My Father’s Day gift this year was a Local Captures photo tour of Rhode Island lighthouses. And I’ll be thanking my wife for that for years to come. Here’s why.

Cate Brown was my local guide for the workshop. She’s a technically proficient landscape photographer who has an obvious passion for the craft.

Cate knew the best spots to shoot at each lighthouse. And she had prepared in advance for us to be in the right place at the right time for the different types of shots she planned.

We started off by going through our kit bags to make sure we had everything we needed for long exposures. Cate was very thorough and even took time to show me a few mobile apps she uses in the field to make things easier.

Since I'm an intermediate level photographer, we decided to visit just two lighthouses so we could spend more time working on composition and long exposure techniques. I was excited to learn and eager to add some great shots to my portfolio.

Beavertail Lighthouse and Castle Hill Light were a short drive from each other. And both were absolutely gorgeous in the late afternoon and sunset light.

Cate offered a great balance of teaching techniques and then giving me space to experiment with my own compositions. I asked a lot of technical questions. And she was quick to answer them and look over my shoulder offering advice on my shots.

After we got back to our cars, Cate took a few minutes to recap the day and answer more of my questions. We had some good discussions about post processing and even photographer’s rights when shooting in the field.

All-in-all, I was very impressed with Cate and the whole Local Captures experience. I feel like I walked away with a greater sense of confidence in my landscape photography workflow. And I picked up a bunch of valuable tips along the way.

The passion Cate has for sharing her professional skills combined with the her local knowledge made this a very worthwhile photo tour.