Fall 2009

Holiday Boutique Craft Fair

The 2nd Annual Holiday Boutique will be held on Saturday, November 14th at Stroudsburg United Methodist Church. Crafters of all kinds will display their wares. This is a very good craft fair featuring many different crafts and definitely worth checking out. I will have some of my photographs and photo accessories on display, too. Check it out and do some early Christmas shopping.

2010 Pennsylvania Elk Calendars

Calendars for the New Year feature a different elk photograph for each month along with a photograph on the front of the calendar. Now you can see elk throughout the year even when you cannot be out on the elk range!

You can see the photographs that were selected for the calendar on my website where you can also place your order.

My Photo Blog

I started a Photography Blog back on September 28, 2008 right after our very first Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience. I started posting a blog entry about once a week. Then in May of this year I started posting a new entry just about every day. I try to include some of my photographs as well as some tips and pointers for photographers. My blog attracted a lot of attention back in September when I photographed the bull elk that was caught up in a swing set and rescued by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Each entry is a short tip, photo suggestion, or perhaps some comments about a recent photographic outing. Check it out and see what you think.

Upcoming Elk Experience

The Winter 2010 Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience is fast-approaching. There is nothing quite like the snowy season of winter on the elk range. The snow creates a magical background for great photographs and sometimes even on the elk's backs and antlers.

This trip will also feature some high quality workshops on how to get the most from your camera when we go out to photograph the majestic elk. This will be an unforgettable experience and provide plenty of opportunities for you to photograph the elk. We provide several photo outings each day and 3 workshops so you can learn how to get better wildlife photographs.

Check out our PA Elk Photo Experience web page and consider joining us on this wonderful trip. It will be an experience you will remember for a long time to come!

Photo Published in Pennsylvania Game News & a Few Newspapers

On September 22, 2009 my son and I were in the mountains of Elk County and stumbled onto a frightening situation. A bull elk had his antlers caught up in a swing set. We arrived on the scene just at the Wildlife Conservation Officer, Doty McDowell, was tranquilizing the bull to begin the rescue attempt. It was quite an experience to see the Pennsylvania Game Commission personnel rescuing this bull elk. You can read the details of this story on my blog. Some of my photographs of the rescue were published in several newspapers, websites (scroll to bottom), and even in the November issue of Game News, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's monthly magazine.

Gift Ideas

There are a variety of items on my website that are good gift ideas for elk lovers and LVBA players, parents, and coaches. Greeting cards, calendars, magnets, Photo Flip Books, Memory Books all make unique Christmas gifts.

These special gifts are now available for purchase on my website.

Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas make the perfect opportunity for us photographers. There are plenty of subjects to shoot. Just think of all that tasty food, the nice gift wrappings, mistletoe, and so much more!

Photographing indoors creates quite a challenge; there is no doubt about it. Indoor lighting can be a murderous prescription for a camera. Start by setting your white balance to match the situation. Are you shooting in incandescent light or fluorescent light? And if you are using a flash, be sure to set your white balance on flash.

Second, use the widest aperture (largest number) that you can. This allows more light to come into the camera's sensor so you can use a faster shutter speed. You might also have to increase your ISO setting. Some of the newer cameras do an incredible job even at higher ISO settings.

Finally, think about moving your flash. If you have a detachable flash unit, take it off camera and move it around using the remote settings. If you only have an on-camera pop-up flash, consider decreasing its intensity so your photo will look more like it was shot in natural light. Consult your camera's manual to learn how to do this.

Hey, you thought this was supposed to be a wildlife tip? Well, some wildlife can be found at the zoo and sometimes indoors at the zoo, so these suggestions work there, too!

Website: www.bobshankphotography.com

Photo Blog:
bobshankphotography.wordpress.com/

Email: bob@bobshankphotography.com

Winter is just around the corner as are the special holidays of this time of year. Snow will soon be falling but that doesn't mean the camera should be kept indoors! The snow provides a great backdrop for all kinds of great photographs just waiting to be made.

I hope this e-newsletter helps inspire you to keep your camera out and ready for use. Now go out make some hay (the farmer does this; the photographer makes hay with a camera!)

Happy Baling!

-Bob Shank