Please continue to send us your feedback/requests/suggestions on workshop + seminar ideas. 

JUST ANNOUNCED.....

Our newly expanded Photo School, for Beginners with Quinton Gordon will give you the ABCs of photography from basic camera techniques to creative seeing.  

- Photo School, the basics
5 sessions starting Tuesday Apr-3
9:30am - 12:30pm

- PHOTO SCHOOL

The students from the first book-binding workshop had an amazing time, learning from Liz (see the results). And we heard from many of you that you would love to see this as a daytime workshop. So we listened and we also condensed the format to a one-day 3-hour workshop to start you learning the basics of sewing + stitching your own books. 

- Book Binding, getting started
Tuesday March-27
9:30am - 12:30pm 

- BOOK BINDING, getting started 

If you've recently purchased a printer then you know there is an 'art' to printing. These 2.5 hour seminar is designed to introduce you to the basics of a fine print. This is also a great seminar for anyone thinking of making an investment into a printer. Two dates to register for:  

- Digital Printing, getting started
* The Seminar * 
Wednesday Mar-7, 2012 or Saturday Apr-28, 2012
9:30am - 12:00pm  

- DIGITAL PRINTING, seminar 

Last January, we ran our first Intro to B&W Long Exposure and the results were amazing! So, we've asked Dave back to teach a new session of this popular intro workshop in the art of B&W long exposure. (not a weekday workshop but we thought you would be excited to see a new date). 

- Intro to B&W Long Exposure, with Dave Aharonian
Sunday April-15

- INTRO TO B&W LONG EXPOSURE

If you're looking for a fun 1-day workshop to get your creativity flowing. Then this is the workshop for you! Learn to take photographs "about" your subjects, rather then just "of" your subjects. And we're offering this session at a special price.  

- The Art of Seeing, with Quinton Gordon
Sunday March-18

- THE ART OF SEEING 

SEE OUR ENTIRE LIST OF WORKSHOPS  >>> HERE

* Read our latest Newsletter ..... February 2012 ......

And they love....

I couldn't resist putting together a few more Valentine gift ideas: 

1. Deck of Chords from Lauren Henkin & Kirsten Rian
Images + Poems = Perfect Valentine Gift !
One last suggestion, add a bottle of red wine (or maybe a bottle of japanese scotch, that scored me extra points!!)
Purchase here. 

2. Ten Kallitypes for a Rainy Day - by Paul Romaniuk
Give a flower that will last a lifetime! These darling little prints are handprinted by Romaniuk, making each print truly unique & special. And their beauty will not fade (really, they are palladium toned).
* To make them even sweeter we have a Special Valentine's Price; $150 each.
View all ten

3. Fertitle Geometry by David Pollock
Shop local...shot local. Victoria photographer, David Pollock has captured the beauty of our island's Saanich Peninsula in this stunning book. Also available with a limited edition print, of Field 9 (the cover).
Purchase here

4. A 5x7 View Camera
Slow things down and enjoy taking photos the old fashioned way. This beauty of a camera is in perfect condition, with holders & it's own luggage. Only one !!
On our Consignment page

5. New Horizons by Lis Bailly
The romance of the sunset is captured in Bailly's landscape, Halcyon Sea. The New Horizons series are the perfect images to lose yourself into a daydream.
View the full collection: New Horizons series. 

6. Uppercase Magazine
A magazine as a valentine's gift....really ??? I know that's what your saying...but trust me (!) I know a few crafty ladies who would be so thrilled to receive this latest edition!
Purchase here

Hope this helps with your quest for a valentine's gift.
Stop in this weekend, or let us know if we can be of any more assistance.

Have a great weekend, Diana

We have two workshops coming up that are perfect for making your sweetie a handmade valentine! 

Hand Coloured Photographs - Sun Feb-12

 From the series Gallus Domesticus / Durrand

Bring in your favourite images to learn this fun technique, and create a beautiful print to give to your loved one, limited to an edition of one! 

Diana Durrand is a fantastic instructor and she'll have you creating beautiful images throughout this fun one day workshop. No experience needed! 

REGISTER NOW!

Platinum/palladium workshop - Sat Feb-11 & Sun Feb-12 

Make a print that will stand the test of time! Platinum/palladium printing is one of the most stable processes, so your images will not fade over time (hopefully, like your love;) 

Don't worry about working from negatives, the first day of the workshop, will teach you to make digital negatives so you can work from digital captured images. And then you get into the darkroom, the next day to see the magic of palladium printing. And create an unique image that can not be truly replicated digitally (no matter what pre-sets you use!) 

REGISTER NOW!

Or give the gift a workshop, we have Luz Gift Certificates for any of our workshops, or services...Let us know it's for your Valentine and we'll put it together in a beautiful handmade envelope. 

WORKSHOP LIST

 
* Hope this helps with some ideas! I'll see if I can come up with a few more ideas too ....d

Intro to Book Binding Workshop

In January, I spent two fun-filled Saturdays at Lúz Gallery, teaching Intro to Bookbinding – The First Edition.  This workshop took students through the process of making a variety of soft-cover books.  The original two-day lesson plan called for 3 different designs but this keen and talented group whizzed through them in the very first class!  During the second class, the students were introduced to three additional designs and were encouraged to incorporate a variety of papers from magazines, atlases and old books. 

Seeing the beautiful results from this first workshop makes me excited for Intermediate Bookbinding – The Second Edition on February 26-27.  During this class, participants will advance their skills by learning how to make their own hardcover books using both new and vintage materials. 

For those who take my workshops, I think that you will find that bookmaking is a very enjoyable and versatile skill - the basic techniques can be adapted and personalized in order to create journals, photo albums and books of varying sizes.

I look forward to seeing you at the gallery,

Liz

(all images coursety of Liz Rubincam) 

Book Arts & Dark Room - check out all our workshops that will have you binding, publishing & printing the old fashioned way !  

* We still have room for the Intermediate Book Binding with Liz - Feb 26 & 27, 2012 (limited to 6 students) 

* Liz will also be teaching with us for Luz :: Kids Photo Break, we'll have the kids binding too!  

I don't know about you but I've been suffering from the blahs of these winter gray days. Fortunately, I was able to participate in the Intro to Book Binding workshop, held this month, and those two Saturdays have been a glowing highlight in these otherwise damp & blah days of the month. It was great to sit down for a few hours to create & work with my hands. 

Here are a few more workshops coming up this February, if you too, need to get some creativity into your life! I highly recommend any and all of them....

Diana

Feb-11 & 12
Digitally Enlarged Negatives & Platinum/Palladium Printing 
with Dave AHARONIAN

Come learn the 'magic' of platinum/palladium and be introduced to the new world of digtally enlarged negatives. We only have 2 spaces left in this workshop (next one won't be offered until Fall!)  

WORKSHOP DETAILS 

SUNDAY, Feb-12
Hand Coloured Photos using Chalk Pastels with Diana Durrand

Perfect one day workshop to get you thinking creatively about your images & using your hands. Plus Diana is an excellent instructor, only a few spaces remain...

WORKSHOP DETAILS 

SAT Feb-25 & SUN Feb-26
Intermediate Book Binding with Liz RUBINCAM

Highly recommend this workshop * Everyone really enjoyed the 'first edition' class, so don't miss the 'second edition.  In this course you will make your own casebound (hardcover) books, as well as gain a greater understanding of bookbinding terms. 

WORKSHOP DETAILS

WED Feb-22 & 28
Lightroom, Data Management with Don CRAIG
* We had to move the dates for the Lightroom modules (due to that little bit of snow fall...). This isn't the most creative workshop but once you've managed to gain control of your data management it will free you up to be more creative! In this first part of our three part Lightroom workshops, you will learn how to navigate Lightroom's user interface, set your user preferences, import image files, set up metadata presets and keyword your images to create a searchable database.

WORKSHOP DETAILS 

ALL UPCOMING WOKSHOPS 

5-days: August 6-10, 2012

I am genuinely excited about this break through in platemaking.  Imagine getting great results without the need for a vacuum frame, a transparency, even an exposure unit.  Direct-to-Plate (dtp)
is a true game changer for using photopolymer plates.  With any one of the many ink jet printers you will be able to print your image directly to the emulsion for exposure in the sun to amazing results! 

* The workshop will be limited to 8 participants - and I wouldn't wait to get your registration in - Don has already been in high demand for these workshops !! * 

Certainly with Photokina coming up later this year, it promises to be a big year for photography, and as with most things, change is part of growth.

Kodak, the photographic icon, is sadly faltering under the weight of the change that they were instrumental in bringing on and new players and technology are emerging from their shadow. Fujifilm has returned to the professional camera market with their freshly announced and aggressively positioned XPro-1 - the latest in their very successful mirrorless X series of cameras, Nikon has released their long awaited D4, Canon has brought the G1X to the ever more competitive market for high quality cross-over cameras that satisfy our desire for compact size with full size performance. 

Sony is steadily rising as one of the industries top camera makers while Olympus founders on the financial rocks, and I feel sure that Leica has some pretty big news for us this year... although they may hold out for Photokina in September, keeping us all in high suspense.

Digital sensor technology has been around since 1975 with major technology advances since 1996 and as noted above we will witness some fairly major leaps forward in technology, design and function with regard to cameras this year... so once you get past the plethora of camera choices, making high quality images is not really the problem.

But, how do you manage all of these large image files?

When I ask people this question I frequently hear them reply "I use Photoshop, but I don't really know it very well and I'm trying to workout how to catalogue, organize, and process all my files... it's a real mess."

Make this your year to pay attention to getting the most out of your new camera, or even the older one you have. Software - known as Digital Asset Management or DAM - is catching up to the capability of your camera and the latest software really changes the game and makes working with your images easier, more fun, and far more powerful in terms of getting the best image from your camera.

Adobe Photoshop was developed for the graphic arts industry and it was never really intended for photographers, but that did not stop us from taking hold of it and making it our own, and for many years it has been the king pin of photo image processing and editing. The truth however, is that this changed in 2005 when Apple introduced Aperture, and Adobe introduced Lightroom.

These new pieces of software put in motion a significant shift in how digital images could be managed and edited, a game changing event that is ramping up with the release of Adobe's Beta version of Lightroom 4. If you are paying any attention at all you will have noticed that Adobe is marketing their new software as Photoshop Lightroom... it's not new, but it's a lot more visible.

Why?

Simple, the name Photoshop has stuck in the minds of photographers and we were pretty slow on the uptake of this new name, Lightroom. Adobe is building the new generation of software that will be our true Photoshop, only better, and it's called Photoshop Lightroom.

So what's the big deal?

Well if you use a digital camera with any degree of intent the deal is huge. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom or Lr is about to go into its fourth version and it is kick ass powerful. The current full version is Lr3 and it takes full advantage of Adobe's industry leading Camera Raw, raw file processing software and bundles it with a package that lets you customize how you organize and manage your images. The image editing and adjustment module is fabulous to use - and will be even better in Lr4 - it's non-destructive image editing, which means you preserve the critically important image file data that allows you to refine your images, make great prints, and archive your work... all with out taking up heaps of precious storage space.

And for those of you sitting back thinking, "but I still shoot film", well me too. I use Lr3 (currently) for both my digital and my film workflow. Yes I still work in a darkroom, but I also find huge advantages to the hybrid workflow are of manifold advantage. When I scan my negatives I import those scans into Lr3 just like I do with digital files, allowing me to organize images, make contact sheets, and process images in exactly the same way.

For a good review of what's new in Lightroom 4 read this article here.

To download a trial version of Lr3 go here, or the Beta version of Lr4 click here.

The bottom line for most people who want to improve their photography is to get out to make more images and to focus on their visual literacy and awareness of creative image making... but to get the most out of the images you make it's high time to focus some serious time and energy on the post production processes, and tools you use.

This year we will ramp up our course offerings for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, as well as SilverEfex Pro 2 by Nik Software - one of the very best B&W conversion and processing plugins I have found... and it works so seamlessly with Lightroom, which frankly I don't use for B&W, but who knows, that might change with Lr4.

I'm also really excited about Lr4's book making capability in partnership with Blurb Books!

To get yourself learning and geting the most from your digital images checkout course offerings click here, or sign up for our Mailing List to stay on top of course offerings. * Please note that we are currently teaching based on Lr3, but will shift to Lr4 once the full version is released later this year. 

Our next Lightroom workshop, starts Feb-1 -> spaces still available to get you learning this powerful software!  FULL DETAILS & REGISTRATION  

Wishing everyone a very happy year of great image making! QG 

Looking ahead there seems to be one very strong theme, books!  From book publishing to book making to book reading, books are definitely not becoming a lost art at Lúz.

In the coming months we have a number of workshops on offer from learning the first steps of book making & binding, to a Master Session with Lauren Henkin on self-publishing. Another plan for the coming year, we will be increasing our selection of photography books as well as rare and harder to find books, magazines and periodicals. We will have reading materials and purchasing opportunities for everyone from collectors to do-it-yourselfers and everyone in-between.

Here are few of the highlights.....d 

   I'm also quite excited that we will be publishing Quinton's first handmade artist book, Mile Zero: A Place Uncertain under our newly formed imprint, Reciprocity Editions. A metaphorical exploration of urban dysfunction in the artist's current home city,  Mile Zero presents richly challenging monochromatic images in a handmade book with each book in the edition of 20 + 5 AP being slightly unique. More details here.

We appreciate all the support and pre-order sales that have come so far and I know that Quinton is excited to get this book launched and already has plans of books two, three, and four....

 (*preorders will be taken only until Jan-15, 2012, and we're just over half-way through the edition.)

Once again we are pleased to have our dear friend, the incredibly talented Lauren Henkin coming to Lúz in April, for a Master Workshop, Turning towards Self-Publishing.

Lauren owns Vela Noche, a small imprint in Portland, Oregon, as well, she is a very active member of the photographic community. Those who have taken workshops with Lauren in the past know that she is one of the most dedicated instructors we have who always comes exceptionally well prepared with a wealth of information.

Details and registration for Lauren's workshop can be found here.

We will be posting more details on the Vela Noche evening, this evening event will be open to everyone. And who knows, maybe Ms. Henkin will even surprise us with a sneak peek of a new book...? You just never know what she's up too. Just mark, Friday Apr-21 in your calendar and we'll post more details as they become available. You can view Lauren's published books here, including the recenlty released Lookbook, Growth

(the workshop is already half-full, and we're offering a 10% discount if you register before Jan-15, 2012 - so get your registration in!)

For those who want to learn firsthand about the beautiful art of book making, but are not sure of the difference between a saddle-stitch and a perfect bind; we have just the courses for you.

The Intro to Book Binding in January is the perfect place to get started. This two-day workshop will get you sewing your own signatures and learning the ropes, knots and terms of bookbinding. If you have a bit of experience or find the the Intro course simply whets your appetite then we have an Intermediate Workshop in February, that will move your skills forward into casebound book construction and design.

For those who have always wanted to publish a book of their photography we have, The Photo Book Project. This course emphasises editing, sequencing and design for photography books and will help you transform a project of collection of images into your first self-published book. If you have already completed our book binding classes, or have enough bookbinding experience then you can use this class to produce a handmade artist book. For those not wanting to dive into book construction this is the perfect opportunity to learn about the world of Print-On-Demand and self-publishing models for contemporary photography books.

For everyone who loves to pick up a good book or zine, we will be increasing our catalogue of zines & artist's book in the coming year. Beginning with the January 2012 issue, we will be stocking UPPERCASE magazine. A fine Canadian publication whose magazines and books show the creative & talented artists from around the world. UPPERCASE is a beautiful publication of art & design from Janine Vangool and her talented group of contributors. I've had the opportunity to peruse many of the back issues (thanks Melissa!) and I think many of you will love this publication (if you don't know about it already). You'll find it a great source of inspiration between all those beautifully printed pages. 

Issue 12 will be released in January-2102 and we're excited to have it on our shelves. View a sneak peak of Issue 12 here.

You can always send us an email if you would like to reserve a copy for yourself!

And you just never know what else will be hitting our shelves in the year to come! So, make sure to put us on your list of places to stop in (or bookmark on your browser) And if you have any requests, send them our way!

Whew... that's just the beginning of everything we planned for 2012. But I think that should keep you (and us) busy for those first few months!! We promise to add more exciting workshops & books throughout the year.

And just before we sign off for the year, we want to take this last opportunity of 2011 to say thank you! We appreciate all the support and new friends we have made through out the past year. And wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy new year!

Until 2012....
Diana & Quinton.

It's no Boxing Day Sale, but we have teamed up with our good friends at Camera Traders to host our first Winter Gear Sale: Sunday, January, 22, 2012 from 11am-4pm.

We'll have cameras, lenses, lighting, grip equipment, camera bags... and any other surplus gear that we can find.

If you have items that you would like to include for sale on consignment please bring them in to either us or Camera Traders no later then January 20th.

For more information about the sale please contact Quinton at the gallery or by email: quinton@luzgallery.com

Wishing everyone all the very best for 2012.

It is the culmination of many years teaching workshops and then filtering the structure, content and process of workshop learning in photography down to the core elements that motivate photographers and that make them better image makers and stronger contributors to the photographic community. 

My goal for this workshop is to deliver a program that in not genre specific, one that really drives photographers forward both technically and creatively. I want it to fan the flames of passion that burn in every photographer and to build their confidence and enthusiasm for their own work through greater authorship of their images.