Telluride photo festival Sept. 20-26

The world’s most renowned outdoor and adventure photographers will share their art and their passion at Telluride’s inaugural Photography Festival Sept. 20 to 26. The weeklong event, geared toward professional and experienced amateur photographers, is timed perfectly for photographers to capture the changing fall light and the aspens turning gold and blaze orange.

The festival will feature field classes and workshops, seminars, portfolio reviews and exhibits. “We are so excited to bring this new event to Telluride, one of the great festival venues in the nation,” said event organizer and photographer Eric Moore. “We have some of the best-known landscape, nature, adventure, and sports photographers coming to Telluride to teach their art and share their photography for an entire week.”

The Photography Festival is teaming up with the Ah Haa School for the Arts, a community center of learning and culture and a Telluride icon for nearly two decades. Ah Haa will help promote the festival and host a number of its events, as well as the opening reception and gallery shows at the school’s historic Depot Building.

“The festival is a natural partner of the Ah Haa School,” said Ah Haa Executive Director Rachel Loomis-Lee. “We are looking forward to bringing professional and amateur photographers alike to Telluride for a grand finale to the summer festival season.”

The invited faculty teaching workshops, taking part in symposium discussions and portfolio reviews include internationally distinguished photographers:

• Pulitzer Prize winner and “National Geographic” photographer Jack Dykinga’s work has been featured in “Arizona Highways,” “Audubon,” “Harpers,” “Sunset,” “Time,” “Outdoor Photographer,” in addition to many other publications.

• Robert Glenn Ketchum is one of the best-known nature and landscape photographers working today. Acknowledged by “Audubon” as one of the 100 people “who shaped the environmental movement of the 20th century,” he also served as curator of photography for the National Park Foundation for 15 years. Ketchum’s work is a part of many prestigious collections and galleries.

• As one of America's most published photographers, Tom Till has had more than 100,000 images in print since 1977. Till’s images have appeared in “National Geographic,” “The New York Times,” “Outside,” “Outdoor Photographer” and hundreds of other publications.

• Gordon Wiltsie is one of the world’s preeminent expedition photographers and has been featured in “National Geographic” and many other outdoor publications on numerous occasions. He has chronicled some of the great modern explorers: Alex Lowe, Conrad Anker, Jon Krakauer and David Breashears, to name a few.

• Bill Ellzey has shot editorially for “National Geographic,” “Outside,” “Audubon,” “Outdoor Photographer” and others, while also shooting fine art, advertising, sports, aerial and stock. He also founded and directed the Western Photo Workshops in Telluride for 11 years.

• Wendy Shattil and Bob Rozinski are a wildlife photography team. Wendy was named the BBC Wildlife Photographer of Year, becoming the first woman to receive the honor. She was recently featured in “Outdoor Photographer” for her conservation photography. Bob also has won numerous awards, as well as being instrumental in getting Congress to designate the Arsenal as a National Wildlife Refuge. Both have had images published worldwide.

Other photographers invited are Kathleen Norris Cook, Ace Kvale, Joni Sternbach, Doug Berry and Tim Kemple. In addition to the impressive list of outdoor photographers, other industry notables include former “Outside” and “Men’s Journal” director of photography, as well as the infamous APhotoEditor.com blogger Rob Haggart. Additionally, Adobe Photoshop guru Ben Willmore will be teaching Photoshop and Lightroom classes.

“There is just no better place for a Photography Festival than Telluride,” said event founder and organizer Moore. Tucked in a high mountain valley, Telluride is a dream playground for photographers. In addition to autumn’s incredible display, the Telluride region features majestic mountain peaks, waterfalls, glorious flower-filled basins, ghost towns and wildlife. The town is within a half-day trip to Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks, as well as several notable national monuments and state parks, such as Hovenweep, Dead Horse Point and The Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

For complete information on the festival, to purchase festival passes and to register for classes and workshops, visit www.telluridephotofestival.com or call the Ah Haa School for the Arts at (970) 728-3866.

For more information on the town of Telluride, visit www.visittelluride.com.