Monument Valley & the Geminids
Join us for special access to amazing locations within Monument Valley, led by Navajo guides during a very special year for the Geminid Meteor Shower. We will plan, shoot and edit a meteor shower radiant, as well as stunning sunsets and evenings in the valley. We will also make amazing astro-landscape photographs nearby at other notable locations.
Workshop Details
December 11-16, 2025 — Sold Out, Join Waitlist Below
This is a 5-night, 6-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of December 11 and ends after a final slideshow on the afternoon of December 16.
$3,099. 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 website
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
Workshop Leaders
Registration
Hoping to get a spot? Sign up below for our no-fee waitlist.
| • Deposit of $800 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $2,299 is due on September 12, 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 September 11, 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 Monument Valley Experience
Successfully photographing a meteor shower is a bucket-list goal for many night photographers. So is getting permission to photograph Monument Valley at night. We’re going to do both.
This workshop will take you on a complete journey that includes planning, photographing and processing your image set with the express intent of creating the elusive radiant composite.
We’ll be doing it in an extraordinary place at an extraordinary time.
The location: Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is an ideal location to photograph the Geminid Meteor Shower, as the park has many major land features to the north (the shower radiant rises and rotates around the north): the iconic 400- to 1,000-foot sandstone rock formations and the stunning surrounding landscapes are perfect complements to a very strong year for this meteor shower.
Being in the desert also has weather benefits. The temperature in the middle of December can be brutal elsewhere, but with an average of 46 F in the daytime and 28 at night, you’ll be comfortable (provided you bring proper winter weather gear).
The 2025 Geminids will occur during about 7 hours of darkness, with only a 26.5 percent waning crescent moon to gently kiss the landscape when above the horizon (if you can stay up that long). The meteors will peak in the early morning with an expected yield of nearly 147 per hour. What’s all this mean? It’s the best predicted opportunity to photograph a meteor shower in 2025.
If mastering meteor showers is on your must-do list, then this is the workshop for you. If you are also thrilled by the idea of photographing Monument Valley in the winter, then join us for four Navajo-guided outings that include being driven to the locations, as well as expert knowledge of the locations, many of which are private.
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 capturing the meteor shower.
If you would like to join us on this trip but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-event tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-trip reads.
What You Will Learn
Our program will teach you how to plan for a meteor shower, as well as how to capture it in all its glory. We’ll cover composing and choosing a twilight landscape to blend or to gently light paint. You’ll also get detailed demonstrations and feedback on processing masterpiece composites.
You will grow on this workshop. It will combine all the things you know about night photography and synthesize them into approaching a scene with a clear and specific goal in mind. If you need to learn some things, no worries, you have two instructors on hand who will guide you to success.
This is definitely a workshop for which you want to bring two or more camera kits. Your main camera will spend a lot of time facing one direction, busy most of the night. So your second camera can be used to make other images of this awe-inspiring location.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
planning with PhotoPills, off-site and on location
how to compose and capture a meteor shower radiant, or meteors in general
how to capture and process a twilight blend
post-processing composites in Photoshop, including meteor detections, masking and alignment
on-location help with capturing panoramas
and more …
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
Monument Valley is not close to any metropolitan area.
Nearby Airports:
Flagstaff Pulliam (FLG) — 3 hours from Monument Valley
Durango-La Plata (DRO) — 3 hours, 30 minutes
Grand Junction (GJT) — 4 hours, 15 minutes
Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) — 5 hours
Albuquerque Sunport (ABQ) — 5 hours
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.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation.
Lodging & Food
Lodging is scarce in Monument Valley and often reserved very long in advance. We will reserve a room block ahead of time, which you may use if you desire—just know that not many alternatives are available.
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 partner is 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
Monument Valley has a handful of food options.
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 mid-40s F, lows in the high 20s.
Recommended Attire
Winter gear: base layer, fleece, shell and puffy jacket. Layers are good. Also a good hat with ear protection, and comfortable gloves or mittens.
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 that are rated for down to 20 F 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. There won’t be any long hikes, but we will be doing short hikes on unmaintained trails, and you should be comfortable carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark.
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 Sacred Landscape and Skies …
“I spent a lot of time listening, and a lot of time imagining what it would be like to live so close to the land.”
I am a meteor shower devotee. OK, perhaps I am a bit of a freak when it comes to capturing and processing meteor shower radiants. Moreover, I truly enjoy spending time in the desert, especially among the world-famous sandstone monoliths within Monument Valley. So putting together these two opportunities is a thrill for me. I can’t wait for us all to see the glory of a massive predicted meteor shower among the sleeping sandstone giants in Utah and Arizona.
A historical aurora event happened in May 2024 when I first visited Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. What a wild introduction to the landscape and the people. With a local guide I found some exciting locations and honestly spent a lot of time saying, “Oh my gosh!” and “Wow” and “I can’t believe this is happening to me, here and now.”
I expect the Geminid Meteor Shower of 2025 to elicit the same awe and wonder. We have a peak night with an expected yield of almost 150 meteors per hour, over 7 hours of darkness and only a 25 percent crescent moon coming up to perfectly illuminate the foreground. I cannot imagine better conditions. Well, maybe it could be warmer, but the Perseids in 2025 will be a bust, so this is the one for all you meteor hounds.
Spending time with the Navajo guides is always enriching. Their closeness to the tribal valley, the stories about the landmarks, anecdotes about how western culture has affected and included the landscape in our zeitgeist—it will help you weave a larger personal tapestry of knowledge. I found their general cheerfulness and respect for the Navajo culture to be of great interest, and I spent a lot of time listening, and a lot of time imagining what it would be like to live so close to the land.
And the landscape. I really do not need to describe what is so beautiful about Monument Valley—you must have seen many photos and clips in movies—but it’s truly something special to witness it with your own eyes and attempt to encapsulate its ever-changing light and texture with a photograph. Infinite possibilities under infinite cosmos and truly dark skies.
