Catskill Night Photography Retreat
Combine the craft of night photography with mindfulness and physical motion for a relaxing, invigorating creative reset. Join us for a unique experience: a night photography retreat in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York and the Catskill Mountains.
Workshop Details
October 25-27, 2024 — Completed
This is a 2-night, 3-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of October 25 and ends mid-afternoon on October 27.
$1,895. 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
8 with 2 instructors — 4:1 ratio
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 $1,295 is due on July 28, 2024. → 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 27, 2024. (see cancellation and refund policy) |
| • The workshop fee does not include food (outside of two group meals),airfare, New York State Park entrance fees, or transportation to Catskill, New York, or to our nightly shoot locations. |
| • The workshop fee includes professional instruction in yoga and meditation, up to 10 prints plus an archival print box, two dinners, and permits for night access to Olana State Park and other notable local locations. |
The Catskill Retreat Experience
Let’s draw out your greatest creativity through a combination of gentle meditation and mindfulness, light body movement, and night photography during this unique retreat.
Our creative proposal: There are deep connections between your body, mind and that elusive creative space where we synthesize creative outputs.
Modern daily life is fraught with infinite opportunities to distract you from your creative goals. That steals the satisfaction that comes with making things that satisfy you, such as night photography. It inhibits our ability to complete our ambitious creative projects, or even to form a cohesive vision.
We will introduce you to a new program that brings together light stretching, mindfulness and meditation, and night photography, with the goal of being more conscious and deliberate about the creative process.
We believe the results will help you enjoy the end product even more, and as an added benefit will perhaps help you relate the stories surrounding your art to others.
Most, but not all, sessions will be held in Matt’s studio and gallery space. You will experience guided meditations in quiet places around Catskill, light yoga and some easy hiking. Once we have your body and mind aligned we’ll review your portfolios, offering insight, feedback and guidance. We’ll make sure you are squeezing every bit of image quality out of your photographs with the final result being a printed portfolio of your favorite night photographs.
We’ll also have exclusive night access to two inspirational places in the Hudson Valley. The breathtaking views high from the historic Olana Estate and grounds will give us a better understanding of what inspired the Hudson River School of landscape painters. We will also spend time on the sloping lawns of the historic Beattie Powers Place overlooking the Hudson River and a long view of Olana and the Rip van Winkle Bridge.
The night photography part of this workshop will be led, not taught. If asked, settings can be provided to everyone so they can focus on being present. We will also help people set up their tripods and focus if desired. If you are already adept at night photography, of course you are welcome to make your own technical decisions. But the goal is not technical mastery; we seek to provide a framework for deeper emotional and metaphysical connection to the craft as you explore and express via the medium of long-exposure night photography.
When we discuss your work, you will spend time with your images, looking through new eyes and making plans for the next time you capture.
So please join us as we explore and affirm the mind-body relationship that provides a deeper path to your creativity as it applies to night photography*, and the confidence to finish your open projects.
* We’ve also found that this process applies to many creative practices.
Who is this workshop for:
anyone with a desire to feel more at ease with and connected to their creative process
people who dig night photography and want more from the practice
people who want to operate in an area of uncertainty for the purpose of growth
Who this workshop is not intended for:
someone seeking spiritual or medical advice
someone who is seeking therapy from this experience, physical or emotional; we are not medical professionals
Thanks to Red River Paper and Canon imagePrograf, you will take home a portfolio of eight to 10 11x17 or 11x14 prints from this 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 answer questions about both day and night photography, but the focus of the formal education will be creative synthesis via mindfulness, motion, creative exercises and feedback on your images.
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
This workshop will be a little more internal than most. We’re not teaching techniques, but rather collaborating on a deeper connection to how we approach our night photography work.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
disconnecting from distracting stressors
slowing down deliberately
focusing your attention differently during capture and during post
observing with greater clarity
connecting to your creativity and environment
and more …
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
Catskill, New York, is easily accessible via highways.
Nearby Airports:
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.
Rental Car
Albany, New York (ALB) — 45 minutes from Catskill
New York Stewart (SWF) — 1 hour
Newark (EWR) — 2 hours
Hartford (BDL) — 2 hours
Lodging & Food
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Lodging
There is no official workshop lodging, but a list of local hotels will be supplied upon registration.
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
Two group dinners are included in the workshop fee.
Catskill and nearby Athens and Hudson have dozens 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 water.
Weather
Expect daytime highs in the 60s F, lows in the 40s.
Recommended Attire
Comfortable clothes for relaxing, plus hiking pants and long-sleeved shirts for daytime, warmer pants and long-sleeved shirts 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 trails shoes or hiking boots would be optimal.
Thick, warm, comfy socks or slippers for the indoor stretching.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy. (See more about our classifications.)
No truly 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 there will be easy hiking trails involved, and you should be comfortable carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark.
Considerations
IMPORTANT: We encourage reading 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.
time to de-stress, open up, relax and not be afraid to fail …
“Settings are only a fraction of a successful image made at night. Priming yourself to go beyond the settings makes all the difference.”
Creativity can be coy. When practicing a highly technical craft such as night photography, it can be even more elusive as you focus on details, details and more details.
There is an opportunity, for those who will make room for it, to make connections between the practices of night photography, light physical activity and meditation/mindfulness.
People who are stuck can get inspired to make breakthroughs. It’s happened for me, and for others I know.
I meditate daily, and have for 7-plus years. I also normally meditate right before making night photography, no matter where I am. And I am eager to share with you the lessons I’ve learned from this practice.
When making photographs at night, I acknowledge that the technical aspects can often distract me (or anyone!) from really connecting with a scene. But the settings are only a fraction of a successful image made at night. Priming yourself to go beyond the settings makes all the difference.
In the end, I’d like to share the results of my own synthesis of meditation, being physically active and how it positively affects my night photography. It’s a simple, yet effective framework you can bring with you anywhere.
