Spring on the Georgia Coast with Peter Essick instructing | Cumberland Island National Seashore + Okefenokee Swamp + St. Marys, GA | March 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 2025

LImited to 8 students

Peter Essick

Peter Essick is a photographer, teacher, and editor with 30 years of experience working with National Geographic Magazine. He specializes in nature and environmental themes. Named one of the forty most influential nature photographers in the world by Outdoor Photography Magazine UK, Essick has been influenced by many noted American landscape photographers from Carleton Watkins to Robert Adams. His goal is to make photographs that move beyond documentation to reveal in careful compositions the human impact of development as well as the enduring power of the land.

Essick is the author of four books of his photographs, The Ansel Adams Wilderness, Our Beautiful, Fragile World, Fernbank Forest and Work in Progress. He has photographed stories for National Geographic on many environmental issues including climate change, high-tech trash, nuclear waste and freshwater. After 30 years travelling the world as an editorial photographer, Essick decided to focus his work on a more personal documentation of the environmental and cultural changes in his hometown of Atlanta.

Essick’s photographs are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Booth Western Art Museum and many other private collections. He is represented by Spalding Nix Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Wednesday 

Arrive on the coast, settle in, and enjoy the day exploring

 We will meet at The House at 4 pm. The House is where we will gather to view and critique images, enjoy social hours and meals, talk photography, and set off for walks. It will also serve as a rendezvous point for our trips to the Okefenokee Swamp.

Peter will give a presentation of his work, and we’ll enjoy a social hour followed by the Welcome Dinner. 

Thursday, Cumberland Island All-Day Visit

Known for its pristine beaches, wild horses, and historical architecture, Cumberland is a gem  on the East Coast.

Cumberland Island Birding: Cumberland Island National Seashore is home to more than 322 species of birds ranging from peregrine falcons, painted buntings, red knots, oystercatchers, black skimmers, warblers, Wilson’s plovers, and snowy plovers.

Our ferry leaves at 9am from the St. Marys Dock for a 30 minute ride to Cumberland Island, returning to the dock on the  afternoon ferry at 4:45. We will have a private van, with a guide/driver for the day to take us where we’d like to go. Plesae let us know if there’s something in particular you’d like to photograph.

 

During our day on Cumberland we’ll enjoy private vans and tour guides who will take us to Plum Orchard Mansion, the Settlement, Cumberland Island Wharf, First African Baptist Church, and anywhere else we choose and time allows.

We will provide brown-bag lunches, snacks, and bottled water for an all-day affair on one of the most magical islands in the world.

Friday – Okefenokee Swamp

The Birds of the Okefenokee Swamp: 

Sunrise is 7:00am – We leave the Boat Basin at 6:15am!

 

We’ll have breakfast biscuits, juice, and coffee dockside before floating up the pitch-dark canal pre-sunrise. Our experienced guides (who know the Okefenokee like the back of their hands) will point out alligators returning to roost, birds just awakening, and plants coming to life as the first light of dawn begins to break.

For 3 hours, we’ll shoot the sunrise, the prolific wildlife, the cypress trunks, black water, did I mention the alligators? We’ll watch as the water lilies, no-wet’ems, and other beautiful flowers open with the sun, and as the water fowl begin to stretch their wings and start the day.

 Thursday PM- Return to the Swamp for Sunset and Moonrise

Around 4:00pm, a cook-out will be served dockside before we float out to meet the sunset at 7:00and the rise of the full moon. The Lunar Eclipse peaks at 3 am with a beautiful reddish-orange moon for an hour. While we will not be in the swamp during the full eclipse we’ll know of other great locations. 

Saturday Morning – a Tour of St. Marys, Group Critique and Farewell Dinner

We’ll meet for breakfast in the historic town of St. Marys, the second-oldest city in the U.S.A., before setting off on a walking tour through the historic town. Architecture, landscape, flora, and fauna everywhere your eye lands. The tour will end around noon so that you may take a break, do whatever you’d like, edit your photos, and be back at the House by 4 for group critique and farewell dinner. 

What previous workshop participants are saying….

As a participant in the South x Southeast Photography workshop experience with Peter Essick, I appreciated the opportunity to explore being among trees and moving water.  That was a new way of seeing in the area we photographed.  The group dynamics were lively and supportive.

I felt the support of Peter and that we had time in most settings to take “more time” to explore a different angle or advantage of light.

I particularly liked the learning aspect about Cumberland and the Okefenokee.

Great all round experience.

Thank you Nancy for your organizational skills and gathering a congenial group of fellow photographers. —Wanda Hopkins

I have been on several trips with Nancy McCrary and they never disappoint. She always engages photographers who are helpful and willing to share their knowledge.  Her attention to detail with regard to accomodations, meals, daily outings, and other logistics is thorough and she attracts talented and considerate photographers.  Nancy herself is a wonderful artist and very accessible.  Her workshops appeal to any level of photographer.  There are always professionals who attend, but if you’ve only just begun she encourages everyone to share knowledge.  The groups she leads are supportive and I learn something new every time.  After having photographed full-time for a decade, I rarely attend workshops anymore.  That being said, I always love going to ones Nancy organizes since they are always in beautiful places and so much fun.  –Lynne Buchanan

In October 2021 I participated in a photography workshop organized by Nancy McCrary, director and founder of SxSE.  The workshop was led by a well known Atlanta photographer Peter Essick. 

It was a very fulfilling experience.  Nancy McCrary showed off her fantastic organizational skills.  The photo excursions on St. Mary’s, Cumberland Island, and to the Okefenokee Swamp were great adventures and a paradise for us photographers. I met many interesting people and had a chance to learn more about Nancy and her wonderful ways of interacting with people.  She provided camaraderie, great food, and wonderful places to photograph. Peter Essick shared readily his photographic knowledge and offered constructive criticism.  The workshop was a unique experience that I would love to repeat. –Malgorzata Florkowska

Nosh and Beverages at the House

You Provide:

Transportation to and from St. Mary’s, Georgia

Meals: Any meals not listed above. 

Lodging:  There are 2 hotels in St. Marys: Cumberland Inn and Suites and The Riverview Hotel. I’d be tempted to try The Riverview for the ambiance and location, but The Cumberland Inn is more modern. However, there are lovely B&Bs in St Marys, charming homes on VRBO,  and chain hotels with good ratings just up the road in Kingsland – close to the House ( and home of the Naval Submarine Base ). And there’s always the Greyfield Inn on Cumberland Island – please let us know if you’re staying there so we can visit you! If we can be of assistance, please let us know. And, if you’d like to share a home or a room please let us know and we’ll be glad to extend your query to the others.

Alcohol: Outside of social hours provided by SxSE alcohol will not be provided.