Workshops and Lectures

Below is a list of workshops and lectures that Allen can offer or adapt for interested individuals as well as to botanical gardens, cruise ships, camera and garden clubs, nature and horticultural societies or other institutions or groups.

Click here for all of Allen's upcoming workshops or lectures.

What are you interested in?:

To inquire about scheduling one of the lectures or workshops listed below — or to ask for a lecture or workshop on a topic not listed below; suggest another workshop; or ask about private instruction or an individual portfolio review, contact Allen
For information about private lessons or individual portfolio reviews, contact Allen

Flower & Garden Photography Workshops

The following workshops help participants develop and strengthen their technical photographic skills so they can create evocative images of flowers and gardens.

For those who want to feel greater confidence with their photographic skills and techniques:

Introduction to Digital Flower & Garden Photography
- Understanding digital camera settings and what they do
- Controlling exposure, sharpness & speed
- Composition basics
- After-capture options to improve your photos

Introduction to Flower & Garden Photography with a Point & Shoot Camera
- Understanding digital camera settings and what they do
- What's automatic and what can you control?
- Creative options and limitations

For those who want to go beyond the basics to expand their photographic possibilities:

Intensive Practicum: Photographic Seeing in the Garden
- Understand the difference between beautiful and photogenic
- Learn to pre-visualize
- Build your image starting with the background
- Compose with flowers & plants as abstract shapes
- Design with lines, shapes & textures
- Find the creative potential of selective focus
- Change perspectives

Close, Closer, Closest
- Portraying Flowers in the Garden Setting: Overview, Vignette and Detail
- Introduction to Close-up Photography
- Introduction to Macro Photography
- Electronic flash techniques

Beyond Flowers: Taking Evocative Photographs of Plants in the Garden
- Working with Color
- Working with Texture
- Composing with Lines, Shapes & Rhythms

Intensive Practicum: All Light is the Best Light
- Analyzing the direction, intensity and color of light
- Using exposure to capture the beauty of light
- Making the most of low, medium and high contrast
- Adding light

Photographing Flowers Indoors
- Creating studio lighting at home
- Making or selecting the right backdrops
- Choosing the right lens, filter
- Composing with clarity and imagination
- Enhancing and managing color

Beyond Good: Expand your Photography Skills
- Learn about techniques professionals use to produce dramatic photographs of flowers and gardens
- achieving creative outcomes with your digital camera and with after-capture techniques

The following workshops, tailored to the needs and interests of the participants, are for those who are ready to tackle more advanced techniques to achieve their creative potential:

Master Class: Flower Photography
Master Class: Garden Photography
Mastering Floral Close-ups
Advanced Macro Photography in the Garden
Creating Compelling Images of Flowers & Gardens

The following workshops help participants develop and strengthen their imaginative photographic skills. The are for groups of mixed ability with highly individualized instruction that emphasizes creative approaches to composition, light, color, texture, motion and focus.

Capturing the Beauty of the Spring Garden
- Capturing the Beauty of the Summer Garden
- Capturing the Beauty of the Fall Garden
- Capturing the Beauty of Flowers in the Garden
  - Daffodils and other Spring Bulbs
  - Tulips
  - Orchids
  - Peonies
  - Roses
  - Water Gardens
  - Chrysanthemums

Capturing the Beauty of Flowering Trees & Shrubs
- Magnolia
- Forsythia
- Dogwood
- Cherry
- Azaleas
- Crabapple
- Rhododendrons

Capturing the Beauty of Trees
- Louisiana (spring)
- New York Botanical Garden (spring, fall)
- Central Park (spring, fall)
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden (fall)
- Bernheim Arboretum (fall)
- Aspen, Colorado (fall)

Capturing the Beauty of Wildflowers
- Maine: Lupines (This week-long workshop would provide intensive field instruction on flower photography focusing on the wildflowers along the coast of Maine. I ran quite a few workshops in and around Acadia National Park but have also found some wonderful locations closer to the MMW. In addition, the course would include daily critique sessions and demonstrations of Photo Shop techniques to show particiants how to fine tune their images to meet their creative vision.)
- Texas: Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush
- Colorado: Columbines, Indian Paintbrush
- California: Poppies

Great Gardens of North America
- Photographing the Gardens of Santa Fe
- Photographing the Gardens of New York: This course will give participants a rare opportunity to explore and photograph five of New York's best perennial gardens at the height of the blooming season: the New York Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn?Botanic Garden, Wave Hill, the Conservatory Garden and Old Westbury Garden. Each day will include a morning of classroom instruction plus follow-up review/critique session and an afternoon field trip for on location photography and individual instruction. This intensive field experience will hone your photographic skills whatever your level of experience.
- Photographing the Gardens of Wilmington
- Photographing the Gardens of Vancouver: This week-long workshop would feature the huge Victoria Butchart Gardens as well as a number of other world-class gardens around Vancouver, including the Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, the Van Dusen Botanical Garden and the Minter Gardens. I've been to these gardens and my photographs have appeared in books and articles; one image from Butchart is on the cover of my book "Field Guide to Photographing Gardens," published by Amphoto.
- Photographing the Gardens of the Charleston, SC
- Photographing the Gardens of the Chicago

Great Gardens of the World
- Photographing the Gardens of the France
- Photographing the Gardens of the Italy
- Photographing the Gardens of the England
- Photographing the Gardens of the Holland
- Photographing the Gardens of the Japan
- Photographing the Gardens of the China

Nature & Travel Photography Workshops

Birds and Landscapes of New Mexico: Bosque del Apache and White Sands National Monument
Coastal Landscapes and Wildflowers of Acadia National Park
Discovering the Artful Landscape of Central Park
Environmental Portraiture: Photographing People on Location
Fall Color in the Rockies
The Floral Landscapes of Holland
Landscapes of the American West: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Landscapes of the American West: Death Valley
Landscapes of the American West: Monument Valley
New York on Parade: West Indian Day Carnival Parade
Traveling New York's Ethnic Neighborhoods
Wildflowers of the Rockies
Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country

Specialty Workshops

MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHY INTENSIVE: TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY. This week-long workshop is for anyone who wants to enter the competitive field of magazine photography by contributing travel-related images. Drawing on my more than 30 years as a freelance and staff magazine photographer, I will instruct participants in how magazine editors and art directors think and how they can provide the kinds of photographs that fulfill a travel assignment using area subjects.
MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHY INTENSIVE: FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY. This two-workshop (two weeks apart) is for anyone who wants to enter the competitive field of magazine photography by contributing feature-related images. Features tell a story about people. Drawing on my more than 30 years as a freelance and staff magazine photographer, I will instruct participants in 1) how to create a shot-list; 2) how to get people's cooperation and keep them spontaneous during a shoot; 3) how to be alert to unexpected opportunities during a shoot. Students will also learn technical aspects of features photography: integrating people within their environment; portraying people in action; knowing which lenses to use; working with indoor and outdoor lighting. After an in-class discussion, students will have two weeks to complete features assignments. The second session will include instruction in editing to produce three essential images that tell the story of their subject followed by a review of students’ feature essays.
THE PHOTO ESSAY. A photo essay is an exercise in telling a visual story. Participants in this intermediate/advanced class will be guided in choosing a theme for their personal projects. Using visual presentations, we will discuss the elements of a well-made photo essay. Then students will have five days to gather photographs on their theme. This immersion is designed to increase visual awareness, stimulate insight and develop the photographer's personal vision. At regular critique sessions, the instructor will evaluate each student's progress, suggest specific technical and aesthetic improvements, and explore the direction the project should take. The goal is to for each student to leave with a portfolio of professional quality photographs on a unified theme.
PUTTING WORDS TO PICTURES: This week-long workshop would be taught by myself and my wife, Anne Millman, who is the primary author on the eight books and countless articles we worked on together. The focus would be on teaching participants who want to freelance for various publications 1) how to analyze the market for photographic images, especially in magazines and newspapers; 2) how to develop ideas for those markets; 3) how to pitch those ideas to editors; and 4) how to plan a shoot so it will meet the needs of several different clients. Participants will need to do some writing (but not a lot) and will design and complete photo essays around a local subject that interests them. This workshop combines elements of two courses Anne and I have taught in the past.