We have been hard at work planning field trips for the upcoming year.  To kick off the year, our first field trip is on September 24 at the Hillwood Mansion and Gardens in the District.  Hillwood is the estate of the late Marjorie Merriweather Post.  http://www.hillwoodmuseum.org/   It consists of formal gardens, woodlands, and a mansion.  We are welcome anywhere on the estate.  Cost for self-guided tour and access is $12.  The gardens include French, Japanese, Rose, Cutting, Greenhouse Gardens and a Lunar Lawn.   We can use tripods outdoors.  Hillwood requests no tripods or flash inside the mansion.  With such a variety of shooting opportunities, this will be a great beginning to our year's field trips.

We are currently planning at least two get-away photoshoots to enticing locations.  The first is in early November in Page Arizona - the Page Balloon Festival and Slot Canyon Shoot.  This combines two distinct shooting opportunities in one trip - a Balloon Festival and Slot Canyons.  The Festival features morning and evening launches and a memorable "Illumination" at night in the town of Page AZ.  During the day, we can get our fill shooting such slot canyons as Upper and Lower Antelope, Canyon X, and Waterholes.  Add possible shooting at Horseshoe Bend and Alstrom Point and this trip offers fantastic photo opportunities.  There will be additional fees for shooting in the slot canyons and as soon as those have been ascertained, we will pass them along.

Our other significant photoshoot will be a Florida Bird Shoot in late January and early February.  In addition to offering the chance to escape Washington's cold and snow, we are planning this trip to respond to the interest of members who enjoy photographing birds.  We can anticipate shooting in locations such as the Eastern Everglades, Royal Palm, Ding Darling, Cape Coral, the Venice Rookery, and the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  This trip has been planned to be a week long so that members can join/leave as their individual needs dictate.

We are also hoping to schedule an opportunity to photograph the US Capitol, Washington National Cathedral, Shenandoah Park in autumn, the National Capital Trolley Museum, the Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, the Longwood Gardens Orchid Extravaganza, Morven Park in Leesburg, Georgetown, and Chincoteague.  Our expectation is to have at least one field trip a month, and sometimes two.  We hope to make this an active year for NVPS members.