Milky Way and Star Photography Workshops
Are you interested in learning how to capture the stars and the Milky Way? Trying to get some amazing photos to add to your portfolio? Don’t want to waste hours or days trying to find answers on the internet, or maybe you did that and still are not getting the results you want? Learn all of the tips and tricks that I’ve gathered from photographing the night sky for over a decade in just a few hours. Below you will find more information on the class and ways to book.
Learn Milkyway Photography In The Mountains
OVERVIEW
$499 per person
~4 hours of shooting, in the field.
*Includes 1 hour of editing the photos in Lightroom and Photoshop.
By the end you will have skipped countless hours researching how to create night images and you will know all of my techniques that I’ve learned for night photography over the last decade in just 1 night.
You will leave with beautiful night photos from within the Mogollon mountains.
Locations: Mogollon Rim, Willow Springs Lake
September 2023 - 6 spots
October 2023 - 6 spots
SIGN UP BELOW
Why the Mogollon Mountains?
Light Pollution
In Phoenix you can barely see an handful of stars
up here you can see THOUSANDS!
What will you learn?
Basic camera functions: In-depth knowledge of ISO, Aperture and Exposures and how they pertain to night photography.
Understanding the histogram for night photography in order to capture the necessary RAW data in the field (ensuring that you capture the correct exposure, highlights and darks are not clipped).
The 500 Rule
Focusing at night
Dealing with noise, dealing with shooting in light-polluted areas.
Planning a Milky Way or star photo shoot.
Getting Star Trail photos
Advanced tips: capturing multiple exposures to get sharp foreground and sharp stars, light painting, techniques for blending to get full depth of field images and blending blue-hour images with star images.
Open floor session. Each one of you provide something you would like to learn and we will all go through the process step by step. Feel free to ask questions along the way for anything above.
Schedule
Below is a rough outline, anything in-between is up to the class and your creative ideas.
Sunset/Blue hour on the Mogollon Rim.
Drive to Willow Springs lake, one of my favorite Rim Lakes providing many shooting opportunities.
Review camera settings and other pre-shoot details to ensure everyone is informed and ready to get the best shots possible of the night sky.
Milky Way: shots learning and reviewing various different “field” techniques for capturing the most of the night sky.
We will hike around the lake to get various vantage points/compositions and capture the night sky and Milky Way with the lake in the foreground as well as getting some star trail images.
Included in the workshop
Sunset shoot and blue hour shoot (~1 hour)
Night Photography / Stars and Star Trails / Milky Way / Light Painting (~3 hours)
Post Workshop Discussion, Review and Post-Processing (~1 hour the next day)
What’s NOT included?
Personalized Post Processing help, I will be glad to help over a Skype/Zoom call. I will go over Photoshop and Lightroom tricks to edit and make the Milky Way pop. $100/hr for 1-on-1 help.
Meals
Transportation (4WD is not necessary)
Lodging
Equipment
Travel insurance
Lodging
There are many dispersed camping sites near the shooting locations. There are paid campgrounds as well. The nearest hotel accommodations would be in Forest Lakes or Christopher Creek.
Cancellation
The workshop will be canceled if the weather conditions are dangerous and may cause safety issues such as lightening or extreme snow/rain.
*Excessively cloudy nights: the workshop will continue if there is chance for it to clear up in the night.
Due to the time of the workshop being during Monsoon season and the dynamic weather on the Mogollon Rim, this can only be reliably decided on the day of the workshop.
Please note, refunds will NOT be given due to workshop cancellation denoted above.
Refund
If you are not able to make the workshop for any reason you may cancel up to 7 days in advance and receive a refund of $250 + sales tax out of the total.
Within 7 days of the workshops, no refunds can be given. If you can find someone to directly fill your spot this is acceptable as well.
When is the best time for the Milky Way?
From May 28 - Nov 6 you will be able to see the Milky Way after sunset, you are able to see it earlier in the year but you will have to wake up around midnight or 2am.
From June - August: This is when the Milky Way is in the sky for the longest amount of time.
You will need to work around the moon phases as well, the best days will be the New Moon and about 5 days before/after the new moon.
What should I bring?
Any DSLR camera, you can rent a camera that is better equipped to handle low-light situations (full-frame or high-ISO capable camera) but either way you will learn the appropriate techniques to capture the stars with the camera you have.
Wide angle lens (8-24mm), you can do star and Milky Way photography with a more telephoto lese (like 35mm or 50mm) but a wide angle is important for capturing compositions and also capturing more light. You should also aim to have the lens aperture able to go down to at least f/3.5 (most kit lenses can achieve this at 18mm).
Tripod, the bigger and stronger the better.
Memory card(s)
Batteries! Bring at least 2. If the night is particularly cold, bring even more. If you have the battery chargers (car plug or wall plug) perfect, we can charge them a little bit more for the morning.
Intervalometer. Your camera may have this built in but it’s always good to have one of these for reducing shake, plus they are very affordable.
Warm clothes: jacket, fuzzy hat, gloves. Up on the Mogollon Rim it can be windy and get cold.
Bug spray and headlamps. If your headlamp does not have a red light option, I will have extras available for use.
Snacks and water.
Book a spot!
Fill out the form below, let me know: your skill level, equipment that you have (or don’t have) and availability.
Thank you!