Celebrating the Sunflower -
through Photography, Drawing, Painting, Videography, and more in Highmore, South Dakota!
August 9 - 10 - 11, 2024.
Join Professional Photographer, and Adventure organizer Jay Grammond in this Celebration of Sunflowers and the rural agricultural lifestyle! This 2nd Annual Workshop is open to Photographers and other art forms. We will work on Sunrises & Sunsets; Agricultural Landscapes, including wide sweeping scenes and close ups. We will have curated opportunities for creating images with local models - to show both a modern look at "life on the farm", and the Pioneering times. It all celebrates the growing and harvest seasons which are so vital to the community.
Early Bird Price is $359 per person, plus $15 if using Credit Card Through June 21. Price does not include travel/lodging/meals (unless you are staying at the B&B, then a light Breakfast is included). Lodging options are at: The Hydeout Bed & Breakfast & The Homecoming. There are limited rooms available at each location (arranged through Jay); if needed we may be able to secure lodging at a third location in the area. Fee after June 21st: $459 per person, plus $19 if using a Credit card.
*All skill levels with a desire to learn are welcome! Anyone with a fairly newer smart phone all the way up to the most advanced high end mirrorless camera user can do this. Also, if you are a sketch artist, or a painter and want to draw or paint during the event, or get photos to use later as references, please consider joining us!
One to three weeks out: This is a Unique thing that we do on our workshops...we'll meet via Zoom to go over what to expect, what kind of adventures we have in mind; we'll answer your questions, and get to know one another which is a very important piece of these Adventure Workshops!
Our home base will be the "HydeOut Bed & Breakfast"; and "The Homecoming" Historic Home in Highmore, South Dakota. Last year's event was the first step in creating a city celebration of Sunflowers. This year, the celebration has grown and this workshop will be part of the 1st Annual Sunflower Festival for Highmore!
We have these two places reserved. Do Not try to book rooms via on-line. We will work on arrangements with you!
Friday, August 9th: We will gather at our host location, Hydeout Bed & Breakfast in Highmore, SD. Once we are all together, we will start the first of our curated sessions which will include Sunflowers, followed by Dinner together, and then we will attempt our first Sunset session (did I mention Sunflower fields?!).
Saturday, August 10th: be prepared for a FULL day of Art and Sunflowers! Things will start off with a Sunrise and Landscape session. We'll make time for breakfast, then will start in with more of our specially curated sessions with models, local ranchers, agricultural scenes, and of course Sunflower Fields, lots of them! We will incorporate some down time for meals and a bit of rest; and will wrap up the day with Close-Ups/Macro shots as well as Landscapes & Sunset over Sunflowers.
Sunday, August 11th: There will be an opportunity for one more Sunrise (optional.) We will gather to talk about our highlights, and say our farewells.
Your Instructors:
Jay Grammond
I am a professional photographer based out of Minnesota. I bought my first camera 42 years ago; and after doing photography on the side for most of that time; decided to make the leap of faith from an award winning career in Lifelong Learning to become a full time photographer in January of 2020!
I operate photography workshops in the West and Midwest. I took the reigns of an annual event called the Black Hills Photo Shootout in 2019 and have been organizing that for the past five years. It is a weekend of photography in the Black Hills with multiple instructors in multiple locations. In my time running this event, I have worked with Keynote speakers like: Joel Grimes, Darrell Gulin, Erik Kuna, and Ian Plant. In 2020, I organized a very successful multi-week on-line photography event for the Black Hills Photo Shootout. In 2021, I started to offer my "Adventure" Workshops in locations like Theodore Roosevelt NP; Badlands NP; and the Bighorn Mountains. Since then I have added Adventure Workshops in Minnesota (Lake Superior's North Shore); South Dakota (Toy Photography); and "Art of the Harvest. (Agritourism Theme)
Beginning in 2020, I started to offer on-line photography, history, and travel presentations to adult audiences across Minnesota. I also organized on-line photography education classes for people across the country with photographers Charlie Borland, and Tomas Alvarez. On one of the last days of 2020, I offered a free on-line discussion called "An Evening of Gratitude" where I interviewed Scott Kelby about all the good things that came out of 2020.
I was fortunate to have been featured in Photoshop User Magazine (Dec 2021); have been interviewed on several podcast episodes; and - I published my first book, "Fading Ads Of The Twin Cities" in February of 2022. Tomas Alvarez and I started a podcast called "The Creative's Moment" this past Fall.
I hope that you can join us in South Dakota, for "Art of the Harvest" Jay
Check out my work: https://www.jgrammondphotography.net