Sunrise on Mt. Whitney and Eastern Sierra

The Eastern Sierra Photography Workshop

This workshop visits some of the most unique and least-visited natural wonders of California and the West—Mono Lake, the Alabama Hills, and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. All the while, the Sierra Nevada—the "Range of Light" of Ansel Adams and John Muir—towers over us. This year we will also photograph at historic Bodie ghost town.

This will be a great opportunity to improve your photography regardless of your skill level. We explore equipment, exposure, films, composition, and the field techniques you can use to produce perfect images. Instruction and discussion takes place in the field as we travel to a variety of great scenic locations.

Mono Lake is famous for it's unique "tufa" formations that appear to grow out of the water in strange spires. In reality these mineral towers were formed underwater eons ago, and have been revealed as the lake level has dropped. They are full of photographic potential.

The Bristlecone Pines are over 4,500 years old—the oldest living organisms on Earth. We will travel to their ancient groves in the arid White Mountains to photograph the strange and wonderful shapes that thousands of years of wind and weather have sculpted.

The eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada mountains rises over two vertical miles from the valley floor and culminates in Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the US outside Alaska. We will travel to the Alabama Hills, with interesting rock formations in every direction and a commanding view of the Eastern Sierra sunrise.

If Mother Nature cooperates, we will also venture into the high canyons to photograph great Fall colors, where aspens can blanket hillsides in yellows and golds.

You can see more images from this trip in our Eastern Sierra Gallery.

We cover subjects and techniques such as

  • Choosing the right equipment
  • Professional exposure techniques
  • Creative composition—the rules and how to break them
  • Landscape and scenic techniques
  • Lens selection
  • Macro techniques
  • Tripods, heads, and mounts
  • Flash for nature photographers
  • Digital techniques and postprocessing
  • What to carry and how

Our small group size allows personal attention and lets us tailor the Workshop to the interests of the participants. We will help you get the most from your photography, and you will come away with outstanding images. We also invite you to bring some of your images for a portfolio review.

If you'd like to expand your nature photography in a spectacular setting, then join us in the Eastern Sierra. Come learn and photograph in some of the West's best and least-visited photo locations