JANUARY 26-FEBRUARY 2

Beauty surrounds us in all directions at our location in the Sian Ka’an Reserve. Our vistas are abundant with endless beaches, vast land and seascapes, dense palm and mangrove forests as well as the minutiae of crushed coral sand crisscrossed with hermit crab tracks and the sparkle of ‘spider eyes’ at night. The tropical sunrise and sunset illuminate these features in both subtle and brilliant ways, and it all constantly changes.

Through the camera lens we are able to stop time and space for a split second and capture these vivid images, capture a moment, a sunrise, the fleeting evidence of heron tracks before they are washed away by the next wave. You can take a picture, and then youcan take a picture: learn to distinguish between photography that simply records and artful photography that inspires – view your subject matter with a sense of composition, balance and interpretation.

There is a great freedom with digital photography and the beauty of it is the instant feedback and subsequent ability to adjust lighting, emphasis and framing. If you have not yet switched from film, this is your chance! Photography is a wonderfully versatile art form and opens a world of creative expression for those who do not consider themselves to be artistic (of course we all are).

Learning or continuing your work with photography is a perfect companion to the other exhilarating features of this week; sea kayaking, snorkeling, bird watching and exploring Mayan archeological sites are all activities that offer countless photographic opportunities.

We are proud to bring back Dale Thomas for a second season as our instructor on this adventure. Dale is an avid kayaker himself and works with Living Adventure in the summers on Lake Superior in a series of courses that blend digital photography with sea kayaking. Dale’s excellence as a photographer and passion as a teacher blend to provide trip participants with an engaging week of fun and learning.

Dale is joined by trip leader Gail Green, Living Adventure co-owner, who knits the week together and offers instruction in all outdoor activities.

Themes for shooting during the week include: nature, portraiture, photo-journalism, architecture, light and dark contrasts, use of the flash and shooting from the kayaks. Your input, questions and challenges are all welcome and will be addressed by Dale during the week. Please think through the subject matter that most interests you and bring that to the group.

• Initial instructional sessions for the week focus on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of your camera and general camera operations.
  Trip participants that are familiar with their cameras and aspects of photography are free to begin their personal photographic explorations at any time and may consult with Dale on a one-on-one basis during the week.
• Monday-Friday include daily sessions where we shoot in the field. Each late afternoon we meet to discuss your experience, solve problems, share observations and successes.
• Wednesday we travel out of the Rancho for a day of touring a Mayan archeological site where we focus on photographing the essence of these historic structures.
• On site lap top computers are used in the evening sessions for photo critique sessions.
• Learn how to manipulate your photos using photo enhancing software.

SPECIAL OFFERING:
Our Digital Photography Trip this season is followed directly with our Painting & Batik Trip; January 27-February 3. We planned this for two reasons; it was requested by trip participants wanting two consecutive weeks of this type of experience and because the two media go so well together. Michaelin Otis, our Painting instructor, is participating in the Photography week and will format Painting lessons from various photographic studies from the week before. Participants will create paintings from the photographs they have taken and contrast similarities and differences in subject interpretation from a multi-media perspective. Take $100. off each trip if joining us for both.

Fly into Cancun and leave tourism behind as we drive into the Sian Ka'an Biosphere reserve. This million acre land tract, which in Mayan means, 'where the sky was born,' is a perfect place to immerse in adventure and creativity. Rancho Caphe Ha, our home for the week, is halfway down a land peninsula with the Caribbean ocean on one side and the quiet waters of inland mangrove channels and lakes on the other. The world's second largest coral barrier reef, Palancar, is spectacular and a constant companion in our view on the front beachside.