CJ Elfont

CJ Elfont

CJ Elfont is a co-founder of Midwest Photographic Workshops (MPW) and has been teaching workshops since 1978. Currently, he is an instructor for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Clemson University. His “Isolate Theory” forms the basis of many of his students’ understanding of composition, and is briefly described in Vincent Versace’s book, Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop. Having begun as a black and white, large format, nature photographer, he has since used a wide spectrum of formats and techniques, concentrating in the past several years on digital photography and Adobe Photoshop. Among his credits are three coffee table books (Sand Dunes of the Great Lakes, Harbor Wanderers, and Roar of Thunder, Whisper of Wind) and one instructional book. His work has been shown in approximately 25 galleries and 2 museums in such cities as Toronto, San Francisco, Carmel, New Orleans, Denver and in many locations throughout the Midwest. Over a span of 25 years, he has been the sole photographer of myriad magazine articles in publications such as Travel & Leisure, Sierra Club, Great Lakes Travel & Living, and numerous others. CJ received both a B.S. and a D.D.S. degree from the University of Maryland. Photography and dentistry were his twin professions until he retired from dentistry in 1996.