Photographing sand dunes
Albert Watson
Lesson Info
37. Photographing sand dunes
Lessons
Meet your Master
01:26 2Learn from the journey
15:24 3Using inspirations
08:43 4Photography is stopping time
09:27 5Albert's library of ideas
08:30 6Tips on preparing for a portrait shoot
12:10 7Setting up the studio
04:56 8Understanding studio collaboration
07:35The importance of casting and hair & make-up
08:59 10Foreground studio set up
08:46 11Studio session with a model - set up 1
11:23 12Studio session with a model - set up 2
05:55 13Studio session with a model - set up 3
08:01 14Picking the best shot
03:36 15Working with photoshop
13:14 16Creating a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock
04:18 17The gigantic question... Colour or black and white?
07:55 18One day with Kate Moss
05:06 19Learn to have your ideas ready
06:14 20Using Polariods
06:29 21Creating beautiful photographs of hands
04:45 22Controlling natural light
05:38 23Shooting a monkey with a gun
06:27 24Choosing your format
07:13 25Composition and lens
04:47 26Shooting landscapes. The Isle of Skye
15:18 27Planning and ideas for a landscape shoot
06:32 28Creating still life images
13:48 29Photographing the Lost Diary
10:53 30Shooting album covers
03:09 31The Strip Search Project
10:28 32Shooting Las Vegas landscapes
08:24 33Photographing Breaunna
07:21 34Balancing daylight, God bless America
03:45 35Creating the Maroc Project
10:21 36Creating the Maroc shoot
08:11 37Photographing sand dunes
04:09 38Photographing Moroccan children
10:42 39Advice on making portraits
10:12 40How to be alert to finding photographs
07:35 41Making a portrait of Mike Tyson
02:39 42Creating intense colour in a photograph
03:04 43Portraits of rap stars and a Golden Boy
08:40 44Photographing Jack Nicholson
04:20 45Creating a portrait of David Cronenberg
02:14 46How to light only using two $10 bulbs
07:29 47Studio fashion set up 4
10:47 48Studio session with a model. The geography of a face
13:05 49Look inside the picture
02:56 50Creating memorability in an image
02:54 51Combining nudes and landscapes
04:52 52A perfect print
07:50 53The business side of things
06:50 54Conclusion and farewell
03:55Lesson Info
Photographing sand dunes
(drumming music) There's a wonderful place in the South of Morocco, the deep South of Morocco, heading towards Mauritania, and it's called Laayoune. And it's.. really a strangely.. mysterious place, and it's right in the Sahara, but on the coast, and it's full of women who were wearing saris. So when you first get there you think you've moved to India. And it's kind of an empty place, it has a strange eerie quality about it. And just outside the town of Laayoune, you immediately hit just the Sahara, and the classic sand dunes of the Sahara. Now, with the graphics training that I have, photographing sand dunes is maybe one of the easiest things that, you know, you could possibly do, because sand dunes look pretty good first thing in the morning, the middle of the day, and at the end of the day. They do look particularly good when the sun is going down, and the sand dunes are cross lit, and you see all the ripples of the sand. And sand dunes are one of these rather easy things to photo...
graph, where you don't have to do a lot. You don't have to sweat too much, and what really comes into play is a graphic sensibility. And a weirdness of composition. So, I knew that they would be pretty easy to photograph, there's a lot of photographers that photograph sand dunes. And, you know, when you approach something like that as you look at the history of photographing sand dunes, and you kind of say "Can I make mine look a little "bit different?", so you have to try and find something a little bit more unusual, a little bit more mysterious. Can you make the picture feel.. Can you feel the wind that's in the pictures? That's blowing the sand. And how can you make this, these picture more powerful and more memorable as always, and more mysterious. So, that was my plan when I was doing just the sand dunes. Of course I was photographing the people of Laayoune, and also the Sahara Weese who are nomads that live in the desert as well. So all of these kinds of things you keep in mind when you approach it. You think about the people when you're photographing sand dunes, and you think about the sand dudes when you're photographing the people. When you're photographing sand dunes and there's a selection of lenses, a lot of things work. You can actually photograph sand dunes with wide-angle lenses, or you can actually do with a, I think a long telephoto lens doesn't work as well, but I'm sure with some work you find a shot. I like standard lens sometimes to photograph sand dunes. There's something beautiful in that. The most, maybe a 180 millimeter lens. A little bit of, and I'm talking Hasselblad lenses here. When I did that project with the sand dunes, I was kind of sad that on that trip I didn't have my four-by-five camera, because I did see some possibilities by using a slightly larger format there, you know. But it was windy, and when you get deplete cameras, wind can sometimes be really.. A problem, you know, with cameras. And of course, there, sand was also a problem. Because the sand is everywhere. And, sand is.. You see it, but you also don't see the dust of the sand, which is another layer, and of course the equipment just was, had to be continually cleaned, every night. My assistant spent at least an hour cleaning equipment at the end of every day when it was down there, because the dust was just really, really difficult. (drumming music)
Ratings and Reviews
Richard A. Heckler
"Unless you're Mozart"...this course is an invaluable asset. I'm a pro, humanitarian/documentary photographer, & wilderness...and I've learned much from the 40+ sessions here. This is truly a Master Class...next best thing to being with Albert. And although I could watch studio sessions forever, this course offered a very balanced curriculum of technical information, artistic encouragement and guidance, and a open, generous window into the thinking of a gifted artist and photographer, sifted from decades of first class experience. Kudos to all involved. Excellent!
a Creativelive Student
I purchased my first CreativeLive class in 2011 and have continued to purchase many classes over the years. I have learned so much from the many great instructors. This one is not a technical class that will tell you to set your camera at f4, 1/60, ISO 400 and you can get this shot. If you are looking for that, there are many other options. If you have a solid working knowledge of photography, this class is so much more. The way it was filmed is like you are there with him in conversation or in the room with him watching him shoot. To see and understand the how and why he does what he does. Not to take anything away from other classes that have helped to give me a strong understanding of photography, this is my favorite CreativeLive class so far.