Callaway Gardens Announces 2012 Fall/Winter Workshops

Aug. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- PINE MOUNTAIN, GA - Cultivate your artistic skills and expand your gardening and natural history knowledge with Callaway Gardens’ Workshop Series!  Local experts and staff facilitate programs that allow you to explore new opportunities.

Digital Photography Workshop Series
Join award-winning amateur photographer and instructor Jim Henderson for information-packed Digital Photography Workshops.  Jim will also guide you through hands-on photo shoots.

Foundations in DSLR Photography II: Creative Photography Beyond the Auto Mode
Saturday, September 15, 2012
9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Designed for the beginner or experienced digital photographer interested in moving beyond the camera's auto mode.  Practice your new skills in a photo shoot inside Callaway Gardens.
Fee: $75 includes Gardens admission, lunch and digital handout

Skill Builder Photo Shoot with Instructor
Sunday, September 16, 2012
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Meet the instructor for a guided and directed photo shoot to include "challenges" designed to reinforce concepts covered in previous Foundations Courses.
Fee: $40 includes Gardens admission (Must attend Sept 15th course)
 
Foundations in DSLR Photography III: Mastering Focus and Exposure
Saturday, September 29, 2012
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
This intermediate level workshop is devoted to understanding and perfecting focus and exposure. A directed photo shoot is included to gain mastery of newly acquired skills.
Fee: $75 includes Gardens admission, lunch and digital handout

Skill Builder Photo Shoot with Instructor
Sunday, September 30, 2012
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Meet the instructor for a guided and directed photo shoot to reinforce concepts covered in previous Foundations Courses.
Fee: $40 includes Gardens admission (Must attend Sept 29th course)
 
Adobe Lightroom Boot Camp - A Comprehensive Two-Day Introductory Course
Saturday & Sunday, October 13 - 14, 2012
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Saturday
9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. on Sunday
This beginner level workshop is devoted to exploring the possibilities of Adobe's newest software title for digital photographers
Fee: $115 includes Gardens admission, Saturday lunch and digital handout

Mastering the Nightscape: Fantasy in Lights
Monday, November 12, 2012 or Tuesday, November 13, 2012
5 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Building upon the concepts mastered in the Foundations II Workshop, this workshop is designed to assist the participant with mastery of focus and exposure. 
Fee: $100 includes Gardens admission

Art, Garden and  Workshops

Gourd Art and Pine Needle Weaving
Saturday, September 22, 2012
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Make a gourd bowl/basket with a woven pine needle rim.  Learn how to prepare the gourd, how to get the gourd ready for weaving, and how to weave and decorate the rim.  Take home a bowl of your own design.  Everything you need to complete the project is included.  Bring a lunch or purchase at the Discovery Café.  Supplies are included.
Instructor: Talitha Norris
Fee: $65

Birds of Prey Raptor Encounter Workshop
Saturday, October 6, 2012
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Learn about the amazing world of raptors and participate in hands-on activities designed to bring you closer to the raptor world.  Enjoy a behind the scenes look into Callaway Gardens’ Birds of Prey.
Instructors: Birds of Prey Staff
Fee:  $40 per adult (ages 19+), $25 per child (ages 6-18) or $115 per family of 4 (2 adults/2 children)

Backyard Habitat – Birds of Prey
Saturday, October 20, 2012
11 a.m. - Noon
This is a unique opportunity to learn how to encourage Birds of Prey to return to your land. Discover how to cultivate your property into a natural environment in which all wildlife will thrive. Take a tour of a National Wildlife Federation certified “Backyard Wildlife Habitat” and meet a few of our Birds of Prey and reptile friends that could soon be your new neighbors!
Instructor: Meagan DuVall, Raptor Specialist
Fee: $35
Sign up for both Backyard Habitat and Nest Box Workshops for discounted price of $90

Nest Box Family Workshop
Saturday, October 20, 2012
1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Join one of our Raptor Specialists as you create a nest box and learn the best way to invite our native feathered friends to your own backyard.  This do-it-yourself workshop includes materials, plans and hands-on guidance to construct a crucial piece of the bird’s habitat.  Several options for species you would like to invite will be available.  In addition, you will also meet one of the potential inhabitants of your newly-constructed nest box.
Instructor: Mark Wetzel, Raptor Specialist
Fee: $65 per family for one nest box; $35 for second nest box
Sign up for both Backyard Habitat and Nest Box Workshops for discounted price of $90

Butterflies and Birds
Wednesday, October 24, 2012,
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 or
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
9 a.m. - 1p.m.
At the Day Butterfly Center, you’ll go behind the scenes to learn all about these amazing insects.  Afterwards, you’ll learn the correct methods of pinning butterflies for your own collection.  Your adventure continues when you meet an owl at Callaway Gardens’ Birds Of Prey, then take part in experiments to explore the diet and habits that make these nocturnal creatures so unique.
Instructors: Michael Buckman, manager, Day Butterfly Center and Philip Grainger, manager, Callaway Gardens Birds of Prey
Fee: $40

Still Life Painting Workshop with Nan Cunningham
Saturday – Sunday, October 27 - 28, 2012
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. each day
If you have always wanted to paint, or have not had a brush in hand lately, this is the place to start.  This fun-filled class is packed with information and designed to get you started painting.  Working from a still life you will learn the basic elements for a successful still life painting.  Acrylic paint suggested.
Instructor: Nan Cunningham
Fee: $225

Fall Flower Gardening Workshop
Saturday, October 27, 2012
10 a.m. - 2p.m.
Fall is the best time to think “spring” in the garden.  Join experts Sheila Kanotz and Brian Kanotz as they give you a peak into the spring season.  First, learn from Sheila Kanotz, manager of the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center, how late fall displays are designed at Callaway Gardens so that the color and design carries the floral garden beds from Fall to Spring. Learn about recent plant introductions and how they perform.  Then, take home some plants for your very own garden!   After lunch, join Brian Kanotz, manager of Greenhouse Production, for an exclusive and extensive greenhouse tour.  Learn how they produce crops for year ‘round seasonal color throughout the Gardens.  Be the first to see the late-Fall plants that will go into the Garden as well as the poinsettias before they go into the Christmas displays.
Instructors: Sheila Kanotz, manager, John A Sibley Horticultural Center and Brian Kanotz, manager, Callaway Gardens Greenhouse Production
Fee: $55 (includes lunch)

Fresh Greenery Christmas Workshop
Saturday, December 1, 2012
10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Make a unique holiday wreath or centerpiece of your own design using fresh greenery and berries and cones of the season to bring holiday cheer to your home.
Instructor: Patricia Collins, Director of Gardens
Fee: $45 per wreath or centerpiece

Workshop fees include admission to Callaway Gardens. To register, call the Education Department at 1-800-CALLAWAY (225-5292), option 5, option 2; 706-663-5153 or email education@callawaygardens.com.  Please plan to arrive at least 30 minutes before each workshop begins.  For a complete listing, visit www.callawaygardens.com.  Annual Pass holders and Callaway Connection members qualify for special rates.

For overnight accommodations for any of these workshops or hikes, ask for the special workshop rate starting at $99 in the Mountain Creek® Inn at 1-800-CALLAWAY (225-5292).  Based on availability, some restrictions apply.

Callaway Gardens®, is in Pine Mountain, Ga., 60 minutes southwest of Atlanta and 30 minutes north of Columbus.  To experience nature at its finest, call 1-800-CALLAWAY or visit www.callawaygardens.com .