PhotoPills Bootcamp: Acadia
Long before the photograph comes the idea. And with PhotoPills, the ideas have no bounds. During five days and nights of learning, scouting and shooting in Maine’s Acadia National Park, we’ll explore not just the forest-lined lakes and romantic coastline, but we’ll also explore the ins and outs of one of the most powerful tools a photographer can keep in their pocket. Learn to plan and capture the Milky Way, sunsets, moonrises, star points, star trails and more in this northeast jewel of the park system.
Workshop Gallery
Workshop Details
October 2-7, 2021 — Completed
This is a 5-night, 6-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of Saturday, October 2, and ends after a final slideshow on the afternoon of Thursday, October 7.
$1,750 + applicable taxes. 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
Info websites
Acadia National Park
PhotoPills
Workshop Leaders
Registration
This event has passed. Thanks for your interest!
| • Deposit of $500 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $1,250 is due on July 4, 2021. —> 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 July 3, 2021 (see cancellation and refund policy). |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, Acadia entrance fees, or transportation to Bar Harbor or to our nightly shoot locations. |
The Workshop Experience
This workshop is all about learning how to master PhotoPills in the best place to do so: in the field. And not just any field—we’ll be learning, scouting and shooting in one of the premier places for night photography in the east and one of the most beautiful coastlines in the country, Maine’s Acadia National Park.
Each day we’ll learn more about PhotoPills and how to use it to plan day and night photography. We’ll go over everything from how to configure the settings so the app works better for you, to how to use the Planner and other features to find and photograph the sun, moon, stars, Milky Way, etc.
Then we’ll venture into the park and use what we learned in the classroom to scout photos for sunset and nighttime. We’ll return to Bar Harbor for dinner, then head back into the park to execute what we learned and spend the rest of the evening shooting. Sound like fun? Yeah, we think so too!
Acadia is a photographer’s playground. Despite being one of the smallest national parks, it’s one of the most diverse for photography. Magnificent coastline, inspiring mountain views, gravel carriage roads, stone bridges, placid ponds and lakes, groves of birch and aspen and more all await our cameras and lenses. Moreover, all of those will be complemented with sunsets, moonsets, dazzling starry skies, Milky Way and more.
What You Should Know
This workshop caters to knowledgeable photographers with an intermediate 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 using PhotoPills to level up the photography skills you have already developed.
You do not need to know anything about how to use PhotoPills before attending this workshop, but you should bring a device that is capable of running it—either a smartphone or a tablet, if not both.
If you would like to attend this workshop but are unsure whether you have adequate 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 will cover all of the features of PhotoPills that a landscape photographer might want to use in a natural environment. We will teach these features in a classroom setting, then we’ll venture into the field to reinforce your new skills and put them to use to plan and shoot epic photographs in the national park.
While in the field, the instructors will reinforce the classroom learning by demonstrating how they would use PhotoPills in that particular location, and then will work with participants one-on-one to make sure everyone masters the app and executes a photo they have individually planned. Our locations have generous room to explore, so everyone will be able to spread out and use PhotoPills to plan and capture their own unique visions.
Our aim is to send you home after the workshop comfortable with using this powerful photo-planning tool, as well as with some amazing photos of this inspiring place.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE how to use PhotoPills to:
plan for specific photo locations while on or off site
locate where and when the sun and moon will rise and set
find where the Milky Way will be in the sky at different times of night
pinpoint the North Star and strategize star circles
determine exposures for the sharpest star points
calculate long exposures for star trails or light painting
work out and use hyperfocal distance for maximum depth of field
and more …
Night Conditions
Travel
You will need a rental car. 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:
Bangor (BGR) — 1 hour from Bar Harbor
Portland (PWM) — 3 hours
You can also fly to Hancock County Airport (BHB), which is a local airport 10 miles north of Bar Harbor. Direct flights are available from Boston, but the airline choices and schedules are limited.
Food & Lodging
The majority of Acadia National Park is on Mount Desert Island, itself a fine photography destination with its old New England architecture, public gardens, secluded bays and coves, and working lobster-boat harbors and fishing villages. The island also offers a selection of services and amenities, including excellent food options at all price points.
We’ll be staying at a hotel in Bar Harbor, with easy access to food, coffee and T-shirts adorned with lobsters. 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. Lodging info and group code will be sent after registering. 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.
We encourage eating two meals per day—a good late breakfast and a great early dinner. When on the night shoots, you may wish to bring snack food or a sandwich and plenty of water.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Weather
Fall temperatures in Acadia can range from the high 60s F in afternoon to the high 30s at night. We’ll probably be a little early for much fall color, though we should see at least a little.
Recommended Attire
Because of the swings in temperature, it’s not uncommon to begin and end a fall day in jeans and a coat while wearing shorts and a T-shirt in the afternoon. Fog and drizzle are possible, so carrying a raincoat (and even rain pants) is prudent. Because of the frequency of working around water, it is also advisable to wear waterproof trail shoes with good support and aggressive tread.
Considerations
We’ll be driving to our shoot locations, and aside from one possible exception, there will be no “hiking” per say—just short walks to shoot locations from the parking lots. So top-level fitness is not a prerequisite for this workshop, but you should be comfortable walking a bit, as well as carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark.
The aforementioned possible exception is a steep but short (20-30 minutes) trail to amazing views, and back down in the dark; whether we visit this location will depend on local conditions during the workshop.
Note: To ensure the safety of individuals and the group, National Parks at Night reserves the right for workshop leaders to use their discretion to limit an attendee from engaging in a rigorous 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.
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.
A Photographer’s Dream …
“Seriously, yes, we did all that in one day. Acadia is that kind of park. Beauty is everywhere.”
The first time I visited Acadia National Park was in 1997. I was on a weeklong project with another photographer creating autumn scenic images of the Maine coast. Our specific destinations were open to our whims, so we meandered onto pretty much any peninsula and island that serendipity brought us to.
But one destination that was planned ahead was Acadia. We weren’t sure what we’d find (this was before the days of Flickr research and photographers’ travel guides), but we were drawn there nonetheless. Upon driving into the park, we immediately knew it would be the photographic and experiential highlight of our trip.
We explored the shore, driving the ocean road along clifftops and past cobblestone beaches. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain and walked its granite summit among spruce and pitch pine. From the heights of the mountainside we surveyed the fall color surrounding Bar Harbor and lacing the Acadia forests below, and we peered over the water at the islands of the surrounding bays and seas. We photographed the waterfront boulders of Jordan Pond, fallen leaves swirling in the gentle currents of Duck Brook, and the rustic spans of the stone bridges on the carriage roads.
It was a busy day. Seriously, yes, we did all that in one day. Acadia is that kind of park. Beauty is everywhere, in various forms, and much of it is relatively easy to reach. The next morning we concluded our Acadia portion of the shoot by hiring a pilot to fly us over the park and the surrounding islets and islands.
In the years since I've visited and photographed Acadia about ten times, and it's become one of my favorite places in the world. But I'll always remember that first experience, that first day, when I found a love for the East Coast's first national park.
