, the difference in cost between the two workshops will be charged to your credit card when you notify us that you want to sign up for this other workshop. A ten percent transfer fee will be applied at the time of transfer. In order to get a transfer credit you can only cancel one workshop, Summit or seminar per calendar year. Your registration is guaranteed only when we have payment in full. We reserve the right to change this policy at any time. Workshop fees can only be transferred to another workshop and cannot be used towards purchase of a product such as mats, portfolio cases, CD or DVD tutorials, prints, portfolios, or other. Workshop fees cannot be transferred towards purchase of the Mastery Workshop DVDs. We cannot transfer consulting fees towards workshop registration. If this workshop is cancelled by us you will receive a full refund. By registering for this workshop you agree to this policy. Liability Limitation
Beaux Arts Photography, Beautiful-Landscape.com, Alain Briot, Natalie Briot, guides, and cooperating agents aim to provide every participant a safe, educational, and enjoyable experience. We act solely as agents for you regarding accommodations, special activities, and travel, by any means, and assume no liability for any act, error, omission, injury, loss, delay, mishap, or damage to persons or property arising from any cause during the course of the workshop or in transit thereto. We can accept no responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in the services to be provided. We reserve the right to change our arrangements should conditions necessitate, or to cancel any aspect of the workshop due to exceptional circumstances. In the event that we deem it necessary to cancel the workshop we will provide a full refund which the participant(s) acknowledges as full and final settlement. In the event of a workshop cancellation airline tickets, car rentals and hotel reservations associated with participation in this workshop will not be refunded. We recommend you purchase refundable airline tickets and make refundable car and hotel reservations. We also recommend you carry travel and camera equipment insurance. As there is always an element of risk in any adventure associated with the outdoors, participants must read this form carefully. This liability release will certify that the participant is physically fit and capable of participating in outdoor photography exercises in field locations, and is fully and completely aware of any associated risks created by field locations and weather. Meeting times, meeting places and itinerary are subject to changes dictated by the weather, the road conditions and other imponderable variables that are part of doing landscape photography. We do not carry cell phones. You are responsible for being at the meeting place at the designated time and have your photographic equipment with you. By joining this workshop I acknowledge that I have read the above information concerning responsibility and release Beaux Arts Photography, Alain Briot, Natalie Briot, their guides, instructors and any cooperating agent from any liability. Beaux Arts Photography, Alain Briot, and Natalie Briot will assume no liability for injury, illness, or loss of personal property or expenses thereof associated with workshop participation. I also acknowledge that Alain and Natalie Briot have the right to refuse service to anyone at anytime and that workshop policies are subject to change at any time. |
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