Photography Workshop! September 20, at Dawes Arboretum

 I am flattered that people regularly ask me if I give photography workshops, which I only rarely do. Then when one looms on the horizon, I almost forget to plug it!

On Saturday, September 20 from 9 am till noon at Dawes Arboretum near Newark, Ohio, I'll be instructing on the art and science of plant photography, which of course includes many elements of macro photography. The first hour will be indoors, where I will present a PowerPoint - full of imagery, naturally - about shooting plants, and the animals that occur with them. Plant photography can be trickier than it might appear on its face, and I'll discuss various strategies of composition, apertures and bokeh, the use of flash, etc.

Following that, we'll head out onto the grounds near the Red Barn, which is a wilder part of the arboretum. Subjects will abound, and I am hopeful that we can locate goodies such as Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii). There will be lots of showy fall flora such as goldenrods and asters, and many pleasing autumnal scenes. I'd be highly surprised if we don't come across some really cool bugs as well, such as ambush bugs lurking in flowers or owlet caterpillars munching on goldenrods.

By the way, lest you fear missing an OSU Buckeyes game, there is no game on this Saturday.

I'd love to see you there, and JUST CLICK HERE to register.

Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii), a species that I am hopeful that we can drum up.

There will be a number of aster species in full flower to work with. This one is Shale-barrens Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), which doesn't occur natively at Dawes, but is commonly grown and present on the grounds.

Interesting bugs abound this time of year, and perhaps we'll encounter a Brown-hooded Owlet caterpillar like this one. It eats asters and goldenrods.