STUNNING LANDSCAPES OF THE SOUTHWEST • September 29 – October 5, 2019

Sedona • Slot Canyons • Horseshoe Bend • Arches & Canyonlands • Monument Valley • Hunts Mesa

$ 3,100 single room supplement is $525

** workshop full ** waitlist only **

In September of 2019, I will be doing another very special workshop to some of the most scenic and iconic locations of the Southwest. I wanted to have a workshop that included some of the best spots to photograph in Arizona and the Four Corners region. I have worked very hard on trying to create an itinerary that included the least amount of travel but afford the most amount of photo opportunities. We will start off first in Sedona, where I live, shooting the night sky and then the next morning head up to the town of Page, Arizona where we will be capturing the mystique and beauty of uncrowded and intimate Secret Canyon, that my friend Tim operates.

This canyon is much smaller but has some beautiful formations and is a great alternative to the horribly overcrowded mess of Upper and lower Antelope Canyon. Tim will let us have the slot canyon to ourselves for over 2 hours which is amazing. Being alone in a slot canyon like this enables us to set up shots like sand waterfalls and tumbleweeds and take as much time as we want. Tim will also take us on a private road to shoot sunset at the very unique and spectacular Horseshoe Bend from a high vantage point with the winding Colorado River flowing through it. We will bypass the crowded entrance and long walk to Horshoe Bend to get to one of the best views in all of the southwest!

After shooting in the slot canyons in Page, we will head off to the spectacular beauty of Moab to photograph Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We will be shooting a few beautiful locations at sunset and after dark with the Milky Way and night sky usng LED light panels to softly light the rocks. We will also shoot the iconic Mesa Arch at sunrise after hiking in during the dark a few hours after midnight. We will also have time in the hotel conference room for Photoshop demonstrations on how to improve your images. After two days of shooting even more beautiful images in these beautiful places during sunrise and sunset, we will leave Moab for the beautiful Deadhorse State Park and one increidble view! Then it is time to head off to the one and only Monument Valley to capture some of the best that this unique place has to offer.

On our first day in the valley, we will capture the iconic long straight highway used in the movie Forrest Gump and shoot the world renowned Mittens of Monument Valley at sunset. The next morning for sunrise, we will photograph the rippling orange sand dunes of Totem Pole & Y’ei Bi Chei which is just incredible at sunrise. After lunch we will depart by 4×4 jeeps for an incredible overnight 4 wheel drive journey to the amazing vistas of Monument Valley from Hunts Mesa. We will shoot sunset at Hunt’s Mesa and also possibly drive to Spider Arch for a very fun night sky shoot. We will camp out under the stars and have a home cooked barbecue over a fire prepared for us by our guide and sleep in tents by our campfire.

Hunt’s Mesa is an amazing location for so many kinds of photography including panoramas, focus stacking and also shooting the night sky with lightpainting. At sunrise, we will photograph Hunts Mesa again before heading back to our cars and saying goodbye to this special place. This promises to be one of the best Southwest photography itineraries imaginable. I will be helping everyone day and night, to push themselves to a higher level and come home with one of a kind images. We will hit many of the most iconice locations in the Southwest and be at the right places at the right time!

email for registration form

I will be working individually with each person in the field each day, pushing you to master your camera and settings for every kind of situation. We will go over all kinds of camera gear from panorama heads to ND filters and everything else that is essential for this kind of photography and have at least one classroom session. Another key aspect of this workshop will be learning some of the best phone apps for photography to help raise your understanding of many aspects of planning and capturing images.

I have also planned the workshop to coincide with little or no moonlight so that we will have dark skies for shooting the stars over the Southwest landscape. We will lightpaint when we can, working in complete darkness with our headlamps and flashlights. We will also learn how to do multiple exposures combining twilight and after dark to make extremely powerful images. We will focus on different methods of capturing the Milky Way, which I love to capture after dark. We hope to have great clouds at times and clear star filled nights along with tons of fun but we will be at the mercy of mother nature.

IN THIS WORKSHOP — WE WILL COVER:

• How to scout out the best light & compositions

• Finding great locations for your images

• How to create more dynamic images

• How to shoot panoramas and HDR

• Focus stacking & multiple exposures

• Photoshop techniques including HDR, stitching panoramas and converting images to black & white

• Understanding what gear to use for a particular shot

• Shooting after dark including lightpainting with flashlights and gels

• Mastering the night sky and the Milky Way

• What phone and computer apps are incredibly helpful

• Super long exposures using 15 and 16 stop Neutral Density filters

Workshop Time

The workshop begins between 2 & 3 pm on Sunday, September 29th, 2019 and ends on Saturday, October 5th, 2019 after arriving back to Sedona in the early afternoon. This will allow people ample time to fly or drive home, or for those that want spend one last night in Sedona, we can also go out for a last sunset and night shoot.

Getting There

Sedona is located about 2 hours north of Phoenix with the nearest airport being Phoenix Sky Harbor and is an easy drive to the town of Sedona. There are many car rental places at Sky Harbor Airport to rent a car for the drive to the hotel in Sedona with plenty of discounts online, too. You can also share a rental car with someone else from the workshop and we can work with everyone on this too.

Cost

The cost for the workshop is $3,100. The additional price for a single supplement to have your own room is $525. People can share a room with someone else if they choose and we can help to see who might want to share a room. If I can’t find someone to share a room with you, you will have to pay the single supplement fee for your own room. Included in the workshop cost are all hotels except for the first night in Sedona, all transportation from Sedona, guide fees, all park fees and permits, photography instruction, post processing session in one of the hotels, all breakfasts and a yummy bar-b-que dinner over a campfire in Hunts Mesa.

Items not included are: lodging in Sedona and all lunches and dinners except for the campfire bar-b-que at Hunts Mesa We will eat as a group at restaurants for socializing, asking questions and continuing lecture discussions.

Please email us here for a registration form if you want to save a space for this workshop.

Workshop Limit

The workshop is limited to 11 participants.

Skill Level

Basic understanding of your camera operations including using f/stops and shutter speed is needed for this workshop. This workshop is for the intermediate to advanced photographer wanting to master sunrise & sunset light, night photography and composition and camera technique.

Fitness Requirements

Outdoor photography workshops require a moderate level of fitness for many aspects of these kind of adventures. There is hiking on uneven terrain some places while also carrying your camera backpack much of the time. We will also stress safety in all locations and pay attention to any adverse weather or other conditions that can arise. Please make sure that you are physically fit and comfortable in this kind of environment including the ability sleep in sleeping bags and a tent outdoors.

Baggage Requirements

Since space is limited in our vehicles and especially our 4X4 jeeps, carry-on size luggage is essential for everyone as larger luggage will not work well for this particular workshop. You will be responsible for bringing the right size luggage or you will have to leave gear and clothes behind in Sedona.

Registration

1. To register for the Stunning Landscapes of the Southwest workshop, fill out the registration form and mail to the address listed. For more information or to get the registration form, please contact us here. After registration, we will send out a detailed letter with lots of info on the workshop and also what to bring.

2. Next, contact the hotel where you want to make your room reservations in Sedona. We can give you a list of hotels in different price ranges here in Sedona as we are familiar with many of them! If you want to stay one extra day when we are back from Hunts Mesa, you can make an additional reservation for your last night here.