this posting is a day late because i’m still recovering from the whole NECCC experience. saturday night wrapped up nicely with a few more important connections being made. i met janice wendt from nik software and charles needle, a macro photographer from GA. both of them expressed an interest in working with API, which is very cool. stay tuned for more on both fronts, fellow photogs.later that night i attended the awards ceremony. i tried to tuff it out but not knowing any of the recipients, i could barely stay awake. to tell the truth, i was loosing the last light of the day, so i quietly left and biked around campus, stopping at various points of interest and photographing till it began to rain. at one point it rained so hard i took shelter at a bus stop but continued to shoot thru the distressed plexiglas, lights echoing in the wet road with car lights streaking by. it was a real party.
sunday morning, after breakfast at the dining hall, (btw –the cranberry nut bread is to die for) i attended two presentations. gary needle is a macro photographer who had set up some shooting scenarios on saturday at the hi-jinx area. i was intrigued by his set-ups and curious about his results. he started his presentation with samples of his work… absolutely beautiful. then he covered equipment basics and surprisingly revealed some of his tricks, tips and studio set-ups. simple set-ups really but the results were magnificent.
i then treated myself by attending mark bowie’s “light of midnight” presentation. there are no words i could possibly write, to could describe what i saw. absolutely stunning images taken with exposure times of 2 minute to 6 hours , multiple exposures and HDR shots. all shot in complete darkness and occasionally lit with a mag light, headlamp, million candlelight flashlight or the night lights of surrounding buildings. there was one shot of a line of small pine trees, covered with snow and lit by the light of a nearby gas station, that took everyone’s breath away. mark admitted to us, that it took him 5 minutes to decide whether to take the shot or not… glad you did MB. as one attendee told mark afterwards, “i have a new hero”.
on the ride home, i came to one very important conclusion… you and i both know that the adirondack photography institute is fast becoming the place to go, for world class photography instruction …enveloped in the incredible beauty of the adirondack mountains… and now the members of the NECCC know it!
carpe diem, lightwriters.
