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Ever wanted to learn how to paint an abstract landscape using a one-stroke dry brush technique? In using this technique, the limitations in nature representation can be limitless and expressive. All materials will be provided.

In this Course, you will investigate and use your camera in the most creative mode, M (Manual). We will breakdown the functions of the camera that are manipulated to achieve properly exposed images including the Shutter, the Aperture, and the ISO. We will learn about the inter-relationships of the functions so that you will be able to select values of shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO which allow you to achieve the desired depth of field and motion capture. We will spend time talking about the most important aspect of photography, image composition. Impactful images are a combination of composition and camera craft. We will go on a class photo shoot where you will spend the session operating your camera in Manual mode, and applying some of the compositional techniques discussed. After the photoshoot, we will conduct an in-class critique of the images, using the opportunity to learn how to assess images for technical correctness and effective use of composition. We will spend time talking about lenses, why so many, why such a range of price, the crop factor impact, explain the limitation of lenses, which ones to use when. Finally, we will spend a session talking about lighting, how impactful it is, and some basic techniques and tools you can use to control it. A portable studio will be set up allowing you to work with lighting tools, seeing firsthand the effect of light manipulation.

Students will be required to bring cameras with interchangeable lens capability, and which allow the Shutter, the Aperture, and the ISO settings to be manually selected (Manual Mode). Having multiple lenses is not a requirement, but students are encouraged to bring all of the lenses they may have.

In this three-night lap-size quilt class, you will create a quilt using 6 Fat Quarters and 1½ yards of fabric. You will cut, sew, and finish your project during the sessions. On the last night of class, the final hour will be dedicated to instruction for those interested in quilting their quilts themselves.

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Photography was coming of age during the American Civil War. Mathew Brady and other photojournalists brought the carnage, suffering, and sacrifice of war to the home front. Soldiers posed in their uniforms to send final mementoes home to their loved ones. Lastly, photography documented the war from beginning to end with huge impacts to the nation’s morale.

This class examines how photography was used during the war not only for news propaganda and documenting the ravages of war, but also in remembering and memorializing the dead.

Zoom Class. Participants will need a computer with Internet access, webcam, and microphone to join the Zoom meeting. Zoom meeting information will be sent via email before the class starts.

On April 9, 1865, and after four long years of war, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, officially ending the American Civil War. This class examines the events that led to Lee’s retreat out of the trenches of Petersburg, the surrender, the terms of the agreement, the impacts on the armies, and the reaction from the nation.

Zoom Class. Participants will need a computer with Internet access, webcam, and microphone to join the Zoom meeting. Zoom meeting information will be sent via email before the class starts.

Capturing an image with your camera is only the first step to presenting amazing images to your audience. If you are not post-processing your images then your images are not all that they can be. In this course the instructor will introduce you to the basics of post-processing. This is a course to help you take a good image and make it a Wow! image. This is not about image fabrication and manipulation using a computer application. We will be introducing the basic concepts of image cropping and straightening, exposure adjustments, contrast control, local adjustments, white balance/color correction, burning and dodging.

This course will be using the Adobe Lightroom Classic (LrC) application. Lightroom Classic is the de facto standard for post processing used by the photography industry. LrC is available with the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography bundle, which also includes Photoshop and Lightroom (Lr) for tablets and portable devices. You will be introduced to the Lightroom workflow, learn about the Lightroom catalog and how to create one, import and store images in Lightroom, learn how to do global enhancements and localized or targeted enhancements, fix common problems, save images for posting to the Internet or passing on to other applications, how to color register your monitor, create panoramic images. The instructor will also show you how to integrate your camera directly to Lightroom using the Tethering function.

Students will be required to bring their own laptops, have Adobe Creative Cloud accounts already set up, and have Lightroom Classic (LrC) installed. Although this course was developed on and is presented using a Windows platform, students that will be working with Apple devices are welcome. All the functions in the Windows version are present in the Apple version, although some functions may be in slightly different locations.

The Civil War significantly affected the lives of American women. A handful disguised themselves as men and joined the fight. Others served as spies and nurses. Many more took on new roles at home after their husbands, brothers, and fathers responded to the call to arms. Thousands of enslaved women began the transition to freedom. This class will describe how the Civil War shaped, impacted, and transformed the lives of women.

Zoom Class. Participants will need a computer with Internet access, webcam, and microphone to join the Zoom meeting. Zoom meeting information will be sent via email before the class starts.

Today’s political climate leaves Congress in constant gridlock and a reputation of achieving little. By contrast, the 37th Congress, elected in the Fall of 1860, was the most productive Congress in U.S. History. Why? Secession caused Congressmen and Senators to resign their seats and return to their homes in the South. Many of them became members in the Provisional Confederate Congress.

This class will examine the accomplishments and failures of the 37th Congress (1861-1863), the 38th Congress (1863-1865), and the three Confederate Congresses.

Zoom Class. Participants will need a computer with Internet access, webcam, and microphone to join the Zoom meeting. Zoom meeting information will be sent via email before the class starts.

Thanksgiving stands as one of the most American of holidays, honoring the harvest feasts of the earliest arrivals during the colonial days. Yet, Thanksgiving as an American holiday was influenced and created out of efforts during the American Civil War. This class examines the first Thanksgiving harvest feasts, its origins in the Civil War, Lincoln’s efforts to federalize the holiday, and how politicians still struggling economically with the Great Depression altered Thanksgiving forever.

Zoom Class. Participants will need a computer with Internet access, webcam, and microphone to join the Zoom meeting. Zoom meeting information will be sent via email before the class starts.

By the time the American Civil War began, the whole concept of Christmas and the majority of our present day Christmas customs and traditions were already established. Through letters, diaries, stories, drawings, manuscripts, and books, this class reconstructs how soldiers and civilians celebrated the holiday during a period of battle and bloodshed. We will also follow Lincoln's holidays through his time in the White House.

Zoom Class. Participants will need a computer with Internet access, webcam, and microphone to join the Zoom meeting. Zoom meeting information will be sent via email before the class starts.