Panorama Intensive: Bryce Canyon
Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park is pano-licious! We’ll be basing ourselves in this breathtaking landscape, noted for its geologic wonders and wide views, all to focus on learning to create nighttime panoramas. Single-row, multi-row and Milky Way will feel second-nature by the end of 5 nights on the rim and on the floor of the amazing Bryce amphitheater.
Workshop Details
May 23-28, 2023 — Completed
This is a 5-night, 6-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of Tuesday, May 23, and ends after a final slideshow on the afternoon of Sunday, May 28.
$2,750 + applicable taxes. Register below.
Skill level
Intermediate and above. 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
6, with 1 instructor — 6:1 ratio
NPS website
Workshop Leaders
Registration
This event has passed. Thanks for your interest!
| • Deposit of $600 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $TK is due on TK. —> 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 TK (see cancellation and refund policy). |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, entrance fees, or transportation to the lodging or to our nightly shoot locations. |
The Bryce Canyon Experience
The complete arc of the Milky Way from horizon to horizon is a wondrous spectacle. Perhaps you’ve tried night sky panoramas and run into troubles, or you simply want to get better or even more consistent. If you say to yourself, “I’d really like to master that …,” then this is the right workshop for you.
You’ll be taught by a deeply passionate and experienced night photographer dedicated to carefully crafting and processing night sky panoramas. He’ll cover everything from the basics to complex multirow panoramas.
Bryce Canyon is an ideal location for this workshop, with ample room to spread out on the canyon rim, or on trails, and still be able keep your pano sweep clear of other attendees.
This will be a complete curriculum focused on teaching you everything: planning, gear, capture and processing/compositing.
Also note that attendance is limited by design, so you all have more room to spread out and compose successful panos, and receive extra attention in the field for learning this specialized technique.
Right in the heart of Milky Way season, you’ll be capturing Milky Way panoramas with a 14 percent crescent moon setting at 12:44 a.m. to a 57.5 percent quarter moon setting at 2:42 a.m. Sunset is at 8:15 p.m. and the galactic center rises around 10 p.m. each night.
You might also consider combining this with the Nightscaper Conference, happening the weekend prior in Kanab, Utah, for the ultimate Milky Way Tour.
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.
If you would like to attend this workshop but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-workshop tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Alternatively or additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-workshop reads.
What You Will Learn
We hope to push you to step outside your comfort zone—to test the limits of what you and your camera can do. 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 making panoramas.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
planning a panorama remotely, and in the field
choosing and using the right gear
understanding and finding your nodal point/eliminating parallax to avoid stitching errors
setup and capture of single-row panoramas
setup and capture of multirow panoramas
setup and capture of vertoramas
post-processing your panoramas in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and PTGui
understanding pano projections and distortion
blending blue hour foregrounds with starry skies
and more …
This workshop will have both field and classroom instruction. We will be in the classroom during the day, and out in the field at different locations each night. Our locations have generous room to explore, so everyone will be able to spread out and not get in one another’s way.
Participants can stay out shooting as long as they, or their camera’s batteries, hold out. While in the field, the instructors will demonstrate their own techniques and will work with participants one-on-one to make sure everyone gets the most out of the workshop.
We do not tell our attendees what to photograph. Instead, we encourage you to use what you have learned to create your own unique images, and to let us guide you through the process should you desire.
We do not teach you to do what we do, but rather how to develop your own night vision.
Panophernalia
To get the most out of the workshop, you will need some specific gear and software.
You do not need a panorama rig/kit with a rotator. But having one will enable you to make more accurate, repeatable panoramas, and is strongly recommended.
Not having to repeatedly turn on your flashlight to see how many degrees you rotated will significantly improve your night panos. Having a reliable rotation solution is also crucial for multirow captures.
If you want to talk about your gear before committing, please email Matt to discuss. We will also have some informational emails and a Zoom call or two leading up to the workshop to prepare you, and part of that will be discussing gear.
Below is what we require and what we recommend. If you want to invest in gear beforehand, attendees will receive access to special discounts after registration.
Required:
a solid, dependable tripod
a balancing head (e.g., the Novoflex MBAL20, Fanotech EZ-Leveler II or Benro LBA2)
an invertible ball head (e.g., the Acratech GXP-SS or Novoflex ClassicBall)*
a RAW-capable mirrorless or DSLR camera
a reliable way to trigger your camera without vibration or flashing lights (intervalometer, wireless trigger, etc.)
* you will not be using this if you have a pano rig (unless this is your leveling head)
Strongly Recommended:
a dedicated panorama rig with rotator (e.g., the Novoflex VR-System 6/8, VR-System Slim, or Fanotech M2 w/RD16-II or M1-L w/RD16-II)
if not a rig, then a rotator with detents (e.g., the Novoflex Pano-Plate Q6/8, Fanotech Advanced Rotator RD8-II or Benro DP70) and a nodal rail (e.g., the Acratech Nodal Slide or Novoflex QPL-Panorama)
Again, don’t fret about what you have/need while considering this workshop. We can talk about your kit. But we feel it’s important to know beforehand that some key pieces of gear will make a big difference to get the most out of the workshop.
Software
Our post-processing work will be in Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and PTGui. Prior knowledge of Photoshop and PTGui are not required, but knowing how to work with layers and masks in Photoshop will help you greatly. Feel free to reach out beforehand for assistance or suggestions on how to best improve your knowledge of these topics.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
Bryce Canyon National Park is easy to get to via highways.
Rental Car
You will need a rental car.
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.
Nearby Airports:
Las Vegas (LAS) — 4 hours from Bryce Canyon City, Utah
Salt Lake City (SLC) — 4 hours
Lodging & Food
We will be staying just outside the park boundaries.
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 morning.
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
Bryce Canyon City 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 60s F, lows in the 40s.
Recommended Attire
Pants and long-sleeve shirts for daytime, warmer pants, sweaters and possibly jackets 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. Bring hiking poles if you plan on hiking down into the canyon.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy to Moderate. (See more about our classifications.)
Some nights we will shoot from the rim, not far from the cars. On a couple of nights we will venture down into the canyon. Walking down is easy; walking back up, despite being on a well-maintained trail, requires patience and a moderate level of fitness. Please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. You should be comfortable carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark, as well as up steep switchback trails.
The rim of Bryce Canyon, where we will spend a good amount of time, ranges as high as 9,000 feet in elevation. 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 altitudes, 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
Please read our FAQs section 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.
Pano-licious canyons crowned by a Milky Way arch …
“There are a few walks uphill along the rim trail where you might feel your breath, but boy is it always worth it. ”
Bryce Canyon is such an easy park. The hotel is right there. The best locations are minutes away. And there are many spots with a view of the entire Milky Way arch. The foregrounds include myriad canyon walls filled with hoodoos, trees, trails and interesting landforms. And the brilliant, high-altitude sky is strewn with stars from horizon to horizon.
A short walk from every parking lot and you are on the canyon edge. There are a few walks uphill along the rim trail where you might feel your breath, but boy is it always worth it.
My first visit was under April snows with Gabe and Chris. And even then I was reluctant to leave. I fell in love with the topmost riser of the Grand Staircase. And now we return to play with this backdrop to create pano masterpieces with you!
