by Dave Warner
Renowned landscape photographer Carl Heilman II spent two days last week in Little Falls, giving a community presentation on Wednesday night and then a workshop for students on Thursday.
When speaking about the workshop, Heilman said, “My goal was to introduce the students to the basics of photography and help them feel more comfortable with the camera. I believe we did that. When I’m working with beginners to get them started in photography, I always think one of the most important things is to have them understand how to get a proper exposure of the image.”
“A picture is so much more than snapping a shutter. In order for the camera to capture the image properly and have all the information I need for editing later, it’s really important to understand exposure,” he stated.
The other principles he wanted to stress to the students were motion and depth of field. “There are only three basic creative options for every picture you take: exposure, motion, and depth of field.”
Heilman said that Buttermilk Falls in Little Falls is a beautiful place to go and spend time. “It offers those options for the issues you deal with exposure and dynamic range with the sun out and then behind the clouds.”
The constantly changing conditions allowed him to show the students the principles that he was trying to drive home, including motion blur, which is so important with landscape images that depict moving water.
“It was a beautiful place and a large enough area to easily work with a group like that. It was a perfect location just a short distance away from the school,” he said.
Heilman said Little Falls is a great little City. “I like the architecture here, the feel of the town and kind of the newer mixing in with the older, bringing the town back to life again, which I know is always a challenge for some of these canal towns that were in their heyday 100 years ago. It’s great to see them coming back to life again.”
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