Instructors

Bill and Linda Lane are both published and have been conducting workshops over the past 18 years; 14 of those  years as a team effort and ten years have included workshops for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Bill has been featured in numerous publications, fund-raisers and competitions, and has been featured speaker for various groups. His photography took a giant leap after he won the Sierra Club's National Photography Contest.  Together they teach at the University of Richmond, the Hand Workshop in the past and have customized workshops for institutions such as Duke University in North Carolina and the Tandem School in Charlottesville, Virginia.  For the last 13 years they have also conducted weekend workshops at various locations in conjunction with the State of Virginia’s Department of Parks and Recreation. They conduct workshops in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Rhode Island.

Bill Lane
Farrier of 30 years and Nature Photographer for 27

Throwing in the towel, my B.S. Degree and the three piece suits to start a new career and life as a farrier / photographer was a step I have never regretted.  

Although my work as a farrier over the last 30 years has been a full time occupation, which I thoroughly enjoy, nature and wildlife photography which I share with my wife, is my true passion. Each year I steal away a little more time to indulge my spirit through photography. 

It all began with the desire to identify birds. Quickly I realized it could not be done with an 80-200 zoom and no tripod; therefore, I purchased a 600 F/4 lens and mighty tripod which did the job just fine at the time. Little did I know how fast my “gotta have” list would grow.  I have been shooting and adding to my collection of equipment, gadgets and toys for about 25 years now.   Thus began the quenching of my passion for nature photography.  I was invited to various speaking engagements on Nature Photography and my work. One invitation lead to others and then my wife, Linda, began promoting our work and workshops. Just recently I had the privilege of presenting a program for the International Laminitis Symposium in Kentucky, a horse related conference, on how veterinarians and farriers can better record case studies and do presentations.  It provided a means for tying together my work and my passion.

I am self taught and experienced a few bumps in the road along the way. It didn’t take long to realize that even the very, very best equipment didn’t make for a good photographer and that shooting on automatic was teaching me nothing, getting me nowhere and resulting in unacceptable pictures. It is the person behind the camera that needs to know how to read light, not only the meter. So I took classes, read and learned a lot about the mechanics of a 35mm camera. 95% of the classes did not, and could not teach exposure. Manual settings, calibration, how to creatively use equipment, exposure, tonality were hardly mentioned.  At the time, I didn’t know enough to ask questions.  So I put my camera on automatic and did as I was taught.  I bracketed like crazy. What a waste. It was not satisfying and left me feeling out of control. I struggled for years until the light finally went off.  I found a few mentors and from then on I was on my way.  I decided to help others learn so they would not flounder through similar frustrations.  I wanted to share my passion, make learning a fun and rewarding experience. 

My wife and I now teach 3 to 5 days workshops throughout the year and conduct evening classes in Nature Photography.   We have opened our home in West Virginia to our participants for meals, opened our hearts to their needs and shared our knowledge in any and every way that is helpful to their advancement.  We love teaching and sharing and have been doing so together as a team creating a great learning experience while sharing good food, fun and camaraderie.

Linda Ward Lane

After attending Radford College, William and Mary and finally Virginia Commonwealth University, I graduated in the field of elementary education where I spent 10 joyous years teaching and learning. For the next 14 years I ran a personnel company, The Job Market, with a partner. After marrying my wonderful husband, Bill, my life took a 360 degree turn. I began creating pottery and promoting and developing our photography and workshops. Pottery was a new beginning but photography had played a part in my past; it helped put me through college. My pottery company is called Yellow Dog Pottery and my trademark is hand build vases adorned with wildflowers, leaves, shrubs and numerous plants. I throw functional pottery some of which is painted by my sister. It is extremely satisfying, good for the soul and makes me feel as one with the earth as does Photography. I have also become very active in a Dog Rescue Group here at home called BARK (barkva.org) which has grown into an almost full time job.  Never intended it to become so,  but once you witness the need of these homeless dogs you can not turn away. Take a moment to see our link and notes of interest on our web site.

My other love is photography. I serve behind the scenes handling every aspect involved in our photographic endeavors.  But at each of the workshop, I am right out front with everyone instructing in the field and classroom. I handle all the details involved in running a successful workshop from scheduling, transportation, food, reservations, finances, marketing, public relations, kitchen help (me) - the entire process right down to making sure we are prepared no matter what Mother Nature throws at us. Since we have a lot of repeat participants, we are always looking for new and different places and ways to entertain our groups. We strive to offer good food, a relaxed atmosphere and camaraderie to go hand in hand with the learning experience - a sort of working vacation. We feel these simple pleasures are as important as photographing. We work our groups as hard as they’ll let us and they love it. As one of our students remarked, "Eat, sleep, and take pictures; how much better can it get!"

Bill and Linda

Together we make the workshops happen. One could not do it without the other. Our goal is to continue developing our love and enjoyment of photography and share it with others. We offer:

WEEKENDS FULL OF SELF-INDULGENCE AND CAMARADERIE