5 Tips on How to Photograph a Usual Place in an Unusual Way

Maui Haleakala Flow Photography Tips
Ever get up at the crack of dawn and haul out of the hotel/condo/AirBnb with a cup of coffee and camera and haul down to a beautiful beach or center of a quaint Eastern European city ready to take the perfect sunrise photography, only to be overcome with the feeling that it’s already been done? Here, travel photographer Jeff Zaruba offers five tips for turning the ordinary into extraordinary.

An Action-Packed Weekend of Landscapes & Nudes in Big Sur

© barbara hazen weekend photography workshop big sur The Image Flow
The Image Flow headed down to Big Sur for an all-inclusive weekend photography workshop shooting nude models and the rugged California coast, not to mention a tour of Ansel Adams’ private darkroom and a behind-the-scenes look at the Edward Weston estate. Stuart Schwartz offers a few words:
This is the first time we’ve held Big Sur Landscapes & Nudes, and you never know how a new workshop is going to go, so there’s always a bit of apprehension. But as soon as we got to the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA, on Thursday, for a presentation of work by instructors Michelle Magdalena and Ken Parker and a motivational talk with Artistic Director Brian Taylor, it was pretty obvious it would a special weekend.

A Cuban Will Give You the Shirt Off His Back

Working out of Ramses Fiat Lunch Box All the photo gear on the roof
Jock McDonald went to Cuba for the first time in 1990 with Bernardo Gonzalez, the son of Mexican Minister of Culture Juan Francisco Gonzalez. The elder Gonzalez had had become somewhat of a mentor to Jock on Latin American culture after giving him his first retrospective show in Mexico. “Juan Francisco said to me, ‘You’ll never understand Latin America if you don’t understand Cuba,’” Jock recalls.
“But he said, ‘I’m not going, I’m married. I’m going to have my son take you.’ I will never forget the look in his son’s eyes, the look that said, ‘I’m not taking a gringo to Cuba!’” Jock laughs.
Since 1990, photographer he has made some 50 trips to Cuba. What keeps him coming back, are the friendships he has found.

Catherine Karnow: The Magic Always Happens

Catherine Karnow Art of Photographing People
Acclaimed National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow will present her lecture “The Art of Photographing People” on February 5 at The Image Flow, and a workshop in March. Known for her photographs of people, here, she discusses her teaching style, her existential search for “home,” and what drives her to keep on shooting.
“No matter whether I’m shooting on location or in a workshop, I have the faith that the magic will always happen,” she says.

Encaustics Takes Margot Hartford from Photography to Fine Art

Margot Hartford teaching encaustics
Working with encaustics began as a hobby for Margot Hartford, but now she is selling her pieces in four different galleries across San Francisco and on her website. She also teaches a popular workshop at The Image Flow.
“People like the process—they get into it. It’s tactile, easy, there’s nothing to learn. Anybody can do encaustics—that’s the beauty of it,” she said.