Attending the Moab Photo Symposium has taken my photography to a new level!
When Realtor Kristal Kraft first told me about the Moab Photo Symposium, I felt a little intimidated. I have been a photographer for many years, 35mm black and white, moved on to a point and shoot digital for work and then recently got a NikonD3000. This camera has reignited my passion for photography even though it is like learning all over again. But with the encouragement of my husband, Kristal and local photographer, Charlie Lehman, I decided to jump in with both feet.
The trip had a rocky start as Kristal and I got stuck in a major snowstorm on a mountain ridge before you drop down into Buena Vista. After literally sitting there for 2 ½ hours, we were finally able to travel to Montrose with the intention of getting some great shots of Mt. Sneffels before heading towards the symposium. Needless to say, we couldn’t even see Mt. Sneffels due to the weather. The next morning brought us clear skies as we moved toward Moab.
Upon arriving at the opening reception, I was immediately put at ease as I was surrounded by so many people who share the love of photography. There were all levels of experience and interest. The keynote speaker, John Sexton, made a great presentation about Ansel Adams. Having worked as Adams’ assistant, Sexton showed great insight into the works of this famous photographer. His message flowed flawlessly and was highly entertaining as well as informative. Organizer Bruce Hucko brought together a great group of presenters and workshop leaders: John Sexton, Michael Frye, Joan Myers, Nat Coalson, Jeff Vanuga, Tom Till, Rory Tyler and Steve Traudt. When I signed up for the workshops, I really didn’t know much about these photographers – the presentations by each them enabled me to get to know their work and inspire me to return next year to take additional workshops that caught my interest.
My first afternoon workshop was with Nat Coalson, from Conifer. Spending 5 hours in Arches, hiking, observing and shooting was thrilling. As the lighting improved at sunset, I was able to capture Skyline Arch at it’s best. Nat’s workshop exercises truly helped all of us understand and relate better to our surroundings and subject matter.
Photographer Steve Troudt led my second workshop, titled “Digging for Diamonds” which took us to an unlikely photo shoot – Tom Tom’s VW Museum, aka junkyard. There we experimented not only with subject matter but slow shutter speeds, zooming or jerking, over-exposure and using Lens Baby. It was hot and a tight squeeze due to the number of vehicles and associated stuff, but extremely fun trying things outside of the box.
The symposium was terrific and I will return. However, some of the best moments for me were before and after the workshops – shooting the sunrise at Mesa Arch, sunset at Colorado National Monument, the high snows at Grand Mesa, photographing Thompson City (ghost town), finding petroglyphs and exploring back roads. Traveling with Kristal and Charlie was such a great learning experience. Charlie lent me a wide-angle lens to use with my Nikon; Kristal shared so many resources…..I learned so much about my camera thanks to both of them. I am now shooting RAW and jpeg, using the aperture setting and tripod and even have a remote release. My camera doesn’t bracket for HDR, but I got to try manually bracketing my exposures. This incredible learning experience from start to end was all that I hoped it would be. All of the speakers and attendees were so willing to share their resources and expertise - I left feeling overwhelmed by the experience. Now I have over 1100 photos to view, edit, share and enjoy!
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