The following story was written by Graham Budd who attended the September 2007 Tradition and Technology workshop in Canmore with his wife Marg. This workshop is designed for beginner and intermediate photographers who want to understand how to use their cameras and Photoshop. The workshop is run twice a year.

" So you’ve received that brand-new digital SLR camera as a gift and now, if you can just figure out what all those buttons are for, you could start taking pictures.  Or perhaps you’ve moved up from a point and shoot camera and you’re ready to take the next step toward producing better images. Perhaps you already understand the basics of camera use and composition and you would like to learn how the pros use Photoshop to produce stunning images. No matter whether you are a digital SLR newbie or an aspiring amateur with lots of experience, Richard Berry’s, Tradition to Technology Workshop has something to offer everyone.  

The six-day workshop is held in the spectacular Rocky Mountain setting of Canmore, Alberta, about an hour’s drive west of Calgary. Accommodations are plentiful and there is a nice RV park for those that prefer bringing their home with them.  As an extra bonus, Richard was able to arrange a discount for workshop participants at one of the local hotels. For those of you that are not familiar with the Canmore area, be sure to leave some extra time to sight see either side of the workshop, for as you will see later, you won’t have the time or the energy during the workshop itself.  

Things got started on Sunday afternoon when everyone met for the first time at the community college located in the Provincial Building. The meeting room is essentially a computer lab where participants each get their own computer preloaded with Photoshop CS3 and Richard uses a digital projector along with an excellent note package as his primary teaching aids. We were surprised to see there were only six participants including ourselves, but Richard has a reason for everything which we were to find out early the next morning. This first get-together serves a very critical purpose.  It provided us the opportunity to set up all of our equipment and to have Richard check it, to ensure that everything worked as it should and that we had everything we needed to take good images.  Richard had a good supply of filters, tripods, holders and other accessories that we would need.  Most of these were for sale and can be preordered but he also had a few loaner specialty items as well.  For those that were missing critical pieces of equipment that he did not have, he quickly placed a rush order to The Camera Store in Calgary for delivery the next day.  

Richard Berry has led an interesting and diverse life.  A confirmed bachelor he spent his time traveling the world, becoming a commercial pilot, mountain climber, scuba diver and professional photographer.  That was until one day he met a young lady while climbing a wall in Banff.  Now he lives and works in Canmore along with his wife and two small children where he hikes, climbs and travels, teaching aspiring photographers how to take great landscape and wildlife photographs and how to enhance them using Photoshop CS3. Professionals often do not make the best teachers as they often have little patience with amateurs. Fortunately, despite his accomplishments Richard loves to share his passion for photography with others and he does so with empathy and understanding for those of us who have never taken a camera off automatic.  

When we gathered for our first field trip at 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning, I saw one reason for the six participant limit as we all piled into Richard’s surprisingly roomy seven passenger van and headed off to photograph Mount Lougheed. As the first early-morning rays of sun touched its peak, I learned the importance of failing to properly test all of my equipment the day before. The window for taking images early in the morning is surprisingly short.  You have about 20 minutes set up and get organized followed by about 20 to 30 minutes of stunning light. I watched helplessly as the beautiful red light gradually turned to a harsher daylight as I fumbled hopelessly with the ball on my tripod. By 7 a.m. we were heading back to Canmore anxious to see our creative efforts but before that, Richard pulled in to one of the many local establishments he would take us to, where we enjoyed a hearty breakfast replete with lots of great coffee.  

Shortly after eight o’clock we were back in the classroom learning how to offload our images from the camera and to import them into Adobe Bridge. The process that we began on Monday became a template for the rest of the week.  Once the images are offloaded, they are reviewed, rated and the better ones are set aside for processing in Photoshop.  Other than a one-hour break at lunch, each day is spent learning the fundamentals of camera operation, the use of filters and flash, the elements of composition and of course, digital workflow using Photoshop.  The learning curve is steep and at times felt overwhelming but as the week progressed and our skills improved, mutterings of “now I get it” could be heard arising from behind computer screens. In addition, Richard displayed great patience with those of us who insisted on asking him for the fourth time “how do curves work again or where do I find the clone button?” At four o’clock each day we finished our classroom work and rushed off to make good use of the following two hours to catch a nap and grab a bite to eat before meeting back at the college for the evening field trip.  

Thankfully, really early mornings are limited, as Richard has set things up so that the shorter trips take place in the morning while most of the longer ones are left to the evening.  Weather in the mountains is hit and miss at the best of times, so participants will need to be flexible.  Sometimes it can be dry in Canmore only to find it is pouring rain 15 km away, washing away any opportunity to take images. That said, Richard is very knowledgeable and seems to have a good sense as to what conditions are likely to be at the various locations.  That evening, as we drove along a mountain road in the rain, Richard slowed down and asked us to scan for wildlife noting that this particular spot was where the migration path for bears, moose and others, intersected with the road. As the clouds lowered and the rain continued we reluctantly turned around and headed back to a rain free Canmore. That evening we finally rolled into bed around 10 p.m. setting the alarm for 4:30 a.m. the next morning.  

The pattern that we established on Monday was repeated throughout the week with early morning trips to photograph spectacular mountain vistas, rivers and lakes, followed by classroom work during the day and an evening trip with opportunities for photographing  wildlife and landscapes. Fortunately the weather co-operated the rest of the week and in addition to some great landscapes we were able to photograph elk, birds, moose and deer at various times and locations during the week.  

Each day in the classroom, we would submit some of our better images to Richard who would project them on the screen and then provide a critique. At first, everyone seemed quite anxious about  having  their mistakes projected on the wall for all to see, but Richard conducts the process in a very constructive and non critical manner that left everyone with their ego intact. As the participants grew more familiar with their cameras, the use of filters and basic composition, it was remarkable to see the quality of some of the images that were being produced. By mid week we were asked to select four of our best images and to work on them for the following two days, after which Richard offered to print them out formatted 19 x 12. The results were truly amazing. It’s hard to believe the quality of the images we were able to produce after just 3 or 4 days working with him.  

The week just flew by and Friday came upon us before we knew it. Our last morning was spent photographing the Bow River and the mountains surrounding it.  The light was spectacular and everyone worked feverishly to apply everything they had learned to this last set of images.  One more classroom session to add the finishing touches and we were done. As we said goodbye to one another I marveled at the high quality of the work we had produced.  

Over the course of the week, most people shot between 100 and 150 images per day and survived on about six hours sleep per night. Of those images, about 10% were rated either five or four star by the participants, so each of us took home about 50 to 75 that we would be proud to show anybody."

Summary:  

PROS

You will never set your camera on “automatic” again.
Small class size - lots of individual attention.
Expect to produce some great images
The workshop is inexpensive and great value.
Richard does all the driving.
Fantastic setting and scenery.  

CONS
You won’t get much sleep.
Steep learning curve.
Expensive shopping list. During the week you will find out about lots of photographic equipment!
Addictive. Wait until you see all the exotic places that Richard holds workshops – Galapagos, Hawaii etc....  

Graham Budd. August 07