About Spark Adventure Photography Workshops
In a world that steamrolls women’s creative needs, we call BS! Making creative time isn’t an indulgence—it’s a lifeline. Your camera is the pathway to freedom.
Spark Adventure Photography Workshops is a safe and inclusive space for all women, including gender-affirming individuals. We celebrate diversity and strive to create a positive environment where everyone feels valued and respected. Discrimination of any kind, including against body type, race, or gender identity, will not be tolerated.
Who We Are - Photography Reclamation
As women, we’re always putting everyone else’s needs first. We’re here to advocate for your non-negotiable creative time.
Spark Adventure Photography Workshops is a women’s (and women-identifying) photography community committed to reclaiming your creative identity, integrating well-being, and equipping you for solo photography adventures with your real camera, to make creative time a non-negotiable part of your life. We focus on building your skills, self-trust, and creative confidence in natural settings that stop-you-in-your-tracks, so you can boldly grow as a photographer and reclaim your passion, on your terms.
Spark Adventure Photography Workshops is a safe and inclusive space for all women, including gender-affirming individuals. We celebrate diversity and strive to create a positive environment where everyone feels valued and respected. Discrimination of any kind, including against body type, race, or gender identity, will not be tolerated.
Meet the Team - Creative Rebels Leading the Movement
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The photographer who called “BS!” first.Cobi Sharpe is an award-winning photographer, graduate with honours, and the founder of Spark Adventure Photography Workshops.
Having taught over 100 women photography fundamentals, Cobi launched Spark to lead a creative reclamation: helping creative-starved women reclaim their non-negotiable photography time.
Her mission is simple: Take the guesswork out of your camera settings so you can stop feeling like an imposter and start feeling like a photographer.
Cobi’s work has been published in Canadian Geographic, Explore Magazine, Outpost Magazine, and trusted by clients including Parks Canada, Nature Canada, and Algonquin Outfitters.
Participants constantly mention feeling completely supported to ask questions and never intimidated by technical jargon. The goal is simple: to make the camera an extension of your eye, not a barrier to your creativity.
When she’s not leading this creative reclamation, Cobi can be found in Ontario’s wild spaces with her Blundstones and camera, creating images that capture how places feel, not just how they look.
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As founder of Prairie Telegraph Digital Marketing and our digital rebellion coordinator, Jennifer is a full-on marketing nerd and can often be found knee-deep in research with her nose in a book. She’s always ready to put her nerd hat on for any data-driven analysis, excited to dig deep into any brand’s challenges and flings herself into brainstorming for marketing campaigns. Jennifer has experience in many industries from agriculture to tourism to health and lifestyle, and began her career in radio as a DJ.
Jennifer graduated from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Radio and Athabasca University in Business Professional Arts: Communications Studies. She is also a Certified Associate in Project Management by the Project Management Institute.On the personal side of things, her motto is, "Have camera, will travel." She is a big fan of everyday adventures but slows down for good books. She currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Ariel Estulin a father, and an award-winning landscape photographer, who travels the world seeking out beauty in those wild and remote places on Earth that still remain untouched by civilization where nature commands ultimate attention. As a photo educator, his goal is for students to come away with not just better photographs, but a better understanding of photography, better compositions, and most importantly, a skill set they now have and can use on future adventures.
What Students Say:
”These workshops are invaluable in growth as a photographer in the creative aspects and technical. Active and respectful sharing of knowledge and experience by Ariel. I have done 2 workshops with him; I am already planning for next year!
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Alyssa Bardy is an Indigenous photographer whose work is rooted in quiet observation and deep connection to the Natural World with a special focus and love for the birds.
Alyssa’s award-winning photography focuses on how the Natural World and human belonging intertwine. She creates a warm, welcoming space where participants learn to approach bird photography with presence, respect, and a deeper relationship to the land and the more than human kin around them - extending beyond the goal of “getting the shot”.
Alyssa’s worldviews and technique align with Spark Adventure Photography Workshop’s vision for meaningful, ethical photography. Her work blends field experience and cultural worldviews with modern tech, from long-lens wildlife shooting to intimate editing in Lightroom. Alyssa’s approach mirrors Spark’s commitment to curiosity, psychological safety and teaching others how to create with connection.
Alyssa is Upper Cayuga of the Six Nations and mixed settler. She is a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte where she and her family reside.
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Laurie spent her career in elementary education and school board consulting, and if you've ever watched a curious kid discover something for the first time, you already know why she loved it. Exploring alongside others, sharing what she knows, watching the lightbulb go on, that's always been her thing.
Photography found her on the trail. Mountain hikes, canoe trips, kayak routes, and then one day, a wildflower stopped her in her tracks. That was it. For years now, macro wildflower photography has been her focus, and the moment the snow melts, you'll find her on the forest floor, camera in hand, seeking whatever's just beginning to bloom. From April through fall, the landscape is full of flowers waiting to be seen, and Laurie sees them.
She's also been known to turn her lens on a sweeping landscape or a particularly cooperative bird. No subject is off limits when the light is right.
She can't wait to get out there with you: exploring, photographing, and sharing what she knows on your terms, at your pace, no judgment.
What We Do - Photography Experiences That Develop Authentic Vision and Confidence
1. Reclaim Your Creative Identity
From "I used to photograph" to "I am a photographer"—confidently, on your terms.
Making creative time isn't an indulgence—it's a lifeline. Your camera is the pathway to freedom.
Step into the photographer you've always wanted to be. This is your moment. Not squeezed in. As your priority.
2. Photography as Your Wellbeubg Practice
Manual mode = mandatory presence. Your mind clears. Your vision sharpens.
In a world designed to keep you scrolling, photography is your resistance. Manual mode forces slowness. Awe-inspiring landscapes demand you stop and see clearly.
This isn't another productivity hack. It's your nervous system saying yes to presence. Photography as dopamine detox. Intention over distraction.
Much-needed mornings. Essential time outdoors. Creative practice that restores.
3. Build Skills for Solo Photography Adventures
Master your camera so you can explore independently—anywhere you want to go.
No waiting. No compromising. No guilt for taking your time.
Build the technical confidence to stop the car, set up your shot, and photograph on your terms. Travel photography skills that last a lifetime. Your van conversion? Your mobile studio and freedom.
4. Women-Only Community That Becomes Your Backbone
Small groups (maximum 10). Psychological safety. Lasting friendships.
You'll never feel rushed. You'll never feel judged. No ego. Just patient guidance that takes the guesswork out.
Reclaim your creative voice in a community that celebrates your independence—not substitutes for it.
How We’re Different
Creative Identity Reclamation Support
This is your turn. Reclaim the creative identity you set aside. You used to love photography. Life happened. Your camera gathered dust. But the photographer in you never went away. This is your moment to become who you’ve always wanted to be. Not as a hobby squeezed between everyone else’s schedules. AS a priority. As you.
Photography as Well-Being Practice
Slow down. Show up. See clearly. In a world designed to keep you scrolling, photography is your way to slow down. Manual mode forces presence. Intentional composition requires observation. The camera becomes your tool for stepping out of dopamine-fuelled distraction and back into the world as it actually is. Photography isn’t another productivity hack. It’s a practice of presence. It’s mental health care. It’s your nervous system saying yes to slowness.
Solo Creative Independence Encouragement
On your terms. In your time. Your way. You don’t need to wait for someone else to stop the car. You don’t need to feel guilty to set up a shot. You don’t need to rush through a location because your travel companion wants to move on. Photography retreats aren’t suitable for travelling with your partner. They’re an investment in your autonomous creative practice. Learn skills that let you travel and photograph independently. Build confidence to explore on your own terms. Join a community that celebrates your desire for solo creative adventures.
Our Commitment - Values That Drive the Rebellion
Women-First Spaces
All our experiences welcome women (and women-identifying). We're committed to dismantling gender inequity in outdoor photography spaces. Everyone feels valued and respected—no discrimination of any kind tolerated.
Authentic Vision Over Viral Content
We help you develop YOUR unique way of seeing, not copy what everyone else shoots. The world needs your authentic perspective, not another identical landscape photo.
Environmental and Cultural Respect
We photograph with integrity, respecting Indigenous lands and natural spaces. Our approach emphasizes connection and stewardship, not exploitation for content. We donate a small portion of your workshop fee to an Indigenous-led organization, or environmental organization. This is one way we honour the Lands we photograph, and support the communities who are the original stewards of this Land and Mother Earth.
Features & Clients
Our Growing Instructor Team
We’re building a roster of like-minded photographers. Our instructors share our values and commitment to helping women develop authentic artistic vision.
Want to join our rebellion? Learn about instructor opportunities here.
Where We Serve - Ontario and Beyond
Based in Ontario, Canada, we lead experiences across the province's most inspiring landscapes:
Georgian Bay - Where ancient rocks meet endless water
Algonquin Park - Wilderness that demands real cameras, not phones
Killbear Provincial Park - Windswept pines and golden light
Grundy Lake - Misty mornings and starlit nights
Muskoka Region - Fall colours that phone cameras can't capture
Bruce Peninsula - Spring wildflowers and rugged Lake Huron shoreline magic
Lake Superior - Fall drama on the shoreline
Acadia National Park, Maine - Ocean coastline, stone bridges, mountains and forests.
Future expansion planned for national and international authentic vision adventures—always prioritizing meaningful connection over convenient content creation.