Capturing the Natural Beauty of the South Shore

I am pleased to announce that in conjunction with Local Cultural Councils and the Massachusetts Audubon North River Sanctuary, I will be offering 14 free photography workshops over the next 6 months! We will visit many communities on the south shore of Massachusetts and learn about photography as we go. The workshops will get us out in the field at some of the best parks that each town has to offer. During each session we will focus (no pun intended:) on a particular aspect of photography. If you attend all 14 sessions, you will have a portfolio of some of the most beautiful and interesting places on the South Shore and you will have learned a lot about photography. Pre-registration is required for all sessions. Please contact John Galluzzo at jgalluzzo@massaudubon.org or call at 781 837 9400.

Thank you to the Local Cultural Councils, the Massachusetts North River Sanctuary and John Galluzzo for making this possible!

Below is the write up that was recently posted in the North River Sanctuary's monthly newsletter:


Capturing the Natural Beauty of the South Shore


Thanks to the many Local Cultural Councils on the South Shore, we are proud to offer this new series of single-day digital photography workshops.

Join Greg Lessard for these free workshops, in the following communities:

April 17, Oliver Mills Park, Middleboro - waterfalls, 8:30-9:30 am
April 19, Nantasket Beach, Hull - sunrise, 5-7 am
June 16, D.W. Field Park, Brockton, 9-11 am
June 20, Gurnet Lighthouse, Plymouth - sundown
June 23, Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, Marshfield, 7-9 am
June 26, Rockland Town Forest, Rockland
July 25, Great Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Wareham
July 26, Luddam's Ford, Hanover
August 18, Burrage Wildlife Management Area, Hanson
August 20, Scituate Lighthouse, Scituate
August 22, Hobart's Pond, Whitman
August 25, Webb State Park, Weymouth
September 8, Betty's Neck, Lakeville
October 27, Sampson Memorial Forest, Kingston

For more information about the programs, contact John Galluzzo at 781-837-9400. Preregistration is required.

California: Photography Tour Yosemite, San Francisco and Mono Lake

I am pleased to announce my photo tour to California and Yosemite National Park! The trip will start in San Francisco where we will see many of the highlights of one of America's most beautiful cities. We will then spend three days in and around stunning Yosemite Valley. Yosemite has been the inspiration for many of the greatest landscape photographers including Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell. We will visit many of the most beautiful sites including Washburn Point, The Gates of the Valley and the Wawona Grove. We will visit Tuolumne Meadows on our way to Mono Lake. At Mono Lake, we will photograph the otherworldly landscape of the salt tufas and the Eastern Sierra. This is a trip that will be sure to provide memories and photographs of a life time!

The fee for this trip is $2195 for Mass Audubon and PDP members, $2295 for non-members. This price includes lodging, ground transportation, activities including a boat ride and tram ride and photographic instruction. The trip will be from July 14-July 21, 2012.

To sign up you can call the Mass Audubon North River Sanctuary at (781) 837 9400. For more information you can visit the Mass Audubon website at http://www.massaudubon.org/NH_Travel/listing.php?program_code=1217-SS12SU1

Adventures in Photography: Titanic 100 Years Later

While on an adventure in photography last summer, my wife Brenda and I stopped in Las Vegas for a few days to attend a music teacher’s conference. In addition to my career as a photographer, I am also a full time music teacher in Scituate, MA and Brenda teaches music in Halifax, MA.

While visiting Las Vegas, we took advantage of an opportunity to see Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Luxor Hotel. The exhibit was very well done. It featured many artifacts that had been recovered from Titanic including a huge section of the ship’s hull. I truly enjoyed the level of detail that had been used to recreate what the famous ship had looked like. As we strolled through the exhibition, it felt as if we were actually on board the Titanic!

Each person who enters the exhibition receives a biography card of a passenger on the Titanic. At the conclusion of the exhibition you find out whether the passenger survived or not. I was truly stunned when I read that the passenger on my biography card had been from Scituate, MA. His name was Jacques Futrelle. He was a famous mystery novel writer who built a home overlooking Scituate Harbor. I had traveled across the entire country to find out about a famous author who had lived less than a mile from the school I have taught at for the past ten years! It was an amazing coincidence.

Futrelle had travelled to Europe, with his wife May, to promote his latest books. He was a pioneer of the American mystery novel. His most famous stories were known as the “Thinking Machine” series and featured the character Professor Van Dusen.

The Futrelles decided to return home early and they booked their passage on the RMS Titanic. They had just celebrated Jacques’ thirty seventh birthday. It was widely reported that as the Titanic was sinking, Jacques encouraged May to board a life boat. He stayed on board and calmly smoked a cigarette with John Jacob Aster, while they awaited their fate.

Sadly, Jacques and more than 1500 other passengers did not survive. May returned to Scituate, raised her two children and became a noted author in her own right. She also posthumously published two of her husband’s last novels.

Many of Futrelle’s books are highly regarded. Some people even suggest that he would have established himself as one of the great American mystery writers had he survived. You can read many of Jacques Futrelle’s stories at this website: http://www.futrelle.com/

This Month’s Tip: The more knowledge you have about the things you care about, the more you will be prepared to make successful images. I am fascinated by the sea and by history. While I may not ever photograph the Titanic, I can relate to the sea, the history of the Gilded Age, and the town that I teach in. The next time I am at the ocean in Scituate, I will remember the story of Jacques Futrelle and I will be able to create a more beautiful image.

Boston Globe's Best Bet

Today's edition of the Boston Globe included the Desserts and Destinations presentation that I will be doing with John Galluzzo on Saturday. We will be sharing tales from last year's photography tour to Montana. The presentation will be topped off with a slice of huckleberry pie, a Montana delicacy! The Globe included the program as part of its best bets for entertainment next weekend.

You can read the excerpt here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2012/03/04/globe_south_best_bets/

I have included three photos that represent some of the stories that will be told on Saturday. I have included a cowboy holding on for dear life atop a bucking bronc, an antelope at dusk, and a reworked version of Dreams of Tipis and Stars. The week that we spent in Montana was simply outstanding and I can hardly wait to share some of our favorite moments and sights with all of you.

You can reserve a seat for Desserts and Destinations by contacting the North River Sanctuary of the Massachusetts Audubon Society at 781 837 9400. You can read more here:
http://www.massaudubon.org/catalog/listing.php?program_code=1180-SS12WI1