About Washington Photo Safari™
Washington Photo Safari™ teaches the techniques of photography by taking visitors and local residents on half-day and day-long photo shoots around the monuments of the nation’s capital and other cities, while an accompanying professional photographer gives them tips in composition, exposure, interior photography without flash, and outdoor/ indoor portraiture. Top-ranked in Google, it is now one of the country’s largest providers of hands-on photography training field trips, with eleven professional photographers giving instruction on 100 domestic and international itineraries to over 280 clients/month. Watch a short video.
Photographers at any skill level are invited to participate in the photo Safaris, and any camera is acceptable, even cell phone cameras! Washington Photo Safari now offers 7-8 photo excursions every week, rain or shine, all year long, and special nighttime photography workshops, such as “Monuments at Night,” and “Pennsylvania Avenue at Night,” twilight Safaris in nearby Annapolis, plus special workshops for nature, flash, indoor and outdoor portrait, product, architectural, food, pet, macro, maternity, wedding, candid kids, videography, and event photography. photo Safaris are also provided twice a day around the Tidal Basin during DC’s cherry blossom season, and Washington Photo Safari also offers private tutoring.
Current Safari prices are just $84 for a half-day workshop, $149 for a full-day, and they range from $64 to $195 for “Theme Safaris” in specific “photo-op” areas, such as the Franciscan Monastery or Adams-Morgan, or day-long excursions to Frederick MD, Shenandoah National Park, Blackwater Wildlife Refuge, and Ellicott City MD. Longer Safaris now are offered to New York, Wilmington, Yellowstone, Amsterdam and Prague. Group rates, and personalized gift certificates are also available
Background: DC architectural landmark photographer E. David Luria, a member of the American Society of Media Photographers, founded the Washington Photo Safari in 1999 as a sideline to his own architectural photography business and hosted a total of just 72 people that first year, averaging only 6 clients a month. The program became so popular that by 2009 it had grown over 40-fold, hosting almost 3,000 participants, an average of 250 clients going on photo Safaris every month. The success of Washington Photo Safari has helped spawn similar Safari programs in Baltimore, San Francisco, Chicago, Central Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Savannah, and Ottawa, Canada.
Mr. Luria’s own images of Washington DC have appeared in over 100 local and national publications – including TIME, Prevention, and Washingtonian Magazines – on 31 magazine covers, and on 80 postcards guidebooks, calendars and tourist publications sold throughout the area, including a cover story that appeared in the May 2006 edition of WHERE-Washington, and 25 of his images appear in a full-color coffee-table book entitled Washington DC Visions. A member of the American Society of Media Photographers, Mr. Luria was trained in Paris by a protégé of Henri Cartier Bresson. An official photographer of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, he has appeared twice as a photographic expert on the local NPR affiliate WAMU’s Kojo Nmandi Show, and he photographs for the US Capitol Historical Society, Destination DC, for the Washington Post’s Apartment Showcase Magazine, Guest Informant, Washington Spaces, and the Entertainment Book. He is a member of the Society of Photographic Education, and he is also a frequent photo study tour leader with the Smithsonian Resident Associates, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Penn Camera, and the Kreeger Museum. He has also been a luncheon speaker on photography at the National Press Club. Samples of his photography can be viewed at http://www.edavidluriaphotography.smugmug.com.
“Washington DC is one of the most beautiful and photogenic cities in the world,“ Mr. Luria comments. “Using our landmarks and monuments as ‘models’, I wanted to create a unique opportunity for people to learn how to take postcard-quality pictures when they travel. I am convinced one of the best ways to learn photography is by taking pictures yourself, with a pro at your side giving you guidance.”
Impact on tourism: Since 1999 there have been over 24,500 participants in 3300 Safari groups who have been trained in the techniques of landmark and portraiture photography by the Washington Photo Safari. Averaging only 7 people per group, clients have come from over 34 countries, including Australia, China, France, Germany, Holland, Liberia, Macedonia, the UK, and from all over the US, Mexico and Canada, as well as from the entire DC, Maryland and Virginia region. Voting positively with their feet, over 6,500 of these participants are repeaters, coming on two or more Safaris: 440+ people have been on an average of 8 Safaris apiece, and one client has been on 57 of the organization’s 130 different itineraries! Washington Photo Safari is “Top-Rated” on Trip Advisor and rated “Excellent” on Viator.com It is also rated No.1 in “Best Places to Learn Digital Photography in the DC area“ on Washington.CBSLocal.com.
The local Penn Camera retail store network served as a primary sponsor, and participating groups have included the Associated Press, National Press Club, Embassy of the United Kingdom, Deloitte Consulting, Hasselblad USA, U.S Capitol Historical Society, the Smithsonian, National Public Radio, the Corcoran Gallery, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Strathmore Education Center, the US Marine Band, The International Photographic Society of the World Bank/IMF Group, and several local camera clubs. .
Critical acclaim: Called “a real treat”, “an absolute BLAST”, and “an invaluable experience” by some of its participants, the Washington Photo Safari has also received considerable press attention. including the Washington Post’s and WHERE Magazine’s lists of the “Top 10 Things To Do in Washington.”and Washingtonian Magazine’s list of “50 Fun Things To Do in Washington DC.” It was highlighted in a 2000 segment on the NBC Today Show, in a 2007 segment on Discovery TV’s Travel Channel’s “Not Your Average Travel Guide,” in a 2002 segment on the Fine Living cable TV network entitled “Back to Basics In Photography”, and in segments on WTOP All-News Radio in 2005 and WTTG Fox News television in 2006. It has been written up in the Columbus Dispatch, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Washington DC Examiner, the Baltimore Sun, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Richmond Times Dispatch, AAA’ s Car and Driver Magazine, USA Today, in the online magazine DP Review, and in American Airline’s American Way. It is also listed in the Shaw Guide to Photo Safaris, the Insider’s Guide to Washington DC and the the Offbeat Guide to Washington DC, Time Out Guide to Washington DC, The Business Travelers Guide to Washington DC, the AAA Guide to Washington DC. and Fodor’s Guide.
Describing his experience on one photo Safari, client Hill Montague said: “Thanks for the great experience yesterday! I thoroughly enjoyed spending time on the Safari and love that I have picked up so many tips. Your program was worth every minute and dollar.”
Washington Post staff writer John Maynard said of his photo Safari experience: “..by day’s end, I was one step closer to my inner Ansel.”
Cherry Blossom Safari participant Brent Sandweiss of Tuscon AZ, wrote:“Thank you so much for a terrific experience during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington. Of all the activities we were lucky enough to participate in Washington, yours was the very best experience we had. In less than 3 hours, your personal, hands-on attention improved our photo taking capabilities exponentially.”
Other unsolicited comments received from Safari graduates (and their spouses) are:
“You have created a Camera Monster!”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the time and concern you have for your students. You were born to teach!”
“I just love these photo Safaris! They get my husband out of the house so I can get some peace and quiet!”
Washington Photo Safari is a member agency of Destination DC , Cultural Tourism DC, and is an official activity of the annual National Cherry Blossoms Festival. Contact us by calling 202-537-0937 or emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
