Shenandoah National Park Blooms and Vistas Workshop - Finished

Just got back home this afternoon from leading our Shenandoah National Park Summer Blooms and Vistas Photo Workshop. The conditions were rather challenging with lots of haze and an early summer heat wave. None the less we all endured and managed to have a great workshop with lots of colorful sunrises and sunsets. On Saturday a thunderstorm rolled through and really cooled things off for about 2 hours and we took advantage of the soft light and hiked down along Mill Prong and shoot for about 2 hours. The rest of the workshop was spent shooting in 4 hour blocks in the morning and afternoon. We visited some of the more scenic overlooks and hiked up to Hawksbill Summit and Little Stony Man Cliffs for sunsets. Sunrises were all spent at various overlooks and shooting in Big Meadows. We also managed to hike down to Dark Hollow Falls in the morning, before the light penetrated the forest, and shoot waterfalls and cascades.
We ran into Jim Clark and his group from GAPW and had a chance to chat in Big Meadows for a while. What a nice guy and great photographer Jim is ! Check out his website at http://www.jimclarkphotography.com/ . Jim will also be working with Mountain Trail Photo Workshops w/ myself and a few other top select nature and landscape photographers this year and in 09. Look for his new book entitled " Between Ocean and Bay: A celebration of the Eastern Shore " . Visit the Mountain Trail WEBSITE to order a copy.
On a side note, I still have 2 spots left for the Photographing Wild Water One Day Workshop this weekend in Great Falls and Scott's Run Parks. Visit my website for registration details and more information or email me at rossbachphoto@hotmail.com to reserve your spot today.
Between instruction and field demonstrations I managed to make some very nice images in the Park. Here is a small gallery of work that I have processed so far. Here ya go, Enjoy.

Click on any image for a larger view !