WILLOW CREEK — A new series of photography workshops launched this month is drawing amateur photographers to Willow Creek’s most scenic locations, combining the town’s natural beauty with instruction from one of Aroostook County’s most accomplished visual artists.
Iris Beaumont, the retired art teacher whose watercolor series “Ice-Out Studies” was exhibited at the Bangor Public Library, is leading the workshops, which meet on the third Saturday of each month at locations around town.
The Sept. 15 workshop — focused on foliage composition — drew 14 participants from as far as Portland and Bangor, shooting the maple stands along the Mattawamkeag River Trail at peak color.
“I’ve spent 40 years trying to capture the way light moves through these woods,” Beaumont said. “A camera is a different tool than a brush, but the same eye is required. You have to see before you can render.”
Beaumont, 67, teaches fundamentals of composition, lighting, and exposure for landscape photography. Each three-hour session includes a one-hour classroom component at the Carnegie Library followed by two hours of guided shooting at locations including Homan’s Pond, Thorne’s Bend, and the Farr Family Farm woodlot.
Participants are encouraged to submit their best images for display at the library, where Beaumont selects a “Photo of the Month” that is exhibited in the front window.
The series has received a $2,000 grant from the Maine Arts Commission, which covers Beaumont’s stipend and printing costs. Registration is $25 per session.
Doris Kim, the town librarian, said the workshops serve an unexpected purpose: they create a digital archive of Willow Creek’s seasonal landscapes that visitors share on social media.
“Every photograph that gets posted to Facebook or Flickr is an advertisement for this town,” Kim said. “It costs us nothing and reaches people we would never find through a brochure.”
The remaining 2012 workshops will cover winter landscapes (Dec. 15) and the Ice-Out (March 16, 2013).