Starry Skies Adventure: Trona and the Alabama Hills
Information

October 24-27, 2016

Where does the workshop take place?

Field locations will be at Trona Pinnacles National Natural Landmark, and the Alabama Hills Recreation Area. The workshop tuition includes two nights lodging in Ridgecrest, California (near the Trona Pinnacles), and two nights lodging in Lone Pine, California (near the Alabama Hills)

When does the workshop begin and end?

We’ll start with an introduction and instruction session in Ridgecrest beginning at noon on Monday, October 24th. The workshop will end in the Alabama Hills around midnight Thursday night, October 27th. The workshop includes classroom sessions each afternoon to cover the techniques we’ll be using in the field, review images made during the workshop, and demonstrate techniques for processing nighttime images. Field sessions each evening will begin in the late afternoon and extend to around midnight

Transportation

Participants must provide their own transportation for this workshop. The nearest major airports are in Bakersfield, Ontario, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, Nevada. During the workshop we’ll carpool from our hotels to our field locations; we’ll discuss these arrangements at the introductory session.

Equipment

Most cameras with APS-size or full-frame sensors can handle photographing star trails. For capturing pinpoint stars and the Milky Way you’ll need a relatively fast wide-angle lens (24mm or wider for full-frame sensors, 16mm or wider for APS-size sensors, with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 or better), and a camera that can be pushed to 6400 ISO or higher. You can always rent a camera or lens for this workshop. A sturdy tripod is a must. A laptop is recommended. We’ll send you a complete list of things to bring prior to the workshop.

Experience

Nighttime photography is not for beginners. For this workshop you should have a solid understanding of exposure, histograms, depth of field, and the operation of your camera. Previous nightime photography experience is recommended, but not essential.

Hiking

The hikes are short in this workshop – less than a mile roundtrip. But all the field locations require negotiating rough, rocky, uneven terrain in the dark, so before signing up for this workshop please be sure that you’re reasonably sure-footed, and comfortable with navigating this kind of terrain in the dark.

Lodging

The workshop tuition includes two nights lodging (the 24th and 25th) at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Ridgecrest, and two nights lodging (the 26th and 27th) at the Best Western Plus Frontier Motel in Lone Pine.

Meals

We’ll break for an early dinner each afternoon, but you’ll want to bring snacks or a sandwich to the nighttime field sessions. Both Ridgecrest and Lone Pine have a variety of restaurants. Meals are not included in the workshop tuition.

Deposit

Due to the short lead time we’re requesting the full tuition for this workshop.

Cancellation

We know this workshop will surpass your expectations and help move your photography to a new level, but should you need to cancel for any reason we will refund your tuition in full up to 45 days prior to the start of the workshop. Should you need to cancel within 30 to 44 days we will refund your tuition less a $150.00 cancellation fee. Refunds are not available less than 30 days prior to the workshop unless we can fill the vacancy, in which case you’ll be charged a $150 cancellation fee. If you do need to cancel we ask that you let us know as soon as possible so we can alert people on the waiting list.

In the rare event that we need to cancel this workshop you will receive a complete refund. We recommend that you avoid purchasing non-refundable airline tickets, and consider getting trip cancellation insurance.

This workshop is full!
Please email us to sign up for the waiting list.