Announcing: Ohio State Reformatory 2020

Join Sherry Butts and Andrew McLachlan at the Ohio State Reformatory on Saturday, April 18, 2020 for an exclusive photo tour from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Originally built in 1834 the reformatory’s hauntingly beautiful architecture housed many famous and infamous criminals. It is also the same location where the Morgan Freeman film “The Shawshank Redemption” was filmed.

The Ohio State Reformatory doors open to the public at 11:00 a.m., however, this exclusive photo tour will allow you the opportunity of early access at 7:00 a.m. That equates to 4 full hours of exploring the prison prior to the doors opening to the public. What a fantastic opportunity! We have also arranged the use of tripods inside the prison at no additional fee. Participants are welcome to remain on site until closing time at 4:00 p.m.

Maximum number of participants is 16

What’s Included:

• Meet & Greet with OSR briefing on Friday April 17, 2020 (location TBD)

• Entrance fee to Ohio State Reformatory

• Photographic instruction

• On site LCD image review

What’s Not Included:

• Transportation to and from Ohio State Reformatory

• Overnight accommodation for out of town participants

• Meals

Workshop Fee:

$295.00 CDN plus taxes

Payment can be made via email transfer or by cheque made payable to Andrew McLachlan

To reserve your spot in the Ohio State Reformatory Photo Tour please contact me by clicking here

Cancellation Policy:

91 days prior to workshop full refund less a $50 administration fee

90 days prior to workshop No Refund.

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Ohio State Reformatory

Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, Ohio

On the weekend of April 13th & 14th I hosted my first photographic workshop with Sherry Butts at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. This is the prison where the Morgan Freeman movie The Shawshank Redemption was filmed. The prison was built between 1886 and 1910 and ceased operation in 1990. The exterior of the building was given a Romanesque style to have a castle like appearance. The Eastern Cell Block of the prison is the largest free standing steel cell block in the world at six tiers high!

In the reformatory’s 94 year history a total of 154,00 inmates would pass through the gates. Of this number over 200 inmates died during incarceration, including two guards that were killed during escape attempts. The prison is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts and one certainly gets an eerie feeling walking among the cell blocks and other areas of the facility.

I am really looking forward to making a return visit with another photo tour group. To be added to the contact list be sure to reach out to me with your email address by clicking here.

Below is a selection of various scenes throughout the prison. To view a larger collection of photos be sure to visit my Ohio State Reformatory gallery on my website.

The Hospital, Ohio State Reformatory (Sunrays added in Luminar)

Prisoner’s Cell, Ohio State Reformatory

East Cell Block, Ohio State Reformatory

Prisoner’s Cell, Ohio State Reformatory

Hospital Entrance, Ohio State Reformatory

Triangle Room, Ohio State Reformatory

Library, Ohio State Reformatory

Solitary Confinement, Ohio State Reformatory

Inside Looking Out, Ohio State Reformatory

West Cell Block, Ohio State Reformatory

West Cell Block, Ohio State Reformatory

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Add-on Date for Ohio State Reformatory

 

Join Sherry Butts and yours truly for the newly added date of Sunday April 14, 2019 at the Ohio State Reformatory.

NEW ADD-ON DATE Sunday April 14, 2019

Join Sherry Butts and Andrew McLachlan at the Ohio State Reformatory on Saturday, April 13, 2019 or Sunday April 14, 2019 for an exclusive photographic workshop from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Originally built in 1834 the reformatory’s hauntingly beautiful architecture housed many famous and infamous criminals. It is also the same location where the Morgan Freeman movie “The Shawshank Redemption” was filmed.

At the Ohio State Reformatory doors open to the public at 11:00 a.m., however, this exclusive workshop opportunity will allow early access at 7:00 a.m. That equates to 4 full hours of exploring the prison by ourselves prior to the doors opening to the public. What a fantastic opportunity to explore creative perspectives! We have also arranged the use of tripods inside the prison at no additional fee. After the workshop concludes you are welcome to remain on site until closing time at 4:00 p.m.

Maximum number of participants is 16

Saturday April 13, 2019 – SOLD OUT

Sunday April 14, 2019 –  11 Spots Available

The workshop group will be provided with a complimentary dinner at a nearby restaurant after the Ohio State Reformatory closes.

What’s Included:

• Entrance fee to Ohio State Reformatory

• Photographic instruction

• On site LCD image review

• Complimentary dinner at nearby restaurant on April 13, 2019

What’s Not Inlcuded:

• Transportation to and from Ohio State Reformatory

• Overnight accommodation for out of town participants

• Breakfast and lunch

• Alcoholic beverages during complimentary dinner

Workshop Fee:

$275.00 CDN plus taxes

Payment can be made via email transfer or by cheque made payable to Andrew McLachlan. Participants must return a signed Waiver of Liability Form prior to the workshop date. The Waiver of Liability Form will be provided to you at time of registration.

To reserve your spot for the Ohio State Reformatory Photographic Workshop please contact me by clicking here.

Cancellation Policy:

61 days prior to workshop full refund less a $25 administration fee

60 days prior to workshop No Refund.

 

 

 

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Rusty Old Wrecks – Teaching Moment Photographic Workshop

 

Join me on Saturday November 3, 2018 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for a Rusty Old Wrecks Teaching Moment Photographic Workshop being held at McClean’s Auto Wreckers, near Milton, Ontario. Whether you are relatively new to photography or looking for instruction to fine tune your craft this 4 hour workshop provides excellent subject matter with acres of old dilapidated cars and trucks to chose from. You will learn everything from the basics of good composition, using filters, focusing on details, and the benefits of HDR photography. The cost of this workshop is $65 plus HST and must be paid in advance of the workshop date.

To reserve your spot and to arrange payment please contacting me by clicking here. Payment may be made by email transfer or by cheque made payable to Andrew McLachlan. The maximum number of participants for this event is 10. This workshop will run rain, shine, or snow.

Cancellation Policy:

There are no refunds for Teaching Moment Photographic Workshops. If you are unable to attend you will receive credit in the amount paid for a future Teaching Moment Photographic Workshop.

About Teaching Moment Photographic Workshops:

Teaching Moment Photographic Workshops are inexpensive, half day sessions that give back! Just how will they give back – for every 5 Teaching Moment Photographic Workshops that you attend you will receive a $50 (Canadian currency) voucher redeemable on any future workshop that you attend.

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Simplified Grunge Processing

Rusty Old Wreck Interior
Nikon D800, Laowa 12mm Zero D Lens

Without a doubt rusty old dilapidated automobiles look great with a touch of grunge processing added to them. On Thursday June 21st I visited a nearby auto wrecker to photograph several old abandoned cars and trucks. I was quite fascinated by the state of decay inside this particular old car.  Using my amazingly wide and razor sharp Laowa 12mm Zero D Lens on my Nikon D800 I set out to create this extreme wide angle, interior view. The above image was created from one RAW image file. In Adobe Camera Raw I made adjustments to the Clarity, Contrast, Shadow, and Highlights slider and also tweaked the Vibrance slider as well. I then opened the image into Photoshop CC and went straight for my Nik Color Efex Filters to apply my simplified grunge processing technique. First a treatment of Detail Extractor was applied, which in Photoshop I reduced the opacity of the layer to roughly 70%. Secondly I applied a touch of Nik Color Efex Pro Contrast filter. I then saved the image as an 8-bit TIFF and created my watermarked low-res JPEG for web use. I spent no more than 10 minutes on optimizing this image using the two NIK filters for a simplified, but incredibly effective grunge look.

 

WORKSHOP NOTES:

I was pleased to sign up 3 additional participants for the Lake Superior Wild & Scenic Photography Retreat in October over the last couple of weeks. There is now only 1 spot available.

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Rusty Old Wrecks-Teaching Moment Photographic Workshop

Yesterday I held the first Teaching Moment Photographic Workshop – Rusty Old Wrecks. We had beautiful over-cast conditions during the entire workshop and the forecasted rain held off for much of the day. There were six participants, eager to create images of these old dilapidated gems. I am looking forward to sharing the participant photos with you soon. I will be announcing a winter installment of this workshop as part of the Teaching Moment Photographic Workshop series, as well as a host of other awesome locations where folks can hone their photographic techniques and vision under the instruction of yours truly. Today’s post features some of the imagery that I created during the event as a way of showing the participant various compositional options for the enormous number of wrecks at the auto yard.

When I process my image files of the rusty old wrecks I often like to apply some Nik Detail Extractor, Nik Tonal Contrast, or Topaz Labs Clarity to enhance the grunginess of the rusted metal. Sometimes I add a touch of all three photoshop plug-ins to really grunge it up!

After applying a touch of grunge to the image files the only other step that I perform to optimize the photos is a simple “S” curve to pump up the level of contrast within the scene. The image directly above was a new find for me and I have created several Creative Edit options that I will share with you in a future blog post. Directly below is my favourite wreck at the auto yard. I just love the blues mixed in the the pinkish reds and the browns of the autumn grasses and weeds.

 

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