I have
always enjoyed teaching digital photography and especially sharing the unique
photographic opportunities to be found in my special corner of New
England. This has included conventional
courses such as a broad Introduction to Digital Photography as well as the many
RAW photo editing features found in Adobe’s Lightroom. I have also enjoyed exploring our region through
a couple of annual photography workshops.
My weekend workshops have included an exploration of our peak fall
foliage and the spring waterfall season.
Over the
last many months Covid has made teaching difficult. I have been able to hold conventional classes
through Zoom, but it has not been as satisfying as when I could gauge the
response of students in an actual classroom.
Over the last year and one half, the pandemic has prevented me from
offering any of my in-person weekend workshops. I
couldn’t ask people to expose themselves to the virus around photographic
locations and especially not in cars as we moved from place to place. For me, it has been a prolonged period of
frustration. I have struggled with how
to run workshops while maintaining an acceptable level of safety. It is my hope now that, with the use of
masking and social distancing along with the critical value of full
vaccination, that an interactive workshop can be possible.
My plan is
to offer my Fall Foliage Workshop on October 15th – 17th - as usual for the Weekend after the Columbus
Day holiday, With the strange weather this year, it is
hard to predict autumn color, but in past years this has been a great time to
go out leaf peeping in the Monadnock region and southern Vermont. The schedule will be similar to previous
workshops with a few modifications for safety.
First our group will be limited to no more than 8 participants and, for everyone’s safety, I will require that everyone be fully vaccinated. Friday evening will be devoted to getting to know each and to a discussion of key aspect of fall foliage photography. During this session we will make plans for Saturday’s tour of the color based on the local conditions. This year, we will be gathering through Zoom, a safer option but, sadly, without the opportunity to enjoy my wonderful snacks.
Saturday
morning, we will meet at a convenient location before heading out on our
exploration. Cars will be a
challenge. I plan to restrict each
vehicle to no more than two occupants, masked and with open windows. I will plan for locations that have room for
several cars and for lunch we will look for a place with outdoor dining –
weather permitting.
In previous
years, the workshop participants have gathered at my house in the evening for
pizza and a chance to review the days shots.
This year, I hope to collect your memory cards and critique your photos during
another evening Zoom session.
Sunday
morning, we will head out again to visit more interesting locations and plan to
finish up around noon.
I feel bad
about all the bothersome precautions, but my goal is to provide the best fall
foliage tour while doing all that is possible to assure a safe experience. It should be great fun and a chance to
celebrate our region’s most spectacular time of year.
Please let
me know as soon as possible if you wish to attend the workshop, since the
number of participants is limited. This
year the cost is reduced to only $195.
If you have
questions or suggestions, you are welcome to give me a call at:
603-363-8338 (Home)
603-381-8393 (Cell)
Or email at:
jeffn49@myfairpoint.net
Jeff Newcomer, NEPG
www.partridgebrookreflections.com
