2008

This workshop is currently full.

We invite you to come and explore the enchanting Aran Islands, described as “Ireland raised to the power of two.” Located just off the coast of western Ireland, about 30 miles from Galway, the Aran Islands—Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer are places of great peace and tranquility where you can touch the past and the spirit of Gaelic Ireland.

How do we expand the boundaries of our vision? How do we find the unique in the commonplace? How do we acknowledge a sense of familiarity and connection in the unfamiliar? This workshop provides a unique opportunity to rethink our expectations of what it means to 'see'. We will work on cultivating simplicity and making more powerful photographs, supporting the notion that a photograph is not 'taken' but made. The maker needs only to be aware, open and responsive to the possibilities of the present moment.

Revitalize your photography while exploring your relationship to your subject, your camera and yourself. Through photo exercises, assignments and daily field trips participants will learn to deepen their visual awareness while clarifying their approach, making their image making both more personal and more meaningful.

How do we expand the boundaries of our vision? How do we find the unique in the commonplace? How to acknowledge a sense of familiarity and connection in the unfamiliar? Zen and the Art of Photography provides a unique opportunity to rethink our expectations of what it means to 'see'. Since the beginning of photography's history, there are many misconceptions about what human tools are necessary (if any) to create a (powerful image) photograph. This course steers as far from center as possible in supporting the notion that a photograph is not 'taken' but made. And the maker needs to be present, open and responsive to the moment. (Only this combination will produce a powerful image.)

2009

This workshop is a unique opportunity to look closely at your own creativity, develop ways to deepen your vision and find new paths or creative outlets for your photography. With a smaller than normal maximum class size (8) we will explore the notion of what it means to be lost, directionless or stuck, and how this fertile ground can be used to explore who you are as an artist and reawaken what your artwork is about and how you can use the new information to move your art or career forward.

This is not your parents Hawaii. This is an incredible journey to the old authentic and indigenous Hawaii and not the pre-packaged tourist version. Even if you've been to Honolulu and Waikiki on the Island of Oahu please join us because you have not seen or experienced anything close to this Hawaii. Some of the highlights will be a trip to the lava flow on the island's active volcano, shoots on black sand beaches, spectacular waterfalls, Akiko's sense of humor and infectious laugh, wandering through old plantation villages, Buddhist temples, ancient stone spiritual grounds and meeting and hanging out with with some of the islands many artists and photographers. But the best of all are the people of Big Island, who still embrace and live the "Aloha Spirit" of old Hawaii. This is a trip you will not forget and will exceed all expectations of what Hawaii is really like.

This is a unique opportunity to look closely at your own work, develop ways to deepen your vision and find new paths or creative outlets for your photography. We will explore the notion of what it means to be stuck, and how this fertile ground can be used to explore who you are as an artist and reawaken what your artwork is about and how you can use the new information to move your art or career forward.

Join us for an unforgettable journey to the heart of Indonesia. Bali is an island of artists and is the only Hindu island in the Muslim chain of islands that make up Indonesia. We will visit Temples, small villages and the rural countryside. We will also have the opportunity to attend ceremonies held near Bali’s artist’s capital of Ubud, where we will be staying in a beautiful Yoga Retreat surrounded by lush gardens and fragrant exotic flowers. We will have optional yoga in the mornings and daily field trips to photograph the beautiful people, culture, rituals and architectural gems that make Bali one of the most beautiful and mysterious places on earth. On this trip we will try and slow down and tune in to the rhythm of the people and place that make this island so unique rather than rushing around to ‘see everything’. This will truly be a once in a lifetime experience.

We will meet in Interior, South Dakota, for a five-day workshop in and around the Badlands National Park. This remote, sacred region with its sculpted soil, sweeping vistas and extraordinary light is an ideal dramatic background for figurative image making. We will work collaboratively with our models to connect this sacred land to our own individual vision. We will also work on maximizing light potential, using exposure as a creative control and how to use available light more effectively to create more powerful images with mood and personal style.

This is not about making ‘pretty’ pictures or ‘postcard’ like records of one’s travels. It is about making a deeper, more authentic, connection to the land and learning to express that connection in our photography. We will be using the island, water and ourselves to convey an emotional experience into a visual one. It will be about making, not taking, photographs that matter from nourishing a deepening connection to one's heart and bringing that awareness into our photo making process. We will work on giving our photos more layers of meaning to make stronger, more powerful images.

We invite you to the mysterious, exotic Mayan world of Guatemala, a land where the indigenous live as they have for centuries. The colonial city of Antigua, the artistic center of Guatemala, will be our home base and a lovely, cultural introduction to outdoor markets, music, food, local villages and friends. We'll spend a few days exploring small towns around majestic Lake Atitlan, near Panajachel, which Lonely Planet hails as “the most beautiful lake in the world”.

Other opportunities

Custom workshops can be created and held at our TRADE RIVER RETREAT CENTER located north of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, a relaxing 90 minute drive from the Twin Cities. This beautiful, very private, north woods setting rests on the banks of the Trade River, a designated protected waterway. The grounds are kept in a natural state, and the workshop center itself has been built not only for maximum energy efficiency, but also with much care in providing a safe, non-toxic, all natural environment.