We have teamed up with Washington County 4-H to host a Nature in Focus Spin Club. Join us to explore the outdoors through photography, environmental education, outdoor recreation, and creative expression!
Each week we’ll work to develop a deeper connection to nature by capturing photo moments and learning basic photography skills. We’ll start with a short photography lesson then set off on a hike with a new photography challenge in hand. At the end of the program series we’ll host photo showcase to share our favorite shots of the year with the community.
All sessions will be from 4-5:30pm.
- Let’s Get Comfortable: Tuesday, July 26th, Middle River Park, Machias: Nature is all around us, but it can take time to get comfortable exploring it. For our first session we’ll talk camera basics and head out to practice composing our first pictures! Lesson: Camera Basics & Composition
- Growth and Change: Tuesday, August 2nd, Middle River Park, Machias: No matter if it is rapid or incremental, nature is constantly changing. From the budding of spring leaves to the life cycle changes from a caterpillar to a butterfly. In this session we’ll try to highlight how living things are constantly growing and changing and illustrate what growth and change mean to you. Lesson: Shape & Form
- In the Landscape: Tuesday, August 9th, Middle River Park, Machias: An important part of nature is abiotic – or non-living factors – including water, rocks, and clouds. These things are often overlooked in the landscape in favor of living, or biotic factors. This session’s challenge is to capture the landscape using abiotic factors as your subject. Maybe you will capture a cairn in the foreground of your forest landscape or clouds in the background of the sky. Lesson: Space
- Make it Abstract: Tuesday, August 16th, Middle River Park, Machias: How can you take a fresh look at the familiar? This session we’ll keep our eyes open for interesting patterns and textures found in nature. When you see one, you’ll take an abstract photo of it to highlight the uniqueness that makes nature so special. Lesson: Texture
- Color Your World: Thursday, August 25th, Middle River Park, Machias: From the red, yellows, and browns of fall leaves to the cool blue sky up above, nature provides colors of every hue imaginable. This session’s challenge has you featuring one color, then two, then three colors as we photograph the brilliant colors found throughout nature. Lesson: Color
- Tell a Story: Tuesday, August 30th, Virtual Zoom Session: In preparation for our showcase we’ll edit our favorite photos using filters, lighting bars, and cropping features to the way you like it! You will select three photos to share in our upcoming photo showcase. Lesson: Photo Editing
Designed for youth +9. Limited Group Size! Registration Required.
Register here!Participants are encouraged to utilize any technology available to them to take their photos, whether it be a cell phone, point and shoot camera, or a DSLR. We have devices available if needed, please indicate this on your registration form. Participants will be asked to upload a select amount of photos to a shared google drive album at home after each outing.