Creative Photography Workshop at Longwood Gardens
2025-01-25 10:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Tired of sitting around staring out the window at the cold, gray skies, longing for Spring? Me, too, and I have a great way to chase away those winter blues for you!
At Longwood Gardens, winter is anything but cold and dreary! Step inside the warm 4-acre conservatory and the new West Conservatory. Feel the warmth and breathe in the scents of Spring! Discover vibrant orchids and countless other spring beauties crafted into exquisite arrangements and forms.
Join us as we photographically explore the beauty and intricate delicateness of a wide variety of flowers and plants. We will spend the morning photographing exclusively in the main and potentially west conservatory. The emphasis of this workshop will be on capturing the beauty we see in a more creative way. We will focus on the big scenes by creating depth in our larger, landscape images. We will do this by using a variety of creative compositional techniques. For those interested in the tiny details, we will also discuss and practice Macro & Close UP photography techniques. These will include best practices for photographing without the use of a tripod (which are no longer able to be used indoors:(
Suggestions will be given for recommended gear-but you will be shown how to come away with great images with whatever gear you have. Additionally, we will discuss white balance, exposure and depth of field, how to find or create a clean background, overcoming focusing challenges with Focus Stacking, dealing with contrasty light, use of fill flash, creative composition, and more! We will also explore how to take your creative possibilities to a new level with Soft-Focus lenses, accessories and In-Camera Double Exposures.
Working with whatever camera gear you have, you will receive hands-on instruction and feedback, as well as learn in a fun and friendly environment. A wide angle, telephoto, macro lens or close focusing accessory are recommended for this Trek, but again, we will work with whatever gear you have. A detailed email will be sent prior to the event with everything you will need to know.
To help facilitate the learning process in a way that allows for more in-field shooting, there will be a pre-trek Zoom class the week prior to the workshop. As an added value to help round out your learning from the event, we will have a post-trek image review, also via Zoom. Participants will be able to share images and get feedback during the image review, and as part of our private Facebook group-for our workshop attendees only!
Group size is kept small to give the greatest opportunity for learning. Sells out quickly! Sign up now to secure your spot!
Admission to the gardens is not included in the cost of the workshop. Longwood Gardens members do not need a Timed Ticket. All non-members do need to go online and get your timed ticket for 10am. https://longwoodgardens.org
In case of inclement winter weather, we will reschedule for Saturday, February 1st.
Longwood Gardens is located at 1001 Longwood Rd, Kennett Square, PA 19348
(Note: Images shown are from a variety of years and not an exact representation of what is currently on display)

Mack Trucks Historical Museum Friday March 21, 2025
2025-03-21 10:30 - 14:30
What year did the Mack Senior model debut? When was the first Mack diesel engine produced? When did Mack adopt the bulldog as its mascot? If you’ve got questions – there’s a pretty good chance the Mack Trucks Historical Museum has the answers within their archives. The Mack Museum was born as a non-profit corporation in 1984 and commemorates Mack history through photos, memorabilia and a collection of vintage Mack truck models. In addition to being the authority on all things Mack, the Mack Trucks Historical Museum also restores and preserves vintage Mack Trucks and memorabilia for all to enjoy.
Continuing in our Museum Photography workshop series, join us as we take a photographic tour of one of the coolest and little known museums around. We will spend approximately four hours photographing some of the most powerful – and photographic trucks ever made. You will see everything from work trucks, to fire trucks to everything in between-including MEGATRON, from the Transformers movie!
Special instructions will be given on dealing with exposures in high contrast scenes, exposure bracketing, creative control using aperture and focus point, how to create high dynamic range images, focusing stacking and more! This is a great place to shoot macro, super wide and anything in between! You’ll be thrilled by all the creative compositions you’ll come away with and the fun you will have!
This workshop is geared for entry level and more advanced photo enthusiasts. No special gear is needed. A sturdy tripod is highly recommended, as are lens hoods and a circular polarizer for each lens. Demonstration will be given on the post-trek zoom on how to merge bracketed exposures into High Dynamic Range Images(HDR) in Lightroom Classic, and how to give your images a unique, creative look through post processing.
This trek is on sale through March 18th. Cost of the workshop INCLUDES a pre-trek Zoom session where we will go over tips, exposure settings, lens choice, etc. Admission to the museum and hands-on instruction during the workshop, as well as the post trek image review via Zoom are all included in registration cost!
In case of inclement weather, we will reschedule tentatively to Friday April 4th, same time. 10:30am-2:30pm
A minimum number of participants is needed to run this event. Please register early to confirm!
Location: Mack Truck Museum, 2402 Lehigh Parkway South, Allentown, PA 18103 Use address below!!!
(from website: Use GPS address 11 Grammes Road, Allentown, PA 18103)

SOLD OUT!!! Shooting Sports Like A Pro With The Reading Fightin' Phils
2025-08-15 18:30 - 21:30
This event has sold out. Please use the contact form to let me know if interested if a spot becomes open, or if I add a second date. If there is enough interest, I will do my best to add another date.
What better way to enjoy a summer evening than spending an evening at a baseball game? And for the photo enthusiast, what better way to enjoy the game than capturing the action like the pros in the press area! We will have special access during the entire game to shoot in the press areas along the first and third base dugouts. We will also be able to shoot from a variety of locations throughout the stadium. Instruction will be given prior to the event during a pre-trek Zoom class, and throughout to help you capture the action with whatever gear, and whatever level of photographic knowledge you have.
And, as an added bonus, there will be a spectacular fireworks display after the game that we will photograph from a great location. Don’t miss this fun and fantastic opportunity to capture baseball images like a pro!
Registration fee includes pre-trek zoom class, admission to stadium, press passes, instruction throughout the evening and fireworks show! Also included is a post-trek image review.
Location: First Energy Stadium, 1900 Centre Ave, Reading, PA 19601

Creative Photo Trek to Luna Parc!
2025-11-08 11:00 - 14:00
Get ready for a private workshop to one of the most interesting and unique places you’ll ever visit!
Discover Luna Parc, a unique artistic playground tucked away on 8.5 wooded acres in northern New Jersey. Created by multimedia artist Richard “Ricky” Boscarino, Luna Parc is filled with colorful, quirky buildings and outdoor sculptures made from everything you can imagine—metal, glass, clay, and even bowling balls and license plates.
During this workshop, you’ll get access to this 5,000 square foot museum and home, exploring both the unusual architecture and the fascinating interior filled with thousands of curious objects. From detailed mosaics to eclectic art pieces, you’ll discover a treasure trove of quirky, fascinating objects and artwork offering endless photo opportunities. There’s no shortage of interesting subjects to shoot! Whether you’re new to photography or a seasoned pro, Luna Parc is the perfect playground to spark your creativity and capture something truly unique and fun.
No special gear is needed. A wide angle to midrange zoom lens is all you’ll need. You could even use your phone!
We will begin our workshop with a Zoom session where we will go through all the details of the workshop, including detailed instruction on composition and exposure settings.
After the workshop, we will have a participant image review on zoom, along with a variety of editing tips and tricks to make your images pop.
A detailed email with details and location info will be sent prior to the event.
Please note: there are 11 levels (not floors) to the museum. Participants must be able to walk up and down many flights of stairs, as well as walking on some uneven ground outdoors. As the majority of our time will be inside, event will be held rain or shine.
A minimum number of participants is needed to run this workshop, as the cost to tour is a greater than normal cost.
Note: Number of tickets on website does not reflect actual number of tickets sold, as many people choose to pay with Venmo or CASH app. Contact me directly if that is how you would like to pay.
Ticket price does include admission to grounds for this exclusive event. Deadline to register is November 2nd!
If you’d like more info, check out this great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ifmCqRxWg&t=25s

A Longwood Christmas Photo Trek
2025-12-09 16:00 - 20:00
Longwood Gardens is spectacular in any season, but it is transformed into a magical place during the holiday season. With more than 400,000 twinkling lights strung on nearly 40 miles of wire, this is a photographer’s paradise, and it has become an annual photo trek favorite. Join us as we make amazing images worthy of creating your own holiday cards and gifts!
We will meet at 4pm to be set up and in place as the sun sets and the magic begins. We will continue photographing during the “Blue Hour”, which allows for more dramatic images. We will photograph the amazing light displays outside throughout the grounds. The majority of this trek will be focused on photographing the lights outside, as the inside is usually unbearably crowded and nearly impossible to do any decent photography. After the workshop, participants are able to stay until the gardens close. Later in the evening, opportunities may arise for you to grab decent hand-held images inside.
This workshop is for beginners and more advanced photo enthusiasts. No special gear is required beyond a DSLR or mirrorless camera, tripod and cable release to trip the shutter. You could also use the self timer if you do not have a cable release. A Star filter and kaleidoscope filter would be helpful for creative effects of the lights (not necessary). A midrange zoom lens, in the range of 18-200 or longer, would be the best choice. Fast Lenses, with apertures such as f/2.8 or 1.8 will be a huge benefit in the conservatory (if you choose to go inside), and to create those beautiful Bokeh light effects.
A pre-trek class will be held via Zoom on Wednesday December 3rd to go over all the details of the trek. Instruction will be given on shooting in full manual exposure, how to properly meter and photograph in low light-both outdoors and indoors, lens choice and why it matters; creative composition; HDR or High Dynamic Range Photography; and more! A detailed email will be sent prior to the Zoom session detailing everything you need to get ready. A post-trek image review also via Zoom is included in the registration cost.
This event is being scheduled on a week night to avoid the large weekend crowds. You should plan on arriving at least one hour prior to the workshop start time to allow for traffic and parking. Please plan your schedules accordingly.
Admission to Longwood is NOT included, as most attendees either are-or choose to become members of the gardens. Upon registration you should immediately go online and reserve a timed ticket. It is recommended that you get your ticket for at least an hour prior to the trek. Longwood Gardens members still need a timed ticket(free). Arrive earlier and explore the conservatory on your own.
A minimum number of participants is needed to run this event. The number of tickets shown on website does not necessarily reflect the number still available, as some participants choose to pay using Venmo or Cash app as opposed to PayPal.
In case of hazardous weather, the trek will take place on Thursday December 12th, 2024 (or mutually agreed upon date. The workshop will take place in light rain or snow, as these are fantastic conditions for photographing holiday lights.
DO NOT WAIT TO GET YOUR TIMED TICKETS!!! Sell out at Longwood is likely! You should reserve a timed ticket for 3:30pm or sooner! Tickets are sold out beyond 3:30 at this point! Get them as soon as you register for this event!!!
Please note: the images below were taken over several different years and visits to Longwood. These are all past displays and do not represent what the current displays will look like. Images may be updated after the official opening of the Christmas displays.
Longwood Gardens is located at 1001 Longwood Rd, Kennet Square, PA

Autos As Art_Creative Car Photography Workshop
2026-01-24 09:00 - 12:00
Hidden steps away from the Pennsylvania Turnpike in southeast, PA, is a wonderful place to visit and explore. Classic Auto Mall is a world-class consignment house, with over 1,000 automobiles in over 336, 000 square feet of space! For classic car lovers-this place is a dream. For photographers looking to challenge themselves creatively, this is a wonderful playground!
Wether you’re an automobile aficionado, or just someone like me who can appreciate the incredible beauty of the color, shapes, lines, etc, you will thoroughly enjoy visiting and photographing here with us!
The main emphasis of the workshop is creativity. We will be focusing on not just documenting our subjects, but learning to see them in new, unique ways, capturing images that truly reveal their character. We will do this through creative use of composition, perspective, aperture choice, lens choice and more! You will also learn how to deal with the challenges of difficult lighting, reflections, distracting backgrounds and more. You will leave this workshop with far more creative and unique images than you thought possible, without special gear or difficult techniques. You will also gain a greater understanding of how lens choice and perspective can have a massive impact on your images, and how to use these skills to think differently and see your subjects in a more unique way.
Join us for a fun photo trek to this amazing place! Attendees kept to a minimum to allow for greater hands-on learning with your instructor. A detailed list of gear suggestions and all other pertinent info will be emailed about a week prior to the workshop. We will also have a pre-trek class via Zoom to go through images and tons of teaching tips to get you ready for the event. Your registration also includes a post-trek image review, where we will go through participant’s favorite images, discussing how they might be improved. Some post processing tips will be given, as well.

Please note: These images represent potential subjects from past visits, but are not guaranteed to be there during your visit, as cars are often sold.

For a dizzying video of the amazing array of automobiles in the place, check out this link (on Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/ClassicAutoMallMorgantown/posts/pfbid0gCVzozRtr62psvArL7i6RZpyUzWeq7Rwod4xFJkKmKzKRGhsLWNttbjogXF4RVXnl

Postponed! Simeone Museum Photo Trek
2026-02-07 10:00 - 13:30 | Simeone Museum, 6825 Norwitch Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19153, United States
The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum contains over 75 historically significant cars spanning from 1908 through 1970. Over the last fifty years, they have found their way together in this location through the meticulous work and dedication of our founder, Dr. Fred Simeone. The greatest motorcar manufacturers in the world are all represented in our world-famous collection. Examples include Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Mercedes, Jaguar, Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, in addition to, Corvette, Ford, and more! In 2019, based on a data-centric methodology, The Classic Car Trust named our collection the number one classic car collection in the world. Additionally, the Simeone Museum library contains one of the greatest automotive reference collections in the world. (From their website:)
We have visited Simeone multiple times in the past, and it has always been a fun day of photographing some of the world’s greatest cars. And displays are different each time! One of the things I really love about this museum, is the setting that the cars are shown in. Scenes that match the cars make unique backdrops for your images, with much less distractions than you might find elsewhere.
There will be a pre-trek Zoom class about one week prior to the event to go through an overview of the museum, details on what to expect and how to best capture unique images while there. We will discuss lens choice, exposure settings, how to deal with contrasty light and more! No special gear is needed; we can work with whatever gear you have. A detailed list of suggested gear and anything else you need to know, will be email a few weeks prior to the event.
Following our time at Simeone, we will have a group image review via Zoom, to go through some composition and editing tips to help bring out the best in your images.
Only 7 spots available, so don’t wait to register if you would like to join us!
Note: Admission to museum is included in the cost of the event. Ticket numbers and openings may be less than shown. Alternate means of payment, such as CASH app or VENMO are options to reserve spots, and do not reflect in the online numbers. If you would like to pay by one of those options instead of PayPal, let me know. Simply email me: Valerie@ValerieHoffmanPhotography.com

NJ Night Skies Weekend Adventure Trek
2026-04-17 15:30 - 2026-04-19 12:00
Have you ever looked up at the night sky, and wished you could capture stunning images of the stars?
Astro photography is a fascinating and fun photographic venture. But it can also be extremely challenging. Knowing where to go and when, what gear to bring, and being able to see, focus, and change camera settings in the dark can be intimidating and frustrating to a beginner. But, capturing great images of the night skies is easier than you think! You just need a few key pieces of gear, and a good understanding of some basic camera settings, and you are off to discovering a whole new world!
Join us for our Night Skies photography workshop in South Jersey, where we potentially plan on photographing the stars, star trails and Milky Way above 2 different lighthouses and a WW1 military bunker! (plans are subject to change). We will be fully immersed in shooting and editing images from Friday before sunset until Sunday afternoon!
The workshop begins on Friday April 17th at 3:30pm and runs through Sunday the 19th at noon. There will be a pre-trek class being held via Zoom on Wednesday April 8th at 7pm. During the class we will review everything you need to know to come away with great images, including what gear to bring, what settings to use for a variety of shooting scenarios, where we’ll go, what we’ll see and more!
We can work with whatever gear you have, but, a camera that can be set fully manually (both exposure and focus), a sturdy tripod and a fast wide angle lens will give the best results. Your camera needs to have the ability to shoot at an ISO as high as 6400 or higher for best results, but 3200 ISO would still work.
There will be hands-on, detailed instruction given throughout the event, but photographer’s should come with a good understanding of how to use their own camera, and be able to change aperture, shutter speeds, ISO and focus without struggle-in the dark. Although we will make as many settings as we can before heading out, the majority of the time you will be operating your gear in the dark(with the help of a faint flashlight), and you should be comfortable doing so. You should also be comfortable with being out -with the group, for up to 4 hours or more in the dark, potentially in chilly weather. This date was chosen to coincide with a New Moon, so the moon’s brightness will not adversely affect the visibility of the stars.
Friday night we will be out photographing as long as the conditions are suitable and the group has energy, then return to our hotel for much needed rest. We will sleep in and rest until lunchtime on Saturday, and are not currently planning on photographing any sunrises-unless we are still out:) We will try our best to capture sunset on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Hotel suggestions will be given upon registration. Hotel and meals are not included in the cost of the workshop. We are planning on carpooling together to locations. Passengers should come prepared to share gas expenses with their driver.
We will still be out shooting even if it is cloudy, but will reschedule if high threat of rain.
Space is limited, and will likely sell out. If you are interested in joining us, don’t wait to register! A detailed informational email will be sent upon registration to help you prepare. Meeting/hotel location TBD
If you attended this event in previous years, contact me for an Alumni discounted rate. Also, if you are unable to make it for both nights and would like to join us for Friday or Saturday, contact me and we can work out details! I’d like to make this an opportunity for anyone who would like to join us to be able to do so.
In case of inclement weather, the workshop will be rescheduled.
Note: Save $20 by paying by VENMO or CASH app! Just contact me to register. Valerie@ValerieHoffmanPhotography.com

Spring Blooms Photo Trek-Date Change!!!
2026-04-23 10:00 - 13:30 | Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Rd, Kennett Square, PA, 19348, United States
In April, Longwood Gardens comes alive with spring bulbs and tulips in rainbows of color. Watch as spring color seemingly explodes to paint the landscape in vibrant hues. Tulips, daffodils, dogwoods, wisteria and more herald spring’s arrival indoors and out. Breathe in the fresh spring air and relish the beauty as we photograph in the Idea Garden and Flower Garden Walk, where more than 240,000 tulips burst into bloom!

This Photo Trek will focus on creative composition and learning to see more creatively. Our focus will be on composing gorgeous images of the grand landscape, as well as getting up close and personal with the amazing details before our eyes.

Among the many techniques discussed will be how to creatively compose images to bring out the character of the subject, learning to see and use light creatively, using fill flash and diffusers to control harsh light, the use of circular polarizers to deepen color saturation and more, in-camera multiple exposures and other creative techniques!

Great for all levels of photo enthusiasts with any camera gear.

Recommended Gear: DSLR with fully charged batteries and lots of memory. Tripod and cable release. Circular polarizer. Lens hoods. Macro lens or close up accessories-helpful, but not necessary. Knee pads. You will receive an email prior to the trek with detail on what to bring and all the details. A pre-trek zoom session will be held the week prior to go through teaching techniques and all the details.
This workshop is being held during the week to maximize photography apart from the huge weekend crowds. Trek is rain or shine. In the event of rain, we will spend our time photographing inside the gorgeous conservatory.

Group is kept to a small number of participants in order to allow for plenty of personal assistance. A minimum number of participants is needed to run this trek.

Cost of workshop does not include admission to Longwood Gardens. Timed Tickets are necessary to enter the garden-for members as well as non-members during Spring Blooms. Please secure your timed ticket as soon as you register for this trek. DO NOT WAIT until the last minute! Longwood tickets sell out quickly!
