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Winter’s quiet beauty has a way of slowing me down and sharpening my attention to the small details—frost patterns forming overnight, the way light transforms a familiar landscape under fresh snow. But these colder, darker days can also test my creativity. That’s why this month, I’m revisiting an article from the archives all about finding inspiration in winter’s stillness.
Still, I can feel the creative rust settling in. That’s why I’m relieved that in less than two weeks, I’ll be surrounded by photography friends from around the world at Out of Chicago LIVE!—a weekend guaranteed to leave me overflowing with inspiration. I’ll be teaching three sessions:
- 📷 Ten Lightroom Essentials Every Photographer Needs to Know – Unlock hidden gems that make editing and organizing in Lightroom a breeze.
- 🏔 Grand Landscape Image Review with Kristen Ryan – We'll share helpful feedback on your grand landscape photos to refine your vision and technique.
- 🎒 Ask Me Anything: Gear for Landscape Photography with Nye Simmons – A no-holds-barred session to answer all your burning questions about the best tools for the field.
And before I wrap up, if your Lightroom catalog could use some TLC, now’s the perfect time to jump into my 💫 Let’s Get Organized in Lightroom! course. It’s on sale through January 31st, making it the perfect way to put all those creative sparks from LIVE! to good use.
Sending my best,
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THE OBSERVANT LENS
Reflections to deepen our craft and sharpen our vision
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MY FIELD GUIDE ARCHIVE:
Welcoming Winter’s Dark Embrace
Winter’s darkness isn’t just an absence of light—it’s an invitation to explore new creative possibilities. This article explores how we can embrace the winter season’s quiet beauty and unique conditions to spark inspiration behind the lens.
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THE CLIFF NOTES:
Simple Ways to Embrace Winter’s Darkness
Not feeling the creative spark these days? Here are a few easy ways to jump-start a photography session this winter:
- 📸 Silhouettes & Shadows – Head outside at dusk or dawn and look for bold, simple shapes. Trees, fences, and people make great subjects. Switch your camera to spot metering and expose for the brightest part of the scene to create a striking silhouette.
- 🔎 Exploring Textures Up Close – Grab a macro lens (or switch to your camera’s close-up mode) and explore frost on windows, tree bark, or dried leaves. If you're indoors, experiment with a flashlight to highlight textures in interesting ways.
- 👃 Engaging Your Senses – Take a short, quiet winter walk with your camera, focusing on non-visual experiences. What do you hear? Smell? Feel? Try translating that into a photo—maybe capturing the crisp breath of cold air or the way light hits a frosty branch
- 🎨 Minimalist Compositions – Keep it simple! Look for lone subjects against empty backgrounds. A single tree in a snowy field or a bench under a streetlamp can tell a powerful story with just a few elements.
- 💻 Winter Editing Challenge – Set aside one evening to ‘dumpster dive’ in your Lightroom catalog and see if any hidden gems emerge. Find five old photos you never edited and get processing. Bonus: Try a black-and-white edit to emphasize shape and contrast.
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THE LIGHTROOM COMPASS
Navigating a better post-processing experience
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Last chance to get organized before your 2025 projects pile up! You’ve got just a few days left to save 20% on my Let’s Get Organized in Lightroom course. Don’t miss this chance to transform your cluttered photo library into a stress-free, organized system that works for you.
This course gives you the tools to:
- Find your photos quickly and easily with a foolproof organizational system.
- Streamline your workflow, giving you more time to focus on what you love—taking photos!
- Feel confident knowing every image is exactly where it belongs, organized in a way that fits your unique workflow.
The best part? This is a simple, 4-hour course that will transform your Lightroom catalog and help kick off your most productive and creative year yet. But hurry—this offer expires January 31, 2025.
Save 20% with code NEWYEAR2025 through January 31, 2025
“This was a great course for any level. It helped me understand and set up Lightroom. It covered topics and areas that I didn’t even know existed in the program. Chrissy has also gone above and beyond answering questions and providing additional tips.”
- Nicole S. |
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“Let’s Get Organized for Lightroom is the most comprehensive educational and easy-to-understand series I’ve ever experienced. There’s so much information and I’m glad it’s available to review segments repeatedly.”
- Ken W. |
Know someone who could use this course?
Forward this email and help them have a happier Lightroom experience.
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OUT OF CHICAGO LIVE! PRE-EVENTS
The best online photography conference and free photo challenges
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All Photo Challenge Webinars
Courtesy of Out of Chicago LIVE! 2025
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Junk Drawer Masterpieces
Featuring Alan Shapiro
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WHY LIVE! IS A MUST-ATTEND EVENT
Out of Chicago LIVE! is my favorite way to shake off the winter blues and immerse myself in creativity with photographers from around the world. This online conference, happening February 7–9, 2025, is unlike anything else—50 incredible instructors, 100+ sessions, and an entire weekend of interactive learning, all from the comfort of home.
What sets this event apart is the connection. You’re not just watching—you’re engaging. You can ask questions, get feedback, and be part of a real community. Whether you’re exploring new techniques, diving into creative inspiration, or refining your editing skills, this conference has something for everyone. And with session recordings available for a full year, you’ll have time to revisit every “aha” moment.
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Extract Simplicity from Complexity Featuring Huibo Hou
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Photographic Breakthroughs
Featuring Instructors from LIVE! 2025
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FOCUS POINTS
To utter, repeat, and shape our mindset
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"Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones."
— Bruce Garrabrandt |
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TRAIL FINDS
Curated resources, news, and inspiration for your journey
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1.) If you're looking for a new nature nerdy book, check out Paula Whyman's recently released her book Bad Naturalist: One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop. With much humor, humility, and awe, she shares her attempts to restore part of her 200 acres of Blue Ridge Mountains farmland.
2.) Michael Frye is teaching a Lightroom Webinar on Painting with Light on March 8th, 2025. Michael is a wonderful teacher and will share how he uses Lightroom's local adjustments to create a powerful visual story.
3.) The Americas, from the creators of Planet Earth, premieres February 23, Sunday 7/6c. Narrated by Tom Hanks with a score by Hans Zimmer, this 10-part series explores the beauty, secrets, and fragility of life across the continent.
4.) David duChemin charmingly expresses three realizations on how to convey mood in your photographs.
5.) Bruce Hucko and lots of our favorite photography instructors are bringing back the Moab Photography Symposium (MPS) this September 25-28, 2025.
6.) The TK master, Sean Bagshaw, released a new course Luminosity Masks: Exposure Blending - grab it now for 25% off his launch sale price (code on his website).
7.) Mark Denney walks through important reminders to practice staying fluid and to step out of your comfort zone to create better landscape photos in his latest video.
8.) The Photographic Society of America is hosting its 2025 Photo Festival in September in Portland, Oregon.
9.) The Lightroom Virtual Summit is happening May 20-24, 2024 with 15 instructors teaching 45 classes across 5 days.
10.) Richard Bernabe interviews Tom Mangelsen on his podcast discussing his connection to the Teton's and Grizzly 399.
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nature photography • photo education • lightroom training
Copyright © Chrissy Donadi Photography, All Rights Reserved.
606 Liberty Avenue, 3rd Floor, #107, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
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