Mt. Cook - New Zealand - (photo by K. W. Raber)

It was just a little over a month ago we concluded our workshop in New Zealand. This workshop was so popular we are doing it again this year. Look for information soon on a chance to visit the edge of the world. In the meantime you can visit these two links and see some images created by two of the workshop attendees.  We expect to be able to publish more in the near future.

Sean Dick – CLICK HERE TO VISIT SEAN’S GALLERY

Miles Flint – CLICK HERE TO VISIT MILE’S GALLERY

Join us on ultimate Photo Safari Adventure with instructor Andy Biggs.

PODAS Master Class
- a workshop exclusively dedicated to Phase One owners

The goal of this workshop is to photograph the breathtaking desert landscapes of Namibia at three unique and beautiful locations. This will be a flying safari,. We will maximize our safari by flying from location to location. This will enable us to carry an adequate amount of camera baggage and eliminate long drives.

Highlights
– This private flying safari covers fascinating attractions in Namibia and offers stunning landscape from the air.
– We will fly to three amazing destinations in southern, central and northern Namibia: Sossusvlei, Serra Cafema and the deserted mining town of Kolmanskop.
– The Namib Desert may well be the world’s oldest desert. The apricot-colored dunes at Sossusvlei are some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. Herds of mountain zebra, gemsbok and springbok roam the area.
– In all the parks you will have the opportunity to spend quality photographic time.
– Finish on a high note in the magnificent northern landscapes along the Serra Cafema mountain range near Angola.

Read more and register here

Exclusively for Phase One owners!
Want to explore beautiful Mexico with Michael Reichmann and Mark Dubovoy? Then this is the workshop for you!

This PODAS Master Class brings together two of our most popular instructors, Michael Reichmann and Mark Dubovoy, in a unique environment with a focus on advanced medium format photography and technique.

This workshop is limited to 12 attendees and will be held in beautiful San Miguel, Mexico. This amazing village will just charm you with its quaint streets, and photographic downtown. No matter where you walk or look there will be a great photographic opportunity. We will be doing a number of excursions to some magnificent locations where we can take our time and work towards an absolute perfectly images.

Read more and register here

The PODAS New Zealand Workshop Group Photo

Wow, what a week. The week has gone by fast and we have covered so much territory and made so many good images. This was an excellent group that has gotten along great. New friends, fun, and sharing great photography together has been a super experience. The last day was spent with some classroom time after a morning photo excursion. We had an elegant dinner followed by closing ceremonies. Here Ken Duncan shared his multi-media show on America. Then we handed out certificated. There were lots of praising the great instructors we had as well as the staff and especially Mike Langford for finding such great spots to shoot. All the attendees contributed images from the week and these wee combined with candid shots taken and made intI will do my best to share images and more details about this workshop.  Also, we will announce soon the newest workshops for 2012.  We have some very big plans so check back soon.

The image above is the group shot from the PODAS New Zealand workshop. We had attendees from all over the world.

Waterfall, Rees Valley, New Zealand

The fun continues. This entry covers the last two days. We have been going non-stop and beginning to feel the effects of four hours of sleep a night. Only two more nights to go. We started out on Saturday with a great sunrise with all sorts of nice color. From there we went out and explored Rees Valley where we got some splendid shots of mountain views, rushing creeks, waterfalls and old homes. Then that evening after dinner, Mike Langford presented a program on his photography. Mike’s is well known in New Zealand and his style and approach refreshing.

On Sunday we packed the vans and headed to Mount Cook, with many photo stops along the way. Our new hotel The Hermitage offers a magnificent view of Mt. Cook from every hotel room. We did sunrises, glacier and ice berg tours and heard a great program by Christian Fletcher today. Christian’s work is just magnificent and he is a master of Capture One and Photoshop and shared many of his great ideas. Our spare time has been spent working on Images for the final slide show and spending one on one time with the instructors.

Bottom line is we are having a super time.

Eearnslaw Burn, A magical place

I don’t even know how to describe the day we had today. I have had a few life changing days because of seeing some spectacular places on this planet and today was one of them. First let me say New Zealand is an amazing country. It is beauty no matter where you look. Mountains, waterfalls, lakes and just about anything you can think of. Throw in really nice people and it is a great place to visit. We will do more PODAS workshops here and trust me you don’t want to miss them.

Today we visited a place that I can only describe as the edge of the planet. It is very remote and very high up into the mountains. You can get there by helicopter which is what we did. Mike Langford and Jackie Ranken our local guides and instructors know places no one else does and this was one of them. All 31 of us were shuttled by helicopter to Earnslaw Burn which is so spectacular. We are flying in and we go around a bend in a valley way up in the mountains and we are greeted by a scene that is hard to explain. Imagine cliffs thousands of feet high with glaciers on top.  As the glaciers melt they form waterfalls and not just one but dozens. And these flow down these cliffs. The pictures above and below will tell the story best and save me a lot of typing. Bottom line is we had a day none of us will forget. We spent hours in this fairy tale land shooting everything. And, it was good to sit down and take it in too, because half the experience was just being there.

We flew out and were dropped off by our vans. We had lunch and we were off to another magical place. Mike and Jackie know this enchanted forrest. I’m not kidding when I say that. The light and color in this forrest was unlike anything I experienced before. And, to top all of this off, we came back had an elegant dinner and then were blessed with a marvelous talk by one of our instructors, Ken Duncan. Ken’s work is amazing and inspiring. His generosity in how he shares his talent and passion is truly special.

A PODAS workshop like we say is unlike any other. As you look at these images you can see the attendees are having a great time.  The amazing part is we are not finished yet.  We have days more of shooting.  We have planes taking us to the top of a glacier at Mt. Cook with helicopters shuttling us out. We have a zodiac trip planned in a lake full of icebergs plus more talks by our instructors. It’s a bit overwhelming, but it is PODAS and as anyone who has been on a PODAS will tell you it is non-stop photography, learning and fun for a week. Sleep is optional.

View From Bennets Bluff, New Zealand

My apologies for being a bit behind. We have been operating on a very busy schedule and there were no more hours left in the last few days to do the blog. So, this entry should help get things caught up. More later.

Our first full day was just that. We awoke early and we were on the road by 5AM for a sunrise session at Dear Park which was on of the set areas for Lord Of The Rings. The light was gorgeous and we had a number of different options for angles and shots. This was followed after returning to the hotel with a breakfast and then a very interesting and creative program by Jackie Ranken on of our instructors on this trip. Jackie has a keen eye and sees things differently and her images prove what thinking differently can do for your photography. Jackie is also very involved in the field helping everyone. She is a super high energy person and we enjoyed her program tremendously. We had a great lunch at the Hilton hotel we are staying in. And, speaking of the Hilton, we have terrific accommodations and the rooms are great. Good spot to retreat to after a day of shooting. PODAS believes in doing things first class. The afternoon session brought Kevin Raber, of Phase One doing a Capture One program and helping everyone realize the potential of their images. And, after a super dinner we were off again for a sunset shoot at Bennett’s bluff (see above image). All in all a terrific day and it will only get better. Check back later fro day three blog.

Earnslaw Burn, New Zealand - The Edge Of The Planet

Today we visited the edge of the planet. We have been going non-stop and we begin again at 5AM so there will be no album today. This is an amazing workshop and everyone is just blown away by what we have photographed. We took a helicopter into Earnslaw Burn today (image above) and it was a very amazing place. More images of everyone and everything as soon as I can. We have a full day tomorrow so please be patient.

Day One sunset, New Zealand

The PODAS workshop in New Zealand began on Wednesday and kicked off at full steam. With 23 attendees, 4 instructors and 4 Phase One team members this promises to be a big PODAS. The photo excursions and lectures are going to be some of the best we have offered. We started out at 4PM with the official welcome followed by dinner and then a drive to a very special location for sunset.  The pictures should speak for themselves as you see everyone photographing a wonderful sunset. It’s amazing to see how quickly everyone has picked up the use of an IQ160 camera system. On Thursday afternoon we will import the images into Capture One and have the first chance to see the high image quality that the IQ digital backs deliver. We will be going strong for seven days and will do our best to keep up with the posting. It is a jam packed agenda though so spare time will be minimal. We are staying for the next few days at the Hilton in New Zealand which is a beautiful location. As with everything Phase One does there are no compromises as to how we like to treat our attendees at workshops.

Ulf checks out the camera systems for PODAS

In less than 24 hours we kick off the New Zealand Adventure PODAS.  One of the main items that makes PODAS special is that everyone gets a Phase One IQ 160 camera system to use. There is not another company anywhere that dedicates itself to offering workshops like Phase One does or offers everyone a state of the art medium format camera system. As you can see in these images there is a lot of gear that arrives at a location. Ulf Liljergen manager of the Phase One worldwide support is shown prepping the cameras for the 24 attendees of the New Zealand PODAS. This is no small feat and you can see Ulf above logging in, checking each system and preparing them for the workshop.

The Gear Has Arrived