Capturing Ephemeral Moments with Nature’s Toolkit

Join internationally acclaimed fine-art photographer Xuan-Hui Ng in Santa Fe to deepen your understanding of the beauty and ephemera of the natural world. In this workshop, Xuan guides participants to use “nature’s toolkit” to create compelling visual narratives in-camera. We harness sunlight, shadows, reflections, rain, snow, and mist to instill drama and mystery in our images and eternalize nature’s ephemeral moments. Her objective for this workshop is not to replace but to add to your “toolkit” for photographing, as well as suggest additional ideas for approaching landscape photography.

During lectures, Xuan details her techniques and also draws attention to potential issues that might arise when photographing various natural phenomena. You are encouraged to embrace the unpredictability of weather, seeking beauty in dramatic and quiet moments alike. She discusses the common themes, “STAR+” (i.e. Simplicity, Texture, Accent, Rhythm, and Plus), that recur in her images. She also demonstrates her use of Adobe Lightroom / Photoshop to unleash the full potential of the raw files and direct the viewers’ gaze. Classroom image reviews give you the opportunity to receive thoughtful, constructive feedback and to better understand how to guide the viewer’s eye and strengthen their visual choices.

Through daily photography outings into the Southwestern landscape, you practice the ideas introduced in class, such as playing with light and shadows, and using long exposure to capture motion. Out in the field, Xuan demonstrates various techniques, including the use of circular polarizers and neutral density filters.

All genres of photography and techniques are welcomed at this workshop. Xuan’s process focuses on single-exposure photographs made in camera. She will not be teaching multiple exposures, flash, or intentional camera movement in the lectures.