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.
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.
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.
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!
