The Photo Classroom - Digital Photography Classes & Expeditions

06/18/2026

Not sure what is happening to me, as in the last two weeks, I have photographed a wedding, babies, and now two dogs. However, we had fun yesterday when Bruno, the mascot St. Bernard at Timberline Lodge, was enjoying his audience outside the front desk. It was cool to get some photos of him, including the signature drool in the second frame coming off his mouth. He is only 1 year old, so you can imagine he has a little growing left to do, but it was a perfect scene at the historic lodge.

06/18/2026

Two views of Horsetail Falls

Right before sunset in the Columbia River Gorge, the group and I took in a waterfall to get us some practice before our two major waterfall shoots tomorrow. The participants did great, quickly converting from the "landscape" camera settings we had used all day to our "waterfall" checklist. While the lighting was challenging, it was a really fun way to begin to end our day of shooting. We tallied up 6 major photographic opportunities today, including the lavender fields, Trillium Lake, Timberline Lodge, Horsetail Falls, and two different iconic sunset perspectives!

The first photo was done at Aperture priority mode at F22 and .6 second shutter speed at ISO 50 with the 24-105mm lens.

The second photo was shot in Aperture priority mode at F16 and 1/13th second and ISO 250 with my 16mm lens.

06/18/2026

06/18/2026

06/17/2026

Yesterday, on my drive from Central Oregon back to Portland, I found some gems (no pun intended) and met some more cool people seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

The first one of the red barn was my favorite of the day. There was a sign for Richardson's Rock Ranch, and since my daughter is into geology, I had to stop in. Here, I found the largest collection of rocks (all in plastic barrels outside, with more finished pieces inside). Picked up a Thunder Rock that was dug from their property (they have 19,000 acres) and enjoyed talking to the owners about how well-known this place was, how they imported rock from all over the world, etc. I even got a large bowl for our kitchen that was carved out of rock from Morocco. Then of course, I had lunch and shot for hours in Shaniko, which is a true western ghost town with a population of about 40. Gas here (since it is the only station within 60-plus miles was around $7.50 a gallon, but better was my bison burger at the small cafe and ice cream shop, where I enjoyed an interesting discussion with the owner on the porch of the hotel. Then the abandoned gas station and barn up the hill with Mt. Hood in the background photos came from the Wasco area before I descended into the Columbia River Gorge.

Our group has arrived and we have a busy day planned, photographing Mt. Hood from many different perspectives, starting with a visit to the very special



Richardson rock ranch

06/16/2026

Gift Cards for Father's Day

Dads can be some of the hardest people to shop for as they already evertything. However, if the man in your life is interested or may become so in photography, a gift card for photography instruction might be perfect.

Our gift cards can be purchased in any amount and used towards any of our classes, on-demand recordings, individual instruction sessions, or expeditions.
You can purchase one at https://thephotoclassroom.com/gift-cards/

(Link also in first comment)

06/16/2026

Check out a little video I did yesterday in the ghost town of Shaniko, OR

06/16/2026

I promise, I will soon start sharing some of the landscapes I have captured while exploring (10 miles of hiking yesterday) this region of OR. However, I am having a lot of fun meeting people and making new friends (that I may connect with for future trips).

My day started at Smith Rock, which is incredibly photogenic but also a popular rock climbing area. I had photographed a gal who was up on the rock wall, trying my hand at adventure photography! When she got back down to the bottom, I went up to her and the two guys who were with her and asked if she wanted me to send her some photos. She introduced herself as Lisa and started to give me her phone number. When I heard the area code 336, I instantly stopped and asked her where she was from, as I knew it was an NC area code. Ends up she used to live in Greensboro, and in fact, her parents are still there. Cindy and I started our married life in High Point, right next to GSO, and what a small world. I met two other people later that day that were from NC!

On my way to Bend, I saw the Crescent Moon Alpaca Farm. It looked interesting, so I stopped in and was immediately impressed with how well-kept it was. They had a store full of clothing made from Alpaca fibers. I headed out on a trail through fenced-in areas where over 240 head of Alpacas were eating, sleeping, and playing, ranging from adults to one that had been born just that morning. I was busy walking around with my camera when a lady commented on how professional my camera looked. I told her I was a photographer, and she introduced herself as Debbie, the owner. We then had a great conversation about the animals, the farm, business principles, her past health challenges, and what her family had done to keep this farm going. I bought some goodies from the store, and she offered to help plan a photo outing for my students if I did a tour in the area! The photos are cool, but the conversations have been fabulous!


Crescent Moon Ranch

06/14/2026

I went for the photo of a church and got so much more . . .

Today I left Portland to spend a couple of days on my own exploring the high desert of Central Oregon. My main stop was the Simnasho church on the Warm Springs Reservation land. Following the GPS, when I got off the highway, I noticed a sign for the Tribal Market. It advertised that everyone was welcome! When it got to the location, there was a lone white canopy in the parking lot with a few people sitting under it and a portable stove; definitely not the wide variety of arts and crafts I had in my mind. But mainly to make sure it was okay to take some photos of the old church, which was just around the corner, I stopped to check out the tent. I was greeted warmly, and they wanted me to sign their guest log, as I was probably going to be the visitor from the farthest location for the day (tough competition, since there were no other names on the list!). Anyhow, I asked what they were selling, and considering I was hours away from food, I let them know I would like to try one of the Indian Tacos. What then happened was the highlight of my day. I started talking with these Native Americans (they said I could call them whatever I wanted to because they know who they are), and before I knew it, I was served an incredible meal, and we enjoyed conversation for probably over an hour. They shared their heritage, I asked them questions about their lives on the reservation, their experience in "boarding schools", the community, etc. They also treated me to dessert, which was hot fry bread with Huckleberry jam on it. When I got up to leave, they said they wanted a photo since the "professional photographer" was there. I assumed they wanted me to take it, but they actually wanted me to be in it with them. I captured the following photo in the post, and it is obvious by our expressions that we had truly fellowshipped and went from being strangers to friends. All of us shared hugs with each other before I left. Interestingly, if I go back, I will not be nearly as excited about photographing the church but rather looking up Delson, Howie, and the others once again, my new friends.

06/13/2026

Can't wait to do some more video work for these guys soon