We wanted to take some time to look at our 5th year of operations for Visual Wilderness and wish you all a very happy holidays. Here are some of the highlights from this past year.
More About Our Contributing Photographers
In spite of their best efforts to portray themselves as super heroes on social media, all our contributing landscape photographers are humans that have lives beyond photography. Some of them more than others. ;) Here are interesting tidbits from our contributors:
Joshua Snow – I built a camper van, spent 220+ nights on the road, was able to travel a few times internationally, and forgot how to take photos in the process.
Christine Hauber – I competed in the National Senior Olympics and I am not even old! A few years ago they dropped the “senior” age to 50. Although I did not win any of my swimming events, I was happy that I did not come in last.
Kate Silvia – I started learning to paint! I never knew I could do this and it’s kinda blowing me away. Just goes to show… try new things… all the time! You never know what you might be capable of!
Artwork by Landscape Photographer Kate Silvia
Pro Landscape Photographer Christine Hauber participating in National Senior Olympics
Landscape photographer’s ultimate transportation by Joshua Snow
Chrissy Donadi – I had a baby in January so this has been the first year of my adult life with absolutely no travel. I remained in the same state for 365 days and have been a stay-at-home parent. After more sleep deprivation than photographing in Iceland during the months of almost 24 hours daylight, my husband and I are considering our first year as parents of a mini human somewhat successful.
Varina Patel – In 2019, I discovered that I had MS… and named it Grover. Bad Grover!! Go away Grover. So I decided to add water colors to keep my fingers active and combat the effects of MS.
How MS effected Varina Patel – Click to Play
Gaurav Mittal – 2019 was very challenging for me health-wise. Facing a very serious cervical spondylosis issue, I have been through multiple surgeries and numerous nerve block procedures. While I did not do anything outside of photography this year, I did learn something new about myself… a steel-like determination to not give up.
Lace Andersen – I became a full time photographer, got laid off, and started photographing people, weddings, and families etc. Outside of photography… I have been avidly going to yoga 4-5 days a week in hopes of touching my toes one day soon. Until then, there will be no yoga selfies.
Jay Patel – This year I decided to stop running and take up long-distance biking. Why? So I can make sure my knees don’t need replacing when I grow up. Which by the way, I don’t plan on doing as soon as I figure out how to stop time.
Bear, the super-sidekick guard dog watching over Chrissy Donadi’d tripod & camera.
Landscape photographer Jay Patel testing out new Shimoda Bag in Iceland
Travel photography from Japan by Ugo Cei
Ugo Cei – This year I started shooting film again with a large format view camera and learned how to develop it at home. I also started studying Japanese and was able to use what I learned during my first trip to Japan. I will keep studying the language in preparation for my upcoming fall colors tour of 2020. Finally, I learned how to dance… no, really!!
Most Popular Blog Posts
Oh yes… and our contributing photographers continued to create some fantastic blog posts. Below are some of the most popular with landscape photographers from all over the world in 2019 (in no particular order).
This was the second full year of a landscape photography streaming service offering for our customers. We have an excellent subscriber retention rate and continue to provide new content throughout the year. In addition, we introduced several new nature photography video tutorials that were available for free for streaming subscribers. Here are is what the customers are saying about our video tutorials:
Kate was a personable & well-informed
Thank you so much Kate Silva for the valuable information you provided in the Creative Post Processing online class! Questions from participants were answered fully, lots of examples were provided, the pace was perfect & Kate
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Thank you so much Kate Silva for the valuable information you provided in the Creative Post Processing online class! Questions from participants were answered fully, lots of examples were provided, the pace was perfect & Kate was a personable & well-informed & the information was provided in a logical order. Thank you! I will certainly consider registering for another Visual Wilderness Online Class.
Thank you Varina for explaining hyper focal distance
I am thrilled that this weekend I got to put to use what I have learned so far. Thank you Varina for explaining hyper focal distance, it even worked with my little Olympus OMD M5 with
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I am thrilled that this weekend I got to put to use what I have learned so far. Thank you Varina for explaining hyper focal distance, it even worked with my little Olympus OMD M5 with the kit 12-50mm lens. Thank you both for explaining how to use layers.
Once again, a wonderful course (Getting it Right in Camera) that you have created here, in stunning locations, and by means of your intuitive style of teaching all the concepts and techniques can be properly digested.
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Once again, a wonderful course (Getting it Right in Camera) that you have created here, in stunning locations, and by means of your intuitive style of teaching all the concepts and techniques can be properly digested. The case studies provide invaluable insights in how you work your cameras and the thought processes behind creating those wonderful images – easy to follow and replicate for your students.
I love Alan Shapiro‘s energy and enthusiasm for his subject. He brings inanimate objects to life and exposes their soul.
Alison Tinson
United Kingdom
Eager for further on line classes with Alan Shapiro
I enjoyed the class immensely and am eager for further on line classes with Alan Shapiro on Visual Wilderness.
Sue Reyman
Mastering Exposure Webinar did an excellent job of explaining
The Mastering Exposure Webinar did an excellent job of explaining the importance of the different types of histograms, and when different types of bracketing/blending would be beneficial.
Paul Tibbitts
Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Jay and Varina’s style of teaching is so amazing
Your and Varina’s style of teaching is so amazing. You bring the workshop to my home in lucid and easy to understand style. I have subscribed to many including PPSOP, Lynda…But your team is the best!
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Your and Varina’s style of teaching is so amazing. You bring the workshop to my home in lucid and easy to understand style. I have subscribed to many including PPSOP, Lynda…But your team is the best! I have recommended The Complete Ultimate Collection to all my friends.
I didn’t know Histograms could be so easily manipulated with such awesome results. I purchased this a few weeks, ago, and have viewed all the videos five or six times. Having been a public school teacher
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I didn’t know Histograms could be so easily manipulated with such awesome results. I purchased this a few weeks, ago, and have viewed all the videos five or six times. Having been a public school teacher for 40+ years before retiring, I know what makes excellent teaching, and you, two, are some of the best instructors I’ve seen in the field of photography. Keep up the great work, and keep adding new additions to your ebooks and videos collections.
Alan Shapiro is extremely generous in sharing his knowledge. I learned so much! From equipment suggestions to flower sources, to work process, I came away with dozens of new ideas I can’t wait to try. Please
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Alan Shapiro is extremely generous in sharing his knowledge. I learned so much! From equipment suggestions to flower sources, to work process, I came away with dozens of new ideas I can’t wait to try. Please have him back on Visual Wilderness Online Classes.
In 2019, we expanded our video tutorial offering by becoming a multi-vendor marketplace for nature photographers. We now offer video courses from several contributing photographers on all aspects of landscape photography. Here are some of the most popular video courses from this past year...
Our latest video courses were based on fine-tuning your start-to-finish workflow for some of the most important aspects of photography. These video courses, with a razor-sharp focus on different aspects of landscape and nature photography and are sold in over 70 countries around the world.
Newsletter and Web App Notifications
We have over 46,000 subscribers for our InFocus newsletter and over 18,000 subscribers get educational content via notifications from Visual Wilderness on their mobile and desktop devices. Not surprisingly, both of these free resources have superb engagement and a worldwide audience. Here is what some of the readers have to say...
Great help
Having Visual Wilderness Nature Photography Newsletter on my PC at my finger tips is a great help and if need be I can quickly check for tips whilst out in the field
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Having Visual Wilderness Nature Photography Newsletter on my PC at my finger tips is a great help and if need be I can quickly check for tips whilst out in the field shooting.
InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter is a wonderful inspiration and resource for me, I’m on a limited budget live away from large towns, I am a carer and thoroughly enjoy photography. It is
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InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter is a wonderful inspiration and resource for me, I’m on a limited budget live away from large towns, I am a carer and thoroughly enjoy photography. It is truly a fantastic thing to be able to learn and be inspired by your InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter. All I can say is I love it and thank you.
InFocus Newsletter provides great inspiration, help and source of information in easy-to-understand language for beginners like me. You gave me that little push to always have my camera with me when I’m
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InFocus Newsletter provides great inspiration, help and source of information in easy-to-understand language for beginners like me. You gave me that little push to always have my camera with me when I’m out and about. Keep up the great work!
I have only recently started reading your InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter and looking at your Youtube Videos and I am really enjoying them and find them very helpful. Many Thanks!
Margaret
Ireland
Honesty and integrity shines through
Absolutely love the honesty and integrity that shines through whenever I hear Jay or Varina speak. There isn’t any of the obvious marketing of products with InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter that is
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Absolutely love the honesty and integrity that shines through whenever I hear Jay or Varina speak. There isn’t any of the obvious marketing of products with InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter that is so pervasive in other instructional websites and magazines. You are excellent instructors, motivators and inspire me to try new things in better ways. Keep up the good work and thanks for all your efforts.
Appeals to both experienced photos as well as newbie
InFocus Newsletter is an exciting publication that appeals to both experienced photos as well as newbie… always clear and to the point.
Roy
Kentucky, USA
Helpful for us photography enthusiasts
The topics covered in InFocus Newsletter are very helpful for us photography enthusiasts and the courses offered are precise yet highly educative, informative.
JaiKumar
Oman
I have learned many great tips and tricks
I have been following InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter for about five years and have learned many great tips and tricks and have been inspired by many of your images. You have always
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I have been following InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter for about five years and have learned many great tips and tricks and have been inspired by many of your images. You have always been an very good instructors when I attended your seminars.
I got involved in photography a few years ago and you know how it is, sometimes you just don’t feel or want to go out and take photos. When I read Visual
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I got involved in photography a few years ago and you know how it is, sometimes you just don’t feel or want to go out and take photos. When I read Visual Wilderness Nature Photography Newsletter like yours it gives me that extra motivation to go out and try something new.
There’s always something included in InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter that I can use to improve my photographic creativity. There’s a lot to learn from reading your experiences, both good and bad. This
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There’s always something included in InFocus Nature Photography Newsletter that I can use to improve my photographic creativity. There’s a lot to learn from reading your experiences, both good and bad. This magazine comes to me in an ‘awkward’ format, but I still love the sharing which is written like as though it was made within a family structure.
Throughout this coming year, we plan to create more in-depth video courses on several aspects of landscape photography. In addition, producing more on-location video courses that feature workshop-style lessons is also part of our 2020 plan.
I could startoff like this – “Seeds of Jay Patel’s appreciation for beautiful places were planted early in his childhood….” but it would get boring really fast. I will just sum it up and say that I am a Landscape and Wilderness Photographer who loves to capture dramatic light. My photographs have been published in various magazines, calendars and advertising materials throughout the world. Patience is a virtue...unless you are chasing your dreams
Wonderful that you have put this personal touch out there. May your holidays be all you want them to be and may the new year bring healing for those in need and continued enthusiasm for all the great work you do.
keith fey says:
May all of you at Visual Wilderness continue capturing the light of our wonderful World for all of us to see and dream about. May you share your knowledge with an ever widening enthralled community of like minded photographers. May you inspire the next generation to carry photography’s colors, may you return everything you have in your power to do so… to the pool of life … these wide open spaces which become rare because of their beauty and wildness…. and may you.. one and all have a very special blessed Christmas and prosperous new year… Thank you for the year gone by… too fast.. Kind regards.. Keith Fey.
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Wonderful that you have put this personal touch out there. May your holidays be all you want them to be and may the new year bring healing for those in need and continued enthusiasm for all the great work you do.
May all of you at Visual Wilderness continue capturing the light of our wonderful World for all of us to see and dream about. May you share your knowledge with an ever widening enthralled community of like minded photographers. May you inspire the next generation to carry photography’s colors, may you return everything you have in your power to do so… to the pool of life … these wide open spaces which become rare because of their beauty and wildness…. and may you.. one and all have a very special blessed Christmas and prosperous new year… Thank you for the year gone by… too fast.. Kind regards.. Keith Fey.