The 3rd Space - Creative Smartphone Photography Student Work - July 2025

Two and a half weeks ago, I returned to Highland County, Virginia to teach another photography workshop.  This time, I taught "Creative Smartphone Photography" and we met at The 3rd Space, located in downtown Monterey on Saturday morning, July 19th.

It was the perfect long weekend to escape to higher elevations for the much cooler temps. We've had one of the hottest summers I can remember in a long time here in the North Carolina Piedmont.  While it was in the 90's back home, it was in the 70's during the day in the mountains.

Thanks to Donna Bedwell, Michael Bedwell, Alice Metts, and Brian Richardson for joining me in the workshop. We spent a little time in the classroom that morning, discussing things such as composition, changing your perspective, and the different features smartphone cameras have and the editing tools they have as well. We also talked about several apps for editing, photo enhancing, and more.

Then we made our way outdoors starting off at a public garden, which was just a short walk up Main Street from The 3rd Space. The beautiful garden is part of the Charles Pinckney Jones House Museum. It was a great place for everyone to try new things and discover what their cameras could do. We spent about an hour there and then it was time to take a quick break for lunch.

After lunch, we then drove to Laurel Point Retreat located just a short drive from downtown Monterey. This retreat is located atop of Jack Mountain and affords stunning views of the Allegheny Mountains and the town can also been seen from up there. This was my second time at Laurel Point and I'd remembered it was amazing for photo ops.

They have incredible views for landscape photography, interesting architecture, flora and fauna, including a small koi and goldfish pond with a waterfall feature. They learned the trick of how to make moving water appear silky, which is also known at "angel hair" in traditional photography. Brian also tried the app, Waterlogue, so a couple of his images appear to be watercolors.  

We could see a storm coming over the mountains towards us, so we all retreated to the barn, where there was a clay/pottery workshop taking place at the time. This workshop was also offered through The 3rd Space and everyone was willing for us to take some photos of them working and inside the barn, so that was another great practice for everyone. 

We returned to the The 3rd Space classroom after spending close to two hours at Laurel Point, so that we could go over any additional Q&A's anyone had. Then each of them could make their selections for a slideshow, which we viewed on a large screen TV. These are the same images I'm featuring here on the blog. We had such a wonderful time and everyone learned so much, not to mention created some incredible photographs!

Michael and Donna Bedwell, as always, were the perfect host and hostess! I enjoyed spending the weekend with them in their beautiful home. I'm so grateful Terry & I met them at the John C Campbell Folk School back in 2019. This place is so special as we've made so many friends there. If only Terry could've joined me to Highland County that weekend. He missed out again on a fun time and cooler weather. The four of us have talked about doing a camping trip together sometime, as we'd like to explore more of the Virginia State Parks. Or they may join us sometime at Sunset Beach, NC, as they've never been.

Donna is on the board at The 3rd Space and I was so thrilled she asked me to come teach there. The 3rd Space is where art, artists, and community come together. More information can be found below. I highly recommend teaching or taking a workshop at this very special place. From barn quilt painting to basketry, there's something for everyone. What a treat!

The 3rd Space, 132 West Main Street, Monterey, VA 24465 - www.3rdspaceva.org

Below is our class group photograph taken in front of The 3rd Space. Left to right: Brian, Donna, Alice, Michael, and yours truly - Elizabeth, the instructor.

Last, but certainly not least, please enjoy student work below our class photo. Each photo has a credit watermark on them and they're in no particular order. Please do not copy or share without permission from the photographers.  If you'd like to take a closer look, you may click on each individual photograph to enlarge.

If you're inspired to take a workshop with me, whether public or private, please visit my website HERE for more information!