Trip Report – Fall Adirondacks Workshop with Mark Bowie

This trip report is provided by Leslie Jean.

The workshop ran from Sunday evening Oct. 8, 2017 to midday on Wednesday Oct. 11, 2017. It was attended by, Sue Babin, Barbara and Warren Beckwith, Kevin Bernard, Gary Detonnancourt, Leslie Jean, Laura Landen, Ted Lawson, David Lewalski, Tara Marshall, and Mark Spremulli. We stayed at the Woods Inn, in Inlet New York. It was a very nice place and the staff was helpful, and willing to accommodate our shooting schedule. There is talk of going back to stay there next year as part of a PSRI club trip.

Sunday evening we stayed at the Woods Inn and shot on the grounds. The Inn was on Fourth Lake which is part of the Fulton chain of Lakes, Hamilton County. There were many things to photograph right here. The big dipper was across the lake, the dock and gazebo worked well, and the lights from the Inn shining on the trees made for some interesting images.

 

Monday morning Mark took us to Seventh Lake state boat launch, in the rain. There are amazing foliage colors that can only be seen in wet weather. He encouraged us to try different things, like what a polarizer does when shooting into the water and if it would help when shooting across the lake. After breakfast we went to the conference room at the Inn and Mark showed us a presentation, then gave us time to edit our images. He always had answers for the questions we had.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday afternoon we went to Eighth Lake State Campground. For a while it looked like the sun would come out, but then it rained, again. Mark made sure he talked to each of us, giving us hints on what may make a nice image. He gave me thehint about the rain drops on the branches with the bright foliage in the background. It turned out to be one of my favorites.  Monday night there was no sunset or stars, so we did more editing, and went to bed early; 4:30 am was going to make for a short night.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday morning at O’Dark-thirty we were at Brown’s Tract Inlet, that flows into Raquette Lake. Our vantage point was on a bridge and we could shoot facing east orwest. It was cloudy, but the sun would peek out. The trick was catching the light as it changed from moment to moment. The wide landscape here was filled with many intimate landscapes, that presented themselves when a wide lens was switched to a telephoto. After breakfast we went to the conference room and Mark showed us another presentation and asked us for three images from each of us. He critiqued each one and was very informative.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday afternoon we got to shoot at Lower Brown’s Tract Pond State Campground in sunlight! Mark had just showed us a presentation about looking for the light. With that mind set it was easy to find shots in bright sun light, because it wasabout using the light you have, and not deciding the light is good or bad.

 

Tuesday night was perfect for shooting the Milky Way, and Mark brought us to Moss Lake in Herkimer County. If you have seen Joe Lefervre’s work you will recognize the tree in some of the group’s images. Mark even calls it Joe’s tree.

 

Wednesday morning, again at O’Dark-thirty, we went to Otter Bay and were treated to a great sunrise. The kind it’s worth getting up for. After sunrise we went to Tamarack bogs along the South Inlet to Raquette Lake. Then we had our last critique session and said our “See you laters”.

 

 

 

 

 

Additional images. by workshop participants.