“Small World†Workshop with Noella Ballenger: Jan. 22, 2013
We had 36 members sign in for our January workshop. Noella met with 12 hungry members for dinner at The Greenhouse Café before the meeting.
Noella is a professional nature, travel and wildlife photographer. She celebrates 25 years teaching photography and writes for ApogeePhoto, an online magazine.
Her program was inspirational. She shared many of her beautiful nature photographs and explained her technique.
She said to learn the rules of photography and then break them. Ask yourself “What if I try this?” Follow the light. Side lighting brings out details. Look for spot lighting and backlighting. Shoot through objects. Look for curves, patterns, shapes and colors. Photograph an overview of the subject, and then photograph the pieces and parts. Take multiple shots. Zoom in and out. Slow the shutter. Combine teleconverters with extension tubes. Experiment!
Include critters in your photos, like bees. She talks to the bees to calm them and her so she doesn’t give off an adrenalin scent.
After the presentation, Noella took questions from members. She said three photographers were her inspiration; Freeman Patterson, Art Wolfe and John Shaw.
Noella’s workbook “Nature by Design” is available for checkout in our club library.