Jim Henderson's Photography Workshops at Callaway Gardens
There has never been a better time than right now to take your photography to the next level! If you are just starting out in DSLR photography, we offer the FOUNDATIONS WORKSHOPS. This series of three weekend workshops will give you the information and practice you need to move beyond the limitations and confines of your camera's automatic mode. For my intermediate and advanced level photographers who are comfortable working beyond the automatic mode, we offer a number of ADVENTURES WORKSHOPS that explore a specific specialty area of photography such as macro photography, landscape photography, flash photography, and low-light photography. Classroom sessions are followed by guided photo shoots of Callaway Gardens. Finally, to help you get started on the right foot with post-processing your digital images for print or publishing to the web, we offer introductory workshops for PhotoShop Elements and Adobe Lightroom.
The overwhelming success of the photography workshops can be attributed to the combination of three factors: the venue, the instructor, and the content. With year-round opportunities for great photography, what place could be better to take your photography to the next level than Callaway Gardens? Most of our workshops are held in the classrooms or theater at the Callaway Discovery Center, just a short distance away from the Birds of Prey Exhibit, Day Butterfly Center, the Sibley Horticulture Center, the Cason Callaway Vegetable Gardens, or the amazing Callaway Chapel. There is always something to shoot at Callaway Gardens!
Your instructor is Jim Henderson, an accomplished serious amateur photographer from nearby LaGrange, GA. Jim's workshops are unique in that he not only teaches photography, he inspires his students to reach new heights! It is his passion for photography and his strong desire to help others discover their "inner photographer" that distinguishes him from the others.
Each workshop and topic was developed with one goal in mind ~ to help participants on their journey to becoming an accomplished photographer. The classroom content is presented using custom PowerPoint Presentations written by the instructor. Once you enroll in a workshop, you are given a link to download the workshop syllabus, which contains every slide in the PowerPoint Presentation (some workshops have more than 300 slides). This is helpful for two reasons ~ first it minimizes the need to take notes (which has been demonstrated to reduce understanding and retaining the material). Secondly, it provides the participant with an easy way to review the material whenever necessary (repetition reinforces learning). During classroom segments, participants are given frequent opportunities to practice the concept just covered with their camera. At the conclusion of every workshop, participants are encouraged to complete a workshop evaluation. As you might guess, evaluations are always over the top!
Isn't it time for you to take your photography to the next level? Discover your "inner photographer" at one of Jim Henderson's Photography Workshops at Callaway Gardens!
The FOUNDATIONS WORKSHOP SERIES
The FOUNDATIONS workshops were developed with a simple goal in mind: to free the aspiring photographer from reliance on the automatic exposure mode. The camera's automatic exposure mode is fine for snapshots and sometimes OK for postcards. It is almost never useful to the creative photographer ~ who uses ISO and aperture and shutter speed like a painter uses paint and brushes. At the conclusion of the series, you will have the knowledge and skill to use the advanced features of your camera and take your creative photography to that next level!
FOUNDATIONS I: A Beginner's Guide to DSLR Photography
January 21, 2012, 9:30AM - 4:30PM: Callaway Gardens
For those new to DSLR photography, this workshop was designed with your learning needs in mind. The topics include: the digital photography workflow; how a DSLR works; features and brands; buttons and controls; care of your camera; essential accessories; media cards; batteries; tripods; lenses; computers; monitors; and photo post-processing software. The workshop concludes with an Introduction to Artistic Composition and a discussion about the RAW image file type.
FOUNDATIONS II: Creative Photography Beyond the Auto Mode
February 4, 2012, 9:30AM - 4:30PM: Callaway Gardens
This workshop was designed to give you the information and skills necessary to operate the camera without the assistance (and confines) of the camera's automatic exposure mode. The workshop begins with a demonstration of why the automatic exposure mode is severely limiting your potential as a photographer. With our goal clear, we then begin to explore the fundamentals of photography. What is aperture, shutter speed and ISO? What is exposure? How can aperture be used for our creative purposes? What is depth of field? How can shutter speed be used for our creative purposes? What is aperture-priority exposure mode? What is shutter priority exposure mode? What is manual exposure mode? Following a thorough coverage of those topics, we then move into the field where we practice putting those concepts to use. The workshop concludes with an inspiring photography slide show.
FOUNDATIONS II: Skill Builder Photo Shoot with the Instructor
February 5, 2012, 9:00AM - 1PM: Callaway Gardens
At the request of many of my students, the Foundations II Workshop continues the following morning with an optional photo shoot with the instructor. In this four hour segment, participants get even more practice working with the new concepts in the field. For many participants, the extra time in the field and additional coaching by the instructor help to solidify the concepts.
FOUNDATIONS III: Mastering Focus and Exposure
February 18, 2012, 9:30AM - 4:30PM: Callaway Gardens
Building upon the concepts mastered in the FOUNDATIONS II Workshop, this workshop was designed to assist the participant with mastery of focus and exposure. Topics include: understanding autofocus; understanding manual focus; achieving an accurate focus with stationary subjects and subjects in motion; understanding exposure; understanding exposure meters and metering modes; evaluating your exposure; understanding histograms; using exposure compensation; using automatic exposure bracketing; and using automatic exposure lock. Throughout the workshop, we cover the topic in class and get an opportunity to practice what we learned in the field. The workshop concludes with a presentation and discussion of dynamic range and high dynamic range (HDR) photography.
FOUNDATIONS III: Skill Builder Photo Shoot with the Instructor
February 19, 2012, 9:00AM - 1:00PM: Callaway Gardens
At the request of many of my students, the Foundations III Workshop continues the following morning with an optional photo shoot with the instructor. In this four hour segment, participants get even more practice working with the new concepts in the field. For many participants, the extra time in the field and additional coaching by the instructor help to solidify the concepts.
The ADVENTURES IN DSLR PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP SERIES
The ADVENTURES WORKSHOP SERIES was developed for my intermediate and advanced level students who have mastered the fundamentals of photography and are ready to master the various specialty areas of photography. Classroom content builds upon content covered in the FOUNDATIONS SERIES. The amount of workshop time devoted to the classroom varies considerably depending upon the topic. See the individual course descriptions for more information.
ADVENTURES IN DSLR PHOTOGRAPHY: Lightroom Bootcamp
March 3 & 4, 2012: Callaway Gardens
ADVENTURES IN DSLR PHOTOGRAPHY: Mastering the Landscape
March 31 & April 1, 2012: Azalea Festival: Callaway Gardens
This two-day intermediate-level workshop is scheduled to coincide with the peak of the azalea festival at Callaway Gardens. The workshop begins in the classroom where we cover topics such as challenges in landscape photography; managing high contrast scenes with filters and exposure fusion; hyperfocal focusing techniques; using depth of field calculators; using mirror lock-up; using a remote shutter release; using a tripod; lens recommendations; and artistic considerations. Two photo shoots are planned for the afternoon and early the following morning. The workshop concludes in the classroom where participants are encouraged to select their top five shots of the weekend to share in a group critique. The instructor will select an image or two to use in a live demonstration of post-processing these images for print using Lightroom and/or PhotoShop.
ADVENTURES IN DSLR PHOTOGRAPHY: Mastering Macrophotography
April 21 & 22, 2012: Callaway Gardens
This two-day intermediate-level workshop begins in the classroom where we cover topics such as challenges in macro photography; managing limited depth of field; focusing techniques; equipment and gear; using flash; and artistic considerations. Two photo shoots are planned for the afternoon. The morning session begins with an exclusive opportunity to shoot with tripods at the Day Butterfly Center for an hour before it opens to the public! A second photo shoot will follow focusing on shooting native species. The workshop concludes in the classroom where participants are encouraged to select their top five shots of the weekend to share in a group critique. The instructor will select an image or two to use in a live demonstration of post-processing these images for print using Lightroom and/or PhotoShop. This workshop is limited to no more than twenty participants.
