Moab, Utah is home to three internationally recognized dark sky parks:  Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and Dead Horse Point State Park.  Moab is also home to many off the beaten track locations - places we will have to ourselves at night, where we can capture more unique Milky Way images, and we can practice the art of light painting. (FYI - light painting of any kind is illegal in Arches & Canyonlands)

We will spend 3 nights photographing the Milky Way against a wide variety of fascinating rock formations.  The workshop will include classroom work to better your photographic craft, including time to process and critique your images.  We will shoot each evening into late at night as weather allows, with a few hours each day dedicated to classroom instruction and image processing. With two professional workshop leaders who both lead tours in the area year round, there will be many opportunities for one-on-one instruction.  We will end the workshop with a group slide show and constructive critique.

Bryan Haile has been a professional landscape photographer and photography tour guide here in Moab Utah for the past 7 years. He has led more than 250 tours in the Moab area, and has more than 20 years experience as a Professional Nikon Photographer.  Bryan lived and worked as a wedding and portrait photographer in Colorado before moving permanently to Moab in 2016.  Bryan's specialties include landscape composition and night photography, backed up with his vast knowledge of the Moab area.  

Colin D. Young is an award-winning photographer who has spent the past several years exploring the red rock Canyonlands of Southern Utah and the mountains of Colorado.  As a part time resident of Moab since 2011, he has spent several weeks a year exploring the photographic riches in and around Moab in every season, and has been leading workshops and tours in the area for several years as the founder of Rock Light Photo Tours.   He is a certified and insured photography travel guide in nearby Arches,  Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands national parks.  

 - Capturing the Milky Way with your digital camera

- Techniques and gadgets for better Milky Way photography

- Making your red rock sunset images pop

- Determining proper exposure

- Light Painting and low level lighting techniques
- Capturing great images in challenging lighting conditions

- Analyzing a scene for compositional options

- Using filters to improve artistic results

- Adobe Lightroom workflow for getting the most from your night sky images

- Post processing for Milky Way photography

- Stacking images to reduce noise 

- Creating composite images with layer masking

- Techniques for creating star trails images

- Photographic techniques for shooting the red rock sandstone of the Colorado Plateau

Skills Needed:

All skill levels are welcome.  Participants who have a good working  knowledge of their cameras, and basic understanding of digital workflow and knowledge or exposure to Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom will get the most from this workshop. 

Physical Demands:

Though locations visited during this workshop are readily accessible,  the hilly terrain requires some moderate hiking (typically less than 3 miles round trip). Participants MUST be in good physical shape and able to climb and descend moderate to steep inclines, at night. They should wear sturdy  boots and use caution on slippery and rocky slopes.  As this is a night  workshop, we will be shooting late at night, sometimes into the wee hours of morning. 

Group Size:

Maximum 10 photographers.  Note: Colin's June workshop is already sold out, so we expect this workshop usually to sell out quickly!

Registration fee: $1065 per person (includes 6.85% Utah services tax)

Deposit to reserve a date: $300

Dates and Times

Workshop begins Friday, Sept 6 at 3pm, and ends Monday, Sept 9th at Noon.

Where to Meet

Participants will gather and at a location TBA in Moab, Utah.   Directions and details will be sent well in advance of the workshop.

What to bring:

• ·         A digital SLR or mirrorless camera capable of manual exposure settings.  Due to the short time frame of the workshop. 
• ·         Plan to bring all of your lenses, from 14mm to 200mm (full frame equiv.), as the variety of daytime locations for sunsets will put all your gear to work!  A wide angle lens (somewhere in  the 14mm to 35mm range) capable of an aperture of f/2.8 or lower is best for capturing the Milky Way.  Consider renting a lens if you don’t own one. 
• ·         A sturdy tripod  
• ·         A circular polarizer filter, while not  required, can be a useful tool for controlling glare and reflections for  the sunset shoots. NOTE: Colin is a  rep for NiSi Filters, which makes an excellent circular polarizer  filter, and he can get you a 15% discount off retail prices.   https://nisiopticsusa.com/shop/nisi-circular-filters/round-cpl-circular-polarizer-filter/ti-enhanced-cpl/ 
• ·         Hiking boots or other sturdy shoes: while the  hikes to locations we will visit will be fairly short (typically less  than 1-3 miles round trip) a good set of sturdy hiking boots is good for  protecting the ankles on rocky trails and slippery rocks. 
• ·         Lots of clothing layers – Moab weather can be  finicky, and temps can be chilly at night in the desert, and much warmer  during the day. 
• ·         A headlamp, preferably with a red light  setting, to participate in optional night photo sessions.  A dimmable  headlamp is a bonus. 
• ·         Your own method of transportation.  We will carpool to locations as possible, so not everyone needs to drive every day. 
• ·         A laptop computer, ideally loaded with Adobe Lightroom Classic, to best take advantage of the Lightroom workflow instructional session.  Cables and devices necessary to download your  images from camera to laptop.