Remote Utah Nightscape Workshop

 

Natural Obelisks "Mom, Pop and Henry" in Capitol Reef National Park

The same Cathedral Valley spires photographed, using a Blue Hour blend. These features were first photographed in 1854 by Solomon Carvalho, during a John C. Fremont expedition to the area. The spires have since been largely ignored by modern photographers due to their remote location in the park.

Utah Badlands and Capitol Reef Nightscape Workshop - led by Royce Bair and Robert McKendrick - September 11-15, 2023 - limited to only 6 participants.

Why this remote area of Utah? The "badlands" between Hanksville and Cainesville, and the "Cathedral Valley" area of Capitol Reef National Park are far away from the crowds you see in other popular central and southern Utah locations, yet they have stunning beauty and some of the darkest skies in the world. There may be some days you will not see another person, other than our group!

Why in September? September 11-15 is during a new moon period. The temperatures are more moderate. May and September are the two best months for this area. The Milky Way is more diagonal in May, whereas it is more vertical in September. The core of the MW doesn't rise until about midnight in May, with the best images during 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning (allowing for very little sleep)! In September the MW core is ready for photography by 9:10 PM and stays up for two hours — allowing for both great nightscapes and better sleeping cycles (as well as sunrise photography)!

A November Milky Way "erupting" over Factory Butte, Utah badlands

A November Milky Way over "Thumb Butte" - Utah badlands

Spring panorama over Needle Mountain in Upper Cathedral Valley by R. McKendrick (Note: October Milky Ways do not arch like this, but remain vertical; however, skies are so dark in this area, that very little post-processing is required for either season!)

Why only 6 participants? Robert and I want your experience to feel very personal and not crowded. Our attention will be on you and your needs. We will only use our cameras when it necessary for instructive examples.

Will we be doing any daytime photography? Absolutely! Because of the October night cycles, we will be able to do photography before and during the sunset periods; and we'll have several sunrise opportunities for photography. If you have a drone, you may wish to bring it, as there will be several opportunities to fly and photograph with it.

Factory Butte at dawn by R. McKendrick (yes, this sky is real!)

Skyline Overlook (Utah badlands) by R. McKendrick

Temple of the Moon and Sun, Capitol Reef National Park by R. McKendrick. This is a drone photo. Note that truck in bottom right corner is just outside park boundaries.

Drone aerial abstract of bentonite hills near Mars Research Station by R. Bair

North Cainesville Mesa by R. McKendrick

Upper Cathedral Valley sunrise by R. McKendrick

What is the physical exertion level for this workshop? Moderate. Most photography locations will be within 1/4 mile of your car or less.

Will transportation be provided? No. We suggest that each workshop attendee bring or rent a high-clearance vehicle. 4-wheel drive is usually not necessary, but preferred. Much of our daily workshop travel will be on gravel or dirt roads. Your airline flights can be into Grand Junction, CO (2.5 hours/159 miles to Hanksville), Salt Lake City (3.5 hours/231 miles to Hanksville) or Las Vegas (6 hours/370 miles to Hanksville).

Will lodging be provided? No. You will need to arrange lodging in Hanksville, Utah (our base). We suggest you book at least 5 nights (September 11-15, checking out on Sept. 16). We recommend Duke's Luxury Cabins (about $169/night) or the Whispering Sands Motel (about $149/night, with a 10% discount for AAA or AARP/seniors).

Will meals be provided? No. There is at least one good restaurant in Hanksville, a fast food burger spot, a grocery store (The Bull Market), a pizza spot (inside the grocery store)  and a couple of convenience stores. We will be providing snacks and bottled water.

Daytime post-processing sessions will be included for those who want this instruction.

The cost of this workshop is $1995 per person, with a deposit of $900 to hold your spot. Full payment is due at least 30 days before the workshop. You may cancel by July 10th and receive a full refund. You may cancel by August 10th and receive a 50% refund. There are no refunds after August 10, 2023.

To REGISTER for the workshop, eMAIL ME and I will send you an invoice for $900 to secure your workshop spot. You can use this same email to ask any questions. 

 

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Video Access to the 2021 NightScaper Conference

 

Defining Nightscapes. When you combine landscape photography with the cosmos, you get astro-landscapes or nightcapes — one of the newest and most exciting genres of landscape photography! Imagine the challenge and satisfaction of bringing together a starry night sky and an interesting foreground into a single landscape composition! The above image was taken in a single exposure, with a 15mm lens on a Canon 5D Mark III, using Low Level Landscape Lighting (photo by Royce Bair in the White Pocket area of northern Arizona).

38 Hours of Nightscape instruction. The 2nd annual NightScaper Conference brought together 40 legendary nightscape speakers from nine nations. These photography experts gave 69 program presentations for every skill level, from beginner to advanced. All this was recorded; over 38 hours of video content. 

SAMPLE videos: Here's a video program example from our 2019 conference and a similar program example from an earlier conference. Many video programs are similar to entertaining learning tutorials, presented to a live audience, with Q&A's at the end.

Get access to the recorded conference videos for as little as $14/month — Read on...

Scenes from the 2021 NightScaper Conference
Photos by Bethany Blair & Saunders Clark

Program Examples. You'll receive instruction on such things as "Making Panoramic Images of the Milky Way" by Yuri Beletsky. "The Importance of Planning" by Alyn Wallace. "Editing Techniques for Blue Hour Blends" by Jess Santos. "Photographing the Milky Way with Moonlight" by Brad Goldpaint. "Low Level Landscape Lighting by Wayne Pinkston.

ORDER ACCESS TO ALL THE VIDEOS: Those who attended the 2021 NightScaper Conference paid $599 for an in person ticket (or $399 for a virtual ticket). You can ORDER access to the conference videos for $14 per month (cancel at any time).

Hear what others are saying about the conference and the video programs.

Get access to the recorded conference videos for as little as $14/month — Read on...

Our PATREON Access to the Conference Videos

GET VIDEO ACCESS via my Royce Bair PATREON account: Instead of paying $399 upfront to get access to all the program videos at once, you can select either my $14/month or $19/month membership. 

NOTE: You can cancel your membership at any time, and still RETAIN ACCESS to ALL the VIDEOS your membership originally allowed you to view!

FREE eBook Gift. With either level of Royce Bair "NightScaper" PATREON membership, you get free access to my Milky Way NightScapes eBook (a $19.99 value.)

The $14/month membership gives you access to up to 33 videos of your choice (see the list below). The $19/month membership gives you access to all 69 video programs. JOIN my PATREON now, and select your membership level.

A Quick Topic List of the video programs:

• The Colors of the Night Sky by Yuri Beletsky
• Mastering panoramic images of the Milky Way by Yuri Beletsky
• More than the Milky Way by Alyn Wallace (here's a similar video on Alyn's YT channel)
• The Importance and Joy of Planning by Alyn Wallace
• Perceiving and Portraying Reality by Derek Sturman
• Know Your Cosmos! by Aaron King
• Astrophotography in our National Parks by Matt Dieterich (here's a preview of his program)
• Astronomy 101 for Nightscapers ("Navigating the Night Sky") ~ Block I by Mike Shaw (here's a pre-conference interview with Mike)
• The Wonders of all Things Mobile by Russell Preston Brown
• Photographing the Milky Way with Moonlight by Brad Goldpaint (here's a preview of his program)
• Illusion of Lights: A Journey Into the Unseen (time-lapse) by Brad Goldpaint
• How to capture more detail using Single Exposure Imaging by Amir Shahcheraghian
• Tracking Mounts - Block I by Eric Benedetti (here's a preview of his program)
• Saving Dark Skies Locally by Joyce Harman
• 9 Ways to Improve Your Astro Photography with Timelapse by Ron Risman (here's a sample of his timelapse work)
• Tracking Mounts - Block II ~ Dispelling the Myth by Eric Benedetti
• Humans in Night Photos – Yourself or Others by Ben Canales
• Ancient Skies by Marc Toso
• Nightscapes and Science: what stories are your photos hiding? by Bryony Richards (here's a preview of her program)
• The Southern Australian Milky Way by blntpencil
• Round Table Discussion - Women in Astro
• Low Level Lighting - Step-by-Step by Wayne Pinkston (here's a preview of his program)
• DEEPSCAPES ~ Deepscape Photography: What, Why, and How? by Paul Schmit
• DEEPSCAPES ~ Landscape Astrophotography Going Deep by Ralf Rohner
• DEEPSCAPES ~ final session by Dheera Venkatraman - with Q&A's
• Natural colors in the night sky by Roger Clark
• Post processing to preserve star and nebula colors by Roger Clark
• A revolution is coming to photography by Roger Clark
• New England Night Photography by Mike Taylor
• Astronomy 101 for Nightscapers ~ Block II - "Mastering the Moon" by Mike Shaw
• 6 Ways to Improve Your NightScapes by Royce Bair (here's a preview of Royce's program)
• Planning Night Photography in an Easy Way ~ Block I by Wenjie Qiao
• Adding the Moon to Milky Way Photos ~ Block II by Wenjie Qiao
• How to Plan Your Nightscapes in Seconds by Rafael Pons
• Creating Extraordinary Night Panoramics by David Swindler
• Save the Stars by Bettymaya Foott
• Milky way Panoramas! by Aaron King
• Being Creative With Your Nightscapes - Forget The Milky Way by Gavin Hardcastle
• Meet Our Youth Scholarship Winners
• Photography, the Perfect Side Hustle by Ryan Smith (here's a preview of his program)
• Moonscapes by Manish Mamtani
• Telling Stories Using Composition by Jess Santos (here's a preview of her program)
• Editing techniques for blue hour blends by Jess Santos
• Maximizing & pushing the limits with GoPro cameras by Shreeni Manievannan
• Chasing the Northern Lights by Alan Dyer
• Diving into Deep-Sky Photography by Alan Dyer
• Introduction to Making Milky Way Portraits by Ken Childress
• Round Table Discussion - What Makes a Good Nightscape Location?
• The Art of Chasing the Shot by Jack Fusco
• Capturing vs. Creating by Jack Fusco
• Nightscaping on Tour by Stefan Liebermann
• Know Your Cosmos & Milky Way Panos - Extended with Q&A's by Aaron King
• Finding Variety in Night Sky Photography by Miles Morgan
• Twilight Photography and Photoshop Techniques by Miles Morgan
• Light Painting with Tubes by Jaime Amaya
• Understanding Exposure for the Moon Time-lapse ~ Block III by Wenjie Qiao
• Come Along on a Virtual Nightscaper Adventure by Christine Kenyon
• The Night Sky Variety Show by Christine Kenyon (here's a preview of her program)
• Capturing Starscapes on a Budget by Shreeni Manievannan
• Photographer or Artist? by Ryan Smith
• Photography Life is a journey, not a competition by Ryan Smith
• Blending Blue Hour Photos with Night Sky Images by David Soldano
• Deepscapes: Discovering Deep Sky Nightscapes - Block III by Mike Shaw
• Leaving the Herd and Finding Your Photo Vision by Royce Bair
• Heavens on Earth (time-lapse) by Vikas Chander
• Art in Nightscape by Mohammad S. Hayati
• Round Table Discussion - Popular Location Shooting Etiquette

ORDER ACCESS TO THE ABOVE VIDEOS: You can ORDER immediate access to the conference videos for $14 per month (cancel at any time) through your Royce Bair PATREON membership.

Check out the 2023 NightScaper Conference (May 18-21): Nightscaper.com

Low Level Lighting BLENDS

The Milky Way above Temple of the Moon in Capitol Reef National Park, photographed with Low Level Lighting, and then blended with an additional foreground exposure (using overhead starlight) to increase foreground detail in the shadow areas.

I love doing both Low Level Lighting and starlight blends. My colleague, Wayne Pinkston and I co-authored the Low Level Lighting technique (or LLL). LLL gives one the drama or character that one can achieve with moonlight, but without washing out or lower the contrast of your Milky Way sky. Starlight blends allow you to increase foreground detail (especially in the background areas) that one cannot achieve with LLL, and many think that starlight blends look more natural, even though they are "flat" due to the overhead lighting effect of starlight. By blending my LLL exposures with the foreground portion of a longer starlight exposure, one can achieve the best from both techniques. Let me explain in this tutorial...

1. A single exposure (15mm lens on a Canon 6D • f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 8000)

2. Same EXIF, but with my LLL, and stacked 18 times to reduce noise. I like the drama and "character" one can achieve with LLL — it's similar to moonlight, but you get to control the direction of the light, and it doesn't wash out or lower the contrast of your Milky Way sky.

3. Longer foreground exposure, using overhead starlight (f/4, 120 sec, ISO 6400, with Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned on), then blended with the sky exposure in number one. I like the detail I get in the foreground, but I often do not like the "flat" lighting this technique gives you. (One remedy is to do a Blue Hour blend rather than a starlight blend, as these twilight blends have more of from-the-side directional light.)

4. My LLL exposure (from 2.) blended with the foreground exposure from number 3. This gives me the best on both techniques: more foreground detail (from the longer starlight exposure) AND more "character" from the LLL.

NOTE: As of May 25, 2021 there is no longer any artificial lighting allowed in Capitol Reef National Park due to a new Superintendent’s Compendium.

This includes LLL (Low Level Lighting) — even though the intensity of LLL on the monument is equal to the light coming from a Quarter Moon that is about to set.

Capitol Reef now joins Arches, Canyonlands and Grand Teton National Park (and Natural Bridges Nat'l Mon.) in this artificial light restriction.

ALTERNATIVE BLENDS: Where LLL is not allowed, a blended exposure of the starry night sky (as in #1), with a longer exposure of the foreground lit by overhead starlight (as in #3), produces beautiful results. Many feel this has a very natural look. I agree; but I also think it has a flat, and somewhat drab look.

An alternative is to use a Blue-Hour blend from a twilight exposure that is taken about 30 minutes to an hour after sunset, or a similar period prior to sunrise. The advantage of a twilight exposure is that it has directional light: the west side of the sky (after sunset) is brighter than the rest of the sky, and the opposite is true for a morning twilight. When these brighter portions of the sky are perpendicular to your foreground landscape features, they produce shading and sculpturing to your landscape, giving it more interesting "character." The disadvantage of this technique is the waiting: You have to shoot your Blue-Hour exposure and wait until the Astronomical Dusk to shoot your starry night sky exposure (or shoot your starry night exposure and then wait for the morning twilight exposure). With a starlight foreground exposure, you can take that foreground shot immediately after doing your starry sky exposure. Here is a tutorial for doing a Twilight Blend...

A Blue-Hour exposure of three obelisk spires in Capitol Reef National Park. Photo taken about an hour after sunset with a Canon 6D, using a 15mm Irix lens • f/4.5, 25 seconds, ISO 800, Daylight White Balance.

Same image processed to a warmer, more natural color balance. (Some people like to keep the bluish or purplish color balance that come with a twilight or Blue-Hour exposure. I do not.)

Milky Way sky exposure taken about 1-hour later, during the Astronomical Dusk: f/2.8, 15 seconds, ISO 8,000 • 8 exposures stacked to reduce noise.

Last two images blended together in Photoshop layers. Click on any image to enlarge.

Solving the nightscape ''bathroom'' issue for women

 

An example of a "FUD" or Female Urination Device in use

Let me get right to the point. Women have a much harder time dealing with the outdoors than men do when it comes to "bathroom" issues.

I noticed a long time ago in my astro-landscape workshops that my women attendees were often nearing the end of our night sessions with more fatigue and headaches than the men. I discussed this with my wife one day and she explained that these women were probably dehydrating themselves — not drinking enough liquids because they didn't want to embarrass themselves with having to go to the "bathroom" in the outdoors or do it in foul-smelling, filthy, public restrooms.

From that day on, I've added two things to my workshops:

1. More frequent restroom stops (hey, older men have issues, too)! This includes doing research to find more restroom locations.
2. Giving out information on female urination devices prior to my workshops.

I've even given out, in emergencies, one of the most popular FUD's the Go Girl. These devices allow women to urinate standing up. It also allows them the freedom to avoid sitting on dirty toilet seats. If you've never used an FUD, do a search on Amazon.com, using the term "female urination device," and get better prepared for your next outdoor adventure.

David Kingham: Driven into the Night

"Snowy Range Perseids" - 22 meteorites captured in a Wyoming sky ~ © David Kingham (click image for how-to info)

Colorado landscape photographer, David Kingham, is passionate about night photography. "Creating stunning nightscapes is what drives me," says David. It could be the milky way, a meteor show, or just starry skies.

The "Snowy Range Perseids" shot was the accumulation of all the things Kingham had learned over the years. "It put all my skills to the test and I came away with more than I imagined," said David. "Everything from scouting the perfect location, creating a great composition in total darkness, shooting for an entire night, to the challenge of post processing to create an incredible composite with the meteors coming from the correct radiant point."

Creating unique imagery: As a landscape photographer, David enjoys capturing beautiful scenery. "But it often feels like it's all been done before," laments Kingham. "When I'm standing on the shore of Maroon Bells or Oxbow Bend with hundreds of other photographers I feel disenchanted. When I stand under a star filled sky, I know I'm one of very few that are taking in this beauty, and unless I'm with friends I know that what I'm photographing is exceptionally unique, not just a different composition, but something that nobody has ever seen."

David's night work often involves selecting a unique foreground element and pairing it with a feature in the night sky. He prefers to work with moonlight to illuminate his foreground subjects, but when there is a new moon he will also employ light painting.

Getting started: Growing up in the mountains of Colorado, Kingham had always been able to clearly see the stars at night—which few in our modern society get to experience, due to light pollution. When he started in photography he had no idea that our cameras were capable of capturing the night sky. It was a Flickr friend, Michael Menefee, and his nightscapes that inspired David. The thankful Kingham worked hard to learn as much as possible under Michael's willingness to share his techniques.

"Glacier Gorge Milky Way" - a nightscape panorama ~ © David Kingham (click for a larger view)

This was his first attempt at shooting a nightscape panorama. "I had no idea if it would work with the star movement," says David. The amazing software available today makes this possible. He now shoots night panoramas on a regular basis!

"Cupid Mountain Milky Way Panorama" ~ © David Kingham (click image for a larger view)

"This shot was a physical and mental test for me, says Kingham. "Climbing a 13,000 ft mountain in the dead of winter, at 2:00 A.M. stretched my boundaries. It has made me mentally tougher to take on anything in life."

Night photography challenges: Long, cold nights, and a lack of sleep are typical for night photographers. But David admits that driving for several hours into the mountains, and hiking in the middle of the night in freezing conditions is worth the effort. "It's those moments that remind you how amazing a warm bed feels, [and] forcing yourself to leave it takes a special devotion," reports David.

"No Wind on the Prairie" ~ © David Kingham (click image for a larger view)

"This was my first successful light painted shot," says David. " I barely knew what I was doing at the time. It was an experiment where everything went right and gave me the itch to never stop learning and playing with new ideas."

Favorite tools and equipment: Rokinon lenses are a favorite. David has discovered that they are cheap, fast, and free of coma—more so than some of the Canon and Nikon lenses, costing over $2,000!  David shoots a lot of panoramas, so a leveling base on his tripod makes life much easier. An intervalometer is also a necessity. And a custom made external battery has allowed him to extend his battery life by 7 hours!

On the software side, David uses Starry Night Pro on the his PC, and Star Walk on the iPhone—both are such amazing planetarium applications that he can't imagine doing night photography without them. Nik Color Efex is his secret weapon for bringing out the detail in the milky way, and Microsoft ICE has become invaluable for stitching night panoramas.

Workshops: Recently, David has began teaching night photography workshops. Giving others the gift of knowledge to create their own nightscapes is deeply rewarding to him.

More of David's work can be found at his website.

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