Morning Fall Foliage Photography Classes
November 25 and November 26, 2006
Arizona's
"Fall Foliage Finale" has started! As of Sunday, November 19 (2006)
there are lovely yellow and gold leaves to be seen, photographed or captured
on canvas. Our lovely golden jujubes are past peak and have shed their leaves,
but good yellow color remains in the honey locust trees just past the Eucalyptus
grove (particularly beautiful when backlit in the afternoons from 2-4 p.m.).
Across from the Wing Memorial Herb Garden visitors will find pumpkin-orange
and red foliage in our our famous Chinese Pistachio trees (seen below). Thanksgiving
is usually the true peak for Autumn color here, depending upon the balance
of daylight, temperatures, wind and rainfall. This year good color
should continue into the first week of December before the most vivid leaves
drop.
Both
days Thanksgiving weekend we will offer "How To Shoot Fall Color"
photography classes. The afternoon classes have already filled so informal
"walking tour Autumn photography" morning sessions have been scheduled
both weekend mornings. Spaces are limited and participants must sign up in
advance, but there is no additional fee charged to attend either class --
they are included each day with regular daily Arboretum admission of $7.50
for adults or $3 for ages 5-12 (or at no charge to Arboretum annual members).
And
while Bob Estrin's Saturday afternoon walking tour class has filled, a few
spaces remain for his 1:00 p.m. slideshow and lecture. Seating is limited;
sign up for a seat by calling Bob at 480. 926. 4281 or via email positiveimagestudio@gmail.com
SATURDAY
CLASS
Saturday morning from 9:00
a.m. until noon ArnE Williams will walk the trails and teach participants
how to compose better landscape pictures -- and answer questions specific
to participants' cameras. Williams teaches film and digital photography and
also art classes at Phoenix College. He's also photographer and editor for
the Arizona Informant - a newspaper of 50,000 circulation. ArnE
lives in Tempe with his wife, Augusta, and shoots landscape and nature photography
with a Nikon D200. To Enroll in ArnE's class call 602.692.2172 or else email
azphoto@cox.net
SUNDAY
CLASS
The November 26 Sunday
morning class begins at 8:30 from our visitor center lobby and will be taught
by Gilbert resident Alan Benoit. Participants will accompany Mr. Benoit out
onto the Arboretum grounds to learn some of the finer points of composition
and how to frame a memorable landscape photo, how to set your camera's white
balance for available light, and more techniques. Alan
Benoit is a Gilbert Arizona based photographer who has published work in
over 250 magazines, books and periodicals ranging from Arizona Highways
to National Geographic Traveler. He is a four-time winner of
the NIKON / Outdoor Writers Association of America “great American Outdoors”
landscape photo competition, with work exhibited in the NIKON House Gallery
in Rockefeller Center. He has photographed events from the Olympics in Sydney
to the Argentine National Arabian Horse Show in Buenos Aires. With over 350,000
images in stock, he has one of the largest and most diverse stock photo libraries
in the Southwest. In addition to photography, Mr. Benoit works as a location
specialist with the film industry for movies and commercial advertising. He
is also a longtime member and supporter of the Arboretum - and we appreciate
his volunteer work teaching this class! To enroll in Mr. Benoit's Sunday morning
class call him at 602.526.1800 or else email alanbenoit@thereelwest.com
As mentioned above both of
the weekend afternoon classes have already filled. If you'd like to be on
the waiting list for any sudden vacancies in Bob Estrin's Saturday afternoon
class email Bob at positiveimagestudio@gmail.com
or call Mr. Estrin at 480. 926. 4281
The
Sunday afternoon class taught by Scottsdale
Fine Art Photographer Wilson Wyatt has also filled. If you'd like to be
on the waiting list for any sudden vacancies in Wilson's afternoon class email
wilsonwyatt@selectivefocusart.com
or phone Wilson at his business 480. 945. 0552 or cell phone 480-220-5766.
Come see our Autumn color! Photos on this page were taken during the classes
exactly one year ago, on Thanksgiving Weekend, 2005. The golden foliage hanging
above Queen Creek above and at right was taken by San Diego resident Don Leo,
who participated with the class taught by award-winning
photographer Bob Estrin. This vivid image was taken along Queen Creek
at the East end of the Arboretum, and shows the lovely range of golden and
orange color displayed by an Arizona Ash tree, along with great composition
that includes gray creek boulders and dark, reflective water.
Images above at left and also at right were shared by Christine Burris, who
managed to capture a challenging scene of orange palm fruit clusters and red
pistachio leaves with contrasting colors at the east end of Queen Creek Canyon,
right below the Picketpost House mansion perched 200 feet above on a cliff
of volcanic rock.
This
week and next week is the time to seek our celebrated grove of ornamental
Chinese Pistachios. These can be found at several locations around the gardens.
A few are located above Ayer Lake, a particularly spectacular one is in the
heart of our Demonstration Garden, and the largest concentration of these
is across from the Wing Memorial Herb Garden. Wilson Wyatt took the splendid
image below! Would you like to be on a mailing list for future photography
classes and workshops at the Arboretum? Classes by this Scottsdale fine arts
photographer have been tremendously popular during 2006, and Mr. Wyatt has
volunteered his time to help more than 100 Arizonans who enrolled in his Arboretum
classes improve their photography skills. To learn more email wilsonwyatt@selectivefocusart.comor
or phone Wilson at 480. 220. 5766.
___________________________
Fall Foliage Photography Classes
You
bought a four megapixel digital camera...but have you learned to use it other
than as a glorified point-and-shoot? Do you understand how to set the white
balance for perfect outdoor or interior lighting, and do you practice the
"rule of thirds" in photography? Have you wanted to improve your
ability at composition...and Autumn color in particular? Bob Estrin's photo
of a Arizona Autumn is shown at right.
"For
the class last year I spent part of the morning scouting locations around
the park to check out the main fall color areas, then at 1 p.m. our class
started with a short photography talk. Then we made the experience more hands-on
with students taking their cameras to particular locations," said Estrin.
Estrin
grew up in a Northwest suburb of Chicago and bought his first 35mm camera
in 1971 for a high school photography class. That lead to a Bachelor of Arts
degree in professional photography from Southern Illinois University, and
decades of experience since then.
"Two
of my great passions in life are travel and photography. Though my photography
I seek to document my own personal experiences, to capture scenes and events
as I see them and to share with others the beauty and diversity of the world
I’ve seen. With the beauty of the Southwest all around me, I have recaptured
my passion for photography. Some of my favorite subjects to photograph are
landscapes, road side attractions and documenting ghost towns. While trying
to be true to the objects I record on film, I have the tendency to simultaneously
shape how the image is finally captured using my imagination based on how
the subject moves me. "While I still photograph using film, I have recently
been exploring more into digital photography. The control you have over your
images in the digital age is incredible and only limited by your imagination.
Photography is the medium of choice for my creative expression. I am still
excited about the power and magic of photography and its ability to capture
my own unique selective perception of the moment in a form that I can share
with others," said Estrin.
Fine
art photographer Wilson Wyatt, shown at right, is also an Arizona State Parks
volunteer, and has taught basic photography classes here during 2005 and 2006.
"During the past five years inexpensive, powerful digital cameras put
a fine artist's tool into the hands of consumers... but few people really
know how to use them to take great pictures," says Wyatt, "and that's
my goal with these seasonal classes at the Arboretum - to make these fancy
cameras less of a mystery to their owners, and to share some of the techniques
I have learned that can mean the difference between a snapshot and a photograph.
With the trees changing color at the Arboretum towards the end of November
we have an ideal opportunity for a class specifically about landscapes and
capturing glorious Autumn color."
"I
strive for each photograph to become a unique gift...that it may evoke feelings,
emotions, or perhaps an inspiration in others, as it has within me. Nature
creates a magnificent, constantly changing canvas. Photography, in its most
sincere and humble moment, offers the opportunity to share that with others,"
said Wyatt. "I always begin with traditional light-through-the-lens photography
to capture the essence of the moment."
Wyatt took his first photos at age ten with the encouragement of his father,
a former photojournalist. He loved the magic of his father's darkroom, watching
photos come to life before his eyes. By 12 he had earned darkroom techniques
and family trips to Wyoming and Maryland's Chesapeake Bay inspired his early
landscapes and nature photography. Wyatt mastered the 35-millimeter format
before going digital, creating a specialized market by photographing painters'
works for their personal archives. In his 30s he was selected to work with
Emanuel Renoir and Tracy Penwell, of Rima Fine Art of Scottsdale, to photograph
the sculpture works of Pierre Augusts Renoir. Wyatt photos appear regularly
in Home and Gardens, Architectural Digest and numerous other publications,
either in advertising or to illustrate artist's work in feature articles.
His clients include the Biltmore's Bedazzled gallery and the Old Territorial
Shop, in Scottsdale, as well as photographing famous works for famous fine
art auctioneers Sotheby's and Christy's. His own photography been juried into
art shows from Beverly Hills to New York, appearing often at exhibitions in
Scottsdale where he lives and elsewhere in Arizona.
WHAT: Photography Walking Tour Workshops with ArnE Williams November 25 and Alan Benoit November 26
WHEN: Class begins at 9:00 a.m. November 25, then at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, November 26
WHERE: Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, near highway 60 milepost #223 as you approach the historic copper mining town of Superior. A 45-minute drive due East of Mesa on highway 60, or 90 minutes north of Tucson via highways 79 North past Florence to Highway 60.
HOW MUCH: Each day's class is limited and pre-registration is required, but there is no additional fee to participate. $7.50 adult admission includes our classes ($3 for ages 5-12). Bring your camera for a morning of one-on-one instruction. To sign up for the Saturday class with ArnE call 602.692.2172 or else email azphoto@cox.net. Reserve a spot with Alan Benoit and the Sunday morning class; call him at 602.526.1800 or else email alanbenoit@thereelwest.com