Eastern Sierra & Bristlecone Forest
Buckle up for the ultimate nocturnal road trip: a drive down 395 through the Eastern Sierras of California. This area has long been a haunt for night photographers, and when you see the otherworldly landscapes matched with pristine dark skies, you’ll want to jump in your car right away!
Workshop Details
Main Workshop
August 14-18, 2025 — Sold Out, Join Waitlist Below
This is a 5-night, 5-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of August 14 and ends after a night shoot on August 18.
$2,195. Register below.
Skill level
Participants should have a firm grasp of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras, and have a comfortable understanding of night photography fundamentals.
Group size
14, with 2 instructors — 7:1 ratio
Park websites
Alabama Hills National Scenic Area
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
Add-On: Bodie Ghost Town
August 19-20, 2025
This is a 2-night optional add-on available only to attendees of the main workshop. More information below.
$995. Registration information will be sent to attendees of the main workshop.
Group size
14, with 2 instructors — 7:1 ratio
Park Website
Workshop Leaders
Registration
Hoping to get a spot? Sign up below for our no-fee waitlist.
| • Deposit of $600 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $1,595 is due on May 16, 2025. → Pay balance here. |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is May 15, 2025. (see cancellation and refund policy) |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, entrance fees, or transportation to or during the workshop. |
The Eastern Sierra Experience
Our road trip adventure starts at Alabama Hills, which comprises a range of hills and rock formations in Owens Valley, near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, west of Lone Pine, California. Television and movie productions—especially Westerns—have been filmed here since the 1920s. Dozens of natural arches are among the main attractions at the Alabama Hills, and these will be the focus of our workshop. The best known is Mobius Arch, and others include Lathe Arch, Lady Boot Arch and Cyclops Arch.
Also on the itinerary is the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, home to the oldest living things on earth. The most ancient of these noble trees are over 5,000 years old. The great basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) grows between 9,800 and 11,000 feet above sea level, and is protected within the Inyo National Forest in the sparse environment of the White Mountains, east of the Owens Valley.
Want to reach out to the stars? There is no better way than a radio observatory. We have special access to an observatory to capture the movements of these searching towers backdropped by sparkling stars shining back at us.
From there we will move on to one of the oldest lakes in the world, Mono Lake, where the salty shores mingle with the finest display of tufa rocks on this planet.
This workshop will coincide with a waning gibbous moon that will be rising later and later each night. This will allow us to photograph the Milky Way before the moon rises, after which we can incorporate moonlight to add further drama to the varied landscapes we will be shooting.
The Bodie Add-On Experience
After the workshop you’ll have an opportunity to spend 2 nights photographing at Bodie, the country’s largest, most famous and best-preserved ghost town.
There are 110 buildings still standing in this former gold rush town, along with various pieces of mining equipment and several old vehicles. It’s a light painting paradise, and notoriously difficult to access at night. We’ll have the town to ourselves from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The nights we spend at Bodie will be illuminated by the stars and our light painting equipment. We’ll be able to photograph Milky Way panoramas over the structures, star trails aligned with wagon wheels and more, plus we’ll have a nearly infinite selection of subjects and scenes for light painting. It’s more than enough to create a portfolio of images from a place out of time.
Note: This optional add-on is available only to workshop attendees. You will receive a link to purchase a ticket (if desired) after registering for the main workshop.
What You Should Know
This workshop caters to knowledgeable photographers with an intermediate or higher skill set. Participants should have a firm grasp of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras, and have a comfortable understanding of night photography fundamentals.
We will be happy to offer advice and answer questions about both day and night photography, but the focus of the formal education will be on beyond-basics techniques.
What You Will Learn
There will be plenty of opportunities to experiment and level up your light painting. Low-Level Lighting (LLL) and flashlight techniques will both be needed to carve your impression on these spectacular landscapes.
You’ll go home after the workshop with a solid grasp of night photography in dark sky and minimally moonlit environments, plus a good foundation in light painting techniques.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
astro-landscape photography for star points and the Milky Way
scouting and planning your shots
composing and focusing in low light
determining the best exposure for night scenes
twilight and starlight blends
light painting
and more …
This workshop will have limited classroom instruction. This is primarily a road trip adventure workshop, so instruction will be mostly in the field. Each participant will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Gabe and Tim while on the night shoots.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
We’ll be covering over 150 miles on Route 395, going south to north, starting in Lone Pine and ending in Lee Vining. We recommend flying into Los Angeles and flying home from Reno. This will save you an additional 3 hours of driving back south on 395 at the end of the trip—Lee Vining to Reno takes less than 3 hours to drive, whereas Lee Vining to LAX takes 6 hours.
This would mean a one-way rental car drop off in a different state, so please look into any additional fees you might incur.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation.
Nearby Airports:
Los Angeles, (LAX) — 3 hours, 30 minutes from Lone Pine
Reno-Tahoe (RNO) — 2 hours, 45 minutes from Lee Vining
Rental Car
You will need a rental car to get to the workshop and to the shoot locations.
There is no need for four-wheel-drive.
If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car, let us know and we will try to connect you with another attendee looking for the same.
Lodging & Food
We will be staying in two hotels over the course of this 5-night workshop. You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Lodging
You are not required to stay at the official workshop lodging, though doing so does make it easier to meet with the group each day.
Info and group code will be sent once our lodging partners are ready to begin taking reservations.
If you are interested in sharing a room, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone like-minded in the group.
Food
There are plenty of options for fast or slow food along Route 395.
We encourage eating two meals per day—a good breakfast and a great late lunch.
When on the night shoots, you may wish to bring snack food or a sandwich and plenty of water.
Weather
At the lower altitudes in Lone Pine expect daytime highs in the 90s F, lows in the 60s. When we get up to the higher elevations in Bristlecone and Lee Vining, these temperatures will drop by 10 degrees.
Recommended Attire
Shorts or pants and short-sleeve shirts for daytime, pants and long-sleeve shirts for night.
A sweatshirt and medium-weight jacket will likely be useful, and a base layer might not be a waste of packing space. Layers are good.
Comfortable and protective shoes are recommended for getting around. There won’t be long hikes, but we will be on trails, so quality trail shoes or hiking boots would be optimal.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Moderate. (See more about our classifications.)
No vigorous activity will be required during the workshop, but please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. There won’t be any long hikes, but there will be trails involved, and you should be comfortable carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark.
The Eastern Sierra mountains range between 4,200 and 6,700 feet in elevation, and Bristlecone Forest is as high as 11,000 feet. If you are considering Bodie Ghost Town, that goes up to 8,379 feet. Altitude sickness can become a concern at over 8,000 feet, and some people can experience it at elevations as low as 6,000. If you are generally sensitive to high elevations, or if you are coming from a sea-level region, we advise arriving in the area a day or two early to acclimate by going on some short hikes at altitude. We also advise staying well hydrated.
Note: To ensure the safety of individuals and the group, the workshop leaders may use their discretion to limit an attendee from engaging in a vigorous activity on-site should that person’s physical health or ability be in question. If you are unsure about your ability to meet the physical demands of this workshop, we will be happy to discuss your concerns one-on-one before you register. You are also, of course, welcome to attend a workshop and sit out any physical activity that makes you uncomfortable. In such cases, we can provide you with ideas for alternative shoot locations for that time.
Considerations
IMPORTANT: We encourage reading our FAQs page for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
A Night Photographer’s Dream …
“Reflections of both the tufa islands and stars made it seem like we were stepping back to a Jurassic landscape without light pollution.”
I first visited the Eastern Sierra in 2008 when I was on a road trip with Troy Paiva and Joe Reifer and we were going to speak at the Nocturnes Conference in Mono Lake. This was also the first time I met Lance, who was heading up this small conference of night photographers in Lee Vining, California.
Mono Lake is a night photographer’s dream location. The surreal tufas stretched and intersected with the stars in curious ways. Reflections of both the tufa islands and stars made it seem like we were stepping back to a Jurassic landscape without light pollution.
At the conference we also had night access to the best ghost town in America, Bodie. We shot under a full moon, and with film and digital it was amazing. You see, at the time I was a mostly solo night photographer. I had a few friends with whom I would go off on nocturnal adventures, but now to share these locations with like-minded people … I felt I was on a planet of the friendliest night explorers in the universe!
It solidified my desire to keep learning, to keep sharing and to have more adventures with like-minded souls.
I visited Mono Lake again with my dad a few years later on our epic “7 days of night” road trip, when we explored how the night light changes over a week in junkyards, pinnacles and lakes.
It came full circle when I joined Lance on our Eastern Sierra workshop with Rocky Mountain School of Photography in 2019. It was a decade after Lance and I met that first time, and we were back exploring new locations such as the Alabama Hills and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory telescope array. We had a mixture of moonlight and dark skies and better tech to capture it all. And 10 more years of friendship to enjoy it all together again.
