I’ve been busy with the website, and as I was going through both Arnie’s and my photographs from Canyon de Chelly, Arches, Canyonlands, and the Moab areas to update our galleries with new images, I was struck again by the similarities and differences when we photograph in the same location.

We both loved photographing in the badlands of northeastern Arizona. The textures were amazing, even though the soil was parched and monochromatic. Arnie made his photograph moody and stormy, while I kept it really simple and used small plants to add some subtle color to the scene

We have had many conversations through the year — but especially at the year’s end — about how lucky we are to have met and worked with so many interesting people. There are friendships that have come out of these workshops that we treasure. It is also wonderful to see how the groups gel so quickly and to hear of friendship made that last well beyond the workshop experience, just as ours have. We know some keep track of each through e-mails and Facebook. Others plan photo trips together. There are some who get together for a day of photography with Arnie and me perched on each shoulder (this means something to those who have joined us). And on it goes.

We love watching our participants grow as photographers, whether rank beginner or seasoned pro. We enjoy challenging them to go beyond their comfort level. We urge them to seek their own vision and make unusual photographs…

Last time, I wrote about The Passion of Photography. This time, after showing some images from our recent trip to Charleston, SC, I’d like to take that a step further and share a beautiful letter from one of our alumni that speaks to that passion.

For those who don’t know, we just returned from a private workshop in Charleston with three of our alumni, all of whom are passionate about photography. Being December, we didn’t have to get up as early or stay up as late to catch the beautiful light!

In fact, it was raining so hard on Friday, our first day, that cats and dogs were an inappropriate description. It was more like dinosaurs and pterodactyls…