New River Photography is sponsoring a workshop on digital photography on September 28 - October 1, 2006. The workshop will be held in Camden and Stonington, Maine. There are two special treats for the workshop: an overnight stay in Stonington on Deer Isle and a visit to Monhegan Island. Stonington is one of the prettiest old lobster towns on the Maine coast and Monhegan Island is 10 miles or so off the coast. An image of the Stonington Harbor (below right) was taken by my friend Peggy McCutchin.

The cost per participant is $395. This cost does not include the $27 for the roundtrip to Monhegan Island. Each participant will make that payment to the owner of the boat (out of Port Clyde, Maine) that takes us to the Island. The Workshop will have a limited capacity of 10. Participants can use PayPal or send a cashier's check or money order to:

Bill Claybrook PO Box 1516 Concord, MA 01742 Send questions about the workshop to: Email: bclaybrook@newriverphotography.com Phone: 978.793.1357

Workshop Description

The Maine coast is spectacular in late September and early October. The weather is warm and most of the tourists have gone home. In the workshop you will have the opportunity to shoot some of the oldest lighthouses (such as the Marshall Point Lighthouse near Port Clyde below on this page) in the U.S. and some of the quaintest harbors (such as the Stonington Harbor above), and of course the Maine coastline. And don't forget the old New England churches and the colorful fall flowers created by cool nights and warm days. The workshop features a visit to Stonginton on Deer Isle and Monhegan Island. Stonington is one of the busiest and oldest lobster ports on the east coast. It is not a stop on most tourist get-aways and as a result does not have any of the things that you find in most tourist stops, such as T-shirt shops. Pumpkin Island Lighthouse is also nearby and provides one of the quietest, prettiest places to just sit and have a cup of coffee or tea and read the New York Times or the newspaper of your choice.

This image of the Camden Harbor was shot from the top of the mountain in Camden Hills State Park just north of Camden.

We will find our way to Monhegan Island via Port Clyde. Port Clyde has express ferries to the island. Monhegan is a quaint fishing village and artist's haven. This old island does not allow cars and has had electricity only in the last several years. There are hiking trails, art galleries, a lighthouse, a cathedral forest, and spectacular headland cliffs. This will be a day trip since the boats leave around 10:30AM and depart Monhegan Island around 4:30PM. The trip to Monhegan is about 50 minutes each way. If we are lucky, we will see whales on the trip over and/or back. There are places to stay overnight and there are two or three restaurants.

This is a hands-on workshop. Starting on Thursday, we will shoot in the early morning and early evening each day while the sunlight is soft and favorable. Between shootings we will have instruction and review of the images shot during that morning session and the previous evening. We will use PhotoShop CS2 to edit images and Epson printers to print them. You will have free time after the instruction/review ends and before the evening shoot begins. Following the evening shoot, we will have dinner at a local restaurant or you can use this as your free time to do whatever you want. Each participant is responsible for transportation to the workshops and for meals and hotel costs.

Workshop information:

Who should attend What you will learn Typical daily schedule What you need to bring What we will provide Workshop location How to get there Where to stay

Anyone interested in digital photography and who has some experience with photography should attend. For those just beginning to learn about photography, this Workshop is probably not for you. If you have been a film camera shooter and have been thinking about switching to digital this would be a great workshop for you.

What you will learn

You will get a quick review on the basics of exposing and metering. This Workshop does not focus on how your camera was built. You will learn how to shoot various types of landscape scenes including lighthouses and harbor scenes. In addition, we will shoot close-ups of flowers and other objects when they are available.

You will learn how to apply PhotoShop CS2 filters such as dry brush, watercolor, palette knife, and paint daub to your images. We will also teach you how to use some of the other important features of PhotoShop CS2 such as shadow/highlighting.

The image on the left (the original) was shot at dusk from a beach near Kennebunkport (click on the thumbnail image to get a larger view). The image on the right was created from the original by using PhotoShop CS2 levels adjustmentments, cropping, shadow/highlighting, and by applying PhotoShop CS2 filters, primarily palette knife (click on it to see a larger view of the image). Some photographers might prefer the original image and some may prefer the altered image. With the use of PhotoShop CS2 and other techniques, such as double printing images, printing on watercolor paper, photographers have a number of alternatives for creating beautiful and valuable images. From my perspective, the exposure and contrast of the original could be altered to provide a more appealing image, and this can be done without the advanced features of PhotoShop CS2. Additional examples of original images altered to create new images can be found at Original to Altered Images

Other accessories — If you have a light diffuser and/or a light deflector and you can pack them, bring them. They are not required for the Workshop. We will provide one of each and show you how to use them during shooting. For those of you who are interested, there is a wonderful tool, called the McClamp Photo Tool, that can be used to hold flowers in place while taking close-ups on windy days. The Tool can also be used to hold light diffusers and reflectors.

The image on the left is of the Marshall Point Lighthouse near Port Clyde. Port Clyde is one of the places to catch ferry rides to Monhegan Island. The Lighthouse is very interesting to shoot because you can come at it from many angles. Port Clyde is a wonderful little town with a few shops and a restaurant on the deck in back of the country store.

It is very easy to get to Maine. You can drive, come by boat, or fly to one of the local airports. If driving from Boston, get on I95 north and head toward Maine. You can exit at Brunswick and get on Route 1. Route 1 will take you through a number of small Maine coast towns. To get to Stonington via Route 1 take Route 15 right after Bucksport and head toward Deer Isle. The drive from Boston to Stonington is about five hours. Most car rental agencies are represented at Logan Field in Boston. For local airports, you should check with them on rental car agencies.

Where to stay