How can you bring your garden photography to the next level? Is it by learning to harness light, focus, motion, and composition to push your aesthetic vision? Or by taking a fine-art approach, using metaphor, story, gesture, and emotion to create meaning? The answer is yes and yes!
This three-week online workshop led by fine-art photographer Lev L. Spiro begins with an overview of the history of garden photography, after which we discover untried ways to explore light, perspective, focus, and motion. We then embark on a new and exciting set of challenges: recognizing and employing gesture, creating mood and emotion, working with metaphor, and engaging the power of narrative.
Along the way, we learn about conceptual and intuitive approaches to photography and how to benefit from each; and we are inspired by Lev’s presentations on contemporary photographers of the genre. Lev gently encourages you to experiment, embrace mistakes and learn from them, and expand your photographic and artistic vocabulary.
With each assignment, Lev address topics including how to work a subject, conceive of composition, and see the world around us with fresh eyes – all designed to change the way you create images of the natural world in your backyard, and beyond.
Whether you want to create botanical fine-art pieces or simply make your garden images more unusual, compelling, and delightful, Lev presents you with the tools to move beyond simple representation of a subject so that your work truly embodies artistic and creative vision. Your garden photography may never be the same!
Working knowledge of digital workflow and manual mode on your digital SLR or mirrorless camera. Participants must be able to download and select images using image editing software for class sessions.
Class will meet 12:30 – 2:30 pm (Mountain Time) on Tuesdays and Fridays starting May 7 and ending May 24 (six online group sessions). Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
Zoom Video Conferencing software (available for no charge from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. Further details will be emailed to registrants.
Santa Fe Workshops always aims to produce a high-quality experience for our online attendees. That said, variables including regional and local internet provider speeds, traffic on Zoom's servers, and your own computing hardware can contribute to a less than ideal streaming event. While we do our best to minimize the impact of these variables, they are outside the control of Santa Fe Workshops.
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
For the convenience of participants, recordings of each class session are posted privately for one month after the end of each session. Santa Fe Workshops takes the recordings down after one month to protect the intellectual property of our instructors.
Lev L. Spiro is a fine art photographer and award-winning filmmaker with more than 40 years experience creating film and photography and guiding and eliciting creative work from other artists.
His photographic work has been juried into more than 55 exhibitions, including Davis Orton Gallery, Southeast Center for Photography, Ph21 Gallery, A. Smith Gallery, Midwest Center for Photography, and Praxis Gallery, as well as featured in publications including What Will You Remember?, Dodho Magazine, Art Ascent Magazine (Gold Artist, June 2021; Silver Artist, July 2023), Shadow & Light Magazine, All About Photo, and Black + White UK.
Lev is also well known for his work directing over 160 television episodes, pilots, and features, including series such as Orange is the New Black, Modern Family, Weeds, and Arrested Development. He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and two dogs, who often accompany him and make helpful suggestions as he creates images.
Website: levlspiro.com
Instagram: @llspiro
