Picture My Park Day set for Peebles Island
COHOES & WATERFORD, N.Y. » Local photographers are encouraged to let nature be their inspiration at the upcoming Picture My Park Day at Peebles Island.
Part of a new program by the Friends of Peebles Island State Park, the first-ever Picture My Park Day is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, beginning at the visitor center in Peebles Island State Park.
Amateur and professional photographers are invited to bring their equipment to the park, where Friends of Peebles Island State Park board member and longtime local photographer Dave Koschnick will provide event-goers with tricks and tips for taking photographs of the natural beauty on Peebles Island.
The day will kick off with an introductory presentation at 1 p.m. in the visitor center prior to a hike of the island.
This free event is the first in a year-long Picture My Park Day series, culminating with a photography show and contest in December. After Saturday, there will be three additional dates to capture the park in all seasons. They are tentatively targeted for March in the spring, June in the summer, and October in the fall.
Then at the end of 2018, Picture My Park Day participants and other members of the community will have the opportunity to have their work shown in a photography show and contest at the visitor center.
The guiding ethic for Picture My Park Day is “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.” Koschnick will review ethical nature photography practices, especially related to photographing wildlife and their habitat.
In the past, Koschnick has photographed deer, woodchucks, beavers, muskrats, foxes and a large variety of birds includes Bald Eagles within Peebles Island State Park.
On why he was inspired to start this event series, Koschnick said, “People come to the park and they see things and they kind of wish they could take it home with them - and photography is a way of doing that.”
Koschnick, who lives in nearby Cohoes and has a photography business called Junkyard Watchdog Arts, walks in the park regularly with his camera. “The park is different every
day of the year,” he said. “It’s not something you go to once and you see everything there is to see. It changes day by day.” This is why Koschnick decided to make Picture My Park Day part of a series with events in every season.
The organizer’s aim in creating Picture My Park Day is to inspire people to do more of this type of photography, and he is happy to serve as a resource for other area photographers.
Future Picture My Park Day event dates and details about the photography show are to be announced.
For the Picture My Park Day photography show, each photographer will be able to exhibit up to four photos for a nominal fee of $10. A three-person panel will select the contest winners. Photos entered must be taken in the park during 2018 but are not limited to the four Picture My Park Days.
More information about Picture My Park Day is available online at sites. google.com/view/friendsofpeeblesisland or the Friends of Peebles Island State Park Facebook page.
Admission to Satuday’s Picture My Park Day is free and no advance registration is required.
Participants should dress appropriately for the winter weather.