Workshop Updates, General Commentary

End of an Era – Rocky Mountain Photography Adventures

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This was my final year to host our Summer and Fall Rocky Mountain Photography Adventures. I just returned from our final trip.

To all of you who participated in one or more
of our adventures in Colorado, THANK YOU.

I must admit, our drive back to Austin after our final trip was a bit emotional for me. I reflected on so many fun adventures, so many great photographs captured, so many experiences with wonderful people… so many memories. Including our scouting trips and all of our groups we led there, this involved 40 amazing trips to Colorado.

Rocky Mountain National Park is my “happy place” for so many reasons. Originally it was because I just loved the spectacular beauty of the area. But now, I see that what I’ve loved the most are the wonderful memories and the incredible people I’ve had the honor of sharing these adventures with. What a blessing. To say that I am grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to do this is an understatement. This has sincerely been the greatest joy of my life.

I am not retiring from my career in photography. I am just stopping the Rocky Mountain Workshops. It just feels right, to close this beloved chapter in my life. I still will be offering more classes in the Austin, TX area plus some smaller destination workshops.

I would love for you to join me for our 2025 Texas Hill Country Spring Photography Retreat near Hunt, Texas. Relax, have fun, and perhaps learn some new photography techniques on this 3-day weekend photography retreat March 27-30, 2025 in the beautiful Texas Hill Country!  Click Here to learn more.

    I have been a pro photographer for two decades. This is a “second career” for me, after having spent a couple of decades as a software engineer. I am so glad I took that leap of faith and transitioned over to this career in photography. This has been an amazing journey, and the journey continues.

    Kevin Gourley

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    Workshop Updates

    Light & Photography Workshop

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    We had a great time in our Light & Photography Workshop recently! Help me decide on the dates for our next session! Your input matters!

    This workshop is highly recommended for all photographers.
    Mastering your camera is essential in photography, but  mastery of LIGHT is also essential! This course is a comprehensive look at light in its various forms, both natural and artificial as we look at the many ways we photographers can take advantage of, control, and manipulate light to create great photographs!

    • A total of 15 hours of learning, as an all-day two-day class
      • Example: Wednesday/Thursday or Thursday/Friday
      • Each session is 9am-5:30pm with a break for lunch
    • Small Class Size
    • Mix of Lecture, In-class Demonstration and Projects
    • Includes photo session with professional models
    Want to Take This Class? Help me decide on the dates!

    I would be happy to offer another session of this class soon. Just email me if you are interested!

    “Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”
    – George Eastman

    Here are comments from recent class participants:

    “The workshop was great! I learned a lot and appreciate your organization. Thank you so much!“

    “Kevin is an excellent and patient instructor and an extraordinary photographer. This course will forever change my perception of light when viewing paintings, photography,  and light in outdoor settings. I will also be a much better photographer after studying with a master of light.“

    “I loved the workshop on Lighting! It was well organized and Kevin does a great job of explaining lighting concepts so that they become easy to understand. I highly recommend this workshop if you want to learn more about how to use off camera lighting to enhance your photography skills.” Shelley W.

    Five Star Rated *****: “Kevin is one of the very best portrait photographers I have encountered in my 40+ years around the Austin photo scene. When you see his work it’s obvious that his clients have a ball working with him; he’s a great guy and he knows his stuff. Five stars for sure.” – Jon Leatherwood

    Here are two example photos from class participant, Shelley Wagner:

    Model: Alexandria Dudley

    Model Clarissa LaChance:

    Here are a few more images from our most recent class:

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    Photography Software

    Outstanding Software Every Photographer Should Use

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    If you haven’t heard about Topaz Labs’ PhotoAI and VideoAI, you need to go to their website and check them out! PhotoAI is truly outstanding for enhancing your photos, removing digital noise, enhancing details, sharpening your images and even upscaling them to higher resolution.

    I truly cannot say enough good things about their software. It is truly groundbreaking technology.

    It does an excellent job with digital noise reduction while retaining, and even enhancing, details. This opens the door to being able to shoot at higher ISO values, in more challenging lighting circumstances and still end up with low-noise, high-quality images! Wow!

    DEFINITELY TRY OUT TOPAZ LABS’ PhotoAI TODAY – CLICK HERE!
    It is an outstanding tool for photographers!

    This is the most exciting development in software tools for photographers ever!

    Here’s a photo that has quite a bit of motion blur, hand-held at 1/25th of a second at 400mm, with the moose moving:

    Here’s that same image, cleaned up by PhotoAI:
    (It’s not “perfect”, but it is MUCH better! Remember, the original was really in bad shape due to the extreme motion blur. The end result would just need a little more cleanup with some minor work in Photoshop. But still, the point is, PhotoAI did an amazing job in dealing with the motion blur!) PhotoAI is a great tool to use in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom Classic!

    Here’s an example image at ISO 20,000:

    Cleaned up with PhotoAI:

    Here’s an example image at ISO 51,200:

    Cleaned up with PhotoAI:

    Original Image, Enlarged:

    Cleaned up with PhotoAI:

    Original Image, Enlarged More:

    Cleaned up with PhotoAI:

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    Workshop Updates

    What Classes Should We Add Next?

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    Hey friends!

    I am looking at what classes I should add next, and I would love to hear from YOU!  What are YOUR needs and interests?  

    We have a variety of classes already scheduled (click here), but your input can help us prioritize what we offer that best meets your needs in the months ahead.

    Some options to consider:

    • Question: Want us to schedule Texas Hill Country Spring or Fall workshop retreats like we’ve done in previous years?  We need to know now, to line up the ranch where we host these fun workshops!
    • Other Classes:
      • More Photography 101 or 201 Classes
      • How to use your Electronic Flash
      • Studio Lighting
      • Nature/Wildlife/Landscape Photography
      • HDR High Dynamic Range Techniques
      • Adobe Lightroom Classic – For organizing/editing/perfecting your photographs
      • Adobe Photoshop – Learn amazing advanced editing skills
      • More…
    Click here to tell us what you want!
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    Camera Gear

    Want to Digitize your Old 35mm Slides or Negatives? Here’s a great Solution!

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    I have THOUSANDS of old Kodachrome 64 and Ektachrome slides and other negatives that I haven’t been able to look at for years. The dilemma of how to digitize them has always been what prevented me from taking on this daunting task. I have tried scanners built for this purpose, but unless you purchase a really high quality one (aka expensive), you won’t get great results. Plus the process is agonizingly slow and impractical if you have over 10,000 images to be scanned (my situation). And any services that do the scanning for you can be really expensive if you are digitizing this many images, plus you have to ship the images to them, and there is always the risk that a shipment could be lost or damaged, and you could lose photographs that may be priceless to you.

    I finally found a solution that is incredibly good! It’s a slide and film digitizer that attaches to the front of your lens where you can attach filters. The JJC Photo Slide and Film Digitizer Converter comes with a wide variety of adapters, all included in the box. Even though it says it is for “Select Canon Nikon Sony Macro Lenses”, I found it works FINE with my Tamron 90mm Macro Lens attached to my Canon R5. I wasn’t sure if it would work, based on the product description, but upon purchasing it and trying it on my macro lens and camera, I found it worked perfectly!

    What a fantastic solution it is! It comes with the white light source behind the slide/negative, and all you have to do is slip in the slide/negative, make sure it is focused and exposure is set properly, and press the shutter button! Then on to the next image. This is MUCH faster than using a dedicated scanner.

    I can’t begin to say how thrilled I am to have found this great product. I am finally scanning my old images. In some cases, I am seeing images that I literally have not even seen in over 40 years! It’s like opening a time capsule into the past.

    SO, if you have this similar problem of needing a way to scan your old slides/negatives, you might want to check it out! Of course, it will depend on whether you have a macro lens, and what camera you’re using, but it’s definitely worth a try since this solution is under $100, and they offer free returns so you can try it for yourself.

    Here’s the product on Amazon: JJC Photo Slide and Film Digitizer Converter 

    Here’s the setup attached to my Tamron 90mm Macro Lens attached to my Canon R5:

    Here’s an example image, scanned from a Kodachrome 64 slide, from 1979:

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    Photography Software

    Topaz Photo AI to the Rescue!

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    If you ever have a photo that has a little too much digital noise or wasn’t quite sharp enough, Topaz Photo AI has the solution for you!

    I continue to be a cheerleader for Topaz Labs! They make some great software! Topaz Photo AI has the combined ability of using AI technology to remove digital noise and increase sharpness in your photos!

    Topaz Photo AI is a tool I find very useful. It isn’t perfect for every image, but you can make adjustments on how much noise reduction or sharpening you want it to do. I am so totally impressed.

    Here’s an example image:

    Shot at ISO 4000, this image has a bit of digital noise and could be a little sharper.
    Here’s the image after running it through Topaz Photo AI.

    Let’s take a closer look!

    Before Topaz Photo AI
    Cleaned up in Topaz Photo AI

    The proof is in the results! Topaz Photo AI is a winner!

    Need more proof? Check out this example!

    Before Topaz Photo AI
    After using Topaz Photo AI

    Nice work Topaz!

    Click here to go to the topaz labs website!
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    Photography Software

    I am so totally impressed with Topaz Labs!

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    Topaz Labs makes some outstanding software for removing digital noise and sharpening images. I highly recommend their products!

    They have several products including Topaz Denoise AI, Topaz Sharpen AI, Topaz Photo AI, and Gigapixel.

    Don’t let the name “Denoise AI” fool you. It is not about just reducing digital noise. It also does an outstanding job enhancing fine details as well! Rather than me going on and on with TALK about what their software does, let me just show you. Their software is well worth purchasing! Go HERE for more info on their website!

    My personal favorite is their Denoise AI product! Well worth the price. Even though the latest version of Adobe Lightroom Classic now has a much-enhanced Denoise feature, Topaz Labs’ software is still worth having in your arsenal of photo enhancing tools. It truly is a game changer!

    Check out this photo shot with a Canon 6D at ISO 12,800, so it has a lot of digital noise:

    Original Image:

    After running Topaz Denoise AI on it:

    OR even better, let’s look at it up close.

    Before applying Denoise AI:

    After applying Denoise AI:

    The proof is in the results!

    Go purchase it and use it! 🙂

    Kevin

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    Camera Gear

    Keeping your lens clean

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    This one small tip has big consequences! Keep the front of your lens clean (or if you have a filter on the front, keep THAT clean)! This is especially important when you point your camera toward the sun, as this can cause distracting flare and highlights or dark fuzzy spots.

    I use a lens pen to keep the front of my lens clean. There are different varieties of these on the market, but they all work basically the same way. They are very effective and safe to use on all lenses, plus they are compact and portable. I always have one in my camera bag!

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    Photography Tips

    Auto ISO – A Great Feature!

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    One camera feature that is sometimes overlooked by photographers is Auto ISO! This is a mode where the ISO setting is adjusted by your camera to a setting that the camera predicts as a useful choice without you having to manually adjust the ISO all the time.

    This is an especially perfect option when shooting handheld. When your camera is in Aperture Priority Exposure Mode, the camera is “thinking” about what ISO would be right to ensure the shutter speed is fast enough for handheld photography, minimizing the effect of motion blur caused by hand movement. It also takes into account the focal length you are using, and it does a great job at making a good choice for the ISO value to be used. It raises it automatically in lower light scenarios, but then brings it back down to lower values in brighter circumstances. That is exactly what you would want it to do!

    One small distinction is with regard to Nikon cameras: Nikons have something called ISO Auto Sensitivity Mode. Rather than totally surrendering control of the ISO to the camera, as other brands do, Nikons allow you to still set the ISO value, and then when you enable ISO Auto Sensitivity Mode (in your menus), it will automatically will override your ISO choice if it thinks your choice is too low for handheld photography when in Aperture Priority Mode. That’s still a great feature! You could just set your camera to ISO 100 or 200 and just let the camera raise it automatically as needed.

    Also, Auto ISO is quite useful in Manual Exposure Mode! In this mode, you then take control of both the aperture AND shutter speed, and the camera will try to choose the right ISO value that will work for that aperture/shutter combination (at least within the limits of your camera’s capabilities).

    SO if you have never used Auto ISO before, I encourage you to check your user manual and try it out!

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    Kevin Gourley Photography Workshops, Austin, TX – Austin Photography Classes