Last week, from Sunday evening, June 30th through Friday morning, July 3rd, I returned to the John C. Campbell Folk School to teach "Wanderlust - The Art of Travel Photography". The folk school is located in Western North Carolina in the small town of Brasstown between Murphy and Hayesville. It was great to be back at the folk school doing what I absolutely love, photography and teaching it to others. Terry was able to join me again. I can't imagine experiencing this special place with anyone else. He took a Drawing in Nature class and really enjoyed it.
It was such a fun and adventurous week. Joining me in class were four students, Leslie, Jane, Joan, and Alexis. We had beginner to intermediate photographers and from ages 18 to 91! Everyone learned so much in a short amount of time. On day one, we focused on some basics in photography from composition, rules of thirds, perspective, and of course exposure. It was great to see everyone take a chance by trying their cameras out of "Auto" or "Program".
In addition to learning the basics in photography, my students also learned what makes for creative travel photography. I also gave them several tips on how to plan for a trip and what equipment to bring. Another good pointer I gave to them was to expect the unexpected when traveling. The weather or lighting may not always be ideal, for example, however my rule of thumb is to always make the most of it.
With the folk school campus as our primary location for most of our assignments, early in the week we spent our time walking around campus, photographing the landscapes, buildings, and of course in the large vegetable, herb, and flower gardens. Tuesday afternoon we went on a hike and photo outing along the River Cane Nature Trail, which is also on the folk school's property. Along the trail, there's a fire circle displaying several totem poles around it, several nice sculptures, and the Rainbow Bridge leading over Little Brasstown Creek. We viewed some flora and fauna along the trail as well, including wildflowers and the fast-moving ebony jewelwing damsel flies.
On Wednesday, I planned a field trip for us to take off-campus. Typically, my go-to place is to take students to Vogel State Park near Blairsville, GA. However, after doing some research a few weeks ago, I discovered that Lake Trahlyta had been drained, as they are repairing the damn. Trahlyta Loop Trail and Trahlyta Falls are also temporarily closed. And on that note, I pointed out to my students how important it is to do your research before you go, when planning such trips!
After doing some google searching online and some planning, I decided on Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest for our trip. Located in the Nantahala National Forest near Robbinsville, NC, it's just over an hours drive from the folk school. Although I've been to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest twice prior to this trip, it has been 15 years since. What an incredibly beautiful and magical place this is! We spent some time hiking the upper loop trail, discovering so many things to photograph. For me, it was an abundance of mushrooms growing throughout the forest floor and on decaying trees. The rhododendron was still blooming as well and I enjoyed showing my students how to photograph moving water in the creek. We spent most of the day there, also enjoying a picnic under the tree canopy, before returning to campus for a little class time before dinner.
Thursday morning was spent going around the campus to some of the classrooms to see what the other students were creating. It's always a great assignment for my students to photograph people working on their crafts, with permission of course. One of the other things I enjoyed doing was spending last Monday evening with my student, Leslie. We decided to set up our cameras on tripods and wait for the full strawberry moon to rise up over the mountains. We waited up until close to 10pm, but it was totally worth it. And I have to say her results were much better than mine!
Before we all knew it, suddenly it was Friday! That morning, we met in the classroom so we could all work together making final selections and for the final Q&A. We viewed each of their work up on the large screen TV and commented on what worked and if they thought they'd do something differently next time. They ended up making some really great choices for the final slideshow, which I finished putting together for the closing ceremony and student show in the Keith House. The photos appearing here on the blog are the same final selections that were in the slideshow.
Even though it was an unusually hot and humid week, it sure was full of adventure, learning, making discoveries, and so much fun! Everyone in my class powered through the heat and made some amazing photographs.
Hope you enjoy!
Please do not copy photos without permission. Please reach out to me HERE, should you like to get in touch with any of my students. All are © copyright protected. Be sure to click on each individual photograph to enlarge.
Although I won't be teaching a travel photography workshop next year at the folk school, I will be back to teach a nature studies photography workshop titled "Focus on Flora, Fauna, & the Forest" (and you know we will be returning to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest!). Stay tuned for details - to learn about all of my photography workshops please visit my website HERE.