Transit of Venus -Arizona
Arizona - June 3-6, 2012
This spring we have the unique opportunity to witness one of the skies most interesting events – the Transit of Venus across the sun. This is only possible in June and Decembers as Venus’s orbital nodes cross across the sun. This happens at intervals of 8 years every 1021.5 years or 105.5 Only six have occurred since the invention of the telescope in the early 1600’s (1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882, 2004, and now in 2012).
Join photographer Richard Mack on a very historic trip to photograph the transit from and iconic location in Arizona. This trip, unlike others is strictly a chance to be with other photographs and share in the experience of photographing this historic event with fellow photographs in the Arizona landscape. We will meet in Phoenix and depending on the weather travel to one of several locations we have picked as alternates based on the cloud cover. The location choices are The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley or Organ Pipe National Monument. The decision will be made during the trip so come prepared for all locations.
Because this is a gathering of people interested in viewing and recording the historic transit very little instruction will be given. We will also have a high powered telescope with us on this trip.
Itinerary:
Sunday, June 3 - gather in Phoenix Arizona and begin to discuss the trip and lay out which of the locations we will be headed to.
Monday, June 4 - travel to location and scout for where we want to shoot the transit the next evening. Enjoy dinner together.
Tuesday, June 5 - We will prepare for the shoot in the morning and be ready for its afternoon and evening show!
Wednesday, June 6 - return to Phoenix and depart after one last meal and sharing of images.
Cost: $250
Cost covers miscellaneous expenses to be incurred for snakes and drinks in the field. Does not include hotels, other meals or rental cars.
Sorry, currently this trip is full! You may email us to be placed on a waiting list.
Maximum Class Size: 12
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. |
