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September/October 2009: Adirondack Photography Institute |
Adirondack Photography Institute
Bringing the natural world into sharp focus
By Lynn Woods
Photographs by (clockwise from left) Dina Bluemel,
Danielle Kennedy and Kathy Santos
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It was shortly after dawn, and Buttermilk Falls was shrouded in mist. A dozen of us clutching tripods scampered over boulders, some stopping to contemplate the dark water as it slithered over stones, others standing downstream within arm's length of the thundering cascade. One woman braced herself against a ledge where the ground was carpeted with needles, aiming her camera at an elfin staircase of sinewy roots.
It was the second morning of a summer weekend workshop, sponsored by the Adirondack Photography Institute (API), and a pleasant camaraderie had developed among the participants. We had traded tips and life stories over meals and bonded in the collective challenge of rising before dawn. But amid the roar of rushing water, there was no talking, no interaction: the assignment by instructor John Radigan, an accomplished nature photographer and the institute's founder, was to be alone in the moment, immersed in the sensations of vision, sound and texture. We were in search of intimate images—photographs that would embody our experience and emotions at the falls, rather than simply document a place.
"Nature is expressing itself to you. You have to take it in, filter it, act on it, and then make an image," Radigan had told us the previous day. We needed "to see with the eyes of a child." Proving this was no mere cliché, he showed us photos his five-year-old niece had taken of her family. Each snapshot expressed what was meaningful to the little girl—her mother's energy, her father's calmness. In a closeup of her sister sleeping, she had conveyed the intimacy of that moment. The ability to respond unselfconsciously and express our essential nature often gets blocked in adults, Radigan explained. The workshop was designed to help restore our sense of wonder.
By eight a.m. sunlight was penetrating the far bank of the river, and the magic hour—the time at dawn or dusk when light is at its best—was over. The group piled into cars for the drive back to the Woods Inn, a restored Victorian hotel in Inlet. Later that afternoon, in the pine-paneled conference center, Radigan asked what we had learned.
"I wanted to capture the interrelationship of the mist with the trees, but I couldn't make the forms come through," said Carl. "The mist is moving very quickly and you have to wait until eventually it lightens up," responded Radigan, adding that mist and water are best captured at different shutter speeds.
"I stayed in one spot and spent more time with my camera. I found myself going from a larger view to a closer view and ended up focusing on a tiny falls," said Peter. Radigan nodded and said, "I want you to look and try something different. Start eliminating choices and learn how to use your tool."
Jeannie agreed. "It was good to slow down. I was drawn to the tranquil part of the river, which was unusual for me." Others said they had experimented with a technical aspect, such as using a polarizing filter or lowering the ISO setting (the camera's sensitivity to light).
We were an eclectic bunch. A group of women friends had driven all the way from Cleveland, inspired by a workshop Radigan had given there. This was their first visit to the Adirondacks. A woman from Florida, who was transitioning into a career in photography, also had never been in the park. Three of the guys—an advertising art director from Philadelphia, an attorney from Essex County and a software designer based in New Jersey—had met at an API workshop the previous fall. A retired psychiatrist who owned a summer camp nearby and this reporter rounded out the group.
We had met Friday night over dinner at the inn, afterwards wandering out to the front lawn to shoot the sunset over Fourth Lake. For the next two days we followed a routine: a sunrise shoot, then a presentation by Radigan, lunch, time out to edit the images taken that morning and relax, an afternoon presentation and a review of participants' selections. The day concluded with dinner and a shoot at dusk. Nature cooperated in unexpected ways: while we were at Raquette Lake the first morning two loons glided up to the highway bridge, resulting in some stunning closeup shots.
Many photos from Buttermilk Falls were abstract, capturing nuances of texture, form and light that concentrated or juxtaposed the essences of moving water, mist and rock. Radigan discussed technical challenges that still had to be resolved—how a washed-out highlight could be avoided with the camera's overexposure-alert feature or the importance of focusing the foreground elements in a scene with a lot of depth of field.
Many participants were accomplished photographers; only two had never taken a photo workshop. But all shots were given equal attention, and Radigan encouraged the group to suggest ways each could be improved. The atmosphere was supportive, which served in the end to elevate everyone's efforts.
The minimum equipment required was a single-lens-reflex camera and a good tripod. More experienced shutterbugs experimented with other gear, such as macro and wide-angle lenses and polarizing filters. While Radigan stressed that making an intimate image is only partly dependent on technical expertise, much of the workshop was focused on techniques for digital cameras. In the field and in the presentations, he encouraged us to get in close to our subjects and slow down, be deliberate in our efforts.
Radigan also covered the fundamentals of composition—among them the importance of eliminating distracting elements, keeping horizons level (a common problem with lake photographs) and drawing more attention to a subject by placing it off-center. During the in-class reviews, he showed how to manipulate the image using software such as Adobe Lightroom or PhotoShop.
Radigan's own work—which he has exhibited widely and sells in limited-edition prints—was a model of what could be achieved with patience and technical mastery. Outstanding examples were an autumn scene photographed through a smudged windshield and a jewel-like stone embedded in a stream. The latter had been taken on a drizzly day—the bane of vacationers but a photographer's delight, with its low, diffuse light.
Currently employed as a software engineering manager, Radigan, who is 50, launched the institute in 2004, motivated by his love of the Adirondacks and a desire to instill that same inspiration in others. He hopes to support himself with it and live full time in the park, which he first visited as a kid on vacations to Seventh Lake in the 1970s. In the meantime, he runs the institute from his home in Cleveland and during his stints in the Adirondacks, assisted by two employees. Having invested much of his own money in the institute, Radigan is pursuing sponsorship from the photo industry to help grow the for-profit company.
The institute has hosted about 30 workshops, starting with a single program the first year and now counting more than a dozen a year. Most of the attendees are retired professionals and people in their 50s. Radigan teaches several sessions himself and selects top nature photographers for others.
He views the Adirondacks as utterly unique from a photographer's perspective, offering not just thousands of acres of wilderness and abundant lakes and waterways but also relatively easy public access. Within a half-hour's drive of the Woods Inn are an astounding variety of settings—lakes, waterfalls, slow-moving rivers, bogs, mountains. The all-inclusive venue of the Woods Inn is another fortuitous ingredient, providing the conference center, meals and comfortable lodging, not to mention sunset views over Fourth Lake.
A few of the workshops have been based in Piseco, at the Irondequoit Inn, or in nearby Eagle Bay, at the Big Moose Inn. Radigan said the institute has also hosted events in West Virginia, Vermont and Virginia. However, "our plan is to focus on the Adirondacks, with an event or two each year in other places just to keep things interesting," he said.
I was the least experienced photographer in our group, but got hooked. Radigan's presentations, the creativity exhibited in his own and others' work and everyone's comments helped me develop a better eye and an appreciation for the possibilities in nature photography.
Best of all, the workshop freshened my awareness of surroundings I'd come to take for granted. Driving past Blue Mountain Lake in the rain the evening after the workshop ended, the gloomy clouds suddenly broke to reveal a dazzling, purplish sun. It was late and I had many miles to go, but I stopped the car and pulled out my camera.
Fall 2009 Workshops
September 17–20: Capturing the Essence with Nancy Rotenberg. Woods Inn, Inlet.
September 24–27: Fall in the Mountains with Carl Heilman II. Trail's End Inn, Keene Valley.
September 24–27: Forever Wild: The Adirondacks with David Middleton. Woods Inn, Inlet.
September 24–27: Fall Color Tour with Mark Bowie. Best Western Mountain Lake Inn, Saranac Lake.
October 1–4:Adirondack Fall Photo Weekend with Mark Bowie and John Radigan. Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake.
October 1–4:Dream-Believe-Create with John Barclay. Woods Inn, Inlet.
October 2–4:Fall Color Tour with Gary Lee. Throughout Inlet.
October 8–11:The Nature of Possibility with John Radigan. Woods Inn, Inlet.
Advance registration is required for all sessions. Call (216) 531-2155 or visit www.adkpi.org for details.
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