Digital Academy

Thanks to Nil Santana and Donald Simpson for again helping our second faculty/staff lightpainting evening go so smoothly. Long-exposure shooting–like so much of digital photography–is a lot of experimentation, but fortunately the film is cheap.

If you joined us, please consider sharing a few of your favorites to the blog. For instructions on posting photos, see the Post by Email page.

To see and comment on the photos of other participants, click on the red Email Blog Posts link in the right sidebar. Look forward to seeing what everyone came away with.

We’re looking forward to our third Digital Academy in a couple weeks in Gruene. If you haven’t seen it yet, here is a short video we put together last fall. I shot it with the Canon 5d while we were walking downtown and stepping into Gruene Hall. Canon and Nikon are putting together some remarkable hybrid cameras right now that put a powerful still photo sensor and HD video in the same package.

Brandon Kinder’s “Home” used by permission. For more information on Brandon Kinder, check The Rocketboys on MySpace. More »

This September we took a group of advanced photographers–and aspiring advanced photographers–out to Albany, Texas, to shoot the big sky. Nil Santana again worked to help participants get the most out of their cameras and find an original point of view. To see some of their work, see the Previous Workshops section in the sidebar.

Thanks so much to Tecia and to Sandra and Ben from the Learning Studio for their expert painting. The pictures I’ve seen so far are stunning.

See New Photos

Once you get back home and have a little time to look back over your favorite photos, please take a minute to share 5-10 of your best to the blog. The process is simple. Here are instructions for getting your images posted:

• Post Photos to the Blog

Prize Categories

Please remember: this is not a competition, though there will be prizes. You may want to include images in both the PEOPLE and PLACES categories to increase your chances of going home with fabulous merchandise.

Phone-tography Category

In addition to your favorite photos from around Gruene, remember you can also submit 2-4 separate images in the Phone-tography category–you can do this by sending a second email to the blog.

(Don’t worry if your photos don’t appear immediately. The posts update every 15 minutes or so. If you still don’t see them in an hour, make sure you are sending the email from your ACU account address.)

All,

I am very excited about the upcoming weekend in Gruene, TX. Here are some samples of things that we will talk about while creating our photographs and exploring our surroundings this weekend. Looking forward to being with you.

Nil

• Street Photography overview More »

Gruene, Texas

“Gently Resisting Change Since 1872″

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If you’ve not been to Gruene before, here is a quick map you may find valuable. Gruene is really half-way between Austin and San Antonio, so either way will get you there within 15 minutes of one another. Look forward to hearing about the most original route.
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Here are a few details about our weekend to help you plan. . .

• We’ll be staying at Cecil and Judy Eager’s Gruene Mansion Inn on Friday and Saturday night. Early check-in begins at 3:00pm, so if you’d like to drive down early the front desk already has your name and room assignment. Our first official meeting won’t be until Saturday morning. Check out Sunday is 12:00pm.

• Breakfasts Saturday and Sunday and then Saturday lunch and dinner will be taken care of. Friday night can be a date night as people get there–there are some great restaurants within walking distance of the hotel (*save Gruene River Grill and the Gristmill for Saturday). Anyone that wants to eat together Friday night, meet outside the front desk at 7pm. (We’ll probably be going to Cantina del Rio if you come in after 7pm:  http://www.gruenetexas.com/plan-eat.php .)

• Participants in the photography workshop will spend the day walking around downtown Gruene. Spouses are welcome to join us for any part of the workshop. The hotel is also a great place to relax with nice walks down by the Guadalupe as well. Cecil and Judy are great hosts and can also help you find your way around.

That’s it. Thanks for joining us for a new approach to faculty workshops from the Adams Center and the Learning Studio. We’re looking forward to being with you,

Kyle