Join us for a Muddy Branch Alliance Photography Workshop

Join us for a short walk with award-winning wildlife photographer Ben Salb as he demonstrates his processes to locate, photograph, and identify insects and spiders along the Muddy Branch Trail. Attendees can be of all photographic skill levels, and no photographic equipment is required. Being out in nature and noticing/appreciating invertebrate wildlife is the primary goal. This event is FREE.

Location (Tentative)
Quince Orchard Road Trailhead (Potomac Horse Center)
14211 Quince Orchard Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Date / Time
Saturday July 20, 7 a.m.-10 a.m.

Accessibility
Parking is available at the Horse Center. The terrain is mostly dirt path, which may be muddy and challenging depending on previous weather.  Please consider footwear/pants that don’t mind a little dirt or mud.

There are no public restrooms or water fountains available, so please plan ahead. 

Light rain will be no issue unless the path is saturated. Torrential rain or thunder/lightning will result in the event being rescheduled.

RSVP Here

About your workshop leader
Ben Salb is a professional macro photographer and OM System (formerly Olympus) Ambassador currently living in Gaithersburg, MD. An IT professional during the day, he can often be found wandering the Muddy Branch Trail looking for insects and spiders as early as 3:30 a.m. Over the past couple years he’s had a handful of images taken along Muddy Branch win or place in international photography competitions. Most notably, his image of a wolf spider mom with babies (shown below) received a category win in The Nature Conservancy’s global photo contest in 2023, a competition with over 80,000 photographers and 190,000 entries. Ben is considered an expert in living subject macro photography and focus bracketing/stacking.  

Find out more here: https://muddybranch.org/buggin/