How Obscure Niches Translate into a Successful Career
Keynote Address – November 2, 2019 1:45-4:30pm Included with Festival Pass
In today’s Global Village, the most obscure skills can find a use half-way around the world. If you focus on narrow niches and become the best at something, there will be someone, somewhere, who needs your skills. From extreme close-ups of electronic components to ultraviolet fluorescence of mosquitoes, from infrared starscapes to water droplet refractions, pushing yourself further away from normal can have a valuable impact on the clients you attract. This is the story about weaving a mesh of science and art and the misadventures along the way.
The Magical World of Macro
Hands-On Water Droplet Workshop – November 2, 2019 9:00-11:45 EXTRA FEE
Step into a world of photography that most artists consider magical. Photographing refracted images within water droplets reveals not only the beauty of simple physics, but it opens the creative doors to unlimited possibilities in macro photography. This hands-on workshop will explore some of the smallest subjects that photography has to offer, and is open to anyone of any skill level. Expect it to be challenging, but you will walk away with images you’d be proud to share.
For this workshop, bring any photographic gear you have to “get close”. Macro lenses, close-up filters and extension tubes work great. If you don’t have equipment dedicated to macro photography, we can make something work with reverse-mounting lenses to get close. Even with simple gear we can make magic happen! You will also need to use flash or have a VERY bright flashlight, but flash is preferred. Much of this workshop involves improvisation, which in turn will spark creative solutions to problems. This kind of thinking is valuable for all types of photography!
Tripods are optional. I shoot all of my images without a tripod, but some people are more comfortable with this equipment. Whether or not you bring a tripod, I’ll be encouraging you – at least once – to attempt the shots handheld to see how you handle it. With the right technique, it’s easier than you think!
Additional tools will be provided. You will have a “third hand” tool, a spray bottle, and the necessary staging ingredients for creating water droplet refractions.
Don Komarechka is a nature, macro and landscape photographer located in Barrie, Ontario. From auroras to pollen, insects to infrared, much of Don’s photographic adventures reveal a deeper understanding of how the universe works. Exploring the world that we cannot see with our own eyes has been a common thread in Don’s career as a professional photographer. Always science-minded but never formally trained, Don uses photography as a way to explore and understand the world around him. Photographing something unusual or unknown is the perfect excuse to learn something new. Don’s work often pushes up against the technical limitations of modern camera equipment and the physical limitations of light itself.