About Us

Over five years ago, we were asked to present a workshop at the Gallery Mainstreet on the square in Tyler. Dolph had recently won a best in show in a gallery exhibit, and I was an old friend with experience in teaching photography.

Initially the assignment was to teach artists how to deal with the new world of submitting works for juried exhibitions in digital format. This required us to give a brief lesson on many aspects of digital photography. Next we were asked to work on other instructional classes for the Gallery.

During this experience, we discovered the obvious: there was a large group of new photographers due to the explosion in digital cameras. And some of these folks were very serious about growing in knowledge and expression in the art of photography.

We'd both been to large photography seminars and Dolph had attended several expert classes around the country. These are good, but we felt two things lacking:
  • First, they were often lectures to huge groups with no hands-on or individual instruction.
  • Second, most were for those who already had quite a bit knowledge or experience in the technology and technique of photography.
If we were to offer something different – something there was a need for that wasn't being met – we felt this was were we should concentrate: New photograher, hands-on and lots of individualized instruction. Also key was encouraging and helping new photographers find their own style and self-expression. This aspect of photography will never change with technology.

So our mission became: To offer education, instruction, inspiration and encouragement for the new photographer. We've just finished our ninth workshop and the response has been beyond our expectations.

Most rewarding has been the people we've met and watched surpass their own expectations by gaining the basics of using their tool, freeing them to make photographs instead of fiddling with the technology in order to have the camera take a photograph. To feel comfortable enough with the settings to focus on the image.

We’re just beginning this experiment and hope you will gain something from this website and join us in finding new ways to learn an old art. We encourage you to sign up to Hounds of Light to get notifications of classes, workshops, and events in the future.

Biographical Sketches

Dolph Miller has been photographing since the 6os. His images are in private collections and have been accepted and awarded in competitions.

John Johansson has worked 20+ years in advertising, media and journalism, and 4 years as Instructor of Photography at TJC. His photographs have appeared in books, exhibits and U.S. Forestry & Parks & Wildlife Dept. publications.


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