Photo Workshop weekend

Wow, what a weekend! I spent my weekend in Lee Vining at a photo workshop with Stuart Scofield of Mono Basin Photographics.  The workshop was titled Fall Color in the Eastern Sierras. Stuart admits that this is really more of a photo tour, than a class/workshop, but what a great opportunity all the same.  Fall colors are hard to find in California, so Stuart spends the week before the class scouting locations around Lee Vining where there are Aspen trees.  This year there was spectacular color at every location we visited.
    I headed to Lee Vining on Thursday morning, making a few stops for digital photos along Hwy 89 over the Monitor Pass.  Class started at 2:00pm and we were out in an aspen grove south of town photographing by 4:00.  In all we had about 2 hrs of Classroom instruction and 3 afternoons photographing in the aspen groves.  We also each had a 45 minute 1-on-1 session with an instructor to ask questions, get artistic guidance, etc.  Plus I spent early friday morning (5AM to 8AM) out at the South Tuffa on Mono Lake photographing the early morning light on the Tuffas.  And I got to drive my Land Rover on roads (and through creeks) that actually required 4WD!  I'll take the film to the lab tomorrow, and hopefully find a way to start getting photos up on my website by next week.
    It was an exhausting 3 days full of spectacular scenery, great group dynamics, great assistance/advice/instruction, and some of the most fulfilling photography I've done in many years.  I have come back tired from the exertion at high altitude and the long drives, but feeling very inspired to go out and photograph more.  I guess the workshop had its intended effect on me.