Summer is moving along all too quickly. My workshop at the Chicago Botanical Garden went very well and I had a chance to explore some beautiful private gardens in the Chicago area. The photography workshop aboard a Travel Dynamics International (TDI) cruise on the Great Lakes got me to some places I had never seen and introduced me some avid photographers on that trip. I will post some of my images later this summer because I am about to leave on another TDI cruise to the Black Sea.

Before I go, I want to alert you to some of the photo workshops I will be doing when I get back. There are two very special summer workshops – one at the pre-eminent gardens of Chanticleer in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and the glorious and unusual Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. You’re in for a treat!

After that, it will be a delight to be outdoors at a cooler time of year marveling at the fabulous colors of fall foliage around the region. I’ll be following the changing colors, offering workshops to help you capture the beauty of the fall in New York, Delaware, Texas and Kentucky. Come along and bring your camera for some eye-popping results!

Take a look at what’s coming up; then read the posts below for registration information. I hope you find something that sparks your interest. If you have additional questions, e-mail me at allen@allenrokach.com – but I may not be able to reply until I am back on dry land.

August 8-18: A 12-day photography workshop aboard an exotic Travel Dynamics International cruise: To the Crossroads of Europe & Asia: A Voyage from Istanbul to the Black Sea, the Meeting Place of East and West.

August 27-29: Summer Garden Photography Weekend Workshop at Chanticleer: A Pleasure Garden near Philadelphia, PA.

September 3-5: Mastering the Art of Flower and Garden Photography, an intensive weekend workshop at The Coastal Maine Botanical Garden in Boothbay, Maine.

September 27: I will make a presentation on 30 Ways to Look at a Flower for The Orlando Camera Club, which invited me to be the featured speaker at their annual banquet. For more information go to: http://www.orlandocameraclub.com/meeting_info.htm

October 17 & 20: On Oct. 17, I will offer a one-day field workshop, Fall Foliage at the New York Botanical Garden, for Workshops@Adorama, the huge camera and electronics supply store on 18th St. in Manhattan. The workshop includes a review session on October 20.

October 22-24: For the first time, I will give a fall photo workshop at Winterthur. Fiery Color: Fall Foliage Photography Workshop includes a Friday evening illustrated lecture that’s open to the public followed by two days photographing on the grounds of this magnificent garden estate.

October 29-31: I am returning to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden to offer a Digital Fall Foliage Weekend Workshop. It will start with a Friday evening illustrated lecture that’s open to the public followed by two days exploring and photographing the beautiful gardens of the Dallas Arboretum at the peak of color.

November 5-7: For the first time, I will be holding a photography workshop at the Bernheim Arboretum in Kentucky. This landmark location was featured in a book I photographed, “Gardens of the Heartland” and I am thrilled to be back to share my enthusiasm with students. Join me for Bernheim Ablaze: Mastering Fall Landscape Photography.

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This is a rare chance to extend your photographic skills while aboard an exotic 12-day cruise: To the Crossroads of Europe & Asia: A Voyage from Istanbul to the Black Sea, the Meeting Place of East and West. Our cruise begins in Istanbul, continues along the Black Sea coast and explores the fascinating but rarely visited Sea of Azov, a large inland sea at the mouth of Russia’s Don River. We will be sailing on the Corinthian II, a luxurious small cruise ship that will be making daily stops at famous historic sites and destinations of glorious natural beauty in Turkey, Crimea, Ukraine, Russia and beyond. I will be offering a series of photography-related lectures on the key elements of travel photography and instruction to help you create memorable photographs of your voyage using your digital camera.

For more information, go to the Travel Dynamics website.

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I will be at Chanticleer: A Pleasure Garden to offer a Friday evening lecture on The Joy of Photographing Flowers followed on Saturday and Sunday by a two-day workshop on Flower & Garden Photography. The lecture presentation will take you on a visual journey that begins with my early attempts at flower photography and will trace the path I traveled learning the craft necessary to create dramatic floral close-ups. During the intensive two-day workshop, we will enhance our photographic skills by exploring the variety of flower beds, water gardens, woodlands and other world-class settings at Chanticleer at the peak of summer. Through lectures, field sessions and review sessions, you will receive in-depth instruction on making the best use of natural light throughout the day; mastering floral close-ups; portraying flowers in their garden setting, including the lotus water gardens; and understanding the technical potential of digital cameras and after- capture techniques for achieving creative outcomes.

For more information, go to the Chanticleer Garden website or contact Anne Sims, aws@chanticleergarden.org.

Click here to view some of my images of Chanticleer.

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I will be at The Coastal Maine Botanical Garden to offer a Friday evening lecture on The Power of Natural Light followed on Saturday and Sunday by a two-day workshop on Mastering the Art of Flower and Garden Photography. The lecture presentation will explore the many qualities of light that photographers encounter and how to make the most of every kind of light. The intensive two-day workshop will take advantage of the amazing photographic opportunities at The Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. We will enhance our photographic skills by exploring the stunning ornamental gardens plus some of the miles of trails that allow us to experience Maine’s exceptional natural beauty, complete with waterfalls, pristine woodlands and incomparable coastal vistas. We will also have access to quaint waterfront towns and classic stonework that are quintessentially Maine. Through lectures, field sessions and review sessions, you will receive in-depth instruction on making the best use of natural light throughout the day; mastering floral close-ups; portraying flowers in their garden or natural setting; and understanding the technical potential of digital cameras and after- capture techniques for achieving creative outcomes.

For more information go to the Maine Gardens website:

• The Power of Natural Light
• Mastering the Art of Flower and Garden Photography

You don’t have to travel to Vermont to photograph brilliant fall foliage. You can find spectacular color right here at the amazing New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), with its fiery oranges, reds, yellows and magentas. The challenge is working with your digital camera—getting the right exposure, color saturation, and rendition– to capture the splendor of the fall landscape. He will provide hands-on demonstrations and on-location personalized instruction emphasizing how to create glowing color in every kind of light throughout the day, by understanding exposure compensation, white balance, ISO settings, and the use of filters.

For details and to register go to: http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=ws_SignUp&sid=1280856553614951

Timed for the peak fall colors of Winterthur’s landscape, this intensive weekend workshop is designed for intermediate photographers and beginners with basic knowledge. Through lectures, field sessions, review critiques, and individual consultations, you will learn many digital camera techniques and creative approaches to help capture the beauty of nature in dramatic images of fall color. For details and to register go to:

http://www.winterthur.org/calendar/calendar.asp?Month=10&Year=2010

In this two-day intensive workshop targeting advanced beginner to serious photographers, we will explore and capture the beautiful gardens and landscape of the Dallas Arboretum at the peak of autumn color. Through lectures, field sessions, review critiques and individual consultations, you will stretch your photographic skills, understand your digital camera better, and learn approaches to light, composition, exposure etc. that will enable you to create dramatic outdoor photographs that make viewers take notice and leave a lasting impression. For details and to register go to:

http://www.dallasarboretum.org/Learn/Photography.html

In Kentucky’s most beautiful fall landscape, this two-day intensive workshop targets advanced beginner and all serious photographers who want to learn digital camera techniques to capture the essence of nature at the peak of color. Through lectures, field sessions, review critiques and individual consultations, this workshop will take you from identifying the vision in your mind’s eye to realizing that vision with your digital camera to after-capture techniques that can improve your final image. For details and to register go to:

http://www.bernheim.org/bernheimAblaze.html