Bisti Badlands Fall Photo Workshop

Itinerary

The exact itinerary will be kept flexible to account for the weather and current conditions. The badlands are spectacular in all different weather conditions and the itinerary below serves only as an example of what we might do.

• Day 1:  Meet at 1PM in Farmington, NM for a mandatory orientation session. We will cover many techniques you will be using during the workshop and discuss the itinerary in detail.  After a quick dinner, we'll meet up with our Navajo Guide to photograph sunset and Milky Way.  We return to town around midnight.
• Day 2:  It's a short night and we are up early to photograph sunrise in the Badlands.  A quick half-mile hike puts us in an area with some incredible formations and hoodoos. We just can't get enough of the otherwordly shapes and spires. We return for breakfast and then meet together for a post-processing session. We take a well-deserved afternoon break and then head out for our sunset shoot. Some stormy clouds have moved in and we capture some dramatic light and glow!
• Day 3:  We are up early again for golden light in a new area of the badlands. There is so much to explore and photograph here! We do another post-processing and image critique session when we return to town. Mid-afternoon we venture out onto the Navajo reservation with our local guide. He takes us to some really unique rock formations!  After sunset, we all group together at our favorite formations to capture the brilliant Milky Way.
• Day 4:  Based on the forecast, we decide to revisit one of our favorite areas of badlands for sunrise. Mother Nature is kind to us and we get a couple hours of soft light and perfect clouds.  We return to the hotel for an image critique and post-processing session.  After lunch and a mid-day rest break, we head out for our sunset shoot, if skies are clear, we will stay out for Milky Way.

Logistics

Please plan your travel so that you are in Farmington, NM no later than 1PM on on the first day.  We will begin promptly with our orientation session and group meeting.

For those who are flying in, Durango, CO is the closest airport. It's a one hour drive from Farmington but the flight options are fairly limited. Albuquerque International Airport is a 3-hour drive from Farmington and has much more availability.

Transportation will be provided during the workshop for all participants. You are welcome to follow us in your own vehicle, but we recommend everyone ride together since we may out late at night or going on some rough or muddy roads . Each participant will need to get to Farmington, NM on their own.  If you don't want to rent a car, we may be able to arrange car-pooling with other workshop attendees.

Lodging is not included in the workshop fee so you have the option to stay wherever you like.  The group will be based at the Comfort Suites Farmington, NM and we have reserved a block of rooms for our guests.  Please call them at (505) 325-9414 and mention you are with the Action Photo Tours group to receive our group rate.

Our goal is to maximize your photography while you are here. This can mean long days and not a lot of sleep. We will utilize the middle of the day for rest breaks and post-processing sessions.

This workshop is rated Moderate for activity level. No long hikes are planned but participants should be able to hike 2-4 miles each day to get to the shooting locations.  The workshop will conclude by 10AM on the last day.  You can either head back home after that time or spend additional days in the area.

Nickolas Warner is instructing the Sept 30th group (will be a max of 5 students without a 2nd instructor).  For the Sept 30th group, we will have best conditions for shooting the Milky Way the nights of Oct 2nd and 3rd. David Swindler and John Haymore will be instructing the Oct 5-9 group and Nickolas Warner and Ryan McGinty will be instructing the Oct 15-19 group.