These workshops include small, intimate groups of photography enthusiasts. All skill levels are welcome - from amateur to professional. Participants enjoy the comfort of limited size classes based on similar levels of expertise. Individual workshops for one-on-one instruction are also offered. Course features include instructional seminars, West Michigan fieldwork, individual portfolio reviews and exhibits. Along with James Cook, some workshops will be led by visiting internationally distinguished photographers and recognized photographic software experts.
Workshop Details are coming.
We've been busy the past few months with one-on-one tutorial workshops, as well as researching and interviewing potential instructors for our small group workshops. Popular topics for instruction range from composition and lighting to work flow and digital manipulation software techniques.
It's also been a busy summer shooting for us in the Southwest Michigan lakeshore area.
All inquiries are welcome. Please contact us directly for any information and pricing for our workshops.
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Saugatuck Location
The Saugatuck/Douglas area is the perfect location for photographic studies. From the quaint, colorful architecture of the homes and shops, sleek boats in the deep-water marinas, to the breathtaking scenery on sugar-sand beaches bordered by one of the few remaining magnificent, freshwater dunes systems. The dunes also encompass rare, mature, old growth, back-dune coastal forests with quiet sun-dappled, rolling paths. Did I mention the famous, breathtaking, sunsets over Lake Michigan? How can you miss?
Out in the open countryside, nearby farmlands and ranches have picturesque old and new buildings, interesting farm machinery, beautiful horses and farm animals. Both active and abandoned orchards, once a main source of the area's commerce, create photo opportunities.
The Kalamazoo River holds its own photographic lure with bridges, tributaries and breathtaking dawn shots. Michigan is home to a special kind of wetland, unique to our region: Great Lakes Marshes. These wetlands provide breeding grounds for multiple species. Here birds and mammals are busy carrying on their day…. allowing us a glimpse, a chance to capture a moment in their lives. The area's wonderful, well-tended gardens and bountiful nurseries hold a dazzling variety of floral beauty including the areas famous magnolias and azaleas.
Festivals, seasonal celebrations, quaint parades and an abundance of colorful visitors create more opportunity for spectacular images. Add to the palette the daily changes in weather, the unique light and color of four distinct seasons and each and every day offers an opportunity to learn to capture a unique ambience.
Workshop participants can easily commute from points all over Michigan or from Chicago, only two and a half hours away. Gerald Ford International Airport is 45 minutes close with inexpensive, regularly scheduled flights from Chicago, Detroit and more new routes from major cities in the coming months.
You will enjoy staying in one of the many wonderful Bed and Breakfasts or area motels. Rent a fabulous huge, old cottage on Lake Michigan with the whole family and make it a vacation, soaking in even more of the atmosphere! The restaurants are award winning, the local folks unfailingly accepting and hospitable.
Visit: Saugatuck.com a wonderful website for an abundance of online information or request a free "Visitors Guide and Business Directory" with complete listings and maps of the areas lodging, restaurants, art venues and activities. Speaking of photos, some fun, descriptive images of the area can be found on the pages of this site, as well. Take a look!
Come and join us at a Saugatuck Photographic Workshop. Take a few steps back in time to a special place that still engenders that rare feeling, one that seems to be slipping from our lives faster and faster every day. Relax and learn from internationally respected photography and software professionals how to capture and accurately portray those unique moments of life with your own distinctive interpretation.
Some Testimonials:
"Visiting Jim in Saugatuck is a great chance to improve the way that you work and think. I found it very inspirational to be guided through Saugatuck on a personal one day photo-workshop." Andreas Keuchel, Boenen, Germany
"I've been aware of Jim and his involvement with the photography business for twenty years. There is no one out there that understands it better. Spending time with him in the idyllic setting of Saugatuck was well worthwhile." Michael Lichter, Boulder, Colorado