Wanderlust: The Art of Travel Photography - John C Campbell Folk School Photography Workshop

From November 12th through November 17th, I will be teaching a travel photography workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  I'm looking forward to coming back to teach at this very special place again.  The class is called "Wanderlust: The Art of Travel Photography" & its going to be so much fun teaching it!

The folk school interviewed me a few weeks ago, so that potential students and others could learn more about me as a photographer & and what to expect in class. They featured me on their blog along with a Q&A and several of my travel photographs. I've been meaning to share this all of September and here it is the 27th of the month already! You may read it here.

Its not too late to sign up for this class! And please by all means, if you know of anyone who may want to take it please share this with them.  The ideal student is an intermediate photographer, however I'm willing to work with students just starting out in photography.

You may sign up here.
Learn more about the class here.

The folk school is in the southwestern part of the state {North Carolina}, but they get students from all over the country and out of the states too. I remember meeting a student from another class who was from New Zealand!  It's a unique place, rather like adult camp.  You can stay on campus in one of the houses or cottages & meals there are out of this world!  I need to lose 10 pounds before November 12th!


© elizabeth larson photography - www.elarsonphoto.com

Tuscany, Italy - Montage 2009

john c campbell folk school - brasstown, north carolina

from august 25th-31st, i taught a photography workshop at the john c campbell folk school . this was my second time teaching at the folk school & what a wonderful experience it was.  its such a magical place - if you haven't taken a workshop here before, you must.  in the very least, go visit them!  they have a fabulous craft store as well & you can even make reservations to dine there family style.

the folk school offers a variety of workshops from cooking, blacksmithing, woodturning, to weaving just to name a few. and of course they offer a variety of photography workshops. terry my better half joined me for the week, taking a music class.  he learned to play the hammered dulcimer, which to me looks like no easy task.  he also borrowed my mountain dulcimer and his wonderful instructor anne lough even showed him a few songs & now he is showing me how to play! his class performed for morningsong in front of the entire school on friday morning, which was fantastic.  

my class consisted of five students coming from as far away as washington state and texas.  they were wonderful and all of them learned so much.  especially in such a short period of time.  the class was "lifestyle portraiture" and we mostly worked with one another as models, but we had a few along the way willing to participate as well :) my students really were great and up for all kinds of adventures.

we hiked the nature trail on campus which was a bit overgrown but a great place for portraits. we even found a bamboo forest which was a fun spot. i took them on a few assignments around campus, including in the vegetable & herb gardens and of course we ventured into many of the studios. thanks to all of the instructors & students who allowed us to do so - and to photograph you & your creations! 

on friday morning, the last day of classes we took a field trip to the river walk in nearby murphy. its where i photographed four of my students in a group portrait pictured below.  its too bad my 5th student dave couldn't join us, as he had to make travel arrangements home.

at the end of the week, i had my students chose 3 to 5 of their strongest/favorite images {or more!} and then i put together a slide presentation for everyone at the school to see at the closing ceremony friday evening.  i heard lots and lots of compliments! please see for yourself - you can view my student's work here. 

below are just a few of my images from the week we spent there. if you'd like to see a more comprehensive gallery of images please come on over to my business facebook page here - elizabeth larson photography and give us a like!  i would love you for it ♥ 

it was such an wonderful week and almost like a vacation for us.  i look forward to coming back to teach this same workshop again march 16th-21st, 2014. to learn more and/or to sign up please do so here via the folk school's website. hope to see you there!

happy holidays!

to all my clients, colleagues, friends, family, and fans of elizabeth larson photography thank you so much for a wonderful year!  by the time the new year arrives, this season i'll have 20 weddings documented {3 of them as a second shooter, which has been a fantastic experience}, numerous portrait sessions, as well as a couple of editorial assignments AND a band promo. i've also found some time to get out my camera at several music festivals and that has been an absolute blast!  i even bought a waterproof point & shoot camera this season which has been great for taking out in our new kayaks on paddling trips this year. 

in addition, i had the wonderful experience of teaching a photography workshop this fall at the john c campbell folk school located in the beautiful north carolina mountains in a small town called brasstown. the class was called "photo essays" and my father, chiles larson, was originally going to teach it and i would've been his assistant. sadly my father can't travel anymore due to major back surgery earlier this year, and it would've been a 9 hour drive for him. it was 5 hours for me!  north carolina is spread out!

though i had a small class, we had tons of fun. i took my students on several field trips including to the nantahala gorge, joyce kilmer memorial forest, the quirky town of murphy, and of course around the folk school's campus. we were able to visit and photograph many of the classes in session including wood turning, pottery, enameling, tin smithing, blacksmithing, and many others. it was so much fun to get back from our daily assignments only to see what amazing photos they'd created... they were great! 

 terry, my partner joined me on my trip out there and so glad he did! we made some new friends while there, not to mention the kitchen staff fed us three fabulous meals a day served family style. i loved the entire experience! in the evenings they had all kinds of interesting things going on for students & staff to enjoy and one of them was contra dancing, which was so much fun!! if it weren't for terry, i would've never gone out on that dance floor. he has a way of persuading me at times!

as many will notice i will be jumping around a bit on my blog.  over the past couple of weeks, i've posted more recent work from this fall and then i'll be moving back to august to post many weddings we've covered since then. next up will be wendy and kenny's wedding, so please stay tuned!

thanks again to all and wishing everyone a very happy holiday!  from our home in the country to yours!

tobacco barn • north east guilford county, north carolina

{snow scene about a mile from my house © 2009}