Overview

The Potomac Highlands region of West Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains is one of the most scenic areas of the central Appalachians, at its best when brilliant autumn colors adorn the landscape. We invite you to join us for this exciting photo workshop, timed to operate during the peak of fall foliage among mountains densely covered in red maple, yellow birch, black cherry, spruce, and eastern hemlock trees. Color is everywhere at this time of year, framing the five-story waterfall and blowing in the mountain breezes.

In addition to visiting the iconic Blackwater Falls itself, we will take advantage of the seasonal conditions in the surrounding mountain and valley landscapes, including excursions to Dolly Sods Wilderness and Canaan Valley, the highest large valley east of the Mississippi.

Lead instructor Justin Black will be joined by a very special co-instructor: landscape photographer and master printmaker Rich Seiling, who has been at the cutting edge of fine art digital printing since the late 1990s. Rich was once a curator at Yosemite’s Ansel Adams Gallery, and his printmaking clients have included luminaries such a Robert Glenn Ketchum, Galen Rowell, and Jack Dykinga. Both have photographed extensively in the area, and are very familiar with an array of potential locations. Working one-on-one with participants, Justin and Rich aim to improve your photographic vision and composition skills, understanding of how to use changing qualities of light and weather to your advantage, and ability to effectively control exposure. In addition to lots of photography in the field, your instructors will provide feedback in two constructive group critique sessions. They will also focus on composition and creative techniques, and fundamental workflow for digital printmaking. Rich will have a high-quality fine art inkjet printer on location to make prints for each participant.

Field sessions begin the evening of the first day. Thereafter, we plan to be out to photograph first light and evening light each day. During mid-day hours, Justin and Rich will make presentations on learning to see, and maximizing image potential through effective post-processing. Friday morning will be the final field session, followed by critique until we adjourn at 3:00 pm.

Scheduled during mid-week to avoid weekend tourist traffic, our base of operations will be Canaan Valley Resort, located in the highest sizable valley east of the Mississippi River, a large wildlife refuge, numerous botanical communities, and extensive wetlands that provide an array of photographic possibilities, including vegetation frosted by morning fog. We will also venture out to Dolly Sods, a U.S. Wilderness Area with sweeping vistas, wild blueberry bushes in crimson autumn color, rock carved by wind and ice, and spruce-edged sphagnum bogs.

The class size is limited to a small group of ten to ensure that everyone gets the time and attention they need, both in the field and the classroom. We supply materials in advance of the session regarding digital camera set-up and techniques, equipment recommendations, and other guidelines to ensure that everyone is ready to make the most of the experience.

Note: Visionary Wild, LLC operates this workshop under a single-use permit issued by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.