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| Shooting the Gorge April 2025 |
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| Upper Fall Chesterfield Gorge |
It has been a while since I hosted a Photography Class or
photo workshop.
It all started with my
dissatisfaction with resorting to Zoom courses begun in response to the pandemic.
I missed terribly the face-to-face exposure
of live classes and workshops.
As the
pandemic waned it seemed hard to get back to a schedule of programs.
Of course, a touch of laziness also
contributed.
For a number of years, I had offered my Introduction to Digital
Photography Course through the Keene Community Education Program, but recently
the program has dropped general enrichment courses such as mine and now focuses
solely on academic, and vocational enrichment classes, including apprenticeships.
I found myself looking for a new home.
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Big Drop Chesterfield Gorge |
I have enjoyed the opportunities I have had to share my
passion for photography and photographic editing and I have greatly missed teaching
about the amazing advancements in digital image making.
I know that I need to find ways to get back out
there.
It was with all this I mind that I was excited to hear from
my friend and former student Robin Turnbaugh with a request to lead members of
the Monadnock Garden Club on an abbreviated spring waterfall photography
workshop. Last Thursday, I was joined by
a group of enthusiastic club members for a morning exploration of some of the
local falling water. A half day is
short, but after a brief discussion of the key aspects of waterfall photography,
we headed out to sample the beauty of the spring runoff at Chesterfield Gorge.
The Gorge provided the opportunity to sample a variety of
falls and cascades in one compact area.
As I suspected the group came with a range of equipment from sophisticated
Digital cameras to one iPhone.
Everyone
had tripods, but a few of them were quite flimsy or actually falling
apart.
Regardless, there were great
opportunities for teaching, and everyone seemed to come away with some nice
images and, hopefully, many important lessons. Given that this was a garden
club group, my only disappointment was that the early date precluded any
exploration of streamside spring wildflowers. While coaching the participants I
was able to grab only a couple of my own images, but my shots were all
hand-held with no chance to break out my tripod.
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| Gorge Cascade Teeth |
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| Catsbane Brook Falls |
For my part, I finished with a desire for more. I would have loved to have had more time to
tour some of the other waterfalls in the Chesterfield area, including those
along the Catsbane Brook and the Gulf Road.
My usual waterfall workshops span a day and one-half over a weekend and include
classic spots in both Cheshire and Hillsboro Counties. Perhaps I can drum up
some interest in a more extensive workshop in a few weeks.
