When and where?

October 15 to 20, 2025 Hanksville, Utah

overview

Join Derek Culver and Andrew Imhoff exploring and capturing the beautiful backcountry views and darkest skies in the remote canyon country of Southern Utah! We provide all 4x4 transportation, camping accommodations under the stars, hotel accommodations, editing classes, and tour you around at the best times to the best spots, while teaching you the photography techniques and philosophies we use to capture night scenes! All while we create fun memories in nature with a group of like-minded photographers!

Otherworldly rock formations, sandstone cathedrals, vibrant bentonite badlands, and warm desert nights under the cosmos. Based out of the town of Hanksville, we’ll do a mix of editing sessions from our hotel base and camping out under the stars (everything provided for you) for a comfortable but immersive photography experience. This workshop includes all 4x4 transportation required to get you out to the special spots we shoot at and accommodations- we will have one foot in comfort and one foot immersed in adventures exploring, capturing, and camping surrounded by the world’s best geology and dark skies!

Shooting Locations:

Badlands, Moonscape Overlook, Factory Butte, rainbow bentonite hills, sandstone towers, Capitol Reef, slot canyons, and Goblin Valley!

What you will learn:

We believe the best way to learn anything is to immerse yourself in it, and we’d like you to come join our world of astrophotography for a week of adventure, learning, and memories! We teach Astronomy basics, how the moon cycles work, how to plan your shots using apps & astronomy fundamentals, how to find compelling compositions, optimal camera settings, focusing your camera at night, light painting, star trackers, editing your night photos, Lightroom & Photoshop, how to capture timelapses (videos of the night sky!) and edit them together, and much more! This workshop is fantastic for all levels of astrophotographers and adventurers! We help teach people how to foster their relationship with their inner artist and adventurer.

Itinerary overview

We meet in Hanksville, Utah on Wednesday October 15th in the afternoon to begin our adventures and lessons and we end on the morning of Monday October 20th in Hanksville. If you would like the full itinerary, please fill out the question form and request the itinerary. We are camping for 2 nights (all gear provided) then staying in luxury cabins for 3 nights (single occupancy, meaning you get your own cabin!).

what will you learn & difficulty

This workshop is great for beginner and experiences night photographers and adventurers. You must be able to hike on uneven surfaces for about 1-2 miles with some of your camera gear. We will be teaching fundamentals to night photography from planning your shot, focusing, and proper settings all the way to blending images, using star trackers, and stacking images!

Lodging

We alternate between camping and hotels for a balanced experience of comfort and immersion! We provide all the camping amenities you will need for the trip including comfortable sleeping gear, starlink, portable batteries for charging electronics, water, and meals while out in remote areas. We will camp for 2 nights and be in hotels for 3 nights.

Logistics

Everyone is responsible for their own transportation to the workshop and we arrange carpools and caravans during the workshop. Most of the time we can help arrange carpools between our workshop guests from the airport and in the parks in order to save costs and add to the social atmosphere of the workshop! Some workshops we can offer transportation for a fee. The closest and most convenient airport is Salt Lake City, Utah. Grand Junction and Moab work too, but are more expensive and have less options.

workshop cost & payment terms

The tuition for this workshop is $4,200 total, with a non-refundable deposit of $750 to reserve a spot. The remaining total balance of the workshop is due 2 months before the workshop starts. Alumni discounted cost is $3,500 total, same deposit to reserve a spot, but with the discount applied when the remaining workshop balance is collected!

ITINERARY

Serious inquiries can email us for the detailed itinerary- derek@blazingheavens.com.

October 15-20

The workshop starts on Wednesday October 15th in Hanksville, Utah at 4pm and ends in Hanksville on the morning of Monday October 20th at 9am in Hanksville. We do a mix of backcountry camping (everything provided for you!) and single occupancy cabins. (2 nights camping, 3 nights in cabins).

The best airport to fly in and out of is Salt Lake City! Salt Lake City will have more options on flights and prices but with a longer (very scenic drive) of 3.5 hours to Hanksville, and we can typically help arrange carpools out of SLC. Grand Junction and Moab are closer only 2.5 and 1.5 hours away respectively, but are more expensive and have less options of flights and rentals.