PhotoPills Bootcamp: Bryce Canyon
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 Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park, we’ll explore not just the dramatic canyon rim and the famed hoodoos, 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, moonsets, star points, star trails and more in this geologic wonder of the park system.
Workshop Details
June 24-29, 2022 — Completed
This is a 5-night, 6-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of Friday, June 24, and ends after a final slideshow on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 29.
$1,995 + 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
Info websites
Bryce Canyon National Park
PhotoPills
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 $1,395 is due on March 28, 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 March 27, 2002 (see cancellation and refund policy). |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, Bryce Canyon entrance fees, or transportation to the hotel 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 most unique national parks in the United States: Utah’s Bryce Canyon.
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, and then to execute what we learned and spend the rest of the evening shooting. Sound like fun? Yeah, we think so too!
Bryce Canyon is a blast to photograph. The grandeur of the geologic amphitheater, the rock formations, the arches … the hoodoos! Moreover, all of those will be complemented with sunsets, 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.
While we will be happy to offer advice and answer questions about both day and night photography, the workshop is focused on teaching how to use PhotoPills to plan your photographs rather than on how to shoot them.
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 images 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
determine and use hyperfocal distance for maximum depth of field
and more …
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
You are responsible for your airfare and car rental. There is no need for four-wheel-drive or high-clearance vehicles for the workshop. If you are interested in sharing a car rental, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone like-minded in the group.
Nearby Airports:
Las Vegas (LAS) — 4 hours from Bryce Canyon
Salt Lake City (SLC) — 4 hours
Lodging & Food
We will be staying just outside the park boundaries. Lodging information will be communicated via email as soon as the hotel is ready to begin taking reservations.
We encourage eating two meals per day—a good late 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
Due to Bryce Canyon’s high-elevation climate, weather and temperature can be highly variable. That being said, summer days tend to be quite pleasant, with daytime highs in June typically in the high 60s F to low 70s. Nighttime lows, however, average in the mid 40s.
Recommended Attire
Bring a base layer and warm coat, as standing around in these low temperatures can make you quite cold. As always, layer your clothing so it’s easy to remove when hiking and to put but back on while standing.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Moderate to Active. (See more about our classifications.)
While the fantastic views from the rim are easy to access and walk around, amazing photography opportunities also exist at the canyon floor—and we will pursue them. That means walking down into Bryce Canyon, and then hiking back up again, on steep switchback trails. Please consider your physical abilities prior to registering.
Additional Information
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 new discovery ...
“After exploring the rim and hiking down into the canyon I realized how wildly interesting and unique this park is.”
Being a photography instructor, I get to see a lot of photographs. Many of them shots of our country’s most iconic locations. I have seen a million photographs of the Grand Tetons, Delicate Arch and of course sunrise over Bryce Canyon.
Sometimes this abundance of images makes me feel like I have already visited the place and damps my enthusiasm for an actual visit. This is the way it was for me until I actually made it to Bryce Canyon.
Wow, how misguided I was. The classic view over the amphitheater is simply amazing. But there is so much more. After exploring the rim and hiking down into the canyon I realized how wildly interesting and unique this park is. The towering orange rock spires and clear skies are an incredible combination. I immediately knew this was a perfect location for a photography workshop. Day or night!
