about
Robert (Bob) Hopp
Dear friends,
Between 1994 and 2004, I attended ten photography workshops across the American West and Canada. My goal was simple: to capture the highest-quality landscape photographs I possibly could.
The purpose of a photography workshop is to take you to stunning locations at just the right time of day when the light is perfect. The days are long and physically demanding, beginning at sunrise and ending after sunset. We typically took a midday break from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM due to harsh overhead light.
Each stop lasted anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour, depending on the terrain and how much hiking was involved. I would fly from Atlanta, where I lived at the time, to places like Fresno, California, where I’d meet up with my instructor, Joe Lange a gifted photographer from Grand Junction, Colorado.
Workshops back then cost around $1,200–$1,800, depending on duration and destination. The price included pickup and drop-off at the airport, ground transportation to all photo sites, and lodging. Food and airfare were not included. I had no idea what I was really signing up for at the time but I found out quickly.
Timing Is Everything
Dear friends,
One moment I’ll never forget happened at Yosemite National Park. We were driving to a parking area to photograph a waterfall. Joe made sure we arrived exactly 15 minutes early. He instructed us to set up our tripods and attach our camerasbut not to shoot yet.
At the time, we were still using slide and negative film, which made every shot precious and costly. Digital photography was just beginning to emerge.
When the perfect moment arrived, Joe pointed toward the base of the waterfall. A rainbow began to form and slowly climbed upward through the mist. “Now you know why we’re here at this exact time,” he said. Unbelievable. And that, I realized, is what we were paying for precision, patience, and magic.
Altitude & the Atlanta Effect
Another valuable lesson I learned: elevation matters.
Living in Atlanta, Georgia (elevation ~1,050 ft), I never expected high altitudes to affect me—but they did. While trying to photograph Half Dome in Yosemite (elevation ~8,846 ft), I stepped out of the van and suddenly couldn’t think clearly. I told Joe, and he immediately asked where I was from. When I told him Atlanta, he nodded and said, “That’s the problem.”
Joe explained that for future workshops in high-altitude areas, I’d need to commit to serious cardiovascular training—3 hours a day, 5 days a week, for at least 3 months. As someone who worked night shifts in the printing industry, that meant carefully balancing my schedule to make it work.
There’s an old saying: “You get out of life what you put into it.” I questioned that sometimes, especially in the hot Georgia sun—but I never gave up.
P Is for Panic (and Program)
Another valuable lesson I learned: elevation matters.
Back at Half Dome, I still had a photo to take. I managed to mount my camera on the tripod but couldn’t figure out the right settings. Joe asked me if I could at least compose the shot. I said yes.
He pointed to the “P” on my camera and said, “That stands for Program mode… but today, it also stands for Panic mode. Just press it, and the camera will do the rest.”
I did. And when I returned to Atlanta and got the film developed, the photos turned out beautifully.
