Okefenokee Sunset ©Nancy McCrary

 

APRIL 25, 26, 27, 28, 2018

Fee: $1350

Companion Rate: $500

INCLUDED IN WORKSHOP

In-field instruction, and classroom group critique with Peter Essick

Saturday Portfolio Reviews with Peter and Nancy – sign up soon!

Wednesday’s Welcome Supper at Lang’s Marina Restaurant, St. Mary’s

Thursday’s Ferry to/from Cumberland Island

Admission Fee to Cumberland Island

Thursday’s Private Van service around Cumberland Island

Thursday’s Brown Bag Lunch for Cumberland Island

Admission fee to the Okefenokee Swamp

Friday’s Breakfast at the Okefenokee Swamp

Friday’s private skiffs at the Okefenokee for Sunrise

Friday’s private Cook-out Supper at the Okefenokee

Friday’s private skiffs at the Okefenokee for Sunset/Full Moonrise

Saturday’s Farewell Supper at Lang’s Marina, St. Mary’s

 

REGISTER HERE

COMPANION RATE HERE

 

ACCOMMODATION SUGGESTIONS

Country Inn and Suites by Radisson, Kingsland, Ga. Click HERE for website. Group rate info provided upon registration.

Kingsland is @halfway between St. Mary’s, Georgia where we catch the ferry to Cumberland, and the Okefenokee Swamp where we’ll be touring sunrise and sunset.

Rooms include hot breakfasts in the mornings.

 

ITINERARY

We begin on Wednesday when we’ll meet in Historic St. Mary’s, Georgia for afternoon shooting and scouting. Wednesday evening we’ll enjoy a Welcome Dinner at the Lang’s Seafood, St. Mary’s marina, getting to know – or reacquainting ourselves! – with one another.

For mor info on Historic St. Mary’s click HERE.

 

CUMBERLAND ISLAND

Thursday morning we leave for Cumberland Island on the 9 am Ferry.  A private van service will take us around the island from 9:30 am until 4:00 pm so that we may visit the important sites and have time to shoot at each one.

Cumberland Main Road ©NPS

Starting at the Sea Camp Ranger Station we will visit both cultural and natural landmarks which may include the remains of Robert Stafford’s plantation and cemetery, Plum Orchard Mansion, Cumberland Wharf, The Settlement, First African Baptist Church, and more.

Please click here to read about the Cumberland Island tour, and what you’ll want to bring. (PLEASE NOTE: We have secured a private van for the SxSE Workshop so not all of this information will apply to us.)

A brown bag lunch and refillable water bottles will be provided. We will return to St. Mary’s on the 4:45 ferry.

Cumberland Island National Seashore, Click Here

 

 

 

 

 

What previous students have to say….

I took the SxSE Okefenokee/Cumberland Island photo workshop with Sylvia Plachy instructing in ’16. It was wonderful: incredible sunrise/sunset on quiet guide boats … fun people, new friends. A great opportunity to photograph in timeless, beautiful settings. Can’t wait to go back! -Lucie Canfield

Cumberland Island is a place where hair flows like moss living in oaks, and where you can breathe the moisture that awakens your soul. You will be able taste and smell each image long after the workshop. It’s an experience of a life time for any photographer.  -Teri Darnell, teridarnell.com

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP/sunrise

We’ll climb out of our warm beds early on Friday morning, grab a cup of coffee to go, and then head for the Okefenokee Swamp! Breakfast biscuits, juice and coffee await our 5:30 am arrival at the swamp café.

Suwannee Canal before sunrise, Okefenokee Swamp ©NancyMcCrary

We’ll travel into the swamp in our privately guided Carolina skiff with the stars overhead and the red-glow of alligators eyes twinkling in the dark. We’ll ride down the historic Suwannee Canal through a tangled forest of bay, cypress, pine, and shrubs, then out into the open expanse of Chesser Prairie.

For more info on the Okefenokee Swamp Click HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our guides will share their knowledge of the swamp’s cultural and natural history, tell interesting swamp stories, and identify plants and wildlife along the way.

Lucie and Wiff at Chesser Prairie, Okefenokee Swamp ©Nancy McCrary

 

 

We may encounter egrets, herons, ibis, sandhill cranes, red-shouldered hawks, and American alligators, as well as wood storks in the summer and fall. Sometimes we spot deer or raccoons, or, if we are really lucky, a bobcat or a bear. Wildlife activity varies with water levels, season, time of day and reasons known only to the wildlife, of course. The swamp scenery is always spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the magic happens.

Sunrise, Chesser Prairie, Okefenokee Swamp, ©Nancy McCrary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll enjoy a slow boat ride through the prairie and down side canals experiencing every angle and backdrop we can find!

Returning to the dock before 9am we’ll head back to St. Mary’s/Kingsland for a respite, and shooting around the historic town and shore before returning to the swamp for Full Moon Rise!

 

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP/sunset

Leaving again at 4pm on Friday we’ll enjoy a cookout dinner at the Okefenokee Café at 5pm before boarding our boats again at 6:15 pm. As we use the Refuge’s public use partner for these tours, they offer us the opportunity to experience the swamp later in the evening after the Refuge waterways are otherwise closed to visitor traffic. The quiet and darkness is transforming. We travel down the canals into the swamp and out into an Okefenokee prairie sunset.

 

We’ll move slowly around the prairie and smaller canals as the Sun Sets and the Full Moon rises. Sunset is 8:03 pm twilight ends at 8:29, Moonrise is 4:00 pm.

 

 

OPEN DAY/CRITIQUES AND REVIEWS

Saturday is the time to go back to Cumberland, or back to the swamp if there was a shot you missed or want to do again. You may want to schedule a portfolio review with Peter and/or Nancy. (to register and request a time please drop Nancy a line, nancy@sxsemagazine.com) There’s also the Alligator Farm outside of Jacksonville (an hour away) which was a big hit with some previous students!

Saturday evening Farewell Supper at Lang’s marina restaurant. Last minute questions, sharing photos, a last walk along the water.

PETER ESSICK

Named one of the 40 most influential nature photographers in the world by Outdoor Photography Magazine, Essick has traveled extensively over the last two decades photographing spectacular natural areas from around the world. He is a working photojournalist, but his photographs move beyond mere documentation revealing in careful compositions the spiritual and emotional aspects of nature. The unique and sometimes surprisingly similar forms and color of divergent pristine lands provide the raw material for Essick’s art. As a counter point, Essick has also done photographs to illustrate many environmental issues, portraying both the human impact of development as well as the enduring power of the land.

 

Essick has been a frequent contributor to National Geographic Magazine for 30 years. At the Geographic he has produced over 40 feature articles on many different topics. Some of his favorite and most rewarding stories have been on the American wilderness, the carbon cycle, global warming, and global freshwater. Recent stories include a June 2010 cover story on Greenland, a story on the Ansel Adams Wilderness in October 2011,and a story titled “When The Snows Fail” in October 2014. He is the author of two books, “Our Beautiful, Fragile World” and “The Ansel Adams Wilderness.”

 

He has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri. He lives in Stone Mountain, GA with his wife, Jackie and son, Jalen

PHOTOGRAPHERS, REGISTER HERE

COMPANION RATE, REGISTER HERE

 

Hope to see you soon!