Grand Teton National ParK
Most mountain chains rise gently, developing first as foothills that lead to more rugged terrain, slowly and eventually gaining elevation until you can see the distant peaks. The Teton Range, however, is more dramatic—it has more flair, certainly more presence. It starts right at the edge of the valley, and shoots up skyward with verve and abandon, creating a stark and beautiful contrast to the surrounding scene. It's among this setting that we'll venture into one of the most stunning landscapes of the West, photographing the mountains and meadows and rivers of Grand Teton National Park.
Workshop Details
Main Workshop
September 12-16, 2025 — Sold Out, Join Waitlist Below
This is a 5-night, 5-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of September 12, and ends after a night shoot on September 16.
$3,195. 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
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
NPS website
add-on: Yellowstone Geysers
September 17-18, 2025
This is a 2-night optional add-on available only to attendees of the main workshop. Your adventure begins on the afternoon of September 17 and ends after a night shoot on September 18.
More information below.
$1,095. Registration information will be sent to attendees of the main workshop.
Group size
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
NPS website
Our workshop mission is to explore every U.S. national park. As with all our Passport Series locations, it may be years (if ever) before we return to any specific park. If you have a dream of making epic long exposures at night at Grand Teton, we hope you join us.
Workshop Leaders
Registration
Hoping to get a spot? Sign up below for our no-fee waitlist.
| • Deposit of $900 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $2,495 is due on June 14, 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 June 13, 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 Grand Teton Experience
You know how sometimes when you’re walking with your camera hanging from your shoulder, and the camera bounces against your hip in just the right way to push the shutter release and make some random picture? In Grand Teton, that’s still a good picture.
The Teton Range dominates this landscape. You see it from everywhere. When photographing, the mountains are almost always either the primary subject or the dominant background. Sure, you can find good compositions that don’t include those beautiful peaks, but once you’re in front of them, you might kind of wonder why you’d want to leave them out. They’re that beautiful. They’re that striking.
In front of and around the mountains, there’s plenty of material to fill a foreground. Wildlife, such as bears, moose, elk. Water, such as wide, meandering rivers and vast reflective lakes. Sprawling meadows, rustic historic structures and (you guessed it) magnificent night skies.
We’ll spend 5 days and nights exploring this gem of Wyoming, photographing the landscapes as the sun descends, as the moon rises and as the stars sparkle up above.
Just for some extra fun, we’re basing the workshop at a ranch right at the edge of the park! You’ll stay in a one- or two-bedroom cabin in the heart of Jackson Hole, minutes away from some of our best night-shoot locations, sleeping in a spot remote enough to leave your camera out overnight. Plus, this bonus: The evening before the workshop begins we’ll host a cookout in the shadow of some of the most beautiful mountain scenery you’ll ever see. You won’t forget this experience.
The Yellowstone Geysers Add-On Experience
When we’ve finished 5 nights of photographing in Jackson Hole, we’ll head north to the next national park on the map: Yellowstone. Our target? Geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and the other geothermics of the park’s Upper, Midway and Lower basins, all under dark Wyoming skies.
We’ll lodge at Old Faithful for 2 nights, giving us easy access to the world’s most famous geyser, as well as the other five nearby geysers that erupt in less than 2-hour intervals. We’ll have lots of opportunities to create night photos of nature’s water fountains.
On the second night we’ll head to Firehole Lake Drive, where we’ll photograph a pair of geysers that are right next to each other, yet have entirely different aesthetics. Then we’ll have a nightcap at the third-largest hot spring in the world, the ultra-colorful Grand Prismatic Spring.
Further information will be sent after you register for the main workshop.
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 to answer questions about both day and night photography, but the focus of the formal education will be on specific techniques for shooting in this unique environment.
What You Will Learn
Grand Teton is one of the very few national parks that does not permit light painting, so we won’t be doing any. (Not in the national park, anyway. Maybe at the ranch.) That’s just as well, because the vast landscapes of the park are better suited to blending exposures to achieve foreground detail in night photographs.
Therefore, that’s the technique that we’ll be highlighting during the week. We have carefully timed the workshop in the lunar cycle so that the moon will be rising shortly after dark. This will enable us to photograph twilight blends (shooting the foreground before dark), starlight blends (shooting long exposures under dark skies) and moonlight blends (shooting the foreground once the moon rises).
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
twilight, moonlight and starlight blends—how to photograph and how to process
using PhotoPills to scout Milky Way and moon photos
shooting sharp stars using the NPF Rule
shooting star trails with long exposure
exposing moonrise images
night panoramas
and more …
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
Grand Teton is the only national park with a commercial airport entirely within its boundaries. It’s not a large airport, but American, Delta and United Airlines all have daily flights into JAC, and it’s one of the prettiest landings you’ll ever see (if you’re on the right side of the plane). So this is an easy park to get to.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation.
Nearby Airports:
Jackson Hole (JAC) — 30 minutes from the ranch
Idaho Falls Airport (IDA) — 2 hours, 30 minutes
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’re basing the workshop at a family-owned and operated ranch at the edge of the park, right in the heart of Jackson Hole. You’ll stay in your choice of a one- or two-bedroom log cabin that gives us crazy-easy access to quiet and wonderful scenery. Each cabin has a built-in kitchen, outdoor grill, Wi-Fi and a porch for enjoying stunning Wyoming views.
The night before the workshop begins we will host an informal welcome cookout dinner at the ranch! So bring your appetite.
Lodging
You are not required to stay at the official workshop lodging, though you’re not likely to find a better option.
The lodging will be invoiced separately after registering for the workshop, once you choose which cabin type you’d like to stay in.
If you are interested in sharing a cabin, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone like-minded in the group.
Food
The town of Jackson has plenty of good food and grocery options. You just have to drive 45 minutes to get there. (It’s a beautiful 45 minutes though.)
We’ll also be just 15 minutes from Jackson Lake Lodge, which has a restaurant with an amazing plate-glass window view of the Teton Range—perhaps the best restaurant view in all the national parks.
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
Expect daytime highs in the 60s F, and nighttime lows in the 30s.
Recommended Attire
Pants and long-sleeve shirts for daytime, cold-weather clothing for night.
A sweatshirt and good jacket will likely be useful, and a base layer is prudent.
Comfortable and protective shoes are recommended for getting around. There won’t be long hikes, but we might meander on some short trails, so quality trail shoes or hiking boots would be optimal.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy. (See more about our classifications.)
No vigorous activity will be required during the workshop, but please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. At minimum you should be comfortable carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark.
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.
Grand Memories …
“One summer afternoon we drove through the neighboring national forest, looking for vistas over the valley, finding beautiful places that most people don’t see.”
All of my Grand Teton memories are connected to my brother. I’ve been to the park three times, each with Colin.
He worked in Yellowstone for a summer. I visited for a couple of weeks, and we made an overnight drive to Teton to see the alpenglow light the peaks before sunrise. Another summer he worked on a ranch just outside Teton. Again I visited for a while, and we spent time driving and hiking. Another year Colin lived in Jackson, working in property management. I visited in winter, and we explored the park in cold, continual snowfalls.
One summer night we camped, just for one night, in a tent, surrounded by a ranch and nothing else. The air was frigid—so crisp that we barely slept, despite being under about half a dozen heavy blankets. But that was good, because if we’d been asleep, we might have missed the thrill of hearing the pack of coyotes scouting nearby in the dark.
One summer afternoon we drove through the neighboring national forest, looking for vistas over the valley, finding beautiful places that most people don’t see, appreciating wonders of the world together. We drove down into Jackson Hole, racing the sunset, maneuvering our way into the shadow of the triplet peaks to photograph their silhouette. Then we ambled along the edge of a vast pasture, enjoying the quiet breezes and blues of the Wyoming dusk, leaning on a hewn-log fence discussing the view of the mountains and what might come next in our lives.
One winter morning we donned snowshoes, and we made first tracks atop a dozen feet of snow, plodding our way 2 miles to Taggart Lake in the most serene snowscape I’ve seen, through a wonderland forest of treetops, our faces numb and lightly tinged by gently falling flakes. We sat at the edge of the frozen, white-covered lake, in a flurry so dense we could barely see the other shore, and we listened to the wind and to the whisper of snow and then to the thunder of a distant avalanche.
Yeah, I made some pictures too. But mostly I just enjoyed being alive alongside my brother.
