Ramona Puskar shot this photo of a carpenter bee.
GODFREY — One of the many pleasures of the Riverbend is its breath-taking landscape and wildlife.
Put your camera to good use and learn expert ways to capture those moments. Three local photographers will host Nature Photography Workshop at The Nature Institute at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28. Tickets are $15 per person with proceeds benefiting the environmental organization’s mission of preservation, restoration and education.
This class is a general “how to” workshop with details for point-and-shoot or digital SLR photography. This class is recommended for beginners age 13 or older; however, all levels of expertise are welcome. Guests will gain experience on playing with the focus for when subjects are close or far range, general rule of thirds when setting up a photo, and how to use the camera in auto and manual mode for composing beautiful, eye-catching photographs. This workshop will be led by Tracy Day, Kris Kessinger and Jody Jedlicka.
Day’s love of photography started at age 15 after receiving a camera from his parents. Throughout his teenage years, he developed his own film in the basement, took photos for the Alton High School yearbook and came to admire the art by taking every opportunity to shoot film. Day started the Alton Area Photo Club, a Facebook group for photo enthusiasts.
Kessinger, of Medora, started his love of photography while traveling. Mostly enjoying wildlife photography, Kessinger can often be found in Grafton capturing bald eagle moments.
Jedlicka is a local portrait and wedding photographer, but art photography (mostly landscape and wildlife) is where her passion lies. Jedlicka has a degree in film photography.
Guests are encouraged to bring a camera, paper and pen, lunch, tripod (optional), and any other tools they would like. Those interested can sign up at TheNatureInstitute.org or by calling (618) 466-9930.
The Nature Institute is a conservation and environmental education organization that has a mission to foster an awareness and appreciation of the natural world through preservation, restoration and education. They own roughly 450 acres of preserved land with several miles of hiking trails.
These trails will be closed to the public from January through March.