When and where?

March 22-27th, 2025 in Death Valley National Park, California.

overview

Spend 5 nights with Derek Culver, Andrew Imhoff, and Bray Falls exploring and capturing the amazing geologic wonders and dark skies of Death Valley National Park! We will be touring you around to the best parts of the park, at the best times, teaching you the photography techniques and philosophies we use to capture it’s beauty, and creating amazing memories with a group of like-minded photographers! Towering sand dunes, vibrant rocks, expansive desert, and warm desert nights under the cosmos. We’ll be both in hotels and camping out under the stars (everything provided for you) for a comfortable but immersive photography experience. This workshop includes all camping and some hotel accommodations (with hotel alternatives for the camping nights for those who prefer more comfort) as well as meals in the backcountry camping spots, editing sessions with follow up video tutorials, and tons of fun photography adventures and lessons! We will be teaching both landscape astrophotography and deep space (widefield, with trackers!) techniques with hands on instruction under the stars and classroom style editing sessions, with custom tutorial videos after the workshop.

Shooting Locations:

Zabrinske Point, Badwater Basin, Eureka Mine, Mesquite Sand Dunes, Natural Bridge, Mosaic Canyon, Ubehebe Crater, and the Racetrack Playa.

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 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!

Itinerary

Meet at Furnace Creek between 3-5pm on Saturday March 22nd to begin our adventures and lessons and we end on the morning of Thursday March 27th! If you would like the full itinerary please fill out the question form. We are camping for 3 nights in the backcountry and in hotels for 2.

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 at night for about 1-2 miles max, but we take things slow and go as a group. We will be teaching fundamentals to night photography from planning your shot, focusing, your camera 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 all sleeping gear, starlink, charging, water, and meals while out in remote areas. Hotel alternatives included in itinerary for those who prefer more comfort on our camping nights. Please email us if you would like to see the full itinerary.

Logistics

Everyone is responsible for their own transportation to the workshop and 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! We offer transportation for a fee that includes airport pick up as well as transportation during the workshop. The closest and most convenient airport Las Vegas international, about 1.5 hours from our meeting point in Furnace Creek.

workshop cost & payment terms

The tuition for this workshop is $3,500 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 $2,300 total, $500 deposit to reserve a spot, but with the discount applied when the remaining workshop balance is collected!

ITINERARY

Please email us for the full detailed itinerary- derek@blazingheavens.com

The workshop officially starts at 5pm on Saturday March 22nd and ends at 8:30 am on the morning of Thursday March 27th after shooting the Milky Way! We will meet at Furnace Creek inside Death Valley and be finishing there as well, about a 2.5 hour drive to closest airport; Las Vegas International.

Saturday March 22nd

We’ll be camping at Furnace Creek with humble food, grocery, and shower amenities (hotel alternative is at the Oasis across the street) and do an easy sunset and astro shoot nearby at Zabinskie Point, as well as another viewpoint overlooking the expanses of the valley. Tonight we will work out the rust, troubleshoot our camera setups, and dial in on settings and compositions incorporating the last parts of the Milky Way core of November before transitioning into the H-Alpha (red nebulae) rich area of Cygnus.

sunday march 23rd

We will sleep in (sunrise is optional for those with energy) then head to the Oasis for breakfast and our first editing session! You will have most of the day to explore the park until we reconvene for an evening exploration and shoot of Badwater Basin. Tonight we will focus on getting shots of the expansive salt flats and incorporating a human element for scale, along with capture the rotating Fall skies which are full amazing objects like the final Milky Way core setting, nebulae rich cygnus, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the famous Orion constellation and nebula.

monday march 24th

After sleeping in we’ll pack up and head about 45 minutes to our hotel in Stovepipe wells- we’ll grab breakfast and edit photos while we wait for our rooms to be ready! We’ll be here the next two nights, we will do some optional impromptu group hikes (depending on energy levels) to some epic nearby canyons like Mosaic. We’ll reconvene in the evening for shooting artist’s palette with the opportunity to shoot either Natural Bridge or return to Badwater Basin.

tuesday march 25th

We’ll get some editing in and shoot the Mesquite Sand Dunes! This spot is quite the adventure and one of my favorite places. We’ll catch a sunset here, sleep a bit, then come back when the Milky Way is up and shoot some dunes we scouted during daylight.

wednesday march 26th

After sleeping in at our hotel we will grab a late breakfast, possibly an editing session if we have the energy, then head out to our last and BEST location: the Racetrack Playa. We’ll be camping up near the playa and have easy access (we provide 4x4 if the road is bad) for Milky Way shoots. We’ll scope it out during the day, hit sunset there, then come back for the Milky Way rising over the playa at our pre-scouted compositions.

Thursday march 27th

Our workshop officially ends at 5:30am after shooting the Milky Way but we will head back to our campsite to sleep a bit and probably grab breakfast together on the way out of Death Valley. Some folks will have to leave a bit early as it’s a 3.5 hour drive back to Las Vegas International Airport. We’ll say our goodbyes and follow up with editing video tutorials!