The Digital Workshops

The Great Smoky Mountains are a rugged range comprised of ridges and valleys. Beautiful old growth forests, wildlife, flowers, and spectacular fall colors, this beautiful mountain range contains spectacular views of mountain ridges draped in a hazy blue fog. Join professional photographers Lewis Kemper and Charlie Borland for an exciting shoot in this spectacular mountain landscape. Depending on group size, an additional guest instructor may join us.

The The Art of Digital Nature Photography workshop is an opportunity for digital landscape photographers to learn from the best photographers in the field and in the business. You will experience and learn more in these five days than you brain can absorb. The days will be long, the instruction intense, and the education immeasurable. Your instructors will bring decades of professional experience and an intense passion for landscape photography.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is part or the Appalachian Highlands with Tennessee on the west and North Carolina on the east. There are hundreds of miles of hiking trails, historic homesteads, waterfalls and rivers, and hundreds of species of wildlife.  During this workshop we’ll explore the parks landscape including the balds, rushing streams and waterfalls, the historic points of interest, coves, and anything that captures our photo eye.

Each day we’ll arise before sunrise and meet to carpool into the park to photograph in the early morning light. Mid morning when the light flattens, we’ll return to the hotel, grab a meal and meet in the conference room promptly at 11:00 am for The Digital Darkroom. While in the field you will learn to shoot specifically for the Digital Darkroom since shooting digitally and the digital darkroom go hand in hand. You'll learn to interpret scenes and photograph them for creative compositing in the darkroom. You will learn how to create images that are impossible to capture traditionally.

At the beginning of each session, your instructors will give presentations on a variety of subjects. During these days we’ll cover the digital darkroom, workflow, image management, Photoshop techniques, stock photography, and publishing your work. You will then have several hours to download your images and work on them in Photoshop with an instructor nearby. We’ll finish our computer session by mid afternoon and grab a meal. Next we’ll meet up again to carpool back into the park to photograph in the warm light of the setting sun.

The Agenda
Saturday 17th
1:00 pm Registration begins in the conference room, Meet the instructors and get acquainted social.
2:00 pm Multimedia presentations by Charlie & Lewis                       5:00 - 6:30 Dinner Break                                                                      

Sunday 18th - Tuesday 20th
6:30 am - 9:30 am Sunrise shoot
11:00 am – 2:00 pm the Digital Darkroom
3:00 pm until dark. Evening shoot                                                    

Wednesday 21st
6:30 am -9:30 am Sunrise shoot
11:00 am - 4:00 pm Computer session                                                 4:00 pm Group slideshow                                                                         5:00 pm Workshop ends

 (Actual times may vary depending on conditions, sunrise and sunset times, and any unknown factors)

The Digital Darkroom
Most days, following our morning shooting session, we will return to the conference room for our Digital Darkroom session. This is a very important part of The Art of Digital Nature Photography workshop. During this time we’ll process our images from our photo sessions. Charlie will demonstrate shooting and digital workflow techniques. These include using your histogram in the field for correct exposure, techniques for increasing the dynamic range of your images, and Photoshop tips and tricks. In addition, there will be workflow demonstrations on photo organization, editing and filing your images, stock photography, and marketing your work. We’ll also have on hand a qualified assistant to help answer your questions. If you would like more information on the workshop, open our Workshop Packet.

Photo Equipment
The Photoshop for Nature Photographers workshop is for digital photographers and proper equipment is crucial to your successful workshop experience. You will need a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses. The variety of lenses is up to you, but a wide angle through telephoto lenses are good choices, such as 28mm up to 200mm. You will also need a laptop computer with a minimum of 1Gig of RAM and more would be better. You should also have at least 4-6 gigabytes of compact flash card space, more is better, and/or a portable, rechargeable hard drive to download in the field. You also need a means to download your images to your laptop, either by cord, card reader, or CF Card adapters. A sturdy tripod is mandatory for landscape photographers. If you do not have Photoshop CS3, follow this link and download the 30 day free trial. http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp Do this several days before you leave for the workshop so you may use it for a few weeks after the workshop.

Getting There
Townsend, Tennessee is roughly 40 miles southeast of Knoxville, TN. Please note that Aspen Photo Workshops cannot provide any transportation, to, from, or during the workshop. We will encourage carpooling throughout the workshop, but participants are ultimately responsible for their own transportation. You will be responsible to get to Townsend.

Registration
The workshop price is $850.00. Price does not include transportation to or from Townsend, hotels or meals.

1) To register for The Art of Digital Nature Photography: Great Smokey Mountains, you can use our online registration (PayPal) or you can download our registration form and pay by check or money order.

2) Next, contact the Talley Ho Hotel in Townsend, Tennessee (http://www.talleyhoinn.com/) at 800-448-2465  and make your room reservations. They have reserved a block of rooms priced at $94.00. You are not required to stay here, but we strongly encourage it. This is the best way for you to receive all information regarding the next day’s events. If the weather changes and we decide to move to a different location, we want you to know about it.   

3) Next, open and read the Workshop Packet and the Registration and General Info pages. There is important information essential to a successful workshop experience.

4) This workshop also requires a liability waiver for
participation in this workshop. Please click on this link Liability Waiver, print it out, complete the form, and mail to the address on the form.

Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 60 days prior to the workshop and receive a refund, minus a $50 processing fee. Less than 60 days prior to the workshop there is no refund (unless your space can be filled, and then a $100 cancel fee), or you may apply it to any Aspen Photo Workshop program.