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The Digital Photo Academy headquarters was relocated to scenic Hudson Valley a few years ago and after passing by the Bear Mountain Bridge hundreds of times, always admiring it, the team has finally organized a photo workshop to take place at Bear Mountain Park, centering among a number of other compelling photo ops, of majestic views of the Bear Mountain Bridge atop the Hudson River.

The meeting place for the opening presentation for the workshop participants, The Bear Mountain Inn, is a photographer’s dream in and of itself. Built in 1915, the stone structure is a prime example of the rustic Adirondacks-Style of architecture, made from old walls transported from historic sites owned by the park management, that for one reason or another, were recruited for the wrecking ball over 100 years ago. You can see these textured and legend-laden rocks on the outside of the building as well as in the two massive fireplaces inside the Inn. Your DPA instructor will demonstrate and supervise various perspectives of the Inn, from acute angles that press the building hard against the sky background for a surreal effect or something more direct on, that includes trees and other items to tell a charming story about the place.

The interior space of the Bear Mountain Inn consists of framing, side trim, floor coverings and ceiling beams which were harvested from Chestnut trees growing for centuries in the park. All of this is bathed in glorious sunlight making the setting ideal of interior photographs in golden hues of broad perspective scenes of the huge rooms as well as close ups of interior design flourishes, charming antiques and of course views of the outdoor scenery in every direction.

Your DPA instructor will share composition strategies that turn snapshots into dramatic photographs of this storied setting, including various easy-to-learn techniques such as Leading Lines, Rule of Thirds, Framing, Negative Space and 6 or 6 other tricks to apportion the contents of the photograph into a visually pleasing layout. There will also be demonstrations of portraiture in the Inn before we take a walk outside.

The first stop, across the parking lot of the Inn will be the carousel which is goes round-and-round every Saturday, at this time of year. There will be lessons in panning, to photographically depict motion, fast action or leisurely blurs of the 42 seats, hand-carved in the shape of the local residents of the park including black bears, wild turkey, deer, raccoon, skunk, Canadian geese, fox, swan, bobcat, rabbit and more. Your will learn tricks on catching a colorful background to your scenes, in this case hand-painted depictions of the park, illuminated support poles, on the merry-go-round going up and down as it rotates.

During the 3+ hours there will be photo ops of the placid Heshian Lake behind the Inn, including advice on dealing with harsh sun reflecting off the water which, if not careful, can render a burnt out look to your scenic photos. In addition to waterscape photo ops you can also take time to capture environmental portraits of the bikers, cyclists, dog walkers and the rest who will be peppered along the shores of the lake.

And the culmination of the shoot will be the panoramic views of the Bear Mountain Bridge. We will take a 2-mile car pool drive, on Perkins Memorial Drive, instead of the 4-mile hike to get to the lookout spot with great photo ops in the area where we park including birds, trees, wild flowers and more.

Meet at Bear Mountain Inn and Overlook Lodge located at 3020 Seven Lakes Drive, Tomkins Cove, NY 10986

Call Digital Photo Academy at 1 877 372 2231. Lots of people seem to hang up if our welcome recording comes on instead of a live voice, but we promise to return your message within a day or two if you leave one with your name and number.  It would be even better if you included your e mail address as well as the date and city of the class you are considering.  If leaving a voice mail message is not your thing, please email us at DPAbooking@digitalphotoacademy.com.