Backyard Naturalist: Beyond the Birds
Backyard Naturalist: Beyond the Birds
This class is Coming Soon! Be the first to know when it's scheduled and open for registration. Use the "Request an In Stock Alert" button below to be added to our VIP notification list.
Couldn't load pickup availability
The Journey Continues… Closer Than You Think.
You’ve learned to notice the birds at your feeder. Now it’s time to meet their neighbors.
Backyard Naturalist: Beyond the Birds is the next chapter in the spirit of our beloved Backyard Birds series, a five-week online live class designed to help you use your camera as a tool for deeper seeing.
This class shifts the lens from the sky to the whole living world around you: insects, plants, fungi, textures, patterns, and the small moments of life that are easy to miss until you slow down and look closely. A camera can do more than document what’s in front of us. It can cut through visual clutter, reveal hidden detail, and give us the chance to revisit what we saw so we can better understand it.
There is so much happening around us. There is so much to see. This class is an invitation to take a closer look.
Hosted by Jen from Looking Glass, this series is for anyone who wants to strengthen their photography while building a more intimate relationship with the everyday natural world—whether that’s a backyard, patio, neighborhood walk, or nearby green space.
Why This Class Is Different:
This isn’t just a class about photographing nature—it’s about using photography to explore nature more deeply. Your camera can help you observe with more accuracy, more nuance, and more care, while creating images you can revisit, learn from, and share with others.
Course Summary:
When: One day a week for five weeks
Platform: Online Live via Zoom
Duration: 2 hours per session
Format: Live weekly sessions + recordings available for one month after the final class
What to Expect: Jen will guide you through photography as a practice of observation, curiosity, and connection. You’ll learn practical camera techniques and creative approaches that help you move beyond snapshots into more meaningful images—and use your photographs as a way to notice more, ask better questions, and continue learning long after you’ve come back inside.
What You’ll Learn:
Photography Essentials for Closer Seeing: Build confidence with camera settings, tools and techniques, composition, and editing for a wide range of nature subjects.
Photography as a Tool for Discovery: Learn how focus, framing, magnification, shutter speed, and image review can help you observe more deeply—revealing behavior, detail, and relationships that are easy to miss in real time. We’ll explore how photography can support curiosity and learning without disrupting what you’re observing.
The Tiny Giants (Insects & Other Small Life): Learn practical ways to photograph small creatures with more detail, clarity, and intention using light, patience, and close-seeing techniques.
Botanical Narratives (Plants, Patterns & Seasonal Change): Explore texture, form, repetition, and seasonal change—and learn how to make plant images that feel intimate, expressive, and alive.
Connection, Behavior & the Story in a Scene: Learn how paying attention to relationships—between plants, creatures, weather, light, and habitat—can lead to stronger observations and more meaningful photographs. This class is less about collecting subjects, and more about learning to notice what’s actually happening.
Tools for Curious Observation: We’ll share simple resources that support deeper looking, including field guides, observation habits, and community science tools such as iNaturalist (and others, where helpful).
Who This Class Is For:
-
Bird lovers who want to expand their lens beyond birds
-
Photographers who want to slow down and see more
-
Nature lovers who want a creative way to explore the world around them
-
Beginners and experienced photographers alike
-
Anyone curious about the life unfolding in their own backyard or neighborhood
Interactive Sessions:
Image Sharing: Each week we’ll make time to share images from your explorations—favorite images, surprising discoveries, tiny details, patterns, behavior moments, something you need help identifying, or images you’d like feedback on.
Q&A Sessions: Ask questions live each week, or email Jen between sessions and we’ll make sure your questions are addressed as time allows.
Backyard Observations: Share stories and observations from your yard, patio, neighborhood walk, or local green space as we explore how much beauty and complexity is waiting when we take a closer look.
Enroll and let Backyard Naturalist bring some good light, curiosity, and deeper seeing into your week.
Description
Description
The Journey Continues… Closer Than You Think.
You’ve learned to notice the birds at your feeder. Now it’s time to meet their neighbors.
Backyard Naturalist: Beyond the Birds is the next chapter in the spirit of our beloved Backyard Birds series, a five-week online live class designed to help you use your camera as a tool for deeper seeing.
This class shifts the lens from the sky to the whole living world around you: insects, plants, fungi, textures, patterns, and the small moments of life that are easy to miss until you slow down and look closely. A camera can do more than document what’s in front of us. It can cut through visual clutter, reveal hidden detail, and give us the chance to revisit what we saw so we can better understand it.
There is so much happening around us. There is so much to see. This class is an invitation to take a closer look.
Hosted by Jen from Looking Glass, this series is for anyone who wants to strengthen their photography while building a more intimate relationship with the everyday natural world—whether that’s a backyard, patio, neighborhood walk, or nearby green space.
Why This Class Is Different:
This isn’t just a class about photographing nature—it’s about using photography to explore nature more deeply. Your camera can help you observe with more accuracy, more nuance, and more care, while creating images you can revisit, learn from, and share with others.
Course Summary:
When: One day a week for five weeks
Platform: Online Live via Zoom
Duration: 2 hours per session
Format: Live weekly sessions + recordings available for one month after the final class
What to Expect: Jen will guide you through photography as a practice of observation, curiosity, and connection. You’ll learn practical camera techniques and creative approaches that help you move beyond snapshots into more meaningful images—and use your photographs as a way to notice more, ask better questions, and continue learning long after you’ve come back inside.
What You’ll Learn:
Photography Essentials for Closer Seeing: Build confidence with camera settings, tools and techniques, composition, and editing for a wide range of nature subjects.
Photography as a Tool for Discovery: Learn how focus, framing, magnification, shutter speed, and image review can help you observe more deeply—revealing behavior, detail, and relationships that are easy to miss in real time. We’ll explore how photography can support curiosity and learning without disrupting what you’re observing.
The Tiny Giants (Insects & Other Small Life): Learn practical ways to photograph small creatures with more detail, clarity, and intention using light, patience, and close-seeing techniques.
Botanical Narratives (Plants, Patterns & Seasonal Change): Explore texture, form, repetition, and seasonal change—and learn how to make plant images that feel intimate, expressive, and alive.
Connection, Behavior & the Story in a Scene: Learn how paying attention to relationships—between plants, creatures, weather, light, and habitat—can lead to stronger observations and more meaningful photographs. This class is less about collecting subjects, and more about learning to notice what’s actually happening.
Tools for Curious Observation: We’ll share simple resources that support deeper looking, including field guides, observation habits, and community science tools such as iNaturalist (and others, where helpful).
Who This Class Is For:
-
Bird lovers who want to expand their lens beyond birds
-
Photographers who want to slow down and see more
-
Nature lovers who want a creative way to explore the world around them
-
Beginners and experienced photographers alike
-
Anyone curious about the life unfolding in their own backyard or neighborhood
Interactive Sessions:
Image Sharing: Each week we’ll make time to share images from your explorations—favorite images, surprising discoveries, tiny details, patterns, behavior moments, something you need help identifying, or images you’d like feedback on.
Q&A Sessions: Ask questions live each week, or email Jen between sessions and we’ll make sure your questions are addressed as time allows.
Backyard Observations: Share stories and observations from your yard, patio, neighborhood walk, or local green space as we explore how much beauty and complexity is waiting when we take a closer look.
Enroll and let Backyard Naturalist bring some good light, curiosity, and deeper seeing into your week.
