An exclusive invitation to a place I love

My family and I love autumn weekends in the pastoral farm country of New York’s Western Catskill Mountains. I fell in love with this part of the country at Anne’s family home one Thanksgiving when I first met Anne—and after visiting frequently throughout our twenty years living in Philadelphia, we moved our family here permanently in 2019. I am now delighted to call the Catskills home.

So many of my favorite photographs that you’ve seen me post are from this gorgeous area. All the seasons are so beautiful here and I’ve loved photographing every one. But when we chose a date for our wedding, it had to be autumn. The Catskills are famous for their stunning fall foliage.

So we couldn’t have felt luckier to discover a perfect location for a photography workshop there, high on a hill with gorgeous vistas, rolling meadows, multiple ponds, a cozy farmhouse and spectacular old barn.

We’re excited to invite you to join us in this idyllic spot—at this perfect time—for a truly special experience… a classic autumn country getaway (picture it: crisp air, golden fields, jewel-toned leaves, apple trees, farmers markets, pumpkin patches, seasonal meals from local harvests) combined with an intimate, intensive, personalized, hands-on photography workshop. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn from my lifetime of shooting photographs, while visiting one of our country’s notable vacation areas.

You’ll be inspired, be challenged, photograph, eat, play, relax, explore, grow, bond and, I predict, above all else, be absolutely thrilled with how it will change your photography.

You’ll gain the skills and confidence to take control of your camera. You’ll enjoy a memorable getaway and return home with those memories beautifully captured in the kind of photographs you’ve always dreamed of shooting. The kind that you’ll now be comfortable shooting consistently – photographs that will enrich your life and the lives of those you love and those you photograph.

MORGAN POND FARM

Head up the shady dirt road about a mile, enjoying the glowing golds and reds of turning leaves. Go slowly. You don’t want to miss spotting a deer or wild turkey or pea hen or a sleepy possum. The road deadends at the top of the hill, with a classic farmhouse on the left and a historic 1880s barn on the right. 

It’s a 200 acre photographic playground classic farmhouse and historic barn against a backdrop of autumn colors, waving grasses and wildflowers, crystal clear ponds, and scenic trails throughout the fields and woods.

We’ll also shoot in various locations around surrounding towns, on nearby farms, and scenic local spots including historic covered bridges, classic red barns, Catskills landscapes, grazing livestock, pumpkin fields, farmers markets, and plenty of rural Americana.

And of course we’ll do our best—with luck from Mother Nature!—to show you the optimum spots for viewing and photographing the fall foliage that has made this region famous.

Click through the photos below to get a feel for the place!

Here’s What You Get:

A three-day, three-night immersive photography workshop in the farm country of beautiful Delaware County, NY—at or near the peak foliage season.

We’ll kick off the event with a welcome dinner and introductory photo slideshow and discussion on Tuesday evening.  Take advantage of your Free Bonus Session by coming early on Tuesday for your personalized, one-on-one camera settings checkup with Nick.  The first 6 people to register will be guaranteed an individual session, and other sessions will be “first come, first served” (individual or small group by camera brand) as time allows.

We’ll then spend the next days diving into lessons, assignments, photo shoots, reviews/critiques and editing. As always with photography, we’ll be working on mastering or reviewing your camera settings, lighting, composition, and many other specialized techniques and general tips. We’ll shoot in various locations around the property and nearby farms, and a variety of scenic local spots which could include animals, people, barns, machinery, birds, flowers, landscapes and plenty of rural Americana.

Our schedule will include both lessons/discussions and in-the-field training.  We’re going to do our best to find optimum spots in the vicinity—not to mention optimum time of day and light conditions (calling all earlybirds!)—for viewing and photographing the fall foliage that has made this region famous.  We’ll build in flexibility to adjust for whatever current weather, lighting and foliage conditions the weekend brings.

Oh, and of course, we’ll give you some free time to hang out, relax, and avail yourself of all the property offers.

You’ll leave refreshed and re-energized, full of delicious local harvest meals; with deeper photographic knowledge and skills; wonderful new photo-friends, a collection of photographs you’ll be proud of, and the confidence, creativity and control of your camera to consistently capture the photos you’ve always dreamed of shooting.

My Fall Foliage Photography Workshop is a magical three-day event that will:

• Give you the confidence and skills to control your camera creatively in the daily situations that make for great photographs. 
• Improve your understanding of various lighting situations and techniques, ability to expose photographs properly, compositional thinking, storytelling tactics and your post-processing and editing skills.
• Establish new ways of thinking about your photography and the way you take pictures. It will help you not just relax but empower you…and it all shows up in your pictures. 
• Make you aware of just what makes photographs that work…and photographs that don’t. You’ll be guided by me and enjoy the support and feedback from a diverse group of photographers who share your passion.
• Give you a heart, head, and photo album filled with wonderful memories of a unique autumn rural experience shared with what are surely to become lifetime friends. This is guaranteed to be unforgettable. 

PRE- WORKSHOP PREPARATION

Before the workshop begins you’ll be asked to upload a set of ten photographs to give us a sense of who you are and where you are in your photographic journey. It could be a picture of your family and then your photographic greatest hits and/or mistakes! I’ll review these with you in a private consultation call before the workshop and then we’ll share them with the group in our opening night presentation, as we get to know each other and all share our photographic achievements, challenges, and goals.

MASTERING MANUAL MODE

We welcome a diversity of experience and skill levels among attendees. I know that we’ll have students attending this workshop who could probably teach significant portions of it. On the other hand, we’ll have people with expensive cameras who lack the understanding of how to take full advantage of all the bells and whistles.

To level the playing field, I want to make sure that all attendees are relatively comfortable with their camera settings before we get to Wednesday morning.  If anyone who’s attending wants to get on the phone with me before the weekend, I will be happy to walk you through your settings.

You’ll be asked to watch (or review) my 60-minute “F-stops, Shutter Speeds, and ISO Made Easy” training in advance of the workshop.

Also, I will be available on location during the day on Tuesday, October 10th, for anyone who wants to be among the first to arrive so that I can sit down one-on-one with you to demystify your camera settings. A basic knowledge of the exposure triangle and a rough understanding of how to take a light reading is going to go a long way here. Time for these one-on-one sessions is limited, so register and arrive early to take advantage of this bonus.

On the other hand, for some students, coming to grips with their cameras settings over the course of the workshop may be the huge personal milestone they’ve been dreaming of. It’s all good, believe me. My point is this: I want to help you before the workshop really gets going so we can maximize our time shooting photographs and telling stories.

STORYTELLING

We shoot photographs to tell stories so we will spend time addressing this all important topic.

We’ll talk about the how to tell a story in a single image and how to shoot a collection of images that tell a story.

We’ll focus on shooting photographs during this workshop that tell stories in a personal way…your way. I want you to go home with a set of pictures that was taken by a specific personality—you. That’s, after all, what good storytelling is all about; it’s the way the story is told and not the story itself.

I want your pictures to say something about how you feel about the world and the people you’re with. That attitude is going to result in the very best family photos when you get home.

And we’ll discuss the difficult but necessary task of choosing which images to keep and which to delete. We’ll discuss how cropping, editing, and converting to black and white (or not) can enhance your photos and the storyline.

Storytelling with a camera is an art and you will not leave the workshop having mastered it, believe me. But your ability to be a visual communicator will grow and flourish.

Essentially, we’re all going to photograph the same barns, trees, landscapes, people and views but, as all great storytellers know, the story is in the telling.  This is a profound lesson to learn as a photographer. 

It’s not about being self-centered, it’s actually the opposite. It’s about sharing your vision with the world. It’s what we photographers do.

FOLLOW UP VIDEO AND VIDEO RECORDING

A couple of weeks or so after the workshop we’ll have a followup session via webinar for a final overview of the experience, review of your photos and editing lessons.

You’ll be asked to evaluate and edit your collection of photographs during the week following the workshop and submit a sample of them for my review with the group. We’ll discuss content, technique, composition, and storytelling and I’ll demonstrate editing techniques in Lightroom.

You’ll receive a recording of this session to download for review as needed—and as a keepsake of the group’s greatest hits and our shared experiences together during this memorable workshop.

 Your Farmhouse Accommodations
(just picture it in autumn colors!)

You’ll experience a relaxing country getaway in a special location that’s most consistently described by guests as “magical.”

Depending on the size of the group and attendee preferences, guests can stay in the farmhouse on the property, additional rustic cabins on the property, or nearby inn, motel or airbnbs if greater privacy and amenities are preferred.

Family style breakfasts are included, as well as our Welcome Dinner on Tuesday evening and Farewell Brunch on the last day. You’ll enjoy homegrown and healthily cooked meals made as much as possible from fresh, local, organic ingredients. (Remaining meals will be shared in local restaurants, at your own expense.)