Arthur Morris To Appear At Morro Photo Expo 2012

Posted by admin on Aug 31, 2011 in Blog | 43 comments

“More than 20,000 of Arthur Morris’ photographs have been published….”

Arthur Morris, a free-lance nature photographer and writer specializing in birds, will appear at the Morro Photo Expo 2012. The Expo will begin on March 30 and run through April 1, 2012.

Arthur (also known as Artie) is widely recognized as one of the world’s premier bird and nature photographer/educators of our time. His first major book, “The Art of Bird Photography,” quickly became the go-to reference on bird photography. More than 20,000 of Artie’s images have been published in American Birds, Audubon, Birding, Birder’s World, Bird Watcher’s Digest, Duck’s Unlimited, Florida Wildlife and Nature, Living Bird, National Geographic, Natural History, Nature Photographer, Outdoor Photographer, PHOTOgraphic, Ranger Rick, Wildbird, and in countless other magazines, as well as in hundreds of books and calendars. Over 150 photo-illustrated feature articles by and about him have appeared in a wide variety of publications worldwide. For more information about Arthur Morris please visit his website at www.birdsasart.com.

Morro Photo Expo is excited about bringing Artie to the Central Coast of California. Morro Bay is truly one of the great locations for bird watching and photography. Registration begins online at this website on December 1, 2011. Please bookmark this address for further announcements. You can also send us email at morrophotoexpo@gmail.com.

New Workshop Added: Creative Photography

Posted by admin on Jan 27, 2012 in Blog | 0 comments

Model: Bailey, Photographer: Howard Ignatius, Hosted by After Dark Education, Instructors: Neil and Susan Silverman

“Neil and Susan…..will teach you their secrets”

Morro Photo Expo is pleased to announce the addition of a new workshop to our 2012 Lineup. It’s called Creative Photography with Neil and Susan Silverman. The workshop is on Friday afternoon, March 30th, of the Expo.

All of us have been out there looking for that inspiring image. Most of the time it is a matter to being in the right place at the right time. But what if you could create it? Neil and Susan Silverman have spent years developing techniques for creating those eye-popping images and in this workshop they will teach you their secrets. You will spend the entire time outdoors walking the streets with a model, while Morro Bay adds the backdrop, with its fishing village charm. They will give guidelines on how to think about what you are photographing. You will find their techniques useful everywhere you go with your camera.   Anyone can capture good images that standout. With a little creativity, you will soon take your photography to the next level.

This workshop is open to all, from Beginners to Advanced – anyone can benefit from this workshop. For more details check out the Schedule on this website.

New Pre-con: Making Money From Your Photography

Posted by admin on Jan 22, 2012 in Blog | 2 comments

“If there were a formula, everyone would be making money.”

Morro Photo Expo is pleased to announce the addition of a new Pre-con to our lineup, entitled “Making Money From Your Photography” with Dan Heller. The cost of the Pre-con is $79 and includes Dan’s book: “Profitable Photography in The Digital Age: Strategies for Success”. The Pre-con will be on Thursday, March 29, 2012 from 1-4PM.

Making money as a photographer has increasingly become more difficult in the Internet age. Dan not only has been successful in navigating through the many pitfalls but also he has become a prolific writer on the subject. As a freelance travel photographer, he was one of the first to sell stock images online. He is an industry analyst for the stock photography trade, and has published four books on the subject, covering the legal, economic and social factors of the photo industry. His blog is one of the most authoritative and provocative on all topics touching photography. The following is an excerpt off his website:

Photography Business Topics: Introduction

Bhutan by Dan Heller

by Dan Heller

When I first thought of getting into the travel photography business, just about everyone in the industry said, you must be mad. “The field is saturated,” “there’s no money to be made,” “it’s very competitive,” and the obvious statement, “there’s a huge amount of really good material already out there.” In short, the advice was a resounding, I didn’t have a chance. Not one bit of encouragement from anyone. I soon discovered why. Though none were aware of it, making money in photography has nothing to do with photography. Success in this business depends on one and only one thing: good business sense. If all people were equal, the advice I got would have been right. It’d be just like a lottery, where your chances of success are equal to everyone else’s. In the photo business, there are so many players—in fact, more people in the world take pictures than ever play the lottery—your chances of success are worse.

Thing is, not all people are equal. What’s more, there are huge numbers of very skilled photographers who aren’t successful. Is success distributed only to those who are skilled? I probably don’t need to tell you the answer to that one—we have all seen pretty awful images in everything from ads, to magazine stories about travel, to brochures. The point of differentiation is not skill, nor how many people are in it, or any of the typical explanations. The one factor to success is how smart you are. Sure, you need to be “good enough” with your photography for people to really take you seriously, but that standard is sufficiently low that just about anyone truly serious about photography is probably a good enough to make money with it. So, if you’re wondering whether your photos are good enough to get into the business, the answer is probably, “yes.” But, that’s not important right now. The real objective to be smart about how you go about it. The photography part is easy; being smart is the hard part.

Thus, my favorite quote about the photo business is,

“If there were a formula, everyone would be making money.”

Rental-A-Lens For Morro Photo Expo

Posted by admin on Jan 16, 2012 in Blog | 0 comments

“..get a great lens to use, and great shots while attending the Expo..”

Morro Photo Expo is the place to bring that long lens that you have been wanting to use. Now we make it even easier by partnering with Borrowlenses.com, the Online Camera Gear Rental company. This is how it works:

Rent-a-lens from Borrowlenses.com and have it shipped to the nearest Fedex facility in Morro Bay, CA. Here is the location and hours of operation:

They will hold the lens there for you to pickup. There is a $5 hold for pickup fee and it may be a good idea to call them so they know that the lens belongs to you. They are open 9AM – 6PM most days, however, will be closed on Sunday, the day the Expo ends. Therefore, on Sunday at 12 noon, bring your lens and its shipping case to an alternate drop off location in Room 302 at the Morro Bay High School and we will make sure it gets back to the Fedex facility first thing Monday morning. It does not get any easier than that! You get a great lens to use, and great shots while attending the Expo, with no hassle or worries about having to ship a lens or fitting it into your baggage. So act now and reserve the lens of your choice. For more details visit Borrowlenses.com or click the Ad in the sidebar.

Finding Your Way With QR Codes

Posted by admin on Jan 14, 2012 in Blog | 2 comments

by Jerry Kirkhart

“..we are using QR codes to give directions on how to get to the various events..”

QR codes were first used by Toyota to track inventory. The letters QR stand for “Quick Response”. The advantage of using them is that they contain information that can be read both vertically and horizontally, therefore, easily interpreted by anything with a camera and the right software – eliminating human error. The information can be represented in many forms such as URL’s, email addresses, SMS messages, directions, etc.

At the Expo, we are using QR codes to give directions on how to get to the various events or the Self-guided Photo cache, using your smart phone. If you go to our website, you will see under Locations>QR Codes a list of all the venues. Using these QR Codes will help you get turn-by-turn instructions on how to get to each event.

The following assumes that you are using an iPhone. However, similar functionality can be found on most Android devices.

Step 1: Make sure Locations is turned on in your Settings menu of your phone so that it can use its GPS capability.

Step 2: You will need an app that can scan and interpret the QR Codes. In this example, I used QRReader from TapMedia Ltd.  There is a free version, however, I used the $0.99 version to get a few more features. Install the app on your phone.

Step 3: Start the QRReader app and hold your phone’s camera about 6 inches away from the QR Code you want it to read. (We used the Art Center Morro Bay for this example) The display will look something like this:

After the scan completes, the app will pull up Google Maps with the location:

Step 4: Now press the circle on the right hand side with the triangle pointed down and you will get this display:

Click on Get Directions and go to Step 5.

Step 5: Now tap the “A” box and select “My Location” – the screen should look like this.  Be sure that the car icon to the left is highlighted. Click on the white right-pointing arrow that is highlighted in blue:

Step 6:   Scroll down to your driving directions until you reach “B”, or the venue:

Go back to Step 3 for the next location. That’s how easy it is to use QR codes. Now you can get directions with your phone to every event. You can spread your two fingers to expand the size of the maps so you can read the street names.

Note: The Self-guided Photo cache event, which is the best way to find some of the great places to photograph in and around Morro Bay, has 15 stations – all with QR codes. As an option, you can also use your car’s GPS or a even a map if you do not have a smart phone.

We hope you like using QR Codes, but remember to safely pull over to the side of the road before following this procedure. Please have your QR reader app installed on your phone before you come to the Morro Photo Expo, then you are ready to scan and go!

Enjoy!

New Workshop Added!

Posted by admin on Dec 31, 2011 in Blog | 2 comments

Rich Hanson Leads Second Bird Photography Workshop…

Rich Hanson is well known in Morro Bay. As an FDA Microbiologist and former Audubon Board member, he co-founded the wildly successful Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival. Rich is also an outstanding photographer who has helped to organize and educate others about birding and nature for the last 15 years. He has been an assistant instructor with George Lepp for 20+ years and is represented by Photo Researchers since 1986. Rich currently is displaying his work at the Photo Shop in downtown San Luis Obispo. You will also find his images published in most major nature magazines and on Flickr at http://flickr.com/photos/richpixels.

When we asked Rich to be an instructor at the Morro Photo Expo he was quick to volunteer. Given his background and expertise, he is leading a workshop on Morro Bay Bird Photography. The workshop is scheduled for Friday afternoon, March 30, 2012 and filled up within just a few short days. It is always frustrating to see that happen as there are so many great locations in Morro Bay to watch and photograph birds. So we asked Rich if he would lead another workshop this year and he accepted our invitation. The second Bird Photography workshop will be the morning of April 1, 2012 and will have a maximum of 15 participants.

If you have already registered for the Expo you can log back into the registration website and reserve a seat in Rich’s second workshop. For those who have not registered yet, there are many classes and workshops still available. Only 10% are either filled or getting close to capacity. You should register soon to insure you get the classes and workshops that you want.

Time for a little eye candy! The below images are from Rich Hanson’s Collection and can be purchased at the Photo Shop in San Luis Obispo: