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Lesson Info
9. Research & Preparation
Lessons
M0: Orientation
1Series Hello & Introducing Benjamin Hardman
01:43 2Coffee with Alex - Benjamin's Story
22:38 3Benjamin's Workshop Introduction
01:39M1: Gear & Prep
4High-Resolution Setup
07:26 5Lightweight Gear Setup
05:33 6Backpack Breakdown
11:38Aerial Photography
05:51 8Gear & Clothing
07:26 9Research & Preparation
06:18M2: Shooting & Editing
10Seals of Glacier Lagoon
06:56 11Editing: Adobe Lightroom Basics
40:59 12Capturing Glacial Detail
08:23 13Editing: Macro Detail
15:17 14Exploring on Foot
09:47 15Editing: Image Stitching
17:18 16Photographing the Elusive Reindeer
07:21 17Editing: Subjects in Sunset Light
16:58 18Documenting Iceland's Jagged Peaks
06:21 19Editing: Atmospheric Mountains
14:56 20Mountain Drone Photography
10:50 21Editing: Aerial Abstraction
17:20M3: Finding Your Style, Curation, and Social Media
22Benjamin's Style
03:30 23What Inspires Benjamin
02:40 24Creating Your Own Voice
03:01 25Curation: Computer to Phone & UNUM
10:16 26Social Media Q&A with Alex
08:47M4: Running A Creative Business
27Benjamin's Story & Business Tips
05:23 28Presenting Professionally
01:39 29Printing Your Work
12:29 30Staying Inspired
01:02M5: Wrap Up
31Workshop Takeaways
06:03 32Workshop Summary with Alex
32:50Lesson Info
Research & Preparation
All right. We're dressed and ready. And now the planning of the shoot begins. Here in Iceland and pretty much across the arctic and most places where you just have volatile weather, looking at forecasted, I don't know, conditions for where the specific area you're traveling or approximately that area can go such a long way in making sure that you're gonna be okay when you're doing your shoot. Because the last thing you want is to be on location with a model, there's sideways rain, nothing's going to plan when, if you had have looked at the weather, you might have thought, damn, it's not looking too good there but an hour away, it's looking fantastic. So we'll just reschedule, reroute, and go there instead. So things change so fast here and yeah, looking at the forecast is essential. So I'm just going to open up and show you a little bit for Iceland specific weather. And of course you can apply this to any place you go by just finding the local maps and weather forecasts. So in Iceland,...
we use vedur or weather.is. And this gives us a fairly complicated overview. Does have an English section which is very useful for all travelers. V E D U R dot is. And we can look at a detailed overview of the wind, temperature, and precipitation which pretty much gives you a great idea of the conditions that are forecasted wherever you plan to travel. So for me, I'm a lot in the Highlands and wind is a big issue for me because usually that means a storm is on its way. So I can see right now that currently it is pretty much wind free across the Highlands, which is fairly comfortable. I can assume that today is gonna be fine to travel. Tomorrow, it's looking like it's getting a little more windy and then it's kind of the same for a few days. So I can expect to need to pack my colder equipment and be ready for a bit of intensity but nothing in this schedule here or forecast is going to interrupt my shoot. So in addition to the forecasted weather, I also like to look at the road conditions, which is road.is and this gives me an overview of the current conditions thanks to snow or a flood or whatever natural event may cause a disruption. It gives me an overview before I travel of what I can expect. So currently we have a lot of slippery roads. You can see at the bottom, there is a guide of what all the colors mean and almost the entire south coast is slippery right now which is of course dangerous if you didn't have studded tires or weren't so confident on icy roads, then it might be worth reconsidering, or at least just having it in your mind to go slow and be really cautious when driving around the country. This can apply to any place you visit. Just a little bit of prior planning can go such a long way to making your shoot successful and also smooth running, because these things are all like hurdles in your journey and there's always gonna be a problem that comes up. And the more you can mitigate those in advance the easier you'll be able to just go out and get the shots that you are looking to get. The last thing that I'd like to show you is my handheld GPS map. It's by Garmin, it's a GPS 64S and this has the whole map of Iceland pre-installed onto it and can be at my disposal clipped to my backpack, my hiking jacket, whatever I'm using at the time. And it will log my track. So for example, if I'm hiking in the mountains I can backtrack exactly where I went in case like there's some unexpected snow, or you get lost, you can always find where you were and always find the nearest huts and nearest roads and pretty much find your own safety. So I highly recommend things like this if you're going into the back country. They can be the difference between being safe and being very, very close to a bad situation. Right. To sum up everything that I've talked about, we've talked about packing your camera equipment, what lenses to take. We've moved into what bags to use and some accessories that I like to take with me, just to mitigate some of these little things, annoyances. And we've talked about all the clothes that I wear. If you don't have access to some of these things just use what you have. I've spent years shooting with one lens and one camera. And of course, everyone says it's kind of the cliche thing to say, but you just use the equipment that you have and you can create the imagery that you dream of just by planning in advanced. And if you have a telephoto lens maybe you are gonna stitch a little bit wider so you can get a wider image. If you have only one jacket then maybe I don't know, you're gonna hike faster. So you stay a little warmer. There's always little, little ways to adapt to the situation and the things that you have at the time. So if you take that and go into the mountains with your camera and your jacket, maybe your GPS. Don't take the camera cause that's heavy in your-- damn it. Don't take your laptop in your bag because that's gonna be heavy. And then we can all go out and get the best images we can with what we have and come home and be stoked as a team. Cheers.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Matt Grandbois
Very Informative & Awe Inspiring Both Benjamin and Alex have played huge roles in my photographic style development over the years and it is great to hear first hand exactly what inspires and drives Ben to keep pushing his creative boundaries. Personally, I love his minimalist approach and it was super insightful to watch him explain how he developed that style and how he actively produces photographs in a cohesive manner. 10/10 recommend this workshop to anyone looking for a very unique and profound perspective with the intent of expanding your creative horizons.
Janelle Dransfield
Moving to Iceland now...? Loved this workshop! I really liked the way the modules are split up, and the way you watch Benjamin go out on location for a shot, then immediately sit down and watch his editing process for that specific shot. So much editing to learn too, since he doesn't use presets! The workbook is also super thorough, so printing it out allowed me to pay close attention and just add little notes here and there. The Iceland road guide is also SO helpful and in depth. Can't wait to use it. Also loved that Ben talked about printing your own work. Would be cool to maybe see something from Wildist in the future that goes even more into depth on that (calibrating your own printer, working with a print shop, dropship sites, etc.) Awesome course. Thanks, Hardman.
Alec Brown
First Workshop The first workshop I have ever purchased. I've always been hesitant to invest in a workshop, however this went above and beyond my expectations. Fluid in progression, great insight and a super relaxed learning curve full of information. I feel this has prepared me to take my own personal photographic journey to the next level. Executed to perfection. Nice work guys! 10/10 recommended.
Student Work
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