Swan Island Dahlia Farm, Oregon - August 19-23 2025
Swan Island Dahlia Farm, Oregon - August 19-23 2025
A Creative Adventure ~ Swan Island Dahlia Farm Photography Workshop $1899. Limit 10
Join award winning photographer Denise Ippolito at world renowned Swan Island Dahlia Farm in Canby Oregon (just south of Portland) for a great learning and photography experience. Swan Island features more than 40 acres with over 350 varieties of dahlias in a plethora of colors, shapes and sizes, making it one of the largest growers in the United States. Here we will have a slightly early and late access at peak time for the blooms. The dahlias at Swan Island have been featured on my Forever Stamp Collection with the USPS. This is where it all began for me. Swan Island is putting together a celebration of my stamps and offering garden walks and photo signings by yours truly. This will be right after the workshop and you are welcome to stay and join the fun.
My assistant for this workshop is Donna Bourdon- Donna has been growing dahlias for over 30 years and she is a member of the American Dahlia Society and the Tennessee Dahlia Society.
Meet & Greet August 18th at 8pm in the hotel lobby. This will give some time to those flying in on the 18th to get situated.
We will enjoy five morning and four afternoon photography sessions with image sharing daily. While we will do most of our photography at the Swan Island Dahlia Farm, we will also visit the Portland Rose Garden on this workshop (Yay!). The in-the-field instruction will include seeing the situation, the use of selective focus, creative use of depth of field, histogram and exposure guidance, designing creative images, choosing your background, isolating your subject, lens options, and the use of reflectors and diffusers. In addition to in-the-field instruction, participants will share their photos daily during our working lunches. At that time, I will offer advice and guidance with each image as well as some Photoshop tips. I will also do “small break-out” Photoshop sessions with everyone so that it can be a more intense learning time focusing more on individual needs. Our field sessions will also include challenging photography assignments (with small prizes for the winners!) geared to get you out of your comfort zone. I hope that you can join me for a creative learning experience with some of the best flower photography to be had in North America.
Daily Photo Schedule:
Morning shoot 7:00am-10:00am -(we will arrive before the fields open and shoot on the outskirts with the sun at our back. Afterwards, we will park inside the gates and explore the flower fields!)
Morning break
Lunch @ noon with clients Image Review
Afternoon shoot 3:30pm-6:30pm (5:30-6:30-private time in the gardens with just our group, we will have access to areas that others do not!)
*Portland Rose Garden day will be an all day event with a lunch stop.
*All times are tentative and subject to change based on weather and local conditions.
Not Included: All meals, transportation and lodging. I will send a group email so that folks can ride-share or even room share once we get our group together. I’ll also send a detailed information sheet with gear and clothing suggestions.
