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Feb 24-27, 2021: Winter Photo Workshop in Yellowstone & Island Park
4-Day Winter Photo Immersion in Yellowstone & Island Park: Winter Landscapes & Wildlife
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Workshop Information:
Join Caryn Esplin for this unique opportunity to capture the incredible thermal landscapes and abundant winter wildlife of Yellowstone National Park in the comfort of a heated snow coach! We will spend two days in YNP where we can capture great landscapes and we often see river otters, bison, coyotes, foxes, eagles, and more, so rent a long lens if you don’t have one. We will stay at the immersive luxury lodge, Riverfront Retreat, on the pristine Buffalo River in nearby Island Park, where we will also capture the stunning forest-river scenery and watch for the resident population of moose, fox, deer, mink, pine martin and more.
Caryn Esplin, college photography professor and experienced Yellowstone expert and workshop provider. will lead only seven participants for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Lodging will be at Caryn’s brand new “Riverfront Retreat” on the Buffalo River, where you will be surrounded in comfort, great views, mountain modern décor and old west artifacts. Visitors often call this getaway a “slice of heaven.” Enjoy this video glimpse of our accommodations.
You will certainly come home with stunning new winter fine art photographs to enhance and diversify your photography portfolio. Caryn will provide you with incredible opportunities and help you with correct camera settings and hand-on help in the field to capture mind-blowing winter images whether you are a beginner or advanced photographer.
Caryn also just purchased the new Polaris Northstar Ultimate private snowcoach to take us to access pristine locations rarely ever visited before. If you would like extend your trip one day to book a tour of the central Island Park waterways for incredible winter amazing shots, contact Caryn right away. Cost is 199 each if we get 3 photographers to choose this add-on. Check out these winter scenes we will experience during this Island Park snowcoach tour: https://riverfrontretreat.net/winter-snowcoach-photo-tour-with-caryn-esplin-island-park-waterways/
You may reserve a spot for this Island Park Heated Snowcoach Expedition here: Reserve Northstar Snowcoach Expedition: Island Park
Highlights:
- A focus on winter landscape and wildlife photography
- Caryn Esplin will instruct you with basic and advanced photography techniques including but not limited to: composition, winter camera settings, wildlife action settings, filter use, etc.
- Exploring photographic highlights of Yellowstone and Island Park in a heated winter snow coach (large and small)
- Master instruction at the lodge and on location
- Photo editing demo with attention to winter photography
- Visiting breathtaking locations in Yellowstone National Park and nearby Island Park including but not limited to: Canyon, Heyden Valley, Mt Haybes Overview, Old Faithful, Fountain Paint Pots, Biscuit Basin, Black Sand Basin, Firehole Canyon Falls, Yellowstone Falls, Gibbon Falls, Kepler Cascades. With optional add-on tour in Island Park for: Buffalo River Trestle Bridge, Ponds Lodge Bridge,Two-River Confluence, and much more!
- Learning new skills and advanced photography techniques to make the most of lighting and locations such as bracketing, focus stacking and long exposures
- A small workshop so your experience is truly personal, and you get to know your guide and fellow photographers
Included:
- 4-day workshop with 3 nights lodge accommodations (based on 2 – 3 people of same gender per large suite – each person gets their own queen bed – inquire for possible single occupancy)
- Award-winning, Photographer Instructor/Guide who will provide a combination of workshop instruction and in-field guidance
- Meals with standard beverages are provided at the Riverfront Retreat (Alcohol may be purchased near the lodge) Meals are not included when we eat out
- WiFi at the Riverfront Retreat Lodge
- Hot hands and Hot feet packets, lens wipes
- Access to exclusive discounts on gear from some of Caryn’s partners
- Disposable masks and hand sanitizer availability
Excluded:
- Single room supplement (contact Caryn for pricing)
- The meals when eating out
- Items of a personal nature including (but not limited to) laundry services, clothing, Wi-Fi, email or phone charges
- Gratuities for Photo Guides, local guides and/or drivers
- ADD-ON: Northstar Snowcoach Photo Expedition is 199. It may be purchased here: Reserve Northstar Snowcoach Expedition: Island Park
- Extra nights may be purchased here for 79 per person, for each extra night: https://checkout.square.site/buy/AAJZNRW6ZF374DZQ2FONJ7F7
Riverfront Retreat on the Buffalo River – Island Park, Idaho
Enjoy Sunset on the River at the RIVERFRONT RETREAT in Island Park
See more details here: http://riverfrontretreat.net/
The new Riverfront Retreat is a year-round resort located on the pristine Buffalo River with great WIFI and only 30 minutes from Yellowstone!
Come to the mountains for a gorgeous winter getaway in a thick forest near Highway 20 and the snowmobile trails, with a large turnaround and room to park snowmobile trailers. In the summer, guests call this a private “slice of heaven” as they enjoy the peaceful riverfront area with a dock, firepit with wood, outdoor grill and lots of reclining deck chairs. Take a swim, fish, hike, hop on the ATV trails, or paddle the 10 kayaks in the crystal clear / family-friendly river. Spacious suites include tasteful decor with attention to detail, private bathrooms and kitchens to fit a variety of group sizes. Guests have their own entrance with space to hang coats and leave shoes/boots.
OPTION 1 — YELLOWSTONE APARTMENT includes a Family Room, Dining Table, 2 Bathrooms (one with large soaker tub) with laundry room, fireplace, 2 large smart TVs, and 2 separate suites. The full Kitchen is fully equipped with a large fridge, microwave, stove-oven, Keurig coffee machine and toaster. The Largest Suite has 4 queen beds and its own kitchenette. The Regular Suite has 1 queen and 2 full beds.
OPTION 2 — SAWTELLE BALCONY SUITE has a large balcony with deck chairs and a nice view of the river. This spacious suite has 3 queen beds, large recliner, smart tv, microwave, small fridge, desk, closet and shelves for suitcases. A private bathroom is right next door, along with a dining table, sitting area, fireplace, and shared kitchen with large fridge, microwave, Kuerig coffee machine, toaster, and 2-burner hot plate.
OPTION 3 — COMBINE THE YELLOWSTONE APARTMENT AND THE SAWTELLE BALCONY SUITE (see details above) for a total of 3 suites (10 queen or full beds) 3 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, a balcony, 2 sitting rooms, 3 dining tables, 3 large TVs, 2 fireplaces, a private entrance and much more!
The Riverfront Retreat on the Buffalo River
The Dock and Riverfront
RIverfront Retreat in Evening Light
Winter Sunset from Riverfront
Winter Dock View
Yellowstone Apartment – Larger Suite: 4 Queens, Kitchenette, Private Bath
Yellowstone Apartment – Larger Suite: 4 Queens, Kitchenette, Private Bath
Large Soaker Tub in Private Bath – Larger Suite
Yellowstone Apartment – Gathering Room & Full Kitchen
Yellowstone Apartment – Gathering Room & Full Kitchen
Yellowstone Apartment – Suite with 1 Queen and 2 Fulls
Yellowstone Apt- Main Bathroom with Laundry
Yellowstone Apt- Main Bathroom with Laundry
Sawtelle Suite
Large Balcony – View of the River
Sawtelle Suite
Sawtelle Suite
The Loft Kitchen – with Sawtelle Suite
The Loft – with Sawtelle Suite
Buffalo River – View from the Dock
Winter View from the Deck
Sunset on the Old Trestle Bridge
Beautiful Stars on the River!
View of Milky Way from the Old Bridge
Steamy Sunrise on the Buffalo River
The Riverfront
Parking and Entry
Eedahow Suite-Riverfront Retreat
Eedahow Suite-Riverfront Retreat
Eedahow Suite Balcony-Riverfront Retreat
Great Room
Breakfast Dining Room
Kitchen Island
Dining Room & Great Room Panoramic
Great Room Panoramic
Professional Phone Photography – Examples
Incredible smart phone photography!
Smart phones are always with us and the images we can capture with them are simply amazing! I hope you enjoy the following images I captured with my iPhone 11 Pro Max and polished them with the incredible free phone application, Snapseed.
POINT OF VIEW: The images below show an ordinary scene, then a closer part of that same scene more with a more unique Point of View…
SHALLOW DEPTH:This set of images below show a normal phone portrait, compared with the same subject captured with the Portrait (Depth) mode that blurs the background to provide a shallow depth of field…
LENS COMPRESSION: Notice how the background changes below when you “pinch and zoom.” This is called lens compression and it works on the same on a smart phone as it does on a DSLR camera…
FLAT LAY: The overhead type of photography below is a popular way to capture product photography and show an interesting theme. It takes some thought to leave a space for meme, quote or message…
PANORAMA: By using the pano feature on my iPhone I was able to capture a very wide angle scene of the Mormon Row barn in the Grand Teton National Park, and the magestic Panther Creek Falls. A pano image is a huge 16mb file, which makes it possible to print in high resolution. Phone photography is amazing!
Myanmar 2020: Fisherman of Inle Lake
One of the highlights of my Enlighten trip to Myanmar was seeing the dancing fishermen in Inle Lake.
Capturing the People, Culture and Landscapes of MYANMAR has been one of my most fulfilling professional development projects for BYU-Idaho. I spent the better part of January in total bliss as I wandered through places I only could only imagine in adventure movies of ancient, fascinating and inaccessible locations. I have so many more images but I am going to take a break for a few weeks and work on preparing this content for my website. I will be back with more when this chapter of my ENLIGHTEN PROJECT is complete. Here is a parting shot from the three dancing fishermen of Inle Lake.
Myanmar 2020: Dein Ruins, Inle Lake
Exploring the Deins Ruins takes me back to Indiana Jones films.
I felt as if I was on location for one of the Indiana Jones films as I walked through ruins of these ancient pagodas. The path meandered through a labrynth of vegetation, bricks and crumbling, pointed stupas. I love capturing landscapes with old structures and it’s even better when a few women from a local tribes wander through the scene! It was a thrill to capture the people, cultures and landscapes of this fascinating country. Every few hours I had to pinch myself to see if I was in a dream or really wandering in such peculiar and wondrous places.
Myanmar 2020: Dancing Fishermen, Inle Lake, Myanmar
We stopped to capture these amazing dancing fishermen on Inle Lake with the sunset.
NEARBY FIRES ENHANCE LIGHT & COLOR
With the smoke and haze from a fire along the shore… the colors were a blast! Of course, some sparse clouds are always amazing, but the next best thing can be smoke to carry the sunset color. It is interesting to note that in my previous Facebook post, you see the post-sunset color when the fisherman were against the sunset and in total silhouette. I captured the images in this post earlier when the setting sun was bringing in light from the side…. and the funky colors were popping from the smoke.
Myanmar 2020: Capture Sunset Silhouette in Inle Lake
Right in the middle of the Inle Lake, we cruised by this mini temple with a statue of a monk looking / praying to the East. It made a nice sunset silhouette.
PHOTO TIP: SUNSET SILHOUETTES:
1. Expose for the sky to expose it well so your subject is very dark.
2. Use Manual mode with an aperture (f-stop) for 8.0 or higher. This will give you a deeper depth of field to get more in focus. And it will also help reduce the chromatic aberration that comes with shooting into the sun.
3. Increase your shutter speed to 1/250 or higher to avoid blurred movement. (wind, boat moving, subject moving) …
4. Focus on your subject
5. Position the subject right in front of the sun, or so the sun is right on the edge of your subject for sun flare (then try f16 for best sun flare)
6. Adjust your ISO until you get a beautiful exposure with crisp silhouette and bright, colorful background.
Myanmar 2020: The Long Neck Women
The most famous of Myanmar’s 135 ethnic groups are the Padaung women.
Known as long-neck or giraffe women, they wear heavy, gold rings around the neck that make it seem like the neck is stretched and their head is floating above a pedestal of gold. I was so impressed with how respectful the Burmese people still are to their age-old traditions. They are loyal, kind and very open to sharing their culture!
Each year I study and photograph the people, culture, and landscapes of a particular country. It was a pleasure to meet some women of the Kayan Tribe. Isn’t she beautiful?
Myanmar 2020: Texture of Shwe Yaunghwe Kyaung Monastery
I always look for texture as I photograph at Shwe Yaunghwe Kyaung monastery in Inle Lake Myanmar.
PHOTO TIP: LOOK FOR TEXTURES & ADD CLARITY
This pagoda is right next to the famous wooden monastery with the round windows (see my previous post) This one is often ignored by tourists as they only visit the monastery next door. This one is extremely interesting for photography with its amazing textures, many archways and small Buddhas in little arches. A perfect place to find locals in daily worship. Again, I was surprised at how much more open and friendly the Burmese people are about having their photo taken. They like to pose so people will share their devotion to their faith.
Myanmar 2020: Light Painting Old Bagan, Myanmar at night!
Some of you might be wondering if I captured any light paintings in Myanmar… of course!
This is one of my favorite photography techniques. You find a dark place and set up your tripod for a 30-second exposure with a high ISO and about f8. Then use a daylight white balance torch (aka “specialty flashlight”) with adjustable brightness to illuminate your subject from the dark. The key is to light your subject from an extreme side angle to maintain plenty of shadows. This is called “off-camera lighting.” I taught a small group this technique one night after dinner in Old Bagan
This place was right by our hotel and there were no lights on this pagoda. This is all with the flashlight. There was a guard up on the street keeping watch over the temple and us while we worked this scene. We felt totally safe as we followed a dirt path to photograph this old pagoda and he enjoyed watching our adventure. I felt safer in Myanmar than in any country in Asia I have traveled, Our guide said we could go out at night anywhere and be safe. I watched people in the crowded markets with their wallets and cell phones sticking out the top of their longji skirts without worry about pickpockets. Perhaps it is their extreme devotion and loyalty to their faith? All young people shave their heads and spend time as a nun or novice monk in a local monastery to learn Buddhism.
Here is a tutorial from my website to get your started!:
https://carynesplin.com/fine-art-light-painting/
Follow my Instagram: @carynesplinphoto
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Welcome to my Photo Blog
