Grand Staircase & Kanab
Explore the hub of southwest Utah’s high desert. Take the good roads, and those less traveled. See national parks, national forests, state parks and unbelievably beautiful night skies. Photograph sand dunes, toadstools, hoodoos, arches and more.
Workshop Details
May 2-7, 2022 — Completed
This is a 5-night, 6-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of May 2 and ends after a final slideshow on the afternoon of May 7.
$2,195 + 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
14, with 2 instructors — 7:1 ratio
NPS website
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
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 $1,595 is due on February 1, 2022. —> 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 January 31, 2022 (see cancellation and refund policy). |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, entrance fees, or transportation to Kanab, Utah, or to our nightly shoot locations. |
The Grand Staircase & Kanab Experience
We will embark on a road-based tour of the Kanab, Utah, area, on paved and primitive roads, visiting a variety of locations that encompass the breadth of the landscape offerings. You are likely to see high desert mesas, slot canyons, lone trees, hoodoos, toadstools, arches and more.
Kanab is a hub for making day or night trips to spectacular locations. Within easy driving distance to national parks, state parks and BLM lands, our night photography adventure will take you to otherworldly spots, without the bump and rattle of off-roading.
Kanab sits at the southern end of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which we will also spend time exploring. Grand Staircase is over 1.8 million acres, and we will see a fraction of it—but an amazing fraction! It stretches all the way up to Bryce Canyon, and is filled with areas still largely wild and unmapped.
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 Milky Way, light painting and panoramas.
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. You’ll go home after the workshop with a solid grasp of night photography in dark environments, and a good foundation in light painting techniques.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
Milky Way
panoramas
light painting
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. 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 work with participants one-on-one to make sure everyone gets the most out of the workshop. During classroom sessions, there will be presentations by the instructors, but we will focus on developing your images and sharing everyone's work and ideas with each other.
Our locations have generous room to explore, so everyone will be able to spread out and not get in one another’s way. Each participant will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Matt and Lance in the field.
We do not tell our attendees what to photograph, and won’t line you up in a row to all shoot the same thing (unless it’s helpful to get some people on track). 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.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
Getting to Kanab is easy.
You will need a car. There is no need for four-wheel-drive, but we require that everyone rent or bring at least a mid-size SUV with decent clearance, as we will be driving some hard-pack primitive roads. (If you bring a sedan, you could try to ride with someone else.) 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) — 3 hours from Kanab
Salt Lake City (SLC) — 5 hours
Lodging & Food
Lodging info and group code will be sent once our lodging partner is ready to begin taking reservations. 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. 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.
Kanab has more than 20 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.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Weather
Expect daytime highs in the 80s F, lows in the 40s.
Recommended Attire
Shorts and short-sleeve shirts for daytime, light pants and long-sleeve 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 trail shoes or hiking boots would be optimal.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Moderate. (See more about our classifications.)
No vigorous activity will be required during the workshop, but please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. There will be a moderate trail hike here and there, 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.
Additional Info
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 bounty of incredible locations ...
“It’s dark out there, and ideal for astro-landscape photography. I have a hard time imagining a better place to practice the craft.”
It’s hard to describe how much I love this area of Utah, but I will try.
From the heights of Bryce Canyon to the high desert secrets near Kanab and the Arizona border, there is a rich, diverse range of geology, wildlife and big, big skies. It’s dark out there, and ideal for astro-landscape photography. I have a hard time imagining a better place to practice the craft, at least for me.
It’s a lot to take in. The goal of this adventure is getting a foothold in the area and starting to understand just how big the opportunity can be. After this workshop, you will come back again. The landscape is that good, and the locations bountiful. The toadstools, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Grosvenor Arch, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Dixie State Forest and more road-accessible locations.
Year after year, I keep coming back to Utah. I feel like I have barely scratched the surface. Come along and let me share my love for Utah at night with you.
