More than once, the December photo workshops have been canceled due to cold weather, so this time the DPA venue will allow us to hedge our bet at the Mills Mansion, a Beaux-Arts Estate and a State Historic Site along the Hudson River, that sits on 192 acres and features 65 rooms, 14 bathrooms and 23 fireplaces. With spectacular landscaping and hiking paths, the outdoor scenery is also a photo op, so portfolio worthy images are likely whether shooting inside, outside or both.

If Mother Nature says so, your instructor will obey and teach the art of capturing an interior space with soft winter window light sweeping across opulently designed rooms, demonstrating vantage points that optimize the likelihood of well composed results. Hone your skills to capture a photographic narrative of centuries past, in a rich still life of everything and anything from antiques, silver tea sets, and plush fabrics or go for angular perspectives of patterned hallway floor designs and mirrors. As it will be December, there will also be the choice of nostalgic depictions or abstractions of colorful holiday decorations and lights on display just as they were each year, from 1890 forward, to bring in the year end season for parties attended by the celebrities, very well-to-do, robber-barons and other swells of the day who came to celebrate with the owners, descendants of the financier, Ogden Mills.

If the weather allows the group can also slip outside for majestic landscapes along the Hudson River with early afternoon sweet light, culminating in a 4:26 PM sunset. There are special techniques to maximizing the quality of a sunset photo shoot during winter months and your instructor will have plenty of advice.

Whether inside, outside or both you will be the recipient of the demonstration of 8 different composition strategies to help you walk away with further development of your own signature style for taking photographs, adding to your artillery of photographic techniques and choices for future picture-taking activities of every sort.

The venue has an $8 entry charge or $6 for seniors. The group will meet at the entrance:

Mills Mansion – 75 Mills Mansion Drive, Staatsburg, NY 12580