Yellowstone National Park

Dates

August 23-27, 2025.

Overview

Join Derek Culver and Andrew Imhoff for 4 days and 4 nights of guided group astro + photography adventures and hands-on photography instructions in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks during peak Milky Way season! This is a bucket list trip exploring world class geologic wonders with a group of like-minded adventure and photography lovers while learning the techniques and artistic philosophies we us implement to create emotion evoking images of the night sky.

Shooting locations

Grand Tetons, Jenny Lake, Grand Prismatic Pool, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Thermal Pools, Old Faithful, and more!

Difficulty

This astro + photography workshop is great for all levels but lends itself especially well for beginner to intermediate level photographers and adventurers. A base level of photography fundamentals is recommended so we can teach you more advanced techniques, but is not required. We simplify our workflow and help you master focusing, exposure settings, editing, and much more as we move into tracking and image blending. We keep our group sizes small so we can give plenty of individual hands-on attention to each participant and help beginners get started in astrophotography.

physical difficulty

Some Muy Thai or Ju Jitsu experience so you are capable to fight off Brown Bears with your tripod… Just kidding! Some short hikes around 1-2 miles at a high elevation, on paved pathways, and at night to access our locations. Most spots are within a close proximity of our cars, and we always hike as a group out to our shooting locations, and carry bear deterrents.

What you will learn

Our mission is to guide you on bucket list photography adventures while teaching you tools that will unlock your creative visions, and allow you to further express yourself as an artist and human being. Our workshops provide a safe, accepting, fun, and relaxed learning environment with the proper amount of nature and challenge to stimulate the best version of your creative self to bloom! We will build upon shooting and editing fundamentals like optimal settings and focusing your camera at night as we incorporate more advanced photography techniques like tracking and image blending. We will show you how to capture stunning images and timelapses and how we process them Lightroom and Photoshop.

logistics & lodging

All lodging and camping accommodations are included in the cost of this workshop as well as some meals while we camp! Transportation is not included, however we can very often arrange carpools between other group members to save on costs and add to the social aspects of the trip. For this workshop we can provide all transportation for a fee. We will caravan to and from our shooting locations together- you do not need any 4x4 or off-roading capabilities. We provide all camping and hotel accommodations with some meals (while camping) to provide an immersive natural experience while also gaining closer access to our shooting locations! We do 2 nights camping, with 2 nights in the historic Yellowstone lodge. There are hotel alternatives for those who prefer a bit more comfort while shooting on our first two camping nights.

Group size

This workshop is limited to 8 students to ensure that there will be plenty of individual attention for each guest.

You are welcome to bring a friend or family member along on the workshop as a non-photographer guest. (Some small fees may apply) If you would like to bring a friend or family member who is interested in operating a camera during our workshop lessons, please contact us for a discount! Repeat clients, public servants, and veterans are eligible for a discount as well :)

cost

The tuition for this workshop is $4,200 total. A non-refundable deposit of $750 is required to reserve your spot. Alumni price is $3,200 with a $500 deposit. Full payment is due 2 months before the workshop begins. Alumni apply their whopping discount when the remaining balance is collected!

Itinerary / operating plan:

We will meet on Saturday August 23 between 3-6pm in North Yellowstone and will end our workshop on Wednesday August 27th at 9am at the Old Faithful Lodge.

Meet in near Canyon Village in Yellowstone. We will leave the campground at 7pm to shoot. It is about a 2.5 hour drive from Bozeman, Montana to our starting location. I recommend taking highway 89 through Mammoth at the North Entrance (check road conditions, sometimes there can be road work) if you have the time, the drive is spectacular and there are nice stops along the way! Once you all arrive, we will set up camp, do an introduction, grab a quick bite, then head out to our first shooting locations for sunset and astrophotography lessons! Campgrounds have showers and bathrooms.

Exact locations will be shared with participants, please inquire if you need help with logistics and planning! We recommend flying in early on the 22nd or earlier on the 23rd to enjoy the sights along the way to our meeting point and time, and flying out after 1pm on the 27th to allow plenty of time to sleep in and get to the airport! We are doing our Alumni Star Party nearby in Idaho, starting on the 29th right after this workshop- we would love for you to join as it pairs nicely with this workshop!

august 23rd - camp in yellowstone

Meet in near Canyon Village in Yellowstone! We will set up camp and go out to shoot sunset and the Milky Way.

august 24th - camp in the Grand tetons

In the morning we will sleep in a bit, pack up, and grab a quick breakfast before our beautiful drive down to the Grand Tetons! We wanted to add a bit of a drive so we can see more geysers, animals, and views! You have most of the day and afternoon to explore Yellowstone, we will meet later down in the Tetons to set up camp, eat dinner, and shoot right from our campground with beautiful lake and Teton mountain views!

august 25th - lodge in yellowstone

After a fun night of astro we will sleep in and do a later group breakfast, we will break camp and head back up into Yellowstone! We will take a different route through the park stopping by many awesome geysers and pools. You have most of the day to explore and enjoy the scenery until we reconvene to check into the lodge the next 2 nights. We will hit a big editing session this afternoon, a group dinner, then head out together to shoot several awesome colorful geysers and pools for sunset and milky way!

august 26th - lodge in yellowstone

After another night of astrophotography fun, we will sleep in at the lodge! From here we will do a group editing session and late breakfast. We will have most of the day to edit together, you can head out and explore more of the park (we are in the epicenter of beauty!) and we will reconvene later in the night for our final night of astrophotography hitting a new basin of geysers and pools. We will finish the night of astro right next to the lodge with Old Faithful and several other pools.

august 27th - fin

The workshop officially concludes at 9am before checkout but unofficially concludes when all you night photographers conk out after shooting stars, meteors, and stinky fart geysers for the last 4 nights! We will be departing from the Old Faithful Lodge area around check out at 10am, it’s about 2-2.5 hours to Bozeman Airport, MT.
Our Alumni star party starts the 29th right after this workshop, about 5 hours away in Idaho! Registering for a workshop automatically qualifies you for the star party :)