Drawing upon inspiration from abstract expressionist painters such as Claude Monet, Georges Seurat and Georgia O’Keefe, award-winning Colorado-based fine art nature photographer, Charles Needle, will explore ways you can craft painterly/abstract images in nature using nothing more than your camera (or smartphone). In the first half of this presentation, Charles will describe the process of using multiple-exposure and long-exposure techniques to transform everyday scenes into visual masterpieces. Then, in the second half, Charles will show how you can go beyond documentation to create artistic and unusual close-up/macro images both in the field and in your own backyard. Using a fun, easy-to-understand, step-by-step approach, Charles will define and illustrate in-camera shooting techniques such as “Multiple-Exposure Monet” (a technique he invented), Multiple-Exposure Tilt, Multiple-Exposure Rotate & Zoom, Soft-Glow Montage, Composite Montage, Intentional Camera Movement and more. Charles will also explain how you can make poetic and imaginative closeups using a telephoto lens to “shoot through,” a closeup lens/diopter in conjunction with a macro lens to enter a magical abstract universe, a Lensbaby to embrace blur, or a wide-angle lens to get super close and show a subject in its environment. You’ll come away from this jam-packed session inspired to craft your own artistic, expressive imagery, equipped with new knowledge and skills, ready to unlock your creative potential and see the world around you with fresh eyes.