Shot with a 14-24mm f2.8, I used the 14mm to focus stack the foreground at twilight and later shot the sky on a tracker at 24mm for 3 hours, then stacked and blended the foreground and sky together in Pixinsight and Photoshop. White Pocket is an otherworldly landscape full of amazing eye catching compositions that we will be spending one of our immersive camping experiences at!

June 3rd-8th, 2024 (new moon)

From off-roading to epic geological formations, to imaging galaxies from the driveway of our Airbnb, this astrophotography workshop will encompass epic adventures to capture geological wonders as well as relaxing imaging sessions under the cosmos with a group of like minded photographers.

The size of this workshop will be kept small to 4 participants, to ensure everyone gets plenty of one-on-one instruction and will be co-run with my good friend Andrew Imhoff. Our goal is to help you realize your creative potential, provide lessons to equip you with top of the line creative techniques, guide you safely to amazing places, and send you home with amazing photos and unforgettable memories!

Based out of the small town of Kanab, we will be renting a lovely house again this year in bortle 1 dark skies surrounded by amazing landscapes and adventures, and for two of the nights we will be camping right at our shooting locations for an immersive photography experience (all gear provided, as well as private rooms in the house)!

overview

All transportation once in Kanab provided, wonderful house accommodations with your own room, camping excursions in the backcountry (all gear included) at our shooting locations, 7 nights of hands on astrophotography lessons under the darkest skies in Utah, group and one-on-one shooting and post processing lessons throughout the week, 2 editing videos to take home, and some group meals provided..

Date

Saturday April 15th - Saturday April 22nd

Difficulty

This astrophotography workshop is tailored to beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, and requires some modest hiking (all under a mile) with camera gear. We will cover astrophotography basics like single exposures, and build upon shooting and editing fundamentals as we get into tracking, stacking, and combining exposures. Our small group size, 5 students to 2 teachers, allows us to tailor lessons individually and give lots of 1on1 hands on instruction.

Lodging is included

For this workshop I have reserved a lovely house just outside of Kanab, Utah. Everyone gets their own private room. The house is spacious, includes wifi, kitchen, couches, and Bortle 1 skies, but is only 10 minutes from grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants.

logistics

We have you covered on all transportation once in Kanab, to and from our shooting locations, including all 4x4 transportation. You are welcome to bring your own vehicle, not all locations are 4x4. We will caravan to locations.

workshop cost & payment terms

The tuition for this workshop is $3,500. A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 is required to reserve your spot with the remaining balance due one month before the workshop (March 15th).

Join us!

This workshop is limited to 6 participants. You are welcome to bring a friend or family member along on the workshop as a guest. Your guest is allowed to use the room and lodging, can come on all 4x4 and camping excursions (for a $500 transportation fee), model as a silhouette in our night photos, but cannot operate a camera unless they purchase another workshop spot. If so, contact us as they the guest slot is eligible for a discount! Repeat clients and veterans are eligible for a discount as well :)

itinerary

April 15th:

Check in at Airbnb by 6pm and for a group introduction, workshop overview, and dinner!
10pm-4am we will embark on our first adventure to the Star Chamber (required 4x4 transportation provided) and begin our astrophotography lessons here. We will shoot twilight and sunrise as well at this epic geological wonder before heading back to the Airbnb for a nap and breakfast.

The Chamber of Stars. One of my favorite locations and such a perfect alignment of geology and the galactic core.

April 16th

We will pack up and head out to one of the most epic locations in Arizona: White Pocket! About a 2.5 hour 4x4 drive from our house, we will be camping (all gear provided) out here to immerse ourselves in the beauty, and capture sunset, Milky Way, and sunrise. Typically the group loves this place so much we use a night later on in the workshop to come back here :)

April 17th

After a shower and nap at the house returning from an epic night of imaging at White Pocket, we will begin our first post processing lesson at 3pm- we will edit our RAW images from the Great Chamber on White Pocket together until we leave later for our astrophotography lessons at 10pm-4am, shooting night photos at the otherworldly Toadstools Hoodoos. (no 4x4 required, flat 1mile hike)

During a previous workshop we were welcomed on the first night with intense atmospheric airglow over the Toadstool Hoodoo. You could see bands of darkness and color with the naked eye, we captured these with trackers but lowered our exposure times to get sky details without blurring the structure in the airglow!

April 18th

We will begin our second post processing sessions at 1pm and edit into the afternoon, including both group and 1on1 editing lessons. After 3 long nights of awesome adventures and capturing the cosmos, depending on the energy levels of the group, tonight we will be taking it easier! Maybe shooting sunset somewhere cool and then getting to sleep early and shooting from our Airbnb from 10pm-4am- which is in Bortle 1 skies. We will be using trackers, providing some bigger scopes to set your camera up on for deep space, and busting out a visual telescope giving you a complete tour of the night sky. Shooting tracked shots from the Airbnb in order to stack for detail, allows us to set up but then leave our cameras running overnight while we catch up on sleep. I use this recovery night in all my workshops because sleep management is super important, especially for 7 nights of continuous shooting! If another night has a cloudy forecast but our recovery night is clear, we will swap the nights in order to make sure we get clear skies at all our epic shooting locations.

A spaceX rocket launch and crescent moon pirouette in a beautiful but somewhat apocalyptic dance during sunset at White Pocket at our Fall workshop in Kanab.

April 19th

We will sleep in and use the morning for a group breakfast and editing sessions. We will be setting out at 4pm to venture out to a secret location 2 hours from our house to shoot sunset and twilight! From here we will then venture further into the backcountry together (required 4x4 and camping gear provided) to set up camp under the stars, sleep a while, then wake up for astrophotography lessons at 2am surrounded by expansive colorful desert hills and cliffs under the Milky Way at Alstrom Point! We will shoot and catch the sunrise as it lights up the amazing views!

This will be a fun adventure capturing amazing beauty but also an opportunity for us to guide you on an immersive nature experience under the stars in the backcountry of Utah, overlooking epic shale and sandstone cliffs, and Lake Powell.

Alstrom Point, Lake Powell, and the Milky Way. One area we will camp, soak in the scenery under the stars, image the Milky Way, and watch the sunrise at!

April 20th

After returning from a peaceful night under the stars learning how to capture epic geological landscapes under the cosmos, we will return to our home to clean and rest up. We will begin another editing session in the afternoon.

We will be shooting our next astro lessons 12am-4am at a backcountry spot, hidden in a fault line! Our 4x4 rigs will get us within a mile of these beautiful hills and views of the Milky Way. Kanab is loaded with colorful landscapes but these Rainbow hills are surely the most vibrant!

Ancient swamps and lakes inhabited by dinosaurs deposited layers of sediments, each corresponding with a changing climate across millions of years, that now oxidize at an exposed fault line near Kanab, Utah.

April 21st

After resting up at our Airbnb and editing, this night is undecided what we will do and will depend on energy levels and group needs. We could go reshoot a location we’ve already shot if a night gets too cloudy, or we just post up and practice using trackers and shooting deep space images through telescopes right from our Airbnb in Bortle 1 dark skies!

April 22nd

We will share pictures, edit, say our goodbyes and part ways :’) I will be sending you home with 2 full workflow editing videos I will be recording using RAW images taken during this trip! You can only retain so much information with our whacky astrophotography sleep schedule, so I find videos are super effective ways to fully learn post processing after the workshop.

You can email me at derek@blazingheavens.com if you would like the detailed itinerary with day to day specifics, extra information, and questions.