Sleepy Hollow
Spend three nights photographing in one of the most iconic cemeteries in the world, barely an hour outside of Manhattan in the village of Sleepy Hollow, New York. We'll have a couple of "ghost" models in period clothing to enhance the experience and to inspire you to create your own ghostlore. If that sounds like fun, this is the workshop for you. Create your own legend of Sleepy Hollow at the same cemetery … at night!
Workshop Details
May 8-10, 2025 — sOLD oUT, jOIN wAITLIST bELOW
This is a 3-night, 3-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the afternoon of Thursday, May 8, and ends after the shoot on the night of Saturday, May 10.
$1,595. Register below.
Skill level
Open to all who have an understanding of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras and are not afraid of ghosts.
Group size
12, with 2 instructors — 6:1 ratio
Location website
Workshop Leaders
Registration
Hoping to get a spot? Sign up below for our no-fee waitlist.
| • Deposit of $600 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $995 is due on February 7, 2025. → 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 February 6, 2025. (see cancellation and refund policy) |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, or transportation to or during the workshop. |
The Sleepy Hollow Experience
The town of Sleepy Hollow, New York, is best known as the setting for Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow story about Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. It’s a small, fun, and attractive village right on the Hudson River with lots of great restaurants and a hip foodie scene. We’ll make time to explore the town as well as photograph the monuments in the historic cemetery during this jam-packed weekend.
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is somewhat ironically the final resting place of Washington Irving, and also of some of the great industrialists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries—Carnegie, Rockefeller and Chrysler.
The cemetery is divided into old and new sections. We’ll spend one night in each: the 19th century side with its traditional Gothic monuments, iron gates and spooky crypts, and the 20th century side with grandiose memorials to the American aristocracy of the Industrial Age. On the third night, everyone can revisit their favorite area(s) from the first two evenings. At 85 acres, you won’t cover it all, even after three nights of photography.
And yes, we will see ghosts! Well, we’ll make them anyway. On two of the nights we'll hire a couple of local models in period costume to pose for ghostly images among the peaceful and creepy gravestones and monoliths of the graveyard.
We have timed the workshop to coincide with the waxing gibbous moon. There will be plenty of moonlight combined with sky glow from the greater New York area to provide ambient light for your base exposures to blend with light painting on the monuments. This workshop has fantastic opportunities to improve your light painting skills.
What You Should Know
Participants must have at least basic photo skills, know their cameras well, and be comfortable shooting raw in manual mode with a DSLR or high-end mirrorless camera.
Night photography experience is not necessary, but even folks with extensive experience shooting at night will find this class challenging, stimulating and inspiring. For more advanced night photographers, we can offer specific challenges and goals, and will offer guidance in the field if you mainly want to concentrate on creating portfolio images or learning more advanced techniques.
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. This is a historic night photography experience in a very special place that will level up your light painting and ghost photography skills.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
how to create ghosts and spirits, both still and ethereal
how to photograph in a dark suburban environment supplemented by moonlight
how to light paint gravestones and memorials to highlight the carvings and engravings on them
how to balance existing and added light sources for maximum impact
scouting and planning your photographs
composing and focusing in low light
and more …
This workshop will have both field and classroom instruction. We will have some classroom time each day, and photograph each night. Each participant will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Gabe and Matt in the field.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
Driving from one of the area’s major airports to Sleepy Hollow should take about an hour, but could be longer if traffic is severe. If you can get a flight to Westchester County Airport, it’s half the distance and half the time. There are fewer flight options, and it’s probably more expensive, but convenient. It’s also possible to take a train from Manhattan.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation.
Nearby Airports:
Westchester County (HPN) — 30 minutes from Sleepy Hollow
New York: LaGuardia (LGA) — 45 minutes
New York: John F. Kennedy (JFK) — 1 hour
Newark (EWR) — 1 hour
Rental Car
It’s possible to get to Sleepy Hollow by public transportation and ride-hailing, and to take a taxi or ride-hail between the hotel and the cemetery.
However, it’s easier with a rental car.
We encourage sharing a rental car. If you are interested in this option, let us know and we will try to connect you with another attendee looking for the same.
Food & Lodging
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Lodging
We will be staying at a hotel in the Sleepy Hollow area.
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.
Info and group code will be sent soon 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.
Food
Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow have lots of great restaurants.
We encourage eating two meals per day—a good 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.
Weather
Expect daytime highs in the 70s F, and nighttime lows in the 50s.
Recommended Attire
Dress in layers. Bring waterproof shoes for walking in wet grass.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy. (See more about our classifications.)
We’ll have free reign of the 85 acres of the cemetery, which has a mixture of paved and gravel trails and paths. There are some plots with low iron barriers that are easy to miss and trip over, so prudence and care will be required when walking around in the dark. There is no strenuous activity involved on this workshop. You’ll never be more than a 10- to 12-minute walk from your car.
Considerations
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.
From Youthful Fear to Creative Playground ...
“The night grew quiet, except for my shoes squishing in the moist ground. Suddenly a chill went up my spine and I just couldn’t concentrate on anything ‘real.’”
When did you first hear about the Legend of Sleepy Hollow?
I was a young kid, that’s for sure.
I was obsessed with the animated Disney version of the story. It was the first “scary movie” that I had seen and I would watch it several times throughout the year. I even had the vinyl version. It was so hard for me to wrap my head around the unhappy ending of poor Ichabod.
In 2010 Matt Hill and I had our first opportunity to photograph Sleepy Hollow at night.
I was excited, nervous and perhaps a little scared. We started off in the old section and I separated from the group a little bit to focus on some old, weathered gravestones. The night grew quiet, except for my shoes squishing in the moist ground. Suddenly a chill went up my spine and I just couldn’t concentrate on anything “real,” so I went back to the group and spent the rest of the night photographing with or near people.
It took several more visits to overcome my fears of the legends and lore. Matt and I held our first workshop in Sleepy Hollow in 2011. I enjoyed embracing the historic aspects of the cemetery, as well as the many creative opportunities that Sleepy Hollow offers.
The last time I visited Sleepy Hollow was in 2019 when B&H asked me to do a video on how to create ghosts and spirits. I jumped at the opportunity and said that we must do it at Sleepy Hollow. They agreed, and out came the smoke machines, ghosts and some gothic ghouling to create one of the most fun and educational videos I’ve been a part of.
I’m an adult now, but when I return to Sleepy Hollow, in some ways I’m still a kid.
