Steve Porter’s – Horseshoe Bend Astrophotography Workshop
Thank you for registering for Steve Porter's three-day Horseshoe Bend Astrophotography Workshop to be held Thursday Sept 6th – Sunday, Sept 9th 2018.
Workshop Location: Page, Arizona. You will be notified of the specific address prior to our Sept 6 start date.
Workshop begins: Thursday Sept 6th 2018 - 3:00 PM
Workshop ends: Sunday Sept 9th 2018 –11:00 AM
Workshop fee: $1,100 US
The workshop fee includes double (or multiple) occupancy accommodations with one meal on Thursday, two meals on Friday & Saturday, and a light breakfast on Sunday. We will be staying together in a rental home in Page which is large enough to sleep/accommodate the size of our group. Because many of the rental homes in this area include one or more larger bedrooms with more than two beds, some may be asked to share a room like this. If more private accommodations are necessary or preferred, you can give me a call and we will try to work something out. Having our group all together in the same home adds to the learning experience for everyone as photography related conversation and discussions will be nearly constant. So we are hoping to keep everyone together as much as possible in order to maximize your opportunity to benefit from the workshop and go home with lots and lots of great new information and awesome photos.
You will be working directly with Steve Porter as you learn to photograph the stars and night skies over three amazing locations near Page, Arizona - Paria Rimrocks Toadstool Hoodoos, Horseshoe Bend and The New Wave. Prior to beginning our shoot at the first location we will be covering many of the various technical aspects of shooting the stars to ensure you are able to get that awesome Milky Way shot you are hoping for.
After introductions and training on Thursday, we will break for dinner and then head for our first shoot location at Paria Rimrocks Toadstool Hoodoos, about a 30 minute drive and an easy 20 minute mostly flat hike up and along a little sandy wash on a pretty good trail.
Sunset on Thursday, Sept 6th is at 7:48 PM so we will plan our drive and hike to arrive at the hoodoos a little after 9:00 PM, shooting to begin shortly thereafter and continue to 1:00 or 2:00 AM depending on how things go.
All three of our locations are 4500 ft in elevation or slightly lower – temperatures could drop into the high 50s so a light jacket may be a good idea – especially at horseshoe bend where it can be breezy.
Friday and Saturday instruction will include time to work on your own images with specific one-on-one guidance from Steve using Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC - so for best results, bring a laptop loaded with current software versions.
The workshop will continue on Friday and Saturday with in-class image processing and editing instruction with two meals provided each day. We will have a light breakfast on Sunday morning and a short time to discuss the Saturday night shoot before the workshop ends and we all check out around 11:00 AM.
Astrophotography Considerations
As with any genre of outdoor photography, weather plays a role. With astrophotography, clouds are not a show-stopper. Some of my most favorite astro photos include some clouds in the shot – sometimes lots of clouds. That being said, even if we have clouds at a particular workshop shoot, we will likely just work with them. However, if a weather system comes through that kills a location, there are many many places throughout northern Arizona and Southern Utah, convenient to Page that we can consider as alternatives - just have to drive a little further maybe. It is common with astrophotography to drive for hours to get that awesome shot under the stars.
Our workshop date is relatively late in the astrophotography season for a reason. The Milky Way is not visible at night (or day J) except between April and early October each year. It is visible to the southeast in the early season and to the south and southwest late in the season. In order to shoot the Milky Way within a decent frame of Horseshoe Bend, you have to wait until late in the astrophotography season because the best Horseshoe Bend frames are looking west. This is why this workshop was scheduled for September – it’s the best time for Horseshoe Bend shots with the Milky Way in the frame.
Workshop Itinerary
Thursday, Sept 6 - 2018
03:00 PM - Meet in Page for introductions.
Training on night photography and planning for the first night shoot.
06:00 PM - Break for dinner.
08:00 PM Travel to Toadstool Hoodoos night shoot location.
09:30 PM - Begin night photography shooting on location.
02:00 AM - End of on-location night shooting. (time may vary)
Friday, Sept 7 - 2018
10:00 AM - Meet at Page location for training, discussions and processing of images shot the night before.
12:00 PM - Lunch as photography discussions and training continues.
05:00 PM - Break for dinner.
08:00 PM Travel to Horseshoe Bend for night shoot.
09:30 PM - Begin night photography shooting on location.
02:00 AM - End of on-location night shooting. (time may vary)
Saturday, Sept 8 - 2018
10:00 AM - Meet at Page location for training, discussions and processing of images shot the night before.
12:00 PM - Lunch as photography discussions and training continues.
05:00 PM - Break for dinner.
08:00 PM Travel to The New Wave night shoot location.
09:30 PM - Begin night photography shooting on location.
02:00 AM - End of on-location night shooting. (time may vary)
Sunday, Sept 9 - 2018
09:00 AM - Meet at Page location for discussions and training.
11:00 PM - Finish up and check out.
