Forman Winterim - Scotland: Travel Photography and Journalism

  My name is Christopher Matta and I am from Woodbury, Connecticut, a small town about 25 minutes away from Litchfield. The reasoning behind my decision to choose Scotland for a Winterim course is because I’m not very acquainted with the country and I know very little about it from scenery and culture. This Winterim gives me an opportunity to get an in depth look at Scotland as well as being able photograph all of the structures I see. While at this trip I will as well learn to take better pictures, and actually be able to edit and glorify them. I’m very excited to see Edinburgh Castle, see and the history behind it.  For the third day in Scotland instead of walking around the city, we went on a bus tour. For the first stop on our bus tour we hiked up little mountain called North Berwick Law . Though it took the group a long time to get to the top, we all still made it and were able to take some ideal pictur...

I am Amelia Passias. I am a 16 year old junior from Columbus, Ohio. I love photography and taking pictures of anything and everything in my free time. I wanted to go on this trip to further my knowledge about cameras and to be able to take even better pictures. February 26, 2017 Today was our first full day in Scotland. We had breakfast from 8 to 9am and then started another tour with David from Local Eyes Tours . We got to see and take pictures of Edinburgh Castle from multiple different angles.   While doing so, we made our first stop in a cemetery below the castle. We then headed to the “newer” section of Edinburgh. Built in the 1800's, it has more of a modern day set up with old looking buildings. We headed back towards the older part of this area which I personally loved. All of the buildings were close together and there were lots of little back roads and cut throughs. We learned that some of the buildings looked like the doors were just e...

After a long day of traveling, including a 4 hour layover at Dublin airport, we finally arrived in Edinburgh!  We dropped our luggage at the hotel, met up with our tour guide for the afternoon, David from Local Eyes Tours , and began a two hour walk about the center of Edinburgh.  David showed us some locations that inspired the work of one of Edinburgh's most famous residents, J. K. Rowling, including The Elephant House, Greyfriars Kirkyard, and George Herriot's School.  We then proceeded to Edinburgh Castle, for stunning views of the city and the Firth of Forth, as well as encompassing over a thousand years of history atop Castle Hill.  Everyone was cold and tired, however, so we headed out to dinner and then back to the hotel to sleep.  If everyone is as jet-lagged as I am, they might still be awake but without much energy to do anything!  Tomorrow, we'll be going back out with David to tour the rest of the Old Town, including the Royal Mile, and parts o...

This Winterim is focused on photographing and writing about travel through Scotland, interacting with local folks, and enjoying the spellbinding scenery.  To that end, I have hired a professional photographer to workshop with our students for three days in the Scottish Highlands, and I have also enlisted two local guides to bring us to locales that are ripe for photography. Our rough itinerary is as follows: Sunday the 25th: Arrive in Edinburgh, meet up with our tour guide from Local Eyes Tours to walk through Edinburgh Castle.  Monday the 26th: A morning walking tour of Edinburgh's Old City with Local Eyes.  An afternoon trip to Camera Obscura , an optical illusion museum with a great photo deck on the roof.  A visit to Princes Street and Edinburgh's shopping district. Tuesday the 27th: A full day driving tour with Local Eyes, heading eastwards along the Firth of Forth, visiting a few castles and stopping in the fishing village of North Berwick.  Wednesd...