Bryce National PArk

Bryce, Utah - February 1-5, 2009

Winter in Bryce National Park can be fascinating with snows coming in overnight, leaving the canyon walls, fins and hoodoos buried in a blanket of new snow. Bryce in winter can be cold, very cold with 2-10 feet of snow depending on where in the park you are. But this means fewer people in the park leaving us to roam around pretty much on our own.

While called Bryce Canyon National Park, it is really not a canyon in that it was not formed by water, but wind, rain, snow and erosion. The Amphitheater reveals those classic shots of the fins and walls, stunning when covered in snow. Hoodoos – the tall skinny spires which cover the park can be fascinating in any light. Hoodoos are different from spires because they differ in width as they ascend into the sky. Many have “tables” on top making for interesting images.

Bryce Canyon National Park lies on the northern edge of The Grand Escalante Staircase in Utah which is a series of canyons from Bryce down through Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks.

Our Workshop will focus on getting you the very best images of the park. Our schedule, while setup initially will change day to day based on weather and light. We will spend enough time in the classroom to give you a better understanding of Photoshop techniques and workflows to enable you to make the best fine art prints. We will also cover basic ways of “seeing” images before you click the shutter and how to take that pre-visualized view and turn it into reality in your photograph.

Evenings will be spent talking about photography and whatever else the conversation wanders into. We try and shoot a sunrise shot on one day and sunset on another in order to keep our days reasonable while giving us the best light in which to shoot. Yet in Bryce in Fabruary with short days, it might be possible to shoot both on some days. Days will be spent within the park along the plateau edge, and down among the fins and hoodoos. Opportunities for great images are everywhere. 

This is a great Workshop to combine with the Zion Workshop the week before!

Itinerary: (subject to change based on weather conditions)

Sunday
We’ll start of at 7pm in the hotel conference room for our first meeting and get to know each other. There will be an opening lecture on “seeing” your vision in the digital world.

Monday 
Sunrise at the Amphitheater! One of the classic shots you can make is sunrise at the Amphitheater. Once we have shot sunrise we will return to the hotel for breakfast and then head out for an afternoon spent wandering to the end of the park – giving you a great overview of the park. We will shoot sunset at one of the many overlooks, returning evening in time for everyone to get dinner. A lecture on Photoshop and workflow methods in the evening.

Tuesday
We’ll head off to the trails which lead down into the Amphitheater for a view from a different perspective. We will take a “picnic” lunch to eat on the trail. After sunset return to the hotel for dinner followed by a review of the days work.

Wednesday
Another shot at sunrise from the edge. We’ll peer down into the Amphitheater from Vista Point once again returning to the hotel for a late breakfast. We can once again review some of our work before heading back to shoot more hoodoos and sunset. After dinner gather for a review of work from the day and talk about workflow methods.

Thursday
This morning we will get our last sunrise shot. At breakfast we will address anyone’s wishes for where to go, see an area we missed because of weather or pickup some new locations   We’ll return for one final lunch and get together before our session ends in the early afternoon.

Maximum Class Size: 12

Cost: TBA for double occupancy (shared room)    TBA for single occupancy.
A $400.00 deposit will be required to reserve your spot.
If a shared room is not available we can wait list this option, but you will be charged for single occupancy if not available. Should you require single occupancy (private room) a supplemental fee (varies with facility) will be added. This option applies to those bringing a non-workshop member along. We do not cover any meals for non-members.

Price Includes:
Lodging: Hotel To Be Determined.

Meals: To keep costs down we will provide the meals, snacks and drinks for times we are in the field. The rest of the time we will eat in town at one of the many restaurants. We find most people tend to eat together – at least at dinner. If you have any food allergies please let us know and we will try to accommodate them to the best of our ability, but you are also responsible for making sure you have the proper foods with you.

Travel: You are responsible to get to the base location hotel by the start time of the workshop. Once we are together we will discuss carpooling options. If you would like to be included in car pooling possibilities from any airport locations please indicate that on the registration form.

Workshop Notes: Sunday night we will discuss the experience and desires of the group and possibly alter our schedule based on participant’s wishes and what they would like to shoot the most. We will also discuss carpooling options for the week. Please be advised cell phones do not work inside the park. There are plenty of interesting things to do around the area for any non-workshop members from hiking to shopping, artist studios and other attractions.

Experience: Basic understanding of your camera operation (bring your manual – I always have mine!).

Suggested Equipment: Any Digital SLR with lens or lenses that range from wide angle (24mm or less) to telephoto, tripod. A film SLR is fine, but film processing is not available, if you are going to shoot film we suggest you bring some prints or slides if you would like to participate in any critiques. Another option would be to shoot some digital as well. Cameras larger than 35mm are also acceptable, although 4x5 might be too cumbersome to work with on this workshop. If you would like to shoot 4x5 please contact us first and discuss the options. 

Optional Equipment: Laptop for image editing, flash drive to share images, macro lens or close-up diopter, polarizing filter, long telephoto for wildlife (300+mm) or 2x convertor, split field neutral density filters

Clothing: Appropriate outdoor clothing, including hiking boots and foul weather gear.

Workshop Schedule

Starved Rock State Park, Illinois
September 28-29, 2008

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tennessee & North Carolina
October 19-23, 2008

Zion National Park, Utah
January 25-30, 2009

Bryce National Park, Utah
February 1-5, 2009

Saguaro National Park, Arizona
February 23-27, 2009

Yosemite National Park, California
March 22-27, 2009

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Spring Wildflowers
April 19-23, 2009

More Coming Soon - including Alaska trips!

Email us to be put on the list to receive updates!