The Black Series Opening Reception!

Come Friday, April 9 for the opening reception of The Black Series, featuring the work of darkroom member Amanda Zackem. The reception will be from 5-8pm and we hope to see you here!

The Mac Lab is Open!

It's been a while since my last post - we've been busy at work this winter launching the new Mac Lab for digital photography and graphic design classes here at the Firehouse. We received generous computer donations from Champlain College and the Burlington Technical Center, which kick-started the project.

We've had a very successful session so far, filling Adobe Photoshop Basics, From Camera to Print: Digital Workflow (a class using Adobe Lightroom) and Adobe InDesign. Exciting! We have one more section of Photoshop this spring... I'll add info below, as there are still 2 more spots available.

We reworked the lower level classroom in the Firehouse Center, starting by cleaning out years of junk. It's amazing what you can find in an art center's basement! The city's fantastic Parks and Recreation staff built us walls to separate the space and a new counter for the computers (the classroom will not only be used as a Mac Lab - we created storage and a youth studio to be used as a mentor arts after school drop in center) . We painted the with warm oranges and yellows to brighten the classroom area (which, as you can see from the images, is separated from the Mac Lab by a half wall).

Jonathan Taylor, who I met at the Burlington Technical Center and who now works down at Green Mountain College, helped me set up the lab in a few marathon weekend sessions. We created identical workstations, so that every computer is the same for ease of teaching, a file server for teachers to share instructional files with their students, and we color calibrated the lab to match our beautiful new Epson 3880 archival printer. We also created a mobile teaching station with projection so that students can follow along with the lectures.

We'll be offering a wide range of new digital classes in this space to get your digital skills up and running - for the summer, we have some great field and lab classes in the works. Leave a comment and let me know what classes you might be interested in seeing in the new lab!

And in the meantime, as mentioned earlier, there are still 2 spots left in the second section of Adobe Photoshop Basics:

Adobe Photoshop Basics with Dan Lovell
Tuesdays, April 6 - May 11; 6-9pm
Prerequisite: Intro to the 35MM Film or Digital SLR or equivalent experience 
$250, $225 BCA members (scholarships available)
Limit: 6
Gain confidence working in Adobe Photoshop in this 6 week class. Uploading images into Adobe Bridge, use of Camera Raw, image correction tools such as color and white balance correction, brightness/contrast, layers and much more will be covered. Bring a portable flash drive or hard drive with your images to the first class. (CLASS CODE: 811232-2)

Click here to register.

We hope to see you and your digital images here soon!

New Digital Facilities and Classes

Screenshot from Adobe Bridge CS4


It's an exciting time here at the Photography Program - we recently received a generous computer donation from Champlain College, and we are working on building our own digital photography lab with 6-8 Macs and an archival Epson printer!

We have two great classes planned for the Winter session - Adobe Photoshop Basics and From Camera to Print: Digital Workflow. Both classes will offer image management skills and printer access. The Photoshop class will focus on Adobe Bridge and Photoshop CS4, covering importing, camera raw, layers, adjustments and printing. The Workflow class will focus primarily on Adobe's Lightroom software and the image organization, image editing and printing capabilities specific to that program. (See post from June 2009 for more info). Both classes are taught by professional photographers with years of experience and working knowledge of the programs.

Class descriptions and registration links are below:

Adobe Photoshop Basics with Dan Lovell
Tuesdays, February 2– March 16 (no class March 2), 6-9pm
$250, $225 BCA members (scholarships are available)
Prerequisite: Intro to the 35MM Film or Digital SLR or equivalent experience
Gain confidence working in Adobe Photoshop in this 6 week class. Uploading images into Adobe Bridge, use of Camera Raw, image correction tools such as color and white balance correction, brightness/contrast, layers and much more will be covered. Bring a portable flash drive or hard drive with your images to the first class.
(CLASS CODE: 811232-1)
Register here!


From Camera to Print: Digital Workflow with Robin Perlah
Wednesdays, February 17– March 24, 6-9pm
Prerequisite: Intro to the 35MM Film or Digital SLR or equivalent experience
$250, $225 BCA members (scholarships are available)
Upload, organize, edit and print your digital photographs in this comprehensive class using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Importing images, using RAW files, organization, fine-tuning tone and contrast, color adjustments and printing will all be covered. Bring a portable hard drive or flash drive with your images to the first class.
(CLASS CODE: 811201-1)
Register here!

As always, scholarships are available.

Student Work: Night Photography

We recently ran a Night Photography course, taught by photographer Gary Hall. The class was a resounding success - check out student work, below! Gary will also be teaching a Winter Landscape class for us this winter; check back for more details soon...



Image Copyright Nick Grimley, 2009; All Rights Reserved




Image Copyright Nick Grimley, 2009; All Rights Reserved




Image Copyright Scott Eagle, 2009; All Rights Reserved




Image Copyright Lily Landes, 2009; All Rights Reserved




Image Copyright Tom Barber, 2009; All Rights Reserved




Image Copyright Peter Larsen, 2009; All Rights Reserved

Night Photography

(c) Gary Hall Photography, All Rights Reserved

There is truly something magical about night photography - the mood, the shifts in color and light, the blurring of motion... if you have wondered about where to begin and want tips and instruction from a night photography expert, perhaps our NEW Night Photography workshop is something to check out this fall...especially if creeping about in the night with a camera sounds appealing...

NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY with Gary Hall
Tuesdays, October 6-20; 6-9pm
$95, $85.50 BCA members
Prerequisite: Intro to the 35MM Film or Digital SLR or equivalent experience
Learn how to take successful night exposures and learn to see light you may not have known could be used to make beautiful images. Demonstrations, hands-on photo shoots and critique will be included. Bring your film or digital SLR, a small notebook, flashlight, cable release and a tripod.

Click here to register!
As always, scholarships are available.

Photography Summer Camps 2009!

Some images from our Teen photography summer camp program, taken by one of our fabulous TA's, Pat Galuuzo!

Photography Events at the Vermont Folklife Center

An evening with Almost Utopia photographer Rebecca Lepkoff
Friday July 10th
5-7 pm
Vermont Folklife Center
88 Main Street, Middlebury

As part of Middlebury's new town-wide ArtWalk, Lepkoff will share her thoughts about her life behind the camera lens, including her work in the 1950s capturing the essence of the alternative community that formed around Helen and Scott Nearing near Jamaica, Vermont. Lepkoff has been making photographs of New York City and Vermont since the late 1930's. She is associated with the Photo League era, and renown for her rare, vintage silver prints. Also on hand will be Greg Joly, Nearing scholar and co-author of the book, Almost Utopia, The Residents and Radicals of Pike¹s Falls
Vermont, 1950. Both Lepkoff and Joly will be available to sign copies of their recent published work.

For information about the Vermont Folklife Center, visit their website!