Dear Fellow Shutterbug,

Winter is usually a time for me to hibernate, edit a huge backlog of images, do some printing and catch up on sleep. But this winter I have a bunch of new workshops in new locations and I hope some of them will entice you. For example, I’ll be offering workshops in Florida and California where I expect the weather to be fine.

But don’t let weather be a determining factor in your photographic efforts. Remember the freak snow storm that hit the east coast recently — even before winter officially arrives? While others were taking shelter, I found myself drawn into Central Park to see what I could see. I’ve included some of the images in my new shoots so take a look at what you can do — if you are willing to head outside, no matter what the weather.

To lure you out there, this winter I’m offering a couple of “meet and shoot” opportunities: one to Yosemite National Park in early March; another to the Platte River in Nebraska to photograph sandhill cranes in one of their key winter habitats. These are less formal than full workshops but give you a chance to come along to explore an environment that I’ll be photographing. Instruction will be offered in the field.

Also, I want to remind you about a new initiative: foreign trips built around my photo workshops. The first one, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, is “Storybook Holland” from April 21-30, 2012. Although this workshop is scheduled for next spring, I want you to know about it now since it takes place during Floriade 2012, an international horticultural expo held in the Netherlands only once every 10 years. If you want to see and photograph this eye-popping floral exhibition, as well as Holland’s magnificent gardens and delightful countryside, be sure to save the date and register early by going here. You don’t want to wait ten years for your next opportunity!

Finally, I want to mention a couple of upcoming exhibitions I’ll be having. There’s a one-man show of my photographs called “Taming the Garden” at the Studios of Key West in Florida from March 15-30. It’s a big, beautiful venue and Key West is a great location — I will also be offering a workshop there — so I do hope you’ll make an effort to come. The Studios are a major supporter of artists in every medium and I’m honored to be associated with them. I’m also on exhibit in Chicago from March 11-18 called “Focus on Flowers.”

With the year drawing to an end, I want to wish all of you a joyous holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Please remember that you can give the gift of photography to your loved ones. If you know someone who would appreciate being in one of my workshops or owning one of my prints, just contact me and we’ll make the arrangements.

Please see the listings below for details and tell your friends. Whether you are a returning student or a new participant, I hope to see you at one or more of these workshops to learn, have fun together and renew or build our connections.

All the best,

Allen Rokach

What a wonderful spring and summer it has been! I had a chance to see quite a few “old friends” at repeat workshops in Texas, Delaware, Virginia, Washington D.C., Kentucky, Chicago, and Pennsylvania. In addition, I met many amazing new participants at these same workshops as well as at new venues such as the Maine Media Workshops and the Clark Institute of Art in Williamstown, MA.

In addition, I’ve been contributing a series of illustrated articles, written with help from my wife Anne Millman, for the Adorama website. (Adorama is a major photographic supply store and online resource; I’ve taught quite a few workshops through their Workshops@Adorama.) I think you’ll enjoy taking a look at them so click on the titles:

5 FALL FOLIAGE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

SHOOT BETTER ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS

GEARING UP FOR CLASSY CLOSE-UPS

CLOSE-UPS: GETTING A SHARPER IMAGE

AFTER-CAPTURE TECHNIQUES FOR CLOSE-UPS

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: TO POSE OR NOT TO POSE PEOPLE, PART 1

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: TO POSE OR NOT TO POSE PEOPLE, PART 2

TAKING PICTURES THROUGH GLASS

Now I am gearing up for a colorful autumn. On the calendar are return visits to the United States Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. and the Bernheim Arboretum in Louisville, KY. Plus, for the first time, I’ll be offering a weekend workshop at the Vero Beach Museum of Art in Florida.

But the most exciting news is that I am launching a new series of longer workshops at nature locations around the country, offered under the banner of Allen Rokach’s Center for Nature Photography. The first one will be “Fall Color on Coastal Maine,” at the stunning Acadia National Park from October 25-30. I’ve led many workshops there and this is the perfect time of year to be there. The colors are gorgeous and photograph magnificently in the soft, misty light. And the rugged coastline, gem-like lakes and pristine islands we will visit are a nature photographer’s dream. See the details below. (Also on the drawing board are week-long workshops in California’s Death Valley National Park in late February and at Great Smokies National Park next fall. Stay tuned for more on those.)

Another new initiative is foreign trips built around my photo workshops. The first one, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, is “Storybook Holland: Focus on Flowers” from April 21-30, 2012. Although this workshop is scheduled for next spring, I want you to know about it now since it takes place during Floriade 2012, an international horticultural expo held in the Netherlands only once every 10 years. If you want to see and photograph this eye-popping floral exhibition, as well as Holland’s magnificent gardens and delightful countryside, be sure to save the date and register early by clicking here. You don’t want to wait ten years for your next opportunity!

Please see the listings below for details and tell your friends. Whether you are a returning student or a new participant, I hope to see you at one or more of these workshops to learn, have fun together and renew or build our connections.

All the best,

Allen Rokach

This free lecture and audio-visual presentation will explore how every kind of natural light can be used to enhance photographs of nature, landscapes, gardens and flowers. It will be given in Louisville, KY in conjunction with the weekend workshop at the Bernheim Arboretum, (see below).

For further information and to register, click here.

Click on each title for a fuller description of each lecture and workshop:

• October 14: Lecture and Audio-Visual Presentation on 35 Ways to Photograph a Flower at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington D.C.
• October 15 & 16: Focus on Flowers: Discover the Beauty in Flowers and Gardens, a digital fall weekend workshop at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington D.C.
• October 21: Lecture and Audio-Visual Presentation on The Power of Natural Light in Louisville, KY.
• October 22 & 23: Bernheim Ablaze, a digital fall weekend workshop at the Bernheim Arboretum, Louisville, KY.
• October 25-30: Fall Color on Coastal Maine, a week-long intensive digital photography workshop in Acadia National Park.
• November 19 & 20: Focus on Nature, a weekend digital workshop at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.

SAVE THE DATE!

April 21-30: Storybook Holland: Focus on Flowers, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. This foreign travel digital photography workshop will focus on the amazing Floriade floral extravaganza and other prime floral locations at the peak of the Dutch bulb bloom.

For further information and to register, click here.

In this two-day digital photography workshop, we’ll explore the fascinating and diverse natural environments in and around Vero Beach, FL: beaches and other coastal areas, meadows, wetlands, woodlands, and ponds. Through lectures, field trips, review sessions, and individual consultations, you will receive in-depth, individualized instructions on all aspects of nature photography: landscapes, flowers, trees, birds and anything else that comes our way. The emphasis will be on developing an aesthetic vision and learning the techniques to make that vision a reality. That includes guidance on the limitless possibilities of digital photography: everything from making the best use of light and creating exciting compositions to achieving appropriate exposure and using after-capture techniques to enhance your images.

For further information and to register, click here.

The huge conservatory at the United States Botanic Garden is an ideal environment for photographing a wide variety of flowers. We’ll have access to the conservatory early in the morning before it opens to the public so we can focus on mastering macro-photography techniques with your digital camera. This intensive two-day workshop is designed for all photographers who want to improve their images of floral close-ups and groupings. The workshop will also include training in after-capture photo editing techniques so bring your laptop.

For further information and to register, click here.

I’ll be offering this public lecture and audio-visual presentation at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. It will demonstrate how digital imaging has revolutionized photography and liberated photographers to limitless possibilities. This lecture is geared for both the budding and seasoned photographer. It will serve as an introduction to my weekend workshop and if free for workshop participants.

For further information and to register, click here.

Maine’s Acadia National Park is New England’s wilderness wonderland – a sometimes subtle, sometimes dramatic landscape of rocky coast, churning tides, wind-swept trees and soaring cliffs softened by ocean mists, mirror lakes and fascinating tidal pools.

This unique field workshop takes you to Acadia’s top nature settings during the peak of fall foliage, adding spectacular color to this majestic landscape. Outings include a boat excursion to nearby Baker Island, renowned as a uniquely pristine natural environment.

We’ll explore Acadia National Park through lectures, two daily field trips, review sessions, and individual consultations. You’ll receive in-depth instruction on all aspects of nature photography:

• photographing in all kinds of weather and light;
• composing with clarity and purpose
• shooting water images, from reflections to crashing waves;
• integrating land, sea and sky;
• creating dramatic close-ups;
• individual problem-solving;
• learning how to get most out of your equipment for photographing nature PLUS
• special attention to the creative potential of digital equipment during and after capture.

Workshop limit: 15 participants

For further information and to register, click here. To view images of Acadia National Park click here.

Timed for peak of fall color at the Bernheim Arboretum, Kentucky’s most beautiful landscape near Louisville. Through lectures, field sessions, review critiques and individual consultations, this intensive two-day workshop will guide you toward the mastery of all aspects of nature photography including the best use of natural light, capturing motion and reflections, achieving brilliant color, composing with purpose and exploring after-capture techniques to help you realize your aesthetic vision.

For further information and to register, click here.

Summer is the perfect time to explore Chanticleer: A Pleasure Garden, renowned for its variety of flower beds, water gardens, woodlands and other world-class settings. This workshop takes place at the peak of the summer bloom and gives us outstanding opportunities to enhance our photographic skills. Through lectures, field sessions and review sessions, you will receive in-depth instruction on making the best use of natural light throughout the day; mastering floral close-ups; portraying flowers in their garden setting, including the lotus water gardens; and understanding the technical potential of digital cameras and after-capture techniques for achieving creative outcomes. For more information and to register, go to http://www.chanticleergarden.org/workshops.html.

This is a lecture and audio-visual presentation that opens the weekend workshop I will be giving at Chanticleer: A Pleasure Garden, near Philadelphia, PA. For more information and to register, go to http://www.chanticleergarden.org/workshops.html.

Digital imaging has revolutionized photography and liberated photographers. In this two-day photography workshop, I will guide participants to the limitless possibilities of digital nature, landscape, garden, and flower photography, finding our subjects in the Clark’s beautiful 140 acres of farms, pastures, woodlands, meadows, and ponds. For details and to register, go to http://www.clarkart.edu/visit/event-detail.cfm?ID=15532&CID=14

In this lecture and audio-visual presentation will explore how every kind of natural light can be used to enhance photographs of nature, landscapes, gardens and flowers. For details and to register, go to http://www.clarkart.edu/visit/event-detail.cfm?ID=15530&CID=29

Photographing close-ups of flowers is both fascinating and endlessly challenging. In this week-long workshop for intermediate and advanced students using digital cameras, I’ll help you discover and capture the amazing and beautiful miniature world found through floral macro photography through a series of classroom presentations, critiques, discussions and on-location outings to fields and meadows along the Maine coast. For details and to register, go to http://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/photography/focus-flowers

The New York Botanical Garden bursts into an amazing bloom each spring as tulips, other bulbs and various trees come into flower. This all-day workshop will focus on stretching your photographic skills with in-depth instruction so you can craft truly great images of these masses of flowers at this spectacular time at the NYBG. For details and to register, go to http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=WS_AllenRokach-2011-05-01

If you photograph flowers outdoors, you know how challenging creating a good photograph can be. In this lecture and audio-visual presentation, I’ll present great tips and invaluable insights on how to create memorable and evocative images of flowers outdoors. For details and register, go to:

http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=WS_Allen-Rokach_2011-04-13

I’ll be offering this lecture and audio-visual presentation at the Norfolk Botanical Garden, Norfolk, VA. It will demonstrate how digital imaging has revolutionized photography and liberated photographers to limitless possibilities. It will be open to the public and also serve as an introduction to my weekend workshop. For details and to register, go to http://www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/programs-events/calendar/events/518