Jack Carlson Photography

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Broken Waterfall cancels class on August 30, Japanese Islands is GO on August 23.

August 15, 2025

No waterfall, no class.

Sad, but true, the Waterfall at the Chicago Botanic Garden is down and out for the remainder of the season. Something about a need for giant pipe replacement. Whatever the cause of the outage, no water means no class and that’s not a value judgement. The class will be officially cancelled on the CBG website next week but I thought you could read it here first.

If you’re available on Saturday, August 23, why not join us to explore the Japanese Islands in this new one-off class that runs from 8-11am. We will meander around both of the accessible islands and capture images of the other island from the top of Waterfall Hill. To enroll in this class, go to www.chicagobotanic.org/adulted. Then click on Photography and scroll down to the class. As always, this class is limited to DSLR or Mirrorless cameras.

Join us for the new Japanese Islands class on Aug. 23.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Weekly Photo Tip

Filters can make a difference

18mm, f8 @ 1/30, no filter

18mm, f8 @ 1/80 with 3-stop ND Grad

I received a 3-stop, soft-edge ND grad filter from the Camera Clubhouse cats. They decided to purchase from Breakthrough Photography since I mentioned that one of my students brought Breakthrough Filters to a recent class and, on inspection, the filters seemed to be very well made. An ND Grad filter starts dark and fades to clear so the placement of the dark portion is determined by both the bright part of the scene and the photographer. This filter made quite a difference in holding down the sun in the upper part of the image. Check out the “no-filter” image and ND Grad image. The difference will amaze you. Please note: I have no affiliation with Breakthrough Photography and chose them only based on student referral. 

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About Jack

A classically trained musician since childhood, Jack Carlson always had the “ear” of an artist. It was only a short step to develop the artist’s “eye” as well.

The portfolio of this certified photographer reveals images that emphasize mood and composition. Their purpose is to present a feeling in addition to portrayal of person, place or thing. Sometimes that feeling is nostalgia; other times it is serenity.

Each photograph tells a story.

Upcoming Classes

Feb 15
8:00 am - 11:00 am

The Orchid Show class begins Feb. 15 at 8am

Feb 25
9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Composition in Landscape Photography (2.25-3.25)

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