Lotus

A Day at Chicago Botanic Garden with Anne Belmont - Creative Flower Photography Workshop

Join me for a day of learning and fun at Chicago Botanic Garden. These dates have been offered to those on my mailing list and there are only a few spots left. If you are interested in joining me, please email me at [email protected] to reserve a spot. Please indicate which day you are interested in. Each workshop is limited to 6 participants to ensure lots of one-on-one time for learning.

Date: Friday, September 11 OR Monday, September 14 (rain dates: 12th and 15th). You can choose one of the two days. Rather than having one larger workshop, I am dividing it into 2 days with small groups. What I love most about teaching is being able to get to know each of you and spend significant time helping you with the things you want to learn. I think the small group is also important for sharing ideas and for each of you to get to know each other. September is a quieter and hopefully cooler month at CBG - children are back in school and the crowds have lessened. Most of all, I chose this time because it lines up with CBG’s annual Dahlia Show, an event I look forward to each year. Here’s more info on the Dahlia Show. Scroll down to the dates for Central States Dahlia Society Show, September 12 and 13. Imagine a room filled with 100’s of the most perfect and beautiful dahlias! If you plan to come to one of the workshops, come a day early or stay a day later and come to the show. I’ll be there photographing both days and, although I won’t be formally teaching, I’m happy to offer tips for shooting flowers indoors.

What You’ll be Learning:
My instruction will be customized to each participant’s needs and wishes. I will spend time with each of you. As a group I will be encouraging you to slow down and develop the art of seeing to find interesting subjects that will create images with impact and emotion. My goal is always to help others reignite their creative spirit and find joy in the process of shooting. I will encourage you to stay with your subject and explore different ways of shooting it - with different compositions, angles, apertures and lenses. We will explore the topics of composition, light, aperture, using selective focus, controlling backgrounds and using Lensbaby lenses to unleash creativity. I will provide instruction on how to use Lensbaby lenses. Lensbaby will send some loaner lenses for our use that day. I will ask each participant for their camera mount info, as well as what lenses they might be interested in trying. I will also provide some links to articles I have written to help prepare you for the workshop.

I will prepare a one hour online video presentation for you and send it a week or two prior to the workshop to provide you with some helpful info about photographing flowers and sparking your creativity. By doing so beforehand, we will have more time for hands-on shooting.

Schedule:
September 11 or 14 :
7:30 a.m. - Gather at the Visitor’s Center at Chicago Botanic Garden
7:30-11:30 a.m. - Shooting in the various gardens with in-field instruction
11:30 - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch at the Garden Cafe
12:30-1:30 p.m. - Let’s talk about some essential principles we practiced in the field.                                         

1:30 - 5 p.m. Continued shooting and applying principles.
5 p.m. Let’s grab dinner a local restaurant and unwind from our busy day!

Workshop Fee: $300 per person

Payment via PayPal. Invoice will be sent to each participant. Please email me at [email protected] to reserve a spot in the workshop. Cancellation policy: refund given, minus $20 processing fee, up to 60 days before the workshop. 60 days or less before the workshop a refund will be given, minus $20 processing fee, if you or I can fill the spot. No refunds given for no shows.

If you are interested in being on my mailing list for future events, email me at [email protected] and I'll add you to the list. I will post here about other teaching events in the coming week.