Lessons

Lesson Info

Q&A And Critique

I want to know what are some of your highlights back from from doing this boot camp itself? Ah, man highlights. Well, let's see. I mean, certainly, uh, you know, the point and 1/2 of blood that I donated to the local mosquito population and North Cascades National Park was a highlight. Uh, you know, people seem to really react strongly to that. And I don't know, Bugs love me. I just got back from Havasu. I was in Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, and I ended up getting some wonderful little leech type creatures all over my leg. So I don't know, maybe it's just me. They think my blood is sweet, but, um, you know, honestly, so much of it was really just somebody said in that in that comment, you just read kind of magical. Um, you know, I mean, I think being able to go up into the mountains and have that cool morning air who evening air and, um, having an opportunity to show people the process of constructing a landscape photograph is is something I rarely get to do. I mean, a lot of times...

you're alone. Were you working with scientists in the field, but to actually go and have a group of people with me going out into the Cascades in the national park and say, This is my process. This is what I'm thinking about. Um, it's really rewarding. I mean, ah, lot of times a za photographer, you don't really ever think about your own process. Uh, and so essentially, when you go out there and you start to talk about it, you're reverse engineering your own work, your reverse engineering, in my case, a lifetime of photography from whether the stuff I learned for my father is a kid do the things that I learned on my own in the field. You really start to dissect that process. And I really think that so many aspects of this 20 day boot camp uh, really, really we're just very rewarding for May. Well, it's been so rewarding for you to be able Teoh share all of that with with those of us, especially those of us who might be new to this genre and loving out there in nature, loving out there doing active things, but aren't really sure how to capture the essence of that experience. So that when you go home and you look at those images and you say, like, that's what it was to be out there in the field, and your your imagery and your experience is really have have showed us how to do that. So I want to get Teoh seeing Let's talk a little bit about kind of some of the projects that you are working on right now. Just kind of at a high level, cause I know you always have. Sure, so many things that are going on. So let's talk a little bit about those. Yeah, well, the reason I have a lot of things going on. Everyone's like, Wow, you're doing five different things. Well, not everything is always happening at once. And, you know, as I talk about in this class, diversification is really, really key. And so you know, when you think about yourself being a photographer, think about yourself not just going out to push a button and capture a photo, but also all of the different things you want your work in your career be so you know, for me, all of those things have grown, and it takes a long time to get there. You know, I do want to add one thing for I talk a little about those projects and because, you know, they are amazing Project. But I got here because of perseverance. Um, you know, the I just never quit and and honestly, so much of of, of being either a good competitor in the business marketplace or being a great photographer from the creative perspective is about perseverance. Whether you constantly revisit the same locations, whether you constantly go back out and put yourself in a situation where great light and great moments can happen, Um never quit. You know, the key is to never really quit. And I think that that's something that really has bullied a lot of my own projects to the surface. And so, you know, I'm really happy that I just released. I think it's my fourth or fifth book on the national parks. It's depending on how you look at paperbacks but just released paper back version of my National Park book, the National Parks. An American legacy. Um, I just finished directing my first film out in the remote Pacific islands, which will be released on giant screens called Hidden Pacific that will be released next year. So, you know, just like this class stills in motion, I have that same sort of ah dual past of both my photography career and my motion career on dso. They've just been incredible projects. Eso inspirational. I mean, the thing is, this little thing you hold in your hand can take you so many places it can show you the world if that's what you choose And, um, you know, and everything that I've been able to share in this boot camp, I think is really that path for me and my opportunities to go. These places and many of these places people have never been or never had the chance to photograph awesome. Well, I first of all, so agree with you on your point about that. It's really is the dedication and hard work and perseverance and never giving up. That's always the theme here at Creative Live with all of our demon educators is it's It's about continuing. Teoh. Just keep going for all those challenges. And, um and so thank you for sharing that as well that the hidden Pacific. I am so excited. Teoh. See, once it does come out. But what were some of the biggest learnings that you had from that regard to this world of of the motion side? Because that's a huge thing to take on. It is, you know, essentially, I went out to four of the world's most remote islands and as I mentioned, very few people who have never been to one. And in the case, I think of at least two of them. They have never been documented. And we didn't just document them with a still camera. It was stills in motion, and it was land, air and sea. And so, really, the challengers were quite vast. You're dealing with ocean conditions and water and salt water. And you know, you have to face the reality that you may lose equipment. Um, you know, you're going to be tested not just creatively, but you're gonna be tested by the elements. Um, it was just It's just an incredible project. No, but being able to go out and ah and see these places that are, you know, the highest point on an island that's imagine only 16 acres of an island. I mean, that's that's a tiny, tiny, tiny little area takes 10 to 15 minutes to walk around. Um, you know, and it's it's It's been there for millions of years, but it's at the last part of its life cycle, the highest point on the island's only three or four feet high. And yet it's so vitally important to the nesting colonies of seabirds and turtles. And, you know, there was one night where, um, you know, the sun had gone down and I was taking pictures of stars, and all of a sudden me and the group that I was with a small group of people from the Fish and Wildlife Service felt these things moving across our feet. And it was a little baby turtles that were had just hash right there and just started to flow right through the area. We were all standing in over our feet and into the water, and it's the beach. And, you know, it was almost completely completely dark with little red headlamps so that we could see them. And and you just you're just constantly mesmerized and constantly surprised by the opportunities that you're presented. But you also recognize the value of your work as a photographer or as a filmmaker in connecting people to these places. You know, we always talk about conservation and the importance of the environment and the importance of even these remote islands that people may never get Teoh. They still impact us here in our homes in our cities, whether we're in L. A. Where I am right now in Los Angeles or in Seattle or anywhere else. All of these places play a role on a greater level connecting the ecosystems in the landscape. And similarly, I think all of us is. Photographers have to think that way to each of us, goes into a place and has an opportunity to represent the place, to share an experience and to really express why it's important to people. And I think that's a big part of this boot camp in understanding that is that it's not pushing buttons and choosing F stops necessarily. That's part of it, and you have to learn the technical piece. But once you have the technical piece going, you have to then say OK, how do we how do we go deeper than this? How do I represent a story? Um, you know, how do I preserve the beauty of our incredible country that has so many opportunities. I mean, you never see the end of, of of of, ah, great landscape. But you never get to the end of saying I'm done photographing your 70 national bark or I'm done photographing this area. You can constantly go back and re create new and great images. And I think that's what's so important, understanding that these places do change. Um, you know, sometimes not for the best. Ah, and other times, you know, we have opportunities to also really protect them. So I think as photographers, it's important to use our voice and our vision Teoh to recognize that we have the power to get people to understand why it's important, Teoh make these places conserved for the future. It's just it's only so inspiring listening to you speak and because you're clearly so incredibly passionate about this conservation work and and have been able to actually do it. So not just think about it, not just say I wish I could document all these things that are going on in the world if conservation is a thing that you're interested in, but you're actually getting out there and doing it. How would you recommend for people at home who are now gaining their confidence in their skills as an outdoor photographer? How should they even start to go about connecting with organizations that that might be able to actually do some of this work or doing personal projects? That might Sure something like this? Yeah, that's a great question. Well, I mean, there are a lot of different organizations, and they focus on Amiri out of different subjects from very small and specific things. Maybe you focus on parents and you know, you're part of that. And you like parrots and birds to national organizations that work on a landscape scale, protecting entire areas, protecting entire protecting entire, um, ecosystems or in our parks or islands. In the case of what I've been able to dio, you know, I think just looking googling it looking and finding out what's in your area. But I think that the the first step everybody needs to think about is being an active participant in your subject matter. Um, you know, you want to be actively engaged in what it is you know that you're passionate about, you know, identifying your own passion and then finding out who else is aligned with that. And then how can you use your photography or your motion picture skills, um, to connect people to it? And, you know, and I think that's the key piece of all of this, you know, again moving away from a technical, that photography. And it's and the viewers of it are seeking a connection. You know, they're not just looking for pretty photographs. They're looking for a connection and emotional connection or, you know, connection to something that they care about. And, I think especially so an outdoor photography. So if you want to have an impact, you know, align yourself with an organization or to you know, I've worked very closely with several organizations over the years from government entities like the fishing while the U. S Fish and Wildlife Service to the Nature Conservancy and the National Park Conservation Association, you have decades For a decade now, I've worked for both of those, um, and it has been immensely rewarding, and that's the thing about this career path. It's not every day you go and you see a new image published or you reach a new audience or you get feedback from people. It will be rewarding on a greater level than just saying, Hey, I got a great photo that no one will ever see and said, You say I've got a great photo where I've made a great story about something that can impact and change our planet. I love it. I love that you're talking about the emotional connection with this type of imagery because I think that's, ah, lot of time, something that people have trouble capturing or we think about emotional connection or what comes to portrait's, but not necessarily emotional connection when it comes to landscape and outdoor. And so your ability to teach us how to create that is has been incredibly powerful for people. I think I think that again, this work with getting started in potentially in personal projects as well. Do you think that if people want to want to work with these organizations, do they have to already have worked to show and is that part of your path and how you got there? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you're if you're looking to work with somebody, you should be able to show that your Ah, not necessarily expert, but at least passionate, at the very least, about your subject matter and the best way to show that to show a body of work. Um, you know, it's not again. It's not pushing buttons and knowing F stops and technical pieces. You know, if you're going to be a photographer in the motion picture industry, you everyone has to know those things right. Those are the baseline skills, and obviously we cover a lot of that in this boot camp. But you also then have to be knowledgeable about your subject matter. You know what makes this? What makes this special? What makes this place ah, unique? Why is this perspective different? You know, bring something to the table that says very concrete, Lee. This is what I have to say and why it's important and why you need it. Um, you know, that's a very hard argument to say. I don't want to work with you if you walk in and say, Here's a perspective in a story you've probably never heard of before. So I think creating the body of work, showing both your technical as well as your your creative ingenuity I think is really important in this process. So, yes, have a portfolio, have a website, have a position, have a voice, you know, show that you don't just go out and you regurgitate a set of skills, but rather that you are an active part of the subject matter that you're actually trying to represent. That's awesome. I mean, I think it's that that active part like you just said and having a story to tell that is unique. I think a lot of people are sometimes afraid of just thinking about what does this organization want and what is this organization care about? But if you are actually doing what you care about most and bring a story that they might not have heard of, like you said that that is incredibly valuable to them on No. So I think that's great. Great advice. I am really excited to hear where some of the people are coming from that are tuning in right now, so we have people from Nepal. We have people from Poland, we people Costa Rica and I just let us know where else here don't tuning in from. But I think it's incredible that we have such a global audience that this type of work as happening all over the world I mean Costa Rica, Nepal, Poland, everywhere. It's so important, especially right now, to be able to be passionate about our globe in our world and the outdoors and what we can do to make an impact. And one person can't do this. We need all of you. Everyone watching needs to take an active role to tell these stories. You know, I may never get to any of those places. Um, and that's why I always try to encourage people toe not just, um, you know, not just be ah, statistic. Don't be an impression. Be engaged, right? Don't be a number. Be an active participant in this because all of those perspectives and especially, you know, wherever you live, you know that better than I will ever be able to understand it. You know, no matter how long I go to visit a place, I will never understand it, like somebody knows their own backyard. And so all of these different people, your have to be a part of this. Um, you know, and I think it's important for people to ask themselves, Why do they want to photograph a place? You know what's important to them about that? Um, and I hope that they think with that I have access to this material when I started out. Um, this has been pretty wild in his last 20 days of this boot camp are pretty pretty intense for me because, you know, I think about Austin. What do I wish I had? Um, you know, when I when I was starting out when I was trying to learn, and I had the benefit of growing up in the house of a photographer. But how often do we really take advantage of the access that we get from our parents? You know, not always. And probably we always which we had a little bit more of that. Um, and so for me, a lot of it was learned in the field and the hard way, and so, you know, being able to condense this down, you know, and figuring out that this is the knowledge I wish I had had to get out there. I think I would have been very effective. Um, a lot earlier, even potentially. But I look forward to the rest of my career and continuing to tell all these stories of all these different places. And I hope these people and in Poland and a Paul also tell their stories because I'm always inspired by other people's work. Yeah, thank you. I mean, that's That's definitely what we encourage everyone at home to be actually sharing with us and with in the work that you're doing because we can never find it or see it all that you said or travel to all these places. I'm really excited because what's gonna come up next after we do finish This live is the is the critique portion of the boot camp and so important to see other people's work. But but also to get your work critiqued to get it out there to get organizations looking at it to get other photographers looking at it as well. So I want to address some of the questions that have been coming in for you in. I like this one. This was kind of back when we're talking about mosquitoes and leeches. But the question from Tina Marie Chapman was, What is the scariest moment that you have ever had doing photography or film and where? Well, it's interesting because I think I've become a little more numb to the things that probably would have freaked me out a little earlier on in the career. You start to get used to the fact that you're going to get bitten by insects and things like that. I was very fortunate. I mean, even on this last project, where had the leeches? I mean, literally 48 hours ago, I was covered up to my knees in them. And, you know, I only had 45 minutes of good light in the location, and I actually had a very, very kind friend and colleague pulling them off of my legs for me while I continue to shoot, um, cut to 10 15 years ago, I would of that would have not had that sort of patients with something like that. But, you know, I mean, I'm always prudent. I think safety, of course, is always important part of the process. You never put myself in place where I felt like I was in imminent danger. Um, you know, you certainly are always aware that you're in a small plane flying over mountains and volcanoes. Or that you're walking across the giant krivo lost on a mountain like I like I did when I was documenting search and rescue up on, uh, Denali and Denali National Park, Alaska. You know, going going through those moments, you definitely are. Where, um, you know, you think a lot about your you know what the worst case scenario. But you also you know, if you're doing those kinds of things, you hope that you're well trained and well prepared. Um, and you you apply that knowledge as well. So I mean, there's other, you know, the other skills beyond photography and creativity and understanding those kinds of things. There's other skills, such as knowing how to climb or knowing your limits, how far you should be hiking those kinds of things. But, you know, I've definitely I've definitely had my share of moments, you know, hanging out of literally a tiny little to seat cub. It's 60 below zero in Alaska. Watching it was a plane spirals down towards the glacier to get closer. You know, in the last bit of light, it was so cold that you know your own tears and everything are freezing to your face and you know, it's It's it's There's been a lot of wild moments, you know, the fortunate your good fortune to go diving many, many times with sharks in different parts of the country. People think it's very dangerous, you know, sharks in incredible, incredible creatures that are disappearing quickly. Um, you know, they're not out to get you there. Definitely curious. You're cautious. Um, but you know, you you understand nature, and the longer you do this and I think that's another really rewarding part of this business is a You get a perspective in an insight both and cultures of the world, of ecosystems, of creatures and and the way they make their lives in their homes. Um, that you just don't get by watching TV. Um, and you know our reading about it in a magazine. And I think that's probably one of the most rewarding parts of this career. I just wish we could have a behind the scenes camera or GoPro following you. All the toppings when you're out because they're insane stories. It's a, uh, just imagining it crazy. Um, so a question that would come in is speaking of sort of all these different conditions that you have to be ready toe handle. Somebody says you mentioned in one of the classes that the weather has to be really, really bad for you not to go out and shoot on. And so just a little bit on how should people approach protecting their gear or kind of working in those kinds of environments? Sure, Yeah. Has to be really bad. I mean, but, you know, really bad weather, depending on what you're doing, could be very helpful. So, you know, on this project I just worked on on midway of coal, which is an island out in the Pacific. And, you know, the pouring rain was really dramatic or motion work for filming. These lacing an albatross are these giant incredible creatures that without on the island and when it rains, the water beads up on their feathers and you know they're there. They're shaking their heads and the water flying off like a dog you know, does when it gets out of the ocean or pool. Um, you know, and you just don't have those opportunities. Get that when it's sunny. It's another way of seeing things. And so I make sure that I have ample protection, usually a few different ways to do it, depending on doing shooting motion. I generally have a much larger rig, and I have a full, uh, rain cover. There's rain covers and made specifically for your camera that you can put it in, Um, and you're still able to shoot. I use. Usually use a large Hooda lens hood as well is that the miss doesn't get on the lens. And if it's really misty, it can be very prohibitive because it blows around, it gets on the lens, and eventually it just makes it impossible to work. But if it's coming straight down and maybe even quite hard, it would be great. I mean, it gives the opportunity to shoot slow motion. Um, maybe you just bring out a gigantic umbrella so you're not soaked to the bone as well. It's helpful to have an extra person to hold an umbrella or put it on a tripod or something like that. But sometimes I'll just pick a spot, figure out how I'm gonna manage being dry, and then I'll shoot out into the rain Azaz. Well, if you're shooting stills, I have an all weather bag for my stills camera. It's, ah, basically like a splash housing You can almost even take it into, you know, low Surfer. You wouldn't want to submerge it necessarily, but if it dropped it or it got splashed pretty hard, you'll still be covered. So there's a lot of really great options out there for that. But it doesn't mean it's over. I mean, it has to be so bad. I'm certainly lightning is something I try to avoid working in. But you know it. It's out on the horizon, and you're far from it again. You know, it's a great opportunity to create something dramatic. That's a great perspective. Teoh. Think about the fact that you can use the's What might you what you might think as bad conditions to your advantage to to creating a different type of imagery or just being smart about how to best capture what's actually happening versus what you thought you were went out to shoot. Perhaps another question had come in actually about as a professional. How do you handle sort of spontaneous opportunities that come your way? I'm sure you are out and about in all these amazing places. And maybe you have a specific plan of what you're looking to accomplish. But if you see something, is it like squirrel squirrel? Or do you take sort of have Teoh maintain what you're there for? Or how do you? How do you integrate spontaneity into your work? Spontaneity and how you manage it is an acquired skill over time. The longer you ah, shoot and the note, the more you know what you're going after and how those moments are going to translate creatively and technically. And your camera, um, you'll better understand how to react. Like all of these things, you know, repetition and and practice are going to make you better at figuring out where that fits into your day. Um, you know, if I five recognize an opportunity and it's not the one I'm there to capture, but I still recognize an opportunity I will stop to take that shot and bank it and at least have it. You know, I will necessarily come back later unless I feel like later will be better. I'll certainly make a mental note. Maybe I'll write it down. Um, so it really just does depend. But typically, if there is a great opportunity that presents itself, I don't wait and say, I'm gonna come back And maybe the conditions have changed. If it's great capture in that moment, it doesn't take that long to set up and take a camera or get a shot. It's worth it, and you'll be grateful you did very often. I'm very grateful for the I don't want to stop my car. I want to get out on a set up. I might get it. I might not. You're not sure? You know, stop and take the time it will pay off. And I think that you will get the results that you're looking for when you get home at least some of the time. And so it's better to do that again. Practice will make you better at determining whether it's we're stopping or not. But even has a pro. I won't lie. I'm lazy, you know. I'm like I'm gonna do that. I don't want to stop, but I will still make the exception every now and then. Well, I think I think when you are a pro or when you like, you said when you kind of have all Raiders radars going. Then you dio no MAWR how to approach the scenarios to make those decisions because it's very easy, especially when you're getting started to want a photograph, anything and everything, and to get off path. But I guess I'm always thinking about what the intention is and and we're going to be. Doing with those photos is also just as important as as getting out there being out there. Absolutely, it's important. I want to add one thing about learning from yourself. Um, you know, I mean this this class lays a foundation for you to build upon, but you at at the end of these you then now have to take it and start to learn from yourself. And you have to constantly be introspective and think about how what you're doing can be improved upon. There's only so much that you can get before you start to say I have to figure out How do I push myself cause everyone's unique perspectives unique, And so you have to be open to learning from yourself a swell, and that's a big part of you know, the answer to that question about should I stop or should I not? The only way to really know is to know what what you will do with that and and whether that matches your creative vision. Awesome. And just just like you said getting out there and doing it. If you're not, if you're not out there, if you're not trying these things, then it's never gonna happen. So, uh, I just I guess as we kind of wrap up this final community here Skype call. What is it that you do want people to take away from this boot camp? As you know, again, this is the last day of the 2020 day Siri's. What is your hope for all of these people who have taken this class? Well, I think my first hope is if you love the outdoors and you want to share your experiences with people and you want those experiences to match your imagination, then this is, I think, the place to begin. I think you have to realize that this is going to be a journey. Um, you know, there, even in 20 days, which is amazing amount of time, it's really beginning. Process the foundation or you to start telling stories for you to take your imagination and get it out of your head and instead get it onto the page, get it onto the screen, get it onto, um, you know, get it, get it onto your camera. You know, I think that's what I really think. People will not only take away, but I hope that they take away that. And I hope that they take away that their images can be much more powerful. Ah, when they are activated on a global level, especially we're talking about the outdoor. So I hope they come away with a little taste of the passion that I've had in my career and and feel inspired. I mean, the ultimate compliment for me would be for people to be inspired. Teoh affect change for their own issues and the environment and using the outdoor photography skills to do that. So I really hope that that's what they come away with. Also hope you get better at everything you're doing that you understand my process and understand that it is my process that from which you can build upon and create your own process. Um, you know, when I look forward to hearing from those people so that I can learn from them, too. A tandem. Over the last seven years, I've personally reviewed every single image. It has gone live to the marketplace. So of 1200 photographers at one time down to the 400 so we have now for the great majority of the seven years were over 900 photographers and, um, I reviewed probably well over a 1,000,000 images. That figure is probably someone unable around 1.2 million images, and everything that went to the marketplace was ultimately greenlit by me in some capacity or another. Generally speaking, I would say up 1.21 point 18 were curated 100% by May. Which man? Lots of batches of images, lots of not so good stuff, lots of amazing things and a lot of things to keep in mind when reviewing those those those images. And you know, the upside of curating and critiquing work as an agency is, you automatically understand what the goal is, um, and that the goal is there is to yourself and get published eso when contain King here. I think it's really exciting because everyone's got different goals and understanding those I think, will be an important part of this process. 1st All right. Very cool. Adorable. It's easy to look at it over here. I think a little bit. Um so polar bear. Really nice. Great light. Obviously. You know, evening light is very nice. You know, one thing in general, Eso this is Ah, this is from Christine. It's a mother polar bear, cubs resting. And in what? Posca National Park in Manitoba, Canada. Something. I've never had the opportunity to myself. But you know, these kinds of things are extremely challenging to do just because of the temperatures. And so, you know, working cold weather is always a big challenge. But honestly, as I always say, it's it's very, very, very, uh, hard to separate the emotional impact of the experience from curating the image. When we look at work and we judge work and we you know, there's multiple levels of curation at the company. There's the images that go out. But then the sales team will curate from there which images goto whom for consideration and sales and so on. During the research phase, we're not thinking about the struggle behind the image for simply looking at it's end result. This is a beautiful photo, obviously adorable. Um, very, very cute. One thing that would be challenging from a marketplace perspective would be it's cropping. Generally speaking, the market will buy a square image, but pretty rare eso if it's for sale, that would be a challenge for it. But compositionally you know, it's a nice image. I'd love to see them or from the set to see if there's anything that shows the greater environment around around that area that that says, This is where we are. This is what we do. It's on that edge of portraiture. But it's pretty neat. And I love that. It's also not out in the open or a lot like the other images. You usually see a polar bears. It kind of tucked into this little area in the trees. So something like that's pretty cool. So this is from Gretchen in Studio here with me. Gretchen, Hello. How are you? So, Gretchen, before I give you feedback on it. Oh, Crater lake. That's interesting. Okay, um I love to hear what are your goals? You tell me a bit more about your goals with your photography. I love outdoor and wildlife and landscape, but I also really like abstract. So it's I've been with in photography for a long time. I got my first camera when I was, like, 10 and stopped for quite some time, right, Miss the dark room a lot, but, um, I really it's It's the next phase that I really kind of want to go into with. Um, I have some things in galleries right now. Okay, but, um, this was one of those nights. It was in 2015. They closed the north entrance to Crater Lake. You could tell immediately it's a fire. Yeah, the fires were raging. They closed the Pacific Crest Trail from basically from Crater Lake through Washington. And is the fires all the way through through Oregon and Washington? And it was a crazy night. The our tent we woke up with just ash covered. Yeah, somebody amazing. That's fun. Uh, anyway, and it's obviously scary because of the wildfires in general, Being California, we've been a lot of that these days, but, um, you know the one thing I'll tell you right out of the gate. I mean, obviously I know it's a wildfire you could tell. Just go with the smoke and clouds and haze and so on. And, you know, that's always powerful imagery. Um, it's great because it's it's not a typical view of Crater Lake. You almost always see the same perspective. I'm guilty of that. Lots of people are guilty of it. You know, so many people photographed from I think it's the other side I can't even tell. But that's what I like is where you are is in a typical view. I like the fact that you're thinking about the composition in bringing something in the frame that shows the place, and it gives you that strong sense of place. Not to mention we're thinking about fires. You know, we're looking at the brush. The underbrush kind of paints a picture a little bit. I'd say the only thing for me that would be maybe an area toe think about how you work on the composition. The future would be this space in here. It's the only area that's kind of like unused space in this class. I talk a lot about, you know, when you're arranging furniture in a room, you don't put on one corner. Right? So right now, my eyes looking on one corner here, right here. But I do like what you have going on here. So maybe, and the other thing is interesting is it almost looks like you're at a wake edge here, which is an interesting perspective. I'm on the I think, on the East side. And, um yeah, because that island, that's what is that that they Yeah, Wizard islands right across there. And there's some kind of, ah, trail that goes up to where I couldn't remember what it was. But that's where we were. And we were pretty much so on the edge there I had the 17. 40 guy was for on a canon 60. So I wanted to get it as white as possible. I had the eso a pretty high so that I could get a big depth of field, right? Yeah, it looks good. I mean, your horizon line to maybe just take a little bit. I mean, generally speaking great. The only other thing, too that would, rather than re composing would just be having a person walked through the frame up towards you. Um, you know, Maybe they're out looking this direction and give that sense of scale in space. You know, maybe they're looking out towards where the fire is. Something nobody was out but me because they were all everybody was, like, not able to breathe. Husband was going win. Can we go to be safe? Be safe. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you for submitting it. Let's take a look at the next one. This is from Emily Harris. Uh, this is their first attempt at long exposure. Capture of moving water. So very cool. Definitely got the long exposure thing down. Um, you know, I love long exposures of the ocean. I think again, you know, the the cropping I think people are so tempted to crop now could very well be is a cropped. Actually, it's hard to tell. I don't know if it's compressed on the other monitor. Might be. Can't tell everything's getting squeezed over there or not. Either way, if it's not, it's a full frame, Which it might be, um, Horizon line straight. So first thing I do is I worked my way through horizon lines more or less straight. Um, you know, I would probably look at having more compositional elements throughout. You know, long exposure Looks good. Making sure use a tripod is key. Keeping everything sharp. Um, you know, that's great. I mean, I think the first attempt for a long exposure, it's a great first attempt. Um, you know, you've got that the technical component down. And I think now the key is to just really have a lot of fun with it. Um, I think in trying different compositions and you know, the one thing I like to see and similar with all curation process. I like seeing a lot of variety because it's hard to make a call off of which frame you're really gonna like. I think it's a really hard judgment called to pick and comment also on one photo at a time. I'm always, like Show me more. Should be more. Should be more. You know, I always want to see a little bit more. So the really good first attempt, a long exposure. I mean, I think it's not attempt to think it's ah, positive execution. So, um, you know, good work on that. I like the color too. And time of day. And I think That's the other thing that really works very well. But I like the blues and the fact that you're paying attention to the to the low light, and I don't feel like any part of the frame is really being unused. The sky is not as interesting. Um, you know, wondering if there's more texture in there. Usually, if the skies is a little more flat, I might crop almost all the way out and just leave a thin little line across the top. If there's just, like nothing at all, texturally but, um, but generally speaking, you know, it's it's good. I mean, you know, focusing on the exposure. If your goal is to try and learn that long exposure technique, then I think you've done that. Where is this? Okay. In studio. Very right here, Right? Yeah, I knew that in front of me. All right, very Tell me your goals a little bit. I don't understand that. Four. I give you some feedback. My goals are kind of ah, way of just capturing what's out there that you normally kind of take for granted. Um, being the father of two very young boys, um, and older Children as well. I can. I want Oh, kind of give that historical look, you know, What do you do? See previously, and then how's it changed? You kind of touched on that before. And when I look at it, I'm like, Wow, you know how much has changed? Just on little things that you don't really see. Yeah. And really want to bring that toe light for a lot of people. Yeah, well, I love your approach. I mean, I think that's great. And it sounds like one of the things you don't need it is to work on your philosophy and your approach to telling stories. You've got a very clear goal on that. And I think that's great, you know, great time a day. Beautiful image. Um, where is Edmunds? I'm not terribly familiar with that. Is that here's okay. Cool. Love The mountains of super epic When you think historically, what is it that you're trying to show here? Historically, what would the change potentially be? Well, I don't know yet. I've only been up here two years. Eso um This may be one that I look back on, you know, maybe five years from now and say Okay, what is that viewpoint now? You know, when we look out there, this is a really popular spot with a lot of people where I had sunset and you see, people just come out lining on, then they're gone. Yeah. You know, um, we just happen to be out. There's a dog park. That's right there, right? I just happen to look over, saw the light, ran back to the car with my two boys and the dog, grabbed my camera, grabbed a shot and then went on our way. Yeah. Yeah, well, I mean, you know, you have a you have an approach. It's great time A day. You're obviously thinking about sunset and all that kind of stuff. I think it's a great, you know, it's a good photo. I mean, it would be a challenge to market it in the marketplace for sale. I think you know more defining what it is you want to show in. That change is gonna be really helpful in defining the composition more clearly. So you know, I like that idea. But then I wonder, like what will change? I don't I think mountains. No matter how much we screwed things up. I don't think they're going anywhere, Anytime, Real soon. So is it You know that the water is good changes that seasonal. Does this freeze over? Maybe. Maybe those are all possibilities. I'm not sure. Um, what's that? Yeah. So there you go. Um, so, you know, those are the kinds of things I would think about. Um, you know, you've got a lot of open space in here, and, um, you have this really beautiful textural sky. Yeah, I would want I kind of want to see something happening here. I think if you were to have your doing it quickly, I think slowing your process down a little bit. Being a couple kids with the air in a dog park, it's a little chaotic after it Sounds like a lot of people taking pictures. Now, one thing I would probably think about maybe doing is setting it up on Tripod and letting that long exposure for the shot we just did before. Something like that. Where this entire, you know, all Puget sound just smooths out on a long exposure, becomes like glass or reflects the light coming in and uses more textural elements and this becomes abandon their you know, that might be one way to just make it a little more dynamic. It's very frozen frame for May, but at the same time, I think it's, you know, you're heading out the door with all the right ideas. I think maybe just trying different technical approaches to see what the results would be. We'll help you get to a different place with the image. So thank you. Sure. Thank you. Yeah. So this is from Howard Stevens, Varadero, Cuba. I will always wanted to go to very Darryl. I didn't make it out there. Have you been a Varadero, Cuba? What was that like? It's It's quite a beautiful beach. Is it? It's amazing. Beaches there learn warm water. Yeah. Um, So, Howard, I appreciate sending the image in. You've got all of your specs on there, so it looks like your technical approaches is strategic. The one thing I'm not seeing with respect. So, um, he shot this in Cuba F 14 1 6/40 of a second ice 0 800 on the canon Eos seven D ah. With Tamron lens 18 to mil at 46 millimeters. so few different things, I would say feedback wise again. You know, I think everybody is getting the You often see this concept of Hey shoot in that sunset low light. It's dramatic and it's colorful, and it's easy to get really appealed to that. And I like that because it is probably the best time of day to photograph, You know, for me, I think the one thing is, you know, it doesn't have me any clear sense of place. You know, you're starting to get that, but otherwise it's just a really beautiful sunset on an ocean. And right now, without knowing what the caption is, I don't know what I'm looking at. I'm getting a piece of this action here on the side that might define it if it were Seymour of it. But I'm wondering if there's another composition in there that would allow a stronger sense of place to come through. You know, from this beach, there's nothing wrong with that again. Always, I want to know what people's goals are. I think that's a really important step. But I think in general, you know, I'm thinking and I'm looking at the settings of your it ia so 800 you know, are using a tripod or not at f 14. You know, you might not need at 14 you know, a sharpness, Really an issue. I mean, you've got good sharp, Mr Route, but I think the way I would again approach this would be a slow the process down. I'd use a tripod. If you want to be a Max, Step the field. I got 14 of 16 of 22. Unless you're really trying to freeze the action, which kind of freezing it a little bit in mid wave? Um, you know, I actually might want again try and long exposure or if you're gonna freeze action, really embrace a different frame that shows a little bit more action in it were a little more drama in it as well, So I put it on a tripod. I probably slowed down. Shoot it. I so 100 at Probably have 16 but the exposure be chosen by the camera and and stick with something similar, but bring in a stronger sense of place composition, because right now this is sort of jutting into the frame. It's not terrible, but it's not really, um you know, it's not. It's not really giving me that strong sense of place that I want, Especially since you're telling me it's in Cuba. I know it's a travel destination. People really interested in Cuba right now. Um, so I would love to really see more of that. Help me really understand that you give me that stronger sense of place, but definitely beautiful light, you know, and looks pretty. I'd like to see it worked just a little bit more. This is from Ben here in the studio as well. I've been talked to me about what you're trying to do with your goals. And how do you want to take your photography forward? And why did you choose this image? Um, I chose this image because it was part of a story spent two weeks in New Zealand, and this is going from the North to the South Island, New Zealand. Um, I know something about I just really like and I'm sort of just a hobbyist photographers moment during the transition towards something more professional. Um, looks for right. That's helpful. So you tell me something about it I liked What was it? Dig deeper on that. What is Talk to talk me through the frame. Ah, Alec. I like the hills and mountains. Dylan thought it was really cool. And it's just it's really neat going from the North Island into the South Island into this little sound years. Roll in and the hills just go straight up out of the sound. So So there you have it. And this is when I talk about creating that emotional connection, identifying what is drawing you into the shot. You know, I say dig deeper. What is it that you like about? He said the impact was that you didn't tell me it was the journey. You don't tell me. I like the boat ride. He didn't tell me. I love playing shuffleboard out here and have great memories of it. Instead, you told me you talked about this thing. But this thing is in the background, these mountains and the texture. Which I would agree, You know, this is beautiful. You've got the clouds in here, but you have a lot of unused space here. Do you still keep the boat in? Did nothing wrong having a part of the boat Maybe put like the ring in or the bow or some other portion of it in. But really let the part that your if it's that's the thing you are attracted to, that you are like, this is the thing that makes me want to push the button. Then make that thing be the shot. You know, let it let that be the majority of your shot honing in on that portion. You know, that's something I try to do both in the field as well is when editing work of my own is, um what is the thing I keep looking at? You know, in one of the earlier classes, we looked at the shot, you know where editing. We look at the shot of Aubrey, the editor here, and, uh, posing for may. And we're all talking about like, Well, everything that's interesting is over here, and we don't want to have all this dead space. Um, and so I cut that dead space out because it's not moving that forward. And really, we all want to see this. Anyway, this is where the main event is, and I would agree the hills for me work. Great. So you're honing in on it you just need Teoh. Really recognize it either in the field or in the edit. Maybe you have more. Um, but then see if you could make that work. You know, maybe post production wise bring a little bit more of the clouds and highlights in, but, I mean, I like the spirit of that, you know? Actually, I think the boats kind of cool because it gives you a sense of where you're going, how you got there. And I like the leading lines of the railings and the Yeah, The structure. Yep. I agree. I like the symmetry, you know, symmetry in general and a good landscape photo is very important. So I think just working the scene a little bit more and seeing what options are there, could keep it moving forward as well. Thank you. This is for Mac. That didn't give us a whole lot to go on on this shot, but the shot itself gives us a little bit of information. So where is this? This looks, you know, it's very interesting. I think this is pinnacles. This is an area in California that became a national park and is a very, very challenging place to photograph. Um, I think it's interesting cause people here, National Park if I'm correct, ah, and they think immediately that you've got old, faithful and delicate arch on every corner. And as our country adds more national monuments in national park areas that become really difficult to show, Um, I think there's a great a great image, you know, because it brings that sense of place very similarly. We're not seeing the back of the head. We're seeing the side, so I think that works. You know, there is a balance in both the shadows and the highlights. You know, it's not terribly dramatic, you know, I feel like it's it's slightly tilted. We are getting a sense of the topography. You know, I tend to avoid putting people in the shade and photograph and having that highlight area in the distance, because it's very hard to get a good bounce without it looking unnatural. So I think that be tricky. But I think the shot actually does a pretty good job of that, Um, in managing that, um, and I like the fact that she's clearing the dark areas and is not breaking into it. Um, in separating that out. So, generally speaking, I think it's It's a It's a good composition. Um, there's a lot of empty sky. It's the kind of day that I dread Is this clear, sunny days? Um, you know, I wish there were more clouds and things like that in there, but it does give you a sense of the place. And, ah, generally speaking, I think it, you know, it gives you a little information about what sort of experience an individual will have. So, no, thank you, Matt, for submitting that. Where is this? Cindy in studio. Hello. All right. You know what I'm gonna ask. Tell me about what? Your goals. Tell me a little bit more. Um, Sunday drive on a snowy fire road in your jeep? Yep. I just got my I had just purchased my canon seven D mark 2 70 Lens and I took my jeep upon the snowy road and I was practicing the rule of thirds and getting a straight horizon line. Job job. Mount Baker? Yeah, it doesn't clean. Clear. Morning. I think you did a great job. Yeah, I do. I mean, I think it's you know what I like is there's a lot of really good elements and highlights and pieces in the shot that are working well for me. I think the mountains beautiful. I love the fact that it's kind of dusted on, goes into the dark areas within the trees themselves have sort of that same sort of dusting on it. The sky has texture, which is good, I think your horizon line spot on. Um, I think you can tell that tree on the left hand side it's like up and straight. It looks really good. And, uh, what camera? Just that you're using seven demarche to 70 mark to, you know, Great. Yeah, Generally speaking, it looks really good. There isn't a whole lot. I would honestly change about the composition. I think it's a good composition. It's It's really pretty. I think it's a great landscape photo. It was well executed in keeping this work. This is from Jessica and at Valley of Fire State Park, just after a thunderstorm. So this is try and look at it over here. Different color on different screens. What do you guys think of this? Curious to know what the audience thinks I feel like the highlights on the rock in the foreground, on the right, balance the sun. Really well, in the results of a good balance between the sky and the rock. Yeah, and the way the rock is position in the frame makes a very strong meeting line that guides the eye through the frame. And that's right. That's a good critique on that. But I don't need to do this one. Then that's spot on. Oh, no, you're right. I mean, I agree. I agree completely. I mean, it's the leading lines immediately. Heir apparent. The second you look at it, you know your eye goes like this or the other direction. Right? Um, the color in the sky is beautiful, and we talk a lot about in the prep class about whether in the role of weather and anticipating before, after a thunderstorm. Uh, Jessica says this is just after a thunderstorm in her submission, which is where you want to be again. Safety first. But you really want to be there when the storm breaks. Um, I know what this good fortune feels like to have a storm break right at the end. You could tell that storm is just leaving town and to get a clear horizon at the end of the storm is special on. And that's why that sun is coming through and giving the starburst. Um, I think it's really great. I'd love to see if there any other actually, like the Starburst a lot. Um, you know, this is great cause there's good depth of field. That's when you get that nice Starburst as well. I think it works really well. I mean, cure, see what one with clouds look like. But I think I don't I don't think you need it. I think it's I think it's a It's a It's a great shot. I think it's, ah, really well executed, extremely dramatic, very well composed. Um, you know, I think I think it's great. I don't think I could have done it better myself. So really good work across the board? Yes, in how it an image like this do in sort of the stock photography marketer is. Is this a marketable image? I think it's a marketable image. Yeah, I think it would do. I think we do pretty well. I think there's a few different reasons why I think this would do well in General Valley Fire State Park is under photographed in the stock market place, especially. We've done very well. So I know just from my own history that an image like this does have marketability based on location, I think also the dramatic and strong color and light also gives ah, fine art to core marketplace in the stock photography market as well as for prints and wall are as well. I think the post processing on it looks great. So I think from what I can tell, you know, provided the you know, the resolution is high and in quality, and the sharpness is good throughout. I think that this image definitely would be a great candidate for stock photography or, in general, in the marketplace editorially. Thank you. Sure. Cash? Yes. So I'm actually wanting to be a conservation photographer. Okay? I love doing landscapes, but I've also started trying to show more of our impact as well as the beauty of them, because I want to make a statement about what we're doing and why we should stop it. Uh, well, love hearing that, um, you know, I love here and fellow people are committed a conservation and using photography to tell that story. Um, sounds get some challenges with this image. Talk me through that a little bit. What? We're challenges. Where was where is this? It's just outside of Medora, North Dakota. Okay, as soon as we learned that there were some thunderstorms in the forecast, uh, we pretty much high tailed it out to Ah, High Ridge. Yeah. And I basically sat and waited for hours looking for storms, and they kept missing us. So yeah, which is why this ended up being so much after. This is probably about 9 10 o'clock. So you're out of sunlight. And what little The civil twilight was basically hidden by the dense clarifying Right, Right, Right. And one of the things I wanted to highlight was both just the power of the storm, but also the light pollution. Because those lights actually are a collection of fracking rigs and interesting. So they're about 80 miles away and in the center of the frame, right? And those in the far distance as well. And over on the right is actually a a natural gas flare because they burn off their natural gas and said, Oh, is that what that is? Yeah. Interesting. Okay, I was wondering what that was. Yeah, and it's insanely right. Okay, so here's my feedback. Great on the conservation. You know, using photography to move forward. Uh, you know, other goals beyond just I want to make money from it is always very eyes. Always good to hear. You know, I love obviously the lightning itself is great. You know, I think your composition, without knowing without you telling me it's hard to know what your goal is with that with the fracking, right? And so an image. You don't have to read a caption. Understand it. Generally speaking, I mean, you know, there's always details information that comes with it. Um, so you know, compositionally if your goal is to do conservation and make a statement about ah, particular industry or action, you wanted to really just resonate that message Crystal clear. Second, you see it, You know, instead, I'm kind of wondering now, I'm actually very much intrigued by what you said about this. And I'd be curious to know, Like if that glow, you know, can be harnessed in a different way and make that almost like a foreground from a different position, obviously all of a lot of variables dependent on roads, access, privacy policy on private land, trespassing and all the other issues that come with it. But if you if there's a way to make that in there, whatever right now, it's just a really great lightning shot. And it lacks, like that clear foreground that tells me a story or brings me and further. But but knowing your back story and your goal, you know, that's what informs that, photographically speaking, though, you know, I think it's, Ah, it's it's a good shot of lightning, but it doesn't go necessarily be on that to your goal. And I think it's because mostly it's lacking that clear foreground. I could tell you now I've tried to do similar subject matter before, and it is really, really hard to do it. Well, I mean, I tried doing fracking and and all kinds of natural gas photography and on different areas and plateaus in Colorado and Utah. It's really, really, really hard. I mean, because you have the access issue and the compositions that you want to make are almost impossible to actually put together. So I think you're up against a really tough challenge to begin with from that one without really digging deeper and a whole different way. So I appreciate you sharing the image that experiences. After one of the reasons I jumped on this opportunity to be here. So go. I appreciate that. Awesome. Let's talk more about it to, um, so from Evan. So this is kind of image. We see a lot of coming in tandem. Um, here's my feedback. There's the last stuff happening on here in this image in general. Um, it's well executed photograph. It's a Technically, it's a technically X well executed photograph. Um, there's a lot of this. This is a good example of love star photography, beautiful Milky Way shooting star, satellite or airplane, Depending the pine an airplane, your planes usually Dauth, right? So something along those lines could be a could be, You know, if this is ah, meteor and it's time in a meteor shower, you know, that's really great. These air tricky. Um, just because I don't see these a lot of these going into the marketplace, but I see a lot of them doing well in social media. I don't see a lot of people buying them. So this is a really good example of a very well executed, technically well executed image across the board. And, you know, I love the meteor shower piece, but I feel like the people are missing the meteor shower, right. I almost kind of want to see, like, even, just, you know, silhouette of somebody on the sitting on the hood of the car or whatever. I would probably not. I mean, I don't ever look up in a meteor shower, the headlamp right? So I'd avoid that, Um, but maybe there's a person or a couple people or something like that to tell that story. Otherwise, it just looks like a lot of really great ideas and elements put into a single frame. But I'm not sure what's trying to be contest really conveyed from it. Um, you know, and I know that that's kind of a rough assessment, because it is really well done photograph, but it lacks that connection. If someone's writing a story, it's about car camping. That's what it would write for. And you know one thing one piece of advice that I mentioned occasionally is to think about where you imagine your photo going when you take it when you select it when you're conceptually putting it together, Who is your buyer like, Literally Think of a name in a brand And why would they buy it? You know, other than, you know, potentially the car manufacturer or tent manufacturer that may or may not be interested in it. You know who editorially is gonna write that and what story doesn't support it. Supports meteor showers and sports car camping. Um, you know, but I'm not. I'm still sort of lacking a little bit of him connection, you know, they're dead. Center in the frame is Well, um, you know, a whole lot of this space maybe isn't as used, but I feel like maybe there was a way to use more of this base with people in it and just bring more of, like, a clean bigger. It's, like, so close to being a perfect advertising image really, really, really close to being great advertising image. So those are just some ideas and feedback on how toe think about where this could go. My guess is this will get tons of likes on social media, the super popular, because it is a beautiful, beautiful image. And I'm always fascinated by those images. Um, in general, just cause I love astronomy and things like that. So that would be my feedback for Evan or even Joe. You're here in the audience with us, I from your hot July evening and a huge cold front coming through the Olympic National Forest. Tell me about it. Well, first off, this is taken from Hurricane Ridge, and when you look at hurricane Red, you see hundreds of hundreds of fillers of the whole peaks Always house, um, heard about a thunderstorm rolling through that evening. So, uh, we took off up to the ridge to try to capture lightning simply because I've never seen a shot over Hurricane Ridge like this. Um, I don't have a lightning detector. Okay, um, I was standing next to another photographer that actually dead. So basically, I was listening to his charger and learning about his charge and how it would fire the camera, and I just make sure I was pointed in the right direction. And what I liked about this was how the rain You could see this sheet of the rain coming through and behind it the ah, the brightness of the sun just before sunset. Right? And still the dark clouds up above that gap. That's that's right in their eyes. This in black and white. I love black and white. Um, I shoot a lot in black and white. Fine art. I mean, Ansel Adams is one of my favorite photographers. Um, I also have a friend of mine who is totally color blind. He sees everything in black and white, and, um, when I shoot, I always shoot, um, with the idea of turning it into fine art. Yeah, and thinking of my my buddy Dave in mind as well and bringing something back for him. Um, because you can't see color, Okay? And this is very it's black and white. It's hard because you really have to pay attention to the light in the dark and mostly the lights and how it shapes the dark's in whatever you shoot. It's not just about going out there and capturing the mountain of the water. Whatever. You really have to pay attention to how the like of the shared hits everything. Yeah. I mean, I agree I mean, the first thing I thought of was fine art as the first thing I thought of. So I mean, it sounds like your goal was aligned with the impression that your images giving, um, you know, I'm also a big fan of black and white. I love the high contrast. You know, I think you're paying attention of the right things. You know that That deeper line right here, Um, you know, it's darker, you know, having those different layers and different levels of gray. You know, that was the thing with with Ansel Adams is the result is different steps of grey along the way and how those things work in with lights coming through here or the way they maneuver in here and draw the eye throughout the frame. I think, you know, with the with the nice amount of contrast and things that I'm seeing in the image Lightning adds a little drama. Um, I think artistically speaking, I think it's a good, fine art print. Um, I'd love to see as a printing be interesting to see that, um, you know, sales wise from, like a stock photography marketplace. You know, fine art. Interestingly, enough. A lot of the stuff that that does well in fine art doesn't do all that well in stock. There's like there's sort of this middle ground that's almost standing of generics, the right word, but sort of, um, you know, it's not quite fine art. It's not 100% editorial stock, so I think it be a little more challenged in that marketplace. But I think from the fine art perspective and potentially an Arctic or could do really well, I could tell you now, straight out of gay black and white images don't sell for stock photography. Um, across the board. That's just a lesson in general. So, um, most people, if they want black and white, will convert the image afterwards themselves. They'll buy a color image and make that change. We just don't ever really see a whole lot of that. We've sold in seven years, probably less than 1/2 a dozen black and white images, and it was so little that we actually just stopped accepting most of them or were at least we told photographers were happy to take him. But have your expectations managed that they just might not sell that often they might sell. You know, there's never say never, but they may self thank you for submitting. This is from Kitty Pictures, taken just before Spring 2017 in Hudson, Quebec, Canada. Um, really cool tonality in it. Love the pastels. There's, like a lot of nice blue and light blues and pinks and things that are happening in the foreground. I like that you have different colors in the foreground elements that you don't see at the top of the frame. Uh, also similar, uh, response in that the first thing I think of this fine art. You know, I'm not getting like a huge, strong sense of place, But you know, when somebody is writing about something or talking about something, they may be more open. Thio Thio having more abstract work, be part of it. A big part of the strategy that I like is I like to try and mix Ah, fine art style with ah heart editorial to chime. Bring that more artistic approach into telling a story so you may be able to blend the man you may be able to blend it. And also with yours a Siri's, um, if you start Teoh. Add images to it, but I like the shot. Um, it's pretty, and I like the use of color in In general, uh, horizon lines look straight and everybody's already on to me saying that Very aware and sensitive of those I was criticized my friends for their crooked horizon lines, too, and everyone hates before. But anyway, I'm really good. Really? Really. Ah, really beautiful, fine art shot challenging, probably in the marketplace, for the most part, but it is beautiful. It's a great capture and good. I really like the tree and the reflection. I would love to know just your thoughts for people at home in the city audience about the importance of getting your work critiqued again. But, like, where should you go and and who should you ask to critique your work? Building a community that you trust, You know, if you know people who are in the design, advertising, marketing, um, creative arts per for working in a professional capacity and they're willing to give you some time or feedback. I think that's great. Um, you know, I think finding good, honest feedback is a real challenge. There are a lot of freelance editors out there. You know, it's it's really about taking a look around and seeing who might be out there, you know, because magazines have had a lot of big shifts looking, you know, honestly, I like going online and looking at, like a Lincoln at editors who were freelance. Um, you know, you might. They might have an hourly rate that you can pay for an hour once a month or once every couple months. Not a whole lot of money, or maybe paying for a couple hours for them to review, edit, curate your portfolio. You know that's the great way to go. But I think finding people who have depending on your goal, of course, you know, if you're trying to get into fine, are you having somebody who's in the gallery business? You are asking gallery rap, you know, maybe even somebody who worked in a gallery who sells images all day long may be able to tell you, you know, whether your images would be marketable and give you that feedback, especially you're not asking them Teoh by your images, or that you need to show their right. If you walk in and say Hey, I'm not looking to pitch you my show. I just I'm looking for some honest advice from an industry professional. Would you mind giving me a couple of minutes to tell me what you think about my work? I'd be be surprised. A lot of people didn't agree to that. So But I think finding people who are in your area that can give you that honesty will be really important. Fantastic. All right, you and we'll tell us again. Hard to believe that we have come to the end of the boot camp spells again where people can follow you and how to stay in touch. Absolutely. Yeah. It's been an incredible boot camp. Um, I mean, we covered a little hot, a lot of territory. Ah, lot of ideas, you know, from the business. Teoh Stills, motion character development with music and stories and all these other things. It's been a really incredible adventure. It's truly been an adventure, So I love it and I appreciate it. You can stay in touch with me online, you know, certainly on Instagram at Union Show. I've photo is my instagram name on social media. I'm on Facebook. Just my name you and show. I've, um Our agency is standing still is in motion at tandem stock. Be great if you want to follow our agency. I haven't really plugged out a whole lot, but, you know, we have a really cool little instagram. It shows our culture. Our team, we see we publish regularly are spreadsheets are published, works that are photographers have getting going out covers and interior spreads. Did you see what's getting picked up? So we do post those kinds of things as well. And that's all at tandem stock on Facebook, on Twitter and on Instagram. So please stay in touch. I'd love to hear from everybody, and I look forward to seeing a lot more work and hope everyone gets a ton of value out of this booth can