Dumore Head, Scotland, Image By Steve Gosling

Scotland, a country that a lot of people especially photographers visit.  However this is a very rich landscape for the passionate landscape photographers.  Phase One’s PODAS workshops will be visiting Scotland in October (October 1 – 7 2012).  With Instructors Steve Gosling and Peter Cox we will explore the many great spots to shoot and you’ll learn some new techniques by these two excellent landscape photographers.  You’ll shoot with an IQ160 camera system during the workshop.  You’ll see why big pixels and a bigger sensor make a real difference.  You’ll have all your needs taken care of.  All you need to do is get to Scotland.  Check out our web site for details by CLICKING HERE.

Dogwoods and Douglas Fir – Image By Art Wolfe

Join me this Sunday in Chicago for Art Wolfe’s – The Art of Composition (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS).  Art is not only a close friend but one of this country’s most recognized landscape and nature photographers.   His work is so inspiring that there is no way you can leave his lectures not wanting to pick up your camera and head out to the wilderness.  The lecture series now touring the US and soon Europe is a chance to share in Art’s adventures and learn how to improve the craft of photography.

Art has been shooting with a Phase One system for a while now.  He has created a new body of work that is so creative and incredibly inspiring it is hard to define.  You’ll get a chance to see some of the amazing images from this new body of work as well as many form his various photographic adventures from around the world.  If you are in the Chicago area or any of the other areas shown on HERE I can only say don’t miss this.

I hope to see you there – Kevin Raber – VP Phase One PODAS Workshops

For details about the Chicago location CLICK HERE

One of the many shots to be had in Monument Valley

Plans for the PODAS in Monument Valley and the Slot Canyons is shaping up.  The dates will be November 3 – 9th, 2012.  Tentative plans are for attendees to be picked up at Flagstaff airport no later than noon on the 3rd.  You’ll be driven in PODAS vans to Monument Valley and will be staying at the View hotel.  We will do a welcome and shot the sunset.  The next morning will be sunrise shoot and photography in the Monument Valley area.  we will have access to areas most people don’t visit so your images will be different and amazing.  We will do another sunrise and more photography with a classroom session on Monday.  Tuesday sees us heading to Page, AZ to shoot the sights there.  we will be staying at a Marriott Hotel there and will be doing some local spots like Horseshoe bend, Lake Powell scenics, and more.  the highlight though will be some very special shooting excursions into the slot canyons.  We will do both upper and lower Antelope canyon plus about 4 others that are special access only.  We will also have a few classroom sessions and time to work on your images thrown in.  More details will be announced soon.  While anyone can go visit these areas, not everyone can see what we will be seeing, much less photograph with the best gear in the world.  As with all PODAS workshops we will have top notch instructors, everything is included – meals, singe occupancy rooms, a loaner IQ 160 to use, and much more.  Stay tuned and mark your calendars.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ

Wow, so much happening.  We start our Iceland PODAS in a week.  What I am really excited about is USA workshop in Monument Valley and Page, AZ.  This will be a unique two part workshop.  We;ll begin in Monument Valley.  This a most spectacular location with giant vistas and when the light and clouds are like it is just amazing.   What makes this special is we have sources and we will be taking attendees to places in the valley others can’t get to or visit.  This will be for two days in addition to the loop road and some classroom time.  we go from there to Page, AZ where we will spend the next three days shooting slot canyons, and vistas of lake Powell and the not too miss Horseshoe Bend.    We hope to have all the details soon.  You can visit our workshop page CLICK HERE and sign up to be notified if you are interested.  The image above was done in Upper Antelope Canyon.  I’ll post a gallery when I get back to the office so you can get an idea of what to expect.  Shot with an IQ180, the detail is amazing and the wide dynamic range allows you to capture the finest details in highlights and shadows.  More to come soon.

The NEW PODAS Logo

As PODAS matures and grows we felt it was time to re-define the logo for PODAS and associate it more clearly with our goals and what we are all about.  PODAS is a Phase One program.  Our goal is to give photographers an opportunity to try out a Phase One camera system in a workshop environment and see for themselves the amazing images that it produces.  In addition our emphasize is on creating the best workshop experience possible in the best locations possible with the best instructors in our industry.  The workshop fee includes everything except the airfare to the destination.  There are many other benefits and you can CLICK HERE to visit our web site and learn more.  This new logo has a silhouette of a photographer with a globe representing photography worldwide.  We have incorporated the acronym PODAS into the logo with the distinctive Phase One logo to give the workshops a whole new identifiable look.

Click on the image to visit the blog

Last December we had a super PODAS workshop in New Zealand.  Our PODAS alumni are our past testament to the kind of workshops we offer. Read more by CLICK HERE.  Also, we are planning  return to New Zealand this December for what will be I am sure another spectacular event.

OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER email blast for April 2nd, 2012

PODAS is moving at full speed for 2012.  We have just done an email blast with Outdoor Photographer Magazine. We are reaching out over the coming months to a new and wider audience.  If you’d like to check the email blast out CLICK HERE.

The NEW PODAS landing page at www.phaseone.com/podas

Phase One has just introduced a whole NEW look to the Phase One web site.  Included on this upgrade are new pages for PODAS workshops.  You can visit the PODAS section by clicking on the workshops section of the main menu or going direct www.phaseone.com/podas.  We presently have a number of workshops listed and others that we are planning that haven’t been announced yet.  Registration for workshops is very easy and payments  are handled through PayPal or wire transfer.  We have a team of world class instructors for all our workshops.  These are all inclusive workshops.  Also included is the use of an IQ160 Phase One camera system during the workshop as well as many other perks and benefits.  Drop by and I hope you consider joining us for one of these great workshops.

Doorway, Sam MIguel, Mexico

The last several days have flown by.  This has been a fantastic workshop.  While we didn’t have any early morning sunrise shoots, we did have three full days of shooting and some incredible locations as you can see from the images on this blog entry.  This was a fantastic group lead by two great instructors, Mark Dubovoy and Michael Reichmann.  Micahel lives in San Miguel half the year, and his friend Daniel Ortiz arranged for us to see and go to places many people never see.  Daniel is a local real estate agent who has a passion for photography and I owe him a big thanks for making all the local arrangements.  At most PODAS workshops we shoot big broad landscapes.  At this workshop we shot differently as you can see in the images below.  Ruins, old silver mines, churches etc. Were our subjects.  Plus we had one morning doing street photography.  Tomorrow I’ll post an amazing image by one of our attendees he did during our walk around San Miguel.  Thursday we did a full day of classroom work going over Capture One, printing, and a number of other topics.  We also ate well as we do at all PODAS workshops.  This was a great week and all of us have taken some amazing images.

Church Doorway, San Miguel, Mexico

This PODAS is different from other PODAS workshops. There are no 4AM wake-up calls to rush out and shoot sunrises. While I miss that I also have to say that this is a different PODAS in regards to the focus of the photography we are doing.  We aren’t shooting the magnificent landscapes like we do in new Zealand, Iceland and else where. We are photographing the culture and elements that make up this part of Mexico. Today we headed out and shot an area with Cactus, a=canyons and an overlook of San Miguel. This was followed by a lunch at a countryside restaurant and spa. Anyone that knows PODAS workshops knows that you shoot a lot and you eat well. This workshop is no exception. After lunch we had the rare privilege to shoot at the Church Atotonilco. You can see some of the images below. This a most amazing church and truly embodies the Mexican culture and religion. We got a behind the scenes look at places no one else sees. There was a Pilgrimage going on with over a thousand men while we were there and we got to see and photograph this amazing event. After a few wonderful hours here we shot some other local locations and returned to the hotel for image downloading and a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant featuring excellent Mexican fare. So, it was a long day. Tomorrow we head out to an old silver mining town where we have special permission to visit unique locations. On Thursday we will be doing a full day of classroom work.  So, stay tuned come back and visit us as we continue another excellent PODAS adventure and workshop.