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Nature Photography Workshops
2012 Schedule
Date
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Workshop/Location
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Description
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April 13-24, 2012 |
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Join Charles for this unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime journey to two world-class European gardens!
Your trip begins in Lisse, Holland at the world's largest spring bulb garden, Keukenhof Tulip Gardens, featuring a dazzling 79-acre display of 7 million tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and other bulbs in a stunning park-like setting. Under Charles' personalized expert guidance, you'll photograph for four days at Keukenhof and feel like a kid in a technicolor candy store! Also included are side trips to commercial tulip fields and the picturesque Dutch windmills of Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The second half of this magical flower and garden photography workshop features the world-famous garden of French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet. We travel by private mini-motorcoach from Holland to Giverny, France, where you'll spend five days photographing in Monet's garden with NO TOURISTS present, gaining private access to the Garden and Lily Pond in the early mornings and late evenings when the grounds are closed to the public. Other highlights include: charming rural villages, an authentic outdoor French marketplace, a 14th century church, and a medieval chateau/gardens.
In both gardens, you'll receive personalized field instruction from Charles, on-location educational shooting demos, classroom lectures, handouts, assignments, and supportive group image evaluations.
The package price for this 11-day trip is $5,495 per person before Feb. 10, 2012 and includes: 12 nights deluxe accommodations, 12 breakfasts, 1 Welcome Dinner, 1 Farewell Dinner, ground transportation during the workshop by deluxe private mini-coach with top driver, and all garden entrance fees. Airfare, airline baggage fees, airport transfers, lunches, some dinners, alcoholic beverages, and optional trip insurance are not included. A limited number of single supplements are also available for an additional $975.
A $2,000 deposit check per person is due at the time of registration. After Feb. 10, 2012, tuition will be $5,995. Remaining balance is due March 1, 2012. Limited to 14 guests.
For a colorful flyer with all the details, plus a booking form to complete and mail with your deposit check, please click here.
Note: Please do not book your airfare before February 15, 2012. Workshop begins at 4 pm April 13th and ends the evening of April 24th. We recommend a US departure on April 12th for Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and return flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on April 25th.
Please contact Charles for any additional questions.
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May 25-27, 2012
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Master Class
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If you're serious about macro/close-up photography, live on the East Coast, and want to delve deeper into the creative process while improving your technique, then this is the workshop for you!
You'll spend the entire 3-day weekend learning special techniques for creating unique, artistic close-up images in a fun, casual but intensive atmosphere. Charles will share many of his own secrets learned after 10+ years of shooting macro and cover equipment, composition, exposure, fill-flash, special creative camera techniques and more.
Part of the time will be spent learning macro techniques and shooting in our private indoor classroom "studio," and the remainder of time will be spent making images in the Atlanta Botanical Garden, home to one of the best orchid collections in the country. We'll have private, early-morning access to the Garden one hour each day before it opens to the general public.
The workshop includes unlimited use of various "props" (such as iridescent/textured glass, fresh-cut flowers, mylar, shells, colored backgrounds, water droplets, glass objects, etc.), group assignments, lectures covering specialized topics, demonstrations, and lots of individualized instruction. Participants will also have the opportunity to have their images reviewed and critiqued via high-resolution LCD projection.
The workshop begins Friday morning at 8 am and ends Sunday at 12 noon. Limited to 14 participants.
Tuition: $895 ($875 for ABG members). Daily admission into the Atlanta Botanical Garden, classroom supplies, and handouts included. Optional discounted parking: $5.00/day. Registration deadline: April 30, 2012.
Accommodations: Courtyard Marriott - Atlanta Midtown/Georgia Tech, 1-800-321-2211. Special discounted room rate of $94/night + tax (includes free parking). Please reserve your room no later than April 30, 2012.
Register for this class directly through the Atlanta Botanical Garden by clicking here, or call 404-876-5859, ext. 2555 to register.
Contact Charles for any additional questions.
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June 2, 2012 |
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Spend a day in one of the most photogenic private gardens you'll ever encounter overlooking the Puget Sound, just north of Seattle.
In this popular, hands-on workshop, co-taught by nationally recognized garden designer, Stacie Crooks, Charles will teach you how to best capture a garden using different lens combinations, lighting, and framing/focusing techniques. You'll also learn tips on how to create a more photogenic garden through the use of color, texture, shape and sophisticated plant combinations.
Cost is $135, which includes handouts, lecture, and lunch on a terrace in the garden. Hours: 9:30 am to 4:00 pm. Limited to 14 participants. All skill levels welcome. No prior gardening or photographic experience necessary.
Click here to download a colorful flyer with more details.
To register, please send a check for $135, payable to "Charles Needle Photography." before April 20, 2012.
Please contact Charles with any questions.
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June 18, 2012
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Making great pictures of flowers and gardens requires skill and patience. Learn how to craft a truly great garden photograph and capture the essence or "spirit" of your garden using a digital camera. Charles will discuss the concept of "intimate landscape" and teach tips for proper exposure, composition and lighting.
You'll also have the opportunity to explore several methods of making painterly, non-literal images in-camera: camera movement, multiple-exposure montaging, Lensbaby, long exposures, and shooting reflections.
This fun and informative class includes lecture, field demonstrations, and personalized hands-on instruction in the beautiful Bloedel Reserve, an internationally renowned 150-acre nature preserve and garden located on Bainbridge Island, WA.
Bloedel is a hidden Northwest treasure featuring a unique blend of natural woodlands and beautifully landscaped gardens, including a Japanese Garden, a Moss Garden, Reflection Pool, and the Bloedel's former estate home.
Bring your camera & instruction manual, lenses & tripod (if you have them), memory cards, spare batteries and knee-pads. All skill levels are welcome.
Class fee: $150 for Bloedel Reserve members, $170 non-members, which includes admission into the Reserve. Class hours: 8:00 am to 5:15 pm. Limited to 16 participants.
Optional nearby accommodations at the Best Western Bainbridge Island Suites at a discounted room rate. Please call 206-855-9666 to reserve your room by May 31, 2012.
To register for this class, please contact Kate Gormley at the Bloedel Reserve, or call 206-842-7631. All credit cards accepted. Registration deadline: May 31, 2012.
Additional questions, please contact Charles.
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July 15-23, 2012
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Join Charles for a spectacular summer tour of English gardens featuring vibrant-colored plant palettes, rich textures, unusual shapes, and old-world architectural and water features.
Our visit is timed for maximum color at peak bloom. Gardens visited include; Wisley, flagship of the Royal Horticultural Society noted for its long double, perennial borders; Chiff Chaffs, a quintessential English "cottage garden;" and famous gardens such as Sissinghurst, with its spectacular white garden and Christopher Lloyd’s Great Dixter, a romantic recreation of a medieval manor house with topiary, long border, and wildflower meadow….all bold experiments of form, color and plant combinations.
Learn how to craft a truly great garden photograph and capture the essence or "spirit" of a garden using a digital camera. Charles will discuss the concept of "intimate landscape" and teach tips for proper exposure, composition and lighting. In addition, he will share Impressionistic garden photography techniques to help you go beyond the documentary garden photograph and cover macro flower photography methods.
Receive individual instruction from Charles both in the field and classroom. The workshop also features lectures, assignments, and supportive group image evaluations.
The package price for this trip is $3,898 per person before April 1, 2012 and includes: 8 nights first-class accommodations, 8 full English breakfasts, 3 dinners (including a glass of wine), ground transportation during the workshop by deluxe private mini-coach with top driver, airport transfer from Heathrow Airport at 12 noon, return transfer to Heathrow for early afternoon flights, and all garden entrance fees. Airfare, airline baggage fees, lunches, some dinners, and optional trip insurance are not included. A limited number of single supplements are also available for an additional $598.
A non-refundable deposit of $400 per person is due at the time of registration. After April 1, 2012, tuition will be $4,398. Remaining balance is due May 15, 2012. Limited to 12 guests.
Note: Please do not book your airfare before April 1, 2012. Workshop begins at 7 pm July 15th and ends the evening of July 23rd. We recommend a US departure on July 14th for London Heathrow Airport and return flight from London Heathrow on July 24th.
To register, click here; then click on "Online Registration." Or complete this downloadable booking form and mail with deposit to Sterling Tours, Ltd.
Additional questions, please contact Charles, or call Sterling Tours at 1-800-976-9497.
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August 27 - Sept. 1, 2012
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Details coming soon. Please contact Charles, if you are interested in registering for this workshop. |
September 15-16 , 2012
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If you're serious about macro/close-up photography, live on the West Coast, and want to delve deeper into the creative process while improving your technique, then this is the workshop for you!
This weekend class is designed for the more serious photographer who wants to master advanced macro techniques and create more abstract expressive images that go beyond documentary subject rendition.
You'll spend two days learning special techniques for creating unique, artistic close-up images in a fun, casual but intensive indoor studio atmosphere. Charles will share many of his own secrets learned after 10+ years of shooting macro and cover equipment, composition, exposure, fill-flash, special creative camera techniques and more.
The workshop includes unlimited use of various "props" (such as iridescent/textured glass, fresh-cut flowers, mylar, shells, colored backgrounds, water droplets, glass objects, etc.), group assignments, lectures covering specialized topics, demonstrations, and lots of individualized instruction. Participants will also have the opportunity to have their images reviewed and critiqued via high-resolution LCD projection.
Hours are 9 am to 5 pm each day. Limited to 14 participants.
Tuition: $895 early-bird registration by June 15, 2012. $1,095 after June 15, 2012. Payment in full due at time of registration. Pay by check or credit card (below). Tuition includes all classroom supplies and handouts.
For those who are traveling from out of town, please email Charles for a list of nearby accommodations.
Please contact Charles with any other questions as well. |
October 7-12 , 2012
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co-taught with Photoshop guru,
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The White Mountains of New Hampshire combine a rare blend of brilliant autumn foliage set against a backdrop of majestic evergreen strands. Few places in the world put on such a flamboyant display, and we have timed this workshop for peak pigmentation.
Besides an explosion of color, you'll be captivated by historic covered bridges, multi-tiered waterfalls surrounded by crimson-colored maples, awe-inspiring mountain vistas enveloped in fog, and charming New England villages with colorful storefronts and historic churches.
Along our route, we'll also encounter many opportunities for macro and abstract image-making; Monet-like reflections in a still pond at sunrise, a vibrant birch forest adorned with striking white tree-trunks, and even a junkyard filled with rusty old treasures.
In addition to field instruction, you will experience post-capture classroom lectures, energizing assignments, and supportive image evaluations.
Field instruction emphasizes creative macro, impressionistic, multiple-exposure, high dynamic range (HDR), and artistic architectural photography. Classroom instruction features techniques such as montaging, HDR, Impressionism, and infrared.
Tuition: $1,795 early-bird registration by June 22, 2012. $1,895 after June 22, 2012. A $795 deposit check is due at the time of registration. The remaining balance is due by Sept. 7, 2012.
Accommodations: Town and Country Inn in Gorham, New Hampshire. A block of rooms is reserved at discounted rates ranging from $68 + tax per night (single) to $88 + tax per night (double). To ensure room availability, call 1-800-325-4386 by June 22, 2012 and mention you are with the Charles Needle and Mark S. Johnson Photography workshop.
For more details, click here to download a colorful PDF flyer.
Please contact Charles with any questions.
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Oct. 28 - Nov. 3, 2012
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Autumn transforms California's wine country with the striking pattern of hillsides covered with vineyard rows resplendent in shades of gold and red.
Charles will co-teach this weeklong workshop with Virginia-based acclaimed photographer/instructor, Mary Louise Ravese. Excite your senses with an itinerary that will satisfy your visual and creative interests, your appetite for gourmet cuisine and your thirst for some of the best wines in the world.
Some of the unique shooting opportunities that await you include: exclusive access to private vineyards/wineries, peak fall color when vines are golden and red, private "lifestyle" shoot with a Food Network celebrity-chef stylist, and a private hot-air balloon excursion for stunning aerial photography (optional). This workshop presents a wide variety of rich photographic opportunities, from landscapes and close-ups to architecture, still life, HDR and Impressionistic imagery.
In addition to our time in the field making photographs, throughout the week there will be lectures, assignments and supportive image feedback sessions, so you can improve your picture-making along the way.
Tuition: $1,675 Early Registration by July 13, 2012. $1,775 after July 13, 2012. A $675 deposit check is due at the time of registration. The remaining balance is due by September 28, 2012. Please do not book your airfare until after July 30, 2012.
Accommodations: Holiday Inn Express & Suites - Napa Valley. A block of rooms is reserved at discounted rates ranging from $119 + tax per night (king or 2 queen beds) to $125 + tax per night (queen suite), including breakfast. To ensure room availability, call 1-877-863-4780 by September 1, 2012 and mention you are with the Charles Needle and Mary Louise Ravese photography workshop.
For more details, click here to download a colorful PDF brochure.
Please contact Charles with any questions.
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Besides the workshops scheduled above, Charles also conducts personalized classes and portfolio reviews. See the Instruction Page for details on these programs.
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