Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
December 1-7, 2024
Join Stan and Chirag in southwest Arizona, where we will explore the really dark skies of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Early in the tour a crescent moon will grace the western horizon after sunset while early in the evening some of the brightest stars in the sky and two planets will rise in the east [or …early in the evening the grouping of Orion, the Pleiades, Sirius, Capella, plus the planets Jupiter and Mars rise in the east.] Surrounding us will be 31 species of cacti in the Sonoran Desert and the Ajo Mountain Range as foreground elements.
Attendance is limited to 10 participants with two instructors. We will be based at the Sonoran Desert Inn in Ajo and carpool to shooting locations from there. Daytime indoor classes will be held at the Inn. During the evening we will drive to selected scenic locations in the parks. We may stay in the field until the early morning hours if participants desire.
We’ll gather the evening of Dec. 1 for a meet and greet dinner. The next morning, daytime classroom session will start with photo sessions starting at sunset. The final workshop day we will have a group lunch.
What is included: Tuition is for the workshop sessions night and day from Dec. 1-7, 2024. Participants pay for their own airfare, lodging, car rental and food (except for the Dec. 1 and 7 group meals). Participants can arrange to carpool from arrival airports (recommended airport – Phoenix). We will carpool to the shooting locations with 2-3 people in each vehicle. Travel insurance is the responsibility of each participant.
The workshops are for those interested in using DSLR or mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses, mostly wide-angle focal lengths. Smaller fixed lens or point-and-shoot cameras won’t work for these tours. We will also cover using telephoto lenses and tracking mounts but not deep sky imaging.
To get the most out of the workshop, it would be good if you know how to work your camera in the Manual exposure mode, be able to manually change shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Manual focusing skill is a must for night photography. You should be able to do basic editing (selecting images) and processing in the program of your choice.
Your Adventure Schedule
Plan to arrive at the hotel in the afternoon on Day 1. Departure can be as early as the afternoon of Day 7. Or departure can be after Day 7.
- Day 1 – Arrival in Ajo and check-in at the Sonoran Desert Inn.
In the evening we will gather for a meet and greet dinner (included) and discuss topics for the week.
Optional night photography session in the park. - Day 2 – Morning – classroom session.
Introduction to the workshop.
Discuss participant’s goals.
Topics: why photograph the night sky? Composition, visualizing the image, exposure.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – exposure/the histogram, focus.
Planning the shot.
Every late afternoon (Days 2-6) we will purchase dinner to go at a nearby restaurant to eat in the park. Then we’ll carpool to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to a location for an evening/night photography session inside the park. The instructors will have ice chests.
Topics for night session: composition, focusing, tripod use. - Day 3 – Morning – classroom session.
In-class critique of participant photos.
Topics: review of composition, exposure, focus, steady platform.
Intro to Image Processing.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Image Processing. Editing (selecting) images, workflow for image processing.
Discuss browsing and image processing programs. Will work in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. How to improve the image file. How exposure in the field affects processing.
Topics for night session: review and continuation of previous night. - Day 4 – Morning – Classroom session.
In-class critique of participant photos.
Continue Image Processing.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Planning the shot – using programs, apps, analogue charts to determine what’s up in the sky and how to plan a composition.
Topics for night session: using charts at night. - Day 5 – Morning – Classroom session.
In-class critique of participant photos.
Topics: star trails, panoramas, tracking mounts. Planning these shots and how to create them in image processing.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Image processing review of single frames and composites.
Topics for night session: night sky. - Day 6 – Morning – Classroom session
More planning the shot – using programs, apps, charts
How to plan moonrises, Milky Way, eclipses.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Image processing of moon shots, eclipses.
Topics for night session: night sky. - Day 7 – Morning – Classroom session
Final in-class critique of participant photos.
Review of topics.
Review participant’s goals.
Group lunch (included).
Optional night session in the park.
Pricing Details:
Tour price: $1,400
Cancellation Policy: Free cancellation with full refund or credit towards another available program until 90 days before the workshop begins.
Suggested airports: Phoenix (PHX).
Driving time from PHX rental car center to Sonoran Desert Inn: 2 hours.
We will drive on paved or graded roads so renting a sedan is fine.
(Detailed equipment list and day-to-day schedule will be sent upon registration).
Plan to arrive at the hotel in the afternoon on Day 1. Departure can be as early as the afternoon of Day 7. Or departure can be after Day 7.
- Day 1 – Arrival in Ajo and check-in at the Sonoran Desert Inn.
In the evening we will gather for a meet and greet dinner (included) and discuss topics for the week.
Optional night photography session in the park. - Day 2 – Morning – classroom session.
Introduction to the workshop.
Discuss participant’s goals.
Topics: why photograph the night sky? Composition, visualizing the image, exposure.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – exposure/the histogram, focus.
Planning the shot.
Every late afternoon (Days 2-6) we will purchase dinner to go at a nearby restaurant to eat in the park. Then we’ll carpool to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to a location for an evening/night photography session inside the park. The instructors will have ice chests.
Topics for night session: composition, focusing, tripod use. - Day 3 – Morning – classroom session.
In-class critique of participant photos.
Topics: review of composition, exposure, focus, steady platform.
Intro to Image Processing.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Image Processing. Editing (selecting) images, workflow for image processing.
Discuss browsing and image processing programs. Will work in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. How to improve the image file. How exposure in the field affects processing.
Topics for night session: review and continuation of previous night. - Day 4 – Morning – Classroom session.
In-class critique of participant photos.
Continue Image Processing.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Planning the shot – using programs, apps, analogue charts to determine what’s up in the sky and how to plan a composition.
Topics for night session: using charts at night. - Day 5 – Morning – Classroom session.
In-class critique of participant photos.
Topics: star trails, panoramas, tracking mounts. Planning these shots and how to create them in image processing.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Image processing review of single frames and composites.
Topics for night session: night sky. - Day 6 – Morning – Classroom session
More planning the shot – using programs, apps, charts
How to plan moonrises, Milky Way, eclipses.
Lunch break.
Afternoon – Image processing of moon shots, eclipses.
Topics for night session: night sky. - Day 7 – Morning – Classroom session
Final in-class critique of participant photos.
Review of topics.
Review participant’s goals.
Group lunch (included).
Optional night session in the park.
Tour price: $1,400
Cancellation Policy: Free cancellation with full refund or credit towards another available program until 90 days before the workshop begins.
Suggested airports: Phoenix (PHX).
Driving time from PHX rental car center to Sonoran Desert Inn: 2 hours.
We will drive on paved or graded roads so renting a sedan is fine.
(Detailed equipment list and day-to-day schedule will be sent upon registration).
Highlights:
- 5 nights of photo sessions in the park, 6 daytime classroom sessions
- Naturalistic approach to images
- In-class critique of previous night’s work
- In-field instruction of composition, equipment settings, what’s up in the sky
- Detailed image processing
- Locations easily accessed via car, mostly easy trails
- Preservation of night sky discussion
- Leave no trace aesthetics
- Instructors are Red Cross certified in First Aid/CPR
