Utah Intimate Landscapes Retreat
Join us in Utah for this unique opportunity to photograph only intimate landscapes. The canyons provide the perfect learning environment to find your vision and look at the landscape in a different way.
May 12-16, 2022
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Group Size
8
Investment
$2,495
Initial Payment – $795
Your Leaders
Location
Fly To
Salt Lake City or Las Vegas
Fitness Level
Easy to moderate
Description
More wild, quiet, and low-key than the surrounding national parks, the small town of Boulder, Utah provides easy access to scenic sandstone landscapes, mountains covered in aspen trees, streams flanked by elegant cottonwoods and other vegetation, and viewpoints that showcase the layers upon layers of geology that make up this fascinating region. Our workshop is scheduled for the transition between winter and spring when the trees will be dressed in early spring greens. This time of year brings the possibility of dynamic weather and interesting lighting – ephemeral conditions that will complement the area’s contrasting red sandstone and bright green trees. Our workshop is based out of the beautiful Boulder Mountain Lodge, a comfortable space that will facilitate learning and engagement in the creative process.
During this retreat-style workshop, we will spend time exploring the area’s dynamic landscape, experimenting with new ideas and techniques, and creating photographs of nature’s small scenes. We will seek out intimate landscapes, telephoto landscapes, abstract renditions of natural subjects, portraits of plants and trees, and macro subjects. Your two instructors, David Kingham and Jennifer Renwick are your guides on this unique offering to help you create a personally meaningful, creative portfolio of Southern Utah’s inspiring landscapes. Although grand landscapes will not be our focus, we will take advantage of the soft light at the edges of the day along with changing (and harsher) light throughout the rest of the day to help expand your creative abilities and the group’s photographic opportunities.
During our time in the field, we will share lessons on learning how to see intimate landscapes in nature, composition, working with a broad range of lighting conditions, and overcoming technical challenges. In addition to finding and photographing the best small scenes that the area has to offer, personal expression, exploring creativity, and experimentation will be the top learning priorities for this workshop. The workshop will include extensive time in the field (two to three extended field sessions on each full day), guided lessons to extend your learning, time for personal exploration, and formal instruction on photo processing. We will also share many meals to allow time for discussion about all topics related to photography, travel, and the places we are visiting.
Luxury Desert Lodging Included
For this workshop we will provide you the premier desert experience at the Boulder Mountain Lodge.
The Boulder Mountain Lodge is a peaceful getaway located in the charming town of Boulder, Utah. The lodge is the perfect basecamp for relaxed creativity to help you find you personal vision. Everyone will have their own private room.
The lodge also has a five star restaurant, the Hells Backbone Grill, which is one of Utah’s highest Zagat rated restaurants. There are a few other options in Boulder to eat, but it is unlikely you will want to go anywhere else!
What is Included
What is Not Included
Image Gallery
What You Will Learn
In the Field
- How to read a scene to create compelling compositions using shapes, lines, visual mass, texture, and more
- Reading weather and lighting conditions to know when to go out on your own in the right light
- How to use apps to scout out your own locations and plan your next shoot
- When and how to use lenses to bring focus to your subject
- How and when to use a polarizer to make colors pop
- Depth of field and hyperfocal distance to help you create sharp photos
- Achieving maximum sharpness using focus stacking
- Creative use of ND Filters to create motion in clouds and water
- Creating panoramas without using expensive equipment
- How to take correct exposures for bright skies; to be later used for exposure blending
- Identifying the best light and how to expose correctly
Post Processing for Beginners
- Making dull RAW files pop in Lightroom and keeping files organized
- Use of local adjustments for dodging & burning, and many more creative opportunities
- Using white balance to create mood in your images
- Properly sharpen and reduce noise for maximum image quality
- Stitching panoramas easily in Lightroom
- Exposure blending using HDR for natural looking results
Post Processing for Advanced users
- Exposure blending using luminosity masks to create balanced, natural looking images
- Focus stacking using Photoshop and/or Zerene Stacker for maximum depth of field
- Blending different focal lengths to correct for wide angle diminishment
- Creative burning and dodging techniques to bring focus to your subject
- Using the Orton Effect to add glow to your highlights
- Creating drama with Light Bleed
- Using Midtone Contrast to make images pop off the screen
- Sharpening for web and print
Safe, Legal, Responsible.
We are proud members of Nature First Photography. This movement is dedicated to responsible nature photography. At its core are seven principles that we abide by and promote to our clients. We hope you will join the movement!
We are proud members of Nature First Photography. This movement is dedicated to responsible nature photography. At its core are seven principles that we abide by and promote to our clients. We hope you will join the movement!
Legal
We always run our workshops on the up and up. For this workshop Exploring Exposure operates under a Special Use Permit on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison, and San Juan National Forests. We are also an equal opportunity service provider.
Our Philosophy
We encourage you to find your unique style of creativity with focused training based on your style and skill level. You will experience a rigorous learning experience in the field and the classroom to take your photography to the next level.
Our passion is seeing you grow in your photographic journey. We put your interests ahead of our own. Early on in the workshop, we will not photograph at all. Our focus is your learning experience, and we will not run off to chase the light and leave you behind. As the workshop progresses, we will take a few photos in a limited manner. This is so you can see how we approach a scene, demonstrate techniques, and create comradery with the group. Our focus will always remain with YOU.
We understand everyone comes to workshops at different points in their photography journeys. We will be there to guide and help you, whether you are a beginner or advanced shooter. There is always something to learn about photography, and we will do our best to help you find your creative vision.
Above all, we want this to be a fun experience for you. With our small group size, we get to know our clients very well, and we feel like they are part of our extended family. We do this for the love of photography, and there is nothing that gives us greater joy than seeing our clients grow and find their artistic vision.
This workshop will include a mix of easy roadside photography plus hiking to access photography locations. Hiking will not involve much elevation change but will consist of walking over uneven terrain like rocky creek beds in areas without established trails. Good balance and the ability to carry your camera gear for hours at a time will be necessary. The photography locations for this workshop are between 4,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation. Hiking will typically be limited to 1 to 2 miles at a time. We will be doing one longer hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls which is just under six miles round trip. The trail has some up and down but not a huge amount of elevation gain. The trail is sandy in areas so it can be a bit exhausting. We will be taking our time and photographing all along the way as the entire trail is beautiful.
Questions?
Please do not hesitate to send us any questions you may have, we would be happy to help.