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Learn photography with a ‘National Geographic’ photojournalist

Kim Fuller
Special to the Daily
Oryx in NamibRand Game Park in Nambia.Davenport will discuss similar wildlife photography.
Jad Davenport | Special to the Daily

Fall is one of the most picturesque seasons in the Colorado mountains and a perfect opportunity to take a photography class at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch from Friday, Sept. 28 to Sunday, Sept. 30.

Locals and visitors can capture the finest moments of fall this weekend with award-winning journalist and National Geographic photographer, Jad Davenport.

“This weekend is all about learning how to tell a visual story, whether guests are making pictures with an iPhone or a DSLR camera,” Davenport said. “To that end, we’ll kick off Saturday with a morning nature hike for wildlife, landscape and portrait photography. After lunch I’ll meet with guests for one-on-one portfolio reviews and personal coaching on how to take their photography to the next level.”



Saturday evening will bring the group out to Anderson’s Cabin for cocktails, sunset and blue-hour photography.

“We’ll close the evening with a campfire and s’mores and try our hands at light painting and astro photography,” Davenport said.

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Rather than teaching what Davenport describes as a “generic technical photo workshop,” he won’t be focusing on F-stops and shutter speeds.

“Instead we dive right in to the fun stuff: how to tell a story,” Davenport said. “How do you recognize and capture a moment? How do you approach strangers to make portraits? What are the key visual elements to a “National Geographic” story? What is the secret to making gorgeous landscape images, and how do art museums play a role in that?”

The weekend will dive into techniques that include elements of color, com-position, moments and light, as well as how photographers can make sim-ple adjustments to enhance or change a perspective.

“I’ll also help guests get to thinking about how to develop their own person-al assignments for fun projects they want to work on,” Davenport said. “So they understand that the joy of photography begins long before they pick their camera up.”

Davenport said he is willing to get as technical as the groups desires, but the focus of the workshop is on storytelling through photography.

“I will get them seeing light differently, get them understanding what it means to ‘make’ a picture instead of ‘take’ a picture,” he said.

Not to mention the one-on-one time with a full-time, working “National Geo-graphic” photographer. Davenport has been a photojournalist for 30 years and has worked in over 160 countries, covering wildlife, culture, environ-mental issues and war. Over the years, he has had more than 7,000 stu-dents through online and field photographic workshops.

The “Mountain Moments” package at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in-cludes two-nights accommodations, photography workshops led by Daven-port, and activities outlined in a weekend itinerary, including a sunrise pho-tography hike with the opportunity to catch wildlife in action for photos, “golden hour” hike to Anderson’s Cabin, food photography at WYLD and more.

The “Mountain Moments” package is available September 28-30, 2018, starting at $650. Space is limited—call 970-748-6200 to reserve a spot.


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