Category Archives: Italian Photographic Workshop
Charleston, S Carolina – Photographic Workshop Tour
April 2 – 6 2017 $695.00, Limited to 8 Students

Charleston’s Gas Lights
Botany Bay – Boneyard Photographic Workshop Tour
April 6-7, 2017 $175/ Limited to 8 Students

Botany Bay’s Skeleton trees processed with Topaz Labs Star Effects
Smoky Mountains – Photographic Workshop Tour
April 23-26 2017 $495.00, Limited to 8 Students

Spring Dogwoods at rustic cabin Smoky Mountains
Amalfi Coast – Photographic Workshop Tour
June 25 – June 30 2017 $1150.00/ Limited to 8 Students

Provence Photographic – Workshop Tour
July 2 – 6 2017 $1,150.00/ Limited to 8 Students

Sunflowers in Provence
Lake Michigan Lighthouse – Photographic Workshop Tour
Aug 13-16 2017 $345.00/ Limited to 8 Students

Big Sable Lighthouse – Ludington
Zion National Park and Painted Desert – Photographic Workshop
Nov. 5-9 2017 $695 Limited to 8 Students

Cottonwoods along the Virgin River
Southwest Slot Canyon – Photographic Workshop Tour
Nov. 9-11 2017 $350 Limited to 5 Students

Tumble Weed – Antelope Canyon – Camera raw
I Hope you rang in the New Year with peace and joy in your heart!!
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Spring Photo workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs, Tuscany photo workshop | posted in Boneyard, Botany Bay, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Lower Antelope Canyon, Michigan Photographic Workshop, Nik software, Paul Christopher James, Photoshop CS6, Provence Photo Workshop, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smokey Mountain National Park, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity
There is still time to for the adventurous photographer to join me on this workshop to Pisa and the Cinque Terre

Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Field of Miracles is a walled 8.87-hectare area located in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as an important center of European medieval art and one of the finest architectural complexes in the world. The Field of Miracles is considered sacred by the Catholic Church. The square is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistery, the Leaning Tower and the Monumental Cemetery. Partly paved and partly grassed, the Piazza of Miracles is also the site of the New Hospital of the Holy Spirit, which houses the Sinopias Museum and the Cathedral Museum.

Anyone Gelato by the Leaning Tower
The name Piazza dei Miracoli was coined by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d’Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che sì forse che no (1910), described the square as the “prato dei Miracoli,” or “meadow of miracles”. In 1987, the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Leave a comment | tags: Cinque Terre Photographic Workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs, Tuscany photo workshop | posted in Field of Miracles, Italian Photographic Workshop, Leaning Tower, Lightroom, Photoshop, Pisa, Pisa Baptistry, Pisa Cathedral, Topaz Clarity, Topaz labs
Sunrise anywhere on the planet is always a great time to start shooting. The rain and mist mixed with this morning’s soft light in Michigan would have made for great location shooting. With a little luck we will have a variety of weather for the Italian and French workshops coming up in 6 weeks.

Awakening – Montepulciano, Italy
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Leave a comment | tags: Italian Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Tuscany photo workshop | posted in Cinque Terre, Cinque Terre photo workshop, Florence, Focus Stack, HDR, lavender fields, Lens Correction, Lightroom, Montepulciano, Perspective, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop, Provence Photo Workshop, San Gimignano, Selective focus, Siena, Topaz Clarity, Topaz labs, Tuscan Photo Workkshop, Tuscan Vineyard, Val d'Orcia, Wheat fields
Yesterday I was going through images to see what might work for the Art Fair jury process and the this early morning image of the Castle of Angels popped out. I had processed the image a while ago and it has been in the back of my mind for some time. I think the B&W version will make a nice jurying image.
The image has a little noise in it and used Topaz DeNoise 6 to eliminate the noise.

Castle of Angels – Rome

Castle of Angels – Rome
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Topaz DeNoise is designed to let you shoot anywhere in any light and still get crisp, clear and noise-free images. Specializing in extremely noisy high ISO images, DeNoise removes distracting image noise while preserving image detail, giving you the image you wanted without the noise you don�t.
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Leave a comment | tags: Paul Christopher James, Rome photo workshop, Topaz Labs | posted in Adobe CS6, Castle of Angels, Italy, Lightroom, Rome, Rome photo workshop, Topaz BW effects 2, Topaz Clarity, Topaz DeNoise 6
One of my favorite images in Venice to photograph is the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, commonly known simply as La Salute, is one of the largest churches of Venice and has the status of a minor basilica. It stands in a prominent position at the junction between the Grand Canal and the Bacino di San Marco on the lagoon.

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, Venice
When I am on location shooting with clients the two questions I am asked the most are why I pick a location to shoot and why I return to many of the same locations over the years.
The answers to both of these questions are simple. Foregrounds matter! The locations provide some of the most exceptional foregrounds a photographer can capture no matter what the weather conditions. This allows each group to come home with images that can hang on their wall. Often when we are shooting in the morning and evening the magic happens and we capture some of the best sunrises and sunsets that I have ever seen.
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Leave a comment | tags: Digital Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Topaz Labs, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Caffe Florian, Doge's Palace, Gondola, HDR, Italian Photographic Workshop, Lightroom, Nik Software, Panoramic, Photographic Workshops, Rialto Bridge, Santa Maria della Salute, Topaz Clarity, Topaz labs, Venice Carnival Photo Workshop
Early morning mist and cypress trees in the Val d’Orcia create breathtaking images that have keep bringing me back over the years. This region is has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site which will help ensure that this area will stay natural and not be overdeveloped.

Morning Mist Val d’Orcia
This June I will be staying with the group in a small village that has ancient mineral springs used by the Romans and the Etruscans before them. There are a couple of spot left and I hope you can join me.
Tuscan Photographic Workshop Tour
June 18 – June 23 2016
$950.00/ Limited to 8 Students
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Leave a comment | tags: Italian Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Italian Photographic Workshop, Lens Correction, Lightroom, Photographic Workshops, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Clarity, Tuscan Photo Workshop, Tuscany, Val d'Orcia
The Jury process is one of the biggest parts of the Art Fair business. Often clients think that we just show up, set up our tents, and start selling our work. However, in order to be selected for a show, we have to compete against many talented artists for a space to display our work.

Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre
Earlier this morning I was going through my work, looking for those magic images that would get me into the shows.
This image, from Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre, that I photographed while teaching a workshop is one of those images that I think will stand out in the jury process. I will be teaching a workshop this summer (June 23-28, 2016) in the Cinque Terre and Pisa, Italy and revisiting this location to see if I can improve on this image. Sometime the difference in an outstanding image is the sky and sometimes it is the techniques we learn.
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Leave a comment | tags: Cinque Terre Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Cinque Terre photo workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Lightroom, Manarola, Manarola, Nik Software, Photoshop CS6, Riomaggiore, Topaz Clarity
When Spring comes to Charleston the wisteria brings wonderful splashes of purple to the landscape. With this image I wanted to use the selective focus technique to sharply focus on the wisteria and leaves in the foreground while leaving the background soft and out-of-focus. To capture this image I focused halfway into the wisteria trying a variety of f stops and found that F/13 worked the best keeping the foreground in sharp focus while giving the background a dreamy soft look.

Charleston’s Wisteria – processed with Topaz Clarity
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James | posted in 2012 Magnolia Plantation and Gardens Photo Contest winners, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Rome Photo Workshop, Selective focus, Topaz Clarity, Tuscan Photo Workshop, Wisteria
Bob Parry a friend and photographer from the Cleveland area won a couple of nice awards with two images that he captured during the Charleston and Pisa Italy workshops.
Cleveland’s west side photo club had an intra club competition with the Chagrin Falls photo club. The subject was “reflections” so I had to search through files to find some photos I hadn’t used before. I could submit 4 to my club for a pre selection as the club was limited in the number of photos we could submit and all 4 of mine we included. Two of the four were selected as second place earning 24 out of 27 points. The two that won second places are the reflection of tower of Pisa which was done on your Tuscany workshop I think in 2011 and the other was the red bridge from your Charleston I think in 2009?

Oriental Bridge, Charleston

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Cyprus swamp, Charleston

Cottonwood reflection on the Virgin River in Zion
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop | posted in Charleston Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Photographic Workshops, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour
A tapestry of colors comes to mind when I capture fall images in the Smoky Mountains. My two favorite times in the Smoky Mountains are the spring and fall. In the fall a night’s frost changes the sugars in the plants which create the wonderful color patterns along the rivers and meadows. The colors are truly amazing

Smoky Mountain fall tapestry
Lightroom 5.7 and Topaz Clarity were used to process this fall river scene.
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Leave a comment | tags: Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity | posted in Charleston Photographic Workshop, Lightroom 5.7, Michigan Photo Workshop, Michigan Photo Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Rome Photgraphic Workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, Topaz Clarity, Tremont, Tuscan Photo Workkshop, Tuscan Photo Workshop, Venice Photographic Workshop Tour