Creating a masterwork of photographic art can be like wandering through a maze: after a lengthy period of self-reflection and contemplation, you’ll still probably starve. Appreciate the figurative risks and transcendent joys of photographic creativity with today’s Groupon: for $59, you get a four-hour digital-photography workshop (a $250 value) and a two-hour photo safari (a $200 value) from Capturing True Emotion (a $450 total value). The workshop and safari take place at Navy Pier on the following days: May 28, 29, 30; June 28, 29, 30; July 28, 29, 30. Workshops last from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the safaris are held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. More dates and times will be added to meet demand.

Capturing True Emotion workshops are driven by the dynamic duo of Val Westover, a dedicated author and portrait photographer, and Stephanie Adriana, an author and award-winning fine-art photographer. By fusing their narrative, tech-savvy minds together into one oversize head, the two provide comprehensive guidance on both camera operation and creative visualization, giving participants complete control over all of their camera settings. During the four hours spent in the company of other pupating shutterbugs, students learn essential lessons such as how to control depth of field by adjusting the aperture, how to compose a family portrait, how to use alternative angles to avoid red-eyes, and strategies for lighting an artful yeti sighting.

A two-hour photo safari takes pupils on a picturesque voyage through Navy Pier, providing camera bearers with a wealth of opportunities to put their shutter-speed savvy to good use under the tutelage of their former instructors. Ansels-in-training can snap shots of boats bobbing in Lake Michigan, the ferris wheel, and the wild brews growing in the Beer Garden.