This workshop was so many things rolled in to a few days. It was a wonderful gathering of people, some new to me and some I had met before. The conversations were rich and the times out shooting together were filled with good photo opportunities and the “hanging out” really nice. The Cumberland Island day, to me, was more of an adventure in exploring a new interesting place, rich in history and very unique. I enjoyed shooting and I loved walking there. It was so peaceful and beautiful.
The Okefenokee Swamp was pure magic! From the time we boarded the boat the light show was ever changing and every where was something beautiful to behold. The young owls peaking thru the Spanish Moss and hiding in decaying trees were such a thrill to see and even from the boat, I was able to capture them with my 100-400 and got shots I was very happy with. But I was not prepared for the morning light that slipped thru the clouds and spilled across the glassy water in brilliant blues and golds.The color was liquid and kept growing and glowing.
Our accommodations were fabulous and it was very nice to get to know Peter Essick and see a lot of his work and hear his stories. Nancy McCrary was the best workshop host ever and she and Beate Sass cooked for us and feds us amazing food. I’m already thinking about going on this workshop again. It was far more than I expected and Im very pleased with the images I captured.
-Cyndy B. Waters
Cyndy grew up in Sevierville, TN, and was completely into photography at a very early age. She was the yearbook and newspaper photographer in high school and had a weekly column, “I’ll Just Tell You” and sports page for the Sevier County News Record and Mountain Press.
A 1977 graduate of the Art Institute Of Atlanta, Cyndy’s early work included being a photographer for the State of Tennessee and one of three official photographers for the 1982 World’s Fair. With a great list of references from the Fair in 1983, Cyndy moved to Washington, DC. She co-owned and operated Paine & Waters Photography specializing in political PR on Capitol Hill. She has photographed 5 U.S. presidents and many Heads of State. While photographing the opening of Dolly Parton’s Dollywood’s in 1986, Cyndy met a Los Angeles film crew, Johnson/Klein Productions. They invited her to join their production company. She made the move and enjoyed 6 years of working in LA. She photographed many of the people from the “Woodstock Generation” such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Woopie Goldberg, and many other celebs. She also shot stills and video for the cable show Biography.
Photographing children was always her passion and she often photographed children in challenging situations, using her images to expose their needs. Cyndy traveled to Nairobi, Kenya on a spiritual journey in 1995. She was overwhelmed by the lack of education, food, spiritual guidance and physical care many women and children faced. This caused her to step out from behind her camera and develop the Orbit Village Project, Inc. Today, the project is quite large and feeds, cares for, and educates approximately five hundred children and youth, and focuses on helping hundreds of families survive and rebuild from a broken generation. For the past 28 years, she has grown and run this project which includes a school and children’s home, a bag and basket making project for women, a drug and alcohol rehab group and 3 churches.
In 2018, Cyndy started taking time to travel and camp again throughout the USA and various other countries focusing on landscape photography. Her award-winning work has been published and shown in galleries.
She developed Aret Enkera Safaris, Helping Children Safaris, to take photographers and small groups on safari in Kenya exposing them to both the incredible wildlife and amazing people of East Africa.
She has 3 grown children Muteyi, Nangesian, and Judy, and recently became a grandmother to Emmanuel. She is also “Mother” to many in Kenya.
Cyndy’s work from Africa has recently been published in FAWCO’s Inspiring Women Online Magazine fall of 2020. She was featured as one of 16 American women photographers working around the world.
Along with regularly having images hung on the walls of the SxSE Gallery, in Molena, GA, SxSE published Cyndy’s work in an Article The Land Of The Maasai, in the Dec-Jan 2022 Issue of SxSE Photomagazine.
She was featured in Volumes 1, 2 & 4 of the book series How I Created This, A Celebration of Images From The Road in 2021. One of her images was used as a cover shot.
Email: cyndybwaters@mac.com
Webpage: cyndybwaters.smugmug.com & OrbitVillage.org
Facebook: Cyndy B Waters & The Orbit Village Project
Instagram: CyndyBWatersPhotographer, AretEnkeraSafaris & Orbit Village Project
