Merry Lea to host nature photography workshop Oct. 8-10

WOLF LAKE, Ind. – Love photography but not sure how to get the most out of a spider web or the sun setting behind a clump of big bluestem? Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College will hold its annual nature photography workshop from Thursday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. through Saturday, Oct. 10 at 5:30 p.m.

Winona Lake artist Jerry McCoy will serve as the instructor for the weekend. McCoy is an award-winning photographer, a naturalist with an eye for beauty and an exacting digital technician. The workshop includes slide-illustrated lectures, time outdoors for shooting photographs, critique of student work and help with digital issues.

McCoy's photographs and artist's statements can be viewed at his web site, web.mac.com/macjerry1/Jerry_McCoy_Photography/Welcome.html. McCoy also exhibits at the Canal Street Gallery in Winona Lake, Ind., and at ARTLINK in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The group size will be between nine and 15 participants. The number of naturalists involved in the weekend also insures the opportunity to learn about the subject matter of the photos as well as how to get a good shot.

The cost of $325 includes lodging and all meals from Thursday supper through Saturday noon. Participants stay at Rieth Village, an educational facility that earned Indiana's first platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2008. To register, e-mail jenniferhs@goshen.edu or call (260) 799-5869 by Oct. 2.

Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College is a 1,189-acre nature preserve located in central Noble County, midway between Fort Wayne and Goshen. Merry Lea's landscape includes a diversity of forest, prairie and wetland ecosystems. The center provides environmental education to people of all ages, including over 7,000 school children each year. Merry Lea was created with the assistance of the Nature Conservancy and the generosity of Lee A. and Mary Jane Rieth. To learn more, visit their Web site at www.goshen.edu/merrylea.

Editors: For more information about this release or to arrange an interview, contact Jennifer Schrock at (260) 799-5869 or jenniferhs@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.