Venue Description:

It is no secret that Phoenix is known for its dry heat and deserts. However, its unexpected vibrancy of life begs to be captured in powerful images!

Three miles of paths traverse 392 acres of trees, shrubs, cacti, and other plants from the world’s deserts. Beyond that, there is also a thriving population of birds, butterflies, and lizards you may just be lucky enough to capture.

Your instructor will teach you several tips and techniques that accomplished photographers use every day in order to help them create captivating images. Knowing the rule of thirds, for instance, offers insight into analyzing how to highlight one’s subject within a certain section of the frame — sometimes it is best to avoid the obvious. Leading lines train viewers’ eyes across the image. Depth of field can give a photo a sense of purpose by focusing on a section of an image. Your instructor will also teach you how to best use natural lighting to enhance or minimize the saturation of a photo. All of these compositional techniques make taking great photos easy, with the right application.

You will learn to master macro-photography. It becomes easy to notice the details and patterns of tiny specimens of nature, which can be quite profound.

In order to take a perfect picture of a flower, sometimes it is best to blur the background, keeping the bloom in focus. Your instructor will teach you how to do this easily!

In addition to taking pictures of petals and prickers, that may offer minute detail of a complex and unending narrative, you will learn to take pictures of the gorgeous sweeping landscapes made dynamic by rock formations and the blue Arizona sky.

Meeting Spot:

The Arboretum staff would prefer if we meet as follows:

At the entry gate, please inform the staff member that you are meeting your instructor for a photography class and will pay as a group.

Proceed to the gift shop, but do NOT pay until all class members have arrived.

There is a seating area right outside the gift shop & restrooms nearby.

Single admission is now $24.95 per person (so if you’re local, membership is a much better deal).