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    • Experience Level

      Beginner to Advanced 

      This workshop is designed for photographers of all skill levels. You'll receive personalized guidance to build on your strengths and overcome weaknesses. Expect to be challenged and grow, regardless of your starting point.

    • Fitness Level

      More Info 

    • Creative Focus

    • Group Size

      Limited to 8 Guests

      We keep our group sizes small to ensure the individual attention you deserve.

    • Location

      Ouray, Colorado

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    • Fly To

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    Description

    Meet Your Creative Guides

    • David Kingham

      David is an accomplished professional photographer renowned for his evocative nature imagery. His work showcases intimate landscapes, stunning nightscapes, and masterful black-and-white photography. As the founder of Exploring Exposure, David is dedicated to mentoring aspiring photographers, helping them refine their skills and develop their artistic vision.

      View David's Portfolio 

    • Jennifer Renwick

      Jennifer is a professional photographer renowned for her captivating abstract and small scene imagery. With a keen eye for detail, she uncovers the hidden stories within grand landscapes. Jennifer is passionate about helping fellow photographers discover their unique style and guiding them to express their vision through meaningful projects.

      View Jennifer's Portfolio 

    Visual Inspiration

    Workshop Highlights & Creative Focus:

    • Interpreting Autumn's Palette: Colorado in the fall is an explosion of color, especially in the aspen groves of the San Juans. This workshop is about moving beyond simply documenting the spectacle to interpreting it. We guide you to see the landscape with fresh eyes, finding compelling compositions amidst the vibrant foliage, rugged peaks, and mountain streams. The goal is to craft images that convey your personal experience of this stunning season.
    • Seeing Beyond the Golden Vistas: While we'll certainly seek out grand landscapes ablaze with color, we also emphasize slowing down to discover the quieter beauty often missed – the intimate details of aspen bark, the abstract patterns of fallen leaves, the way light filters through the canopy, or the interplay of color along a creek. We encourage looking beyond the obvious postcard views to find more unique and personal expressions of autumn.
    • Working with Mountain Light & Color: Fall light in the Rockies can be spectacular. We'll focus on maximizing the golden hours, but also on learning to work effectively with the light at other times of day. You'll learn techniques for managing contrast, using light direction to enhance texture and shape, and composing effectively with bold, sometimes challenging, color palettes.
    • Creative Exploration Encouraged: This is a chance to experiment. Try different lenses to alter perspective, explore the graphic potential of aspens in black and white, use techniques like intentional camera movement (ICM) for abstract interpretations, or focus on capturing the mood and atmosphere of a scene. David and Jennifer offer complementary perspectives to help you push your creative boundaries.
    • Developing Your Images with Intent: In our classroom sessions, you'll learn how our "Rethink Landscape" processing methodology in Lightroom can help you bring out the best in your fall images. This system is particularly useful for managing vibrant colors naturally, enhancing textures in foliage and mountains, and achieving results that match the vision you had in the field.
    • Personalized Guidance for Your Vision: With our small group format and two experienced leaders, you'll receive plenty of individual attention. Our focus is on helping you find and develop yourunique way of seeing and photographing the autumn landscape, providing feedback and support tailored to your creative goals.

    Why Fall in Colorado?

    The sheer intensity and scale of Colorado's fall color, set against the dramatic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, offers an incredibly rich environment for photographic growth. It challenges you to compose effectively amidst visual abundance, to work thoughtfully with vibrant color, and to find unique perspectives within popular landscapes. It's an opportunity to develop your ability to see beyond the surface beauty and craft images with deeper personal meaning and visual impact. The crisp air and typically favorable weather allow for focused immersion in this inspiring landscape during its most celebrated season.

    Important Details:

    • Lodging: We are currently finalizing lodging arrangements to secure a comfortable and conveniently located base for our explorations, likely in the heart of the San Juan Mountains region known for spectacular fall color (e.g., Ridgway, Ouray area). We prioritize locations that minimize driving time to key photographic areas. Specific details regarding the hotel, group rate, and booking instructions will be provided upon registration.
    • Transportation: Participants are responsible for their own transportation to/from the workshop base location and during the workshop. A standard passenger vehicle is usually sufficient, though some locations might involve driving on well-maintained gravel roads. High clearance is generally not required for planned locations. Carpooling is encouraged for field outings.

    Itinerary

    Preparation: Upon registration, a comprehensive itinerary will be sent to you, ensuring all the details are at your fingertips to help you plan your travel arrangements seamlessly.

    Stack of Death Valley Intimate Landscapes 2024 zine workshops with textured desert landscape cover on wooden surface

    Your Commemorative Zine

    As part of your Exploring Exposure experience, we create a custom-designed 8×8 Zine featuring images from you and your fellow participants. It’s a tangible way to remember the time spent together and the landscapes you explored.

    The process also encourages you to revisit your work, refine your edits, and select the images that feel most meaningful to you. About a month after the experience, you’ll share your selections with us. We take care of the curation, layout, and printing, and send you a finished piece that reflects the group’s collective experience.

    It’s one more way we support your creative process, even after the trip is over.

    Our Teaching Philosophy

    Our goal is to help you develop your own creative voice through thoughtful, personalized guidance. We meet you where you are and work with you to build on your strengths, whether in the field or during group sessions.

    Throughout the experience, we’re fully focused on your growth. We often work alongside you to demonstrate how we approach a scene or solve a problem, but our priority is always your progress, not our own photography.

    We provide regular, constructive feedback in a supportive way, helping you refine your compositions, strengthen your ideas, and bring your images to completion. With small group sizes, we’re able to give each participant the attention they need without being overbearing.

    Participants come in at different stages, and that’s part of what makes these experiences valuable. No matter your level, our aim is to help you see more clearly, think more intentionally, and continue growing long after the trip is over.

    Above all, we strive to create an experience that is engaging, supportive, and genuinely enjoyable. We care deeply about the people we work with and the creative growth that happens along the way.

    Safety First

    Your safety is our utmost priority, especially when exploring remote locations. As certified Wilderness First Responders, David and Jennifer are prepared to handle any situation, big or small. We also carry satellite communication devices to ensure we can request rescue assistance if needed in areas without cellular coverage.

    Responsible

    As proud members of Nature First Photography, we are committed to responsible nature photography practices. We abide by and promote the seven principles of this movement to our clients, encouraging them to join us in preserving the natural world we capture through our lenses.

    Join Nature First

    Legal Compliance

    At Exploring Exposure, we operate with the highest level of integrity. We obtain all necessary permits, carry comprehensive liability insurance, and acquire any required certifications to ensure our workshops are conducted legally and ethically.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Are spouses/partners welcome?

    Will I have cell service during the workshop?

    In many remote areas we visit, cell service and Wi-Fi can be extremely limited or non-existent during field excursions. Expect potential periods of being offline. Service is typically available at our accommodation, but cannot be guaranteed everywhere. We carry a satellite communication device for emergency use.

    Will weather cancel the workshop?

    Often, dramatic weather provides the best photographic opportunities! We prioritize participant safety, but the workshop will proceed in most weather conditions. Locations or schedules might be adjusted if conditions pose a significant safety risk (e.g., hazardous roads, extreme events). We encourage embracing the elements! Please note that no refunds or rescheduling are offered based on weather circumstances.

    Do the instructors photograph during workshops?

    Our commitment is first and foremost to your learning and creative exploration. While you might see us create some images during our time in the field, it's always with an educational purpose in mind. We might photograph to:

    • Walk you through how we evaluate and compose a scene, sharing the excitement and challenges together.
    • Demonstrate a specific technique (like focus stacking, long exposure, or ICM).
    • Make images during our field sessions that reflect the specific locations and conditions you're experiencing. This provides highly relevant examples for demonstrating the Rethink processing workflow, directly applicable to the images you're creating on the trip.

    Engaging in the creative process alongside you can be instructive and helps foster a shared experience and connection within the group. However, this never takes precedence over providing personalized attention and ensuring you have the support you need to develop your vision. Our focus remains squarely on you.

    Detailed Fitness Requirements & Terrain

    How to Get There

    Cancellation Policy

    We put a great deal of care into planning small, personalized workshop experiences. Because group sizes are limited and logistics begin well in advance, we must adhere to the following cancellation policy. We strongly recommend purchasing trip insurance to protect your investment in case of unforeseen circumstances.

    • Initial Payment: An initial payment (applied toward the total workshop fee) is required to secure your spot.
    • Cancellation More Than Days Out: If you cancel more than days before the workshop start date, your initial payment will be refunded minus a 5% processing fee.
    • Cancellation Between and Days Out: If you cancel fewer than days but more than days before the workshop start date, your initial payment becomes non-refundable. However, if we are able to fill your spot, we will refund your initial payment minus a 5% processing fee.
    • Final Balance Payment: The remaining balance will be automatically charged to the card used for your initial payment days prior to the workshop start date. We will send a reminder a few days in advance. Please ensure your payment information is up to date. If you need to use a different card, contact us before the -day deadline.
    • Cancellation Within Days (After Final Payment): If you cancel fewer than days before the workshop start date, all payments made are non-refundable. However, if we are able to fill your spot, we will refund your payments minus a 5% processing fee. While we will make a reasonable effort to fill the space, this cannot be guaranteed, especially close to the start date.
    • Alternative Option: Store Credit for a Future Workshop: If your plans change, we’ll always do our best to help. In many cases, if we’re able to fill your spot, we can offer a store credit toward a future workshop so you don’t lose the value of your investment. Availability depends on timing and demand.
    • Process & Policy Understanding: All cancellation requests must be submitted in writing via email or mail. This policy applies regardless of the reason for cancellation, including illness, travel disruptions, or other unforeseen circumstances.
    • Trip Insurance (Strongly Recommended): To protect against unexpected events—such as personal emergencies, illness, or travel delays—we strongly recommend purchasing trip cancellation and interruption insurance. To find the right coverage for your situation, we suggest using a reputable comparison site such as Squaremouth or InsureMyTrip, where you can review plans from multiple providers side by side. We have no affiliation with these companies, so please review coverage carefully to ensure it meets your needs.
    • Workshop Cancellation by Exploring Exposure: We reserve the right to cancel a workshop due to insufficient enrollment or unforeseen circumstances (such as leader illness or park closures). If this occurs, you will be offered the option to transfer to a future workshop or receive a full refund of all payments made to Exploring Exposure. We are not responsible for additional expenses such as airfare, lodging, or rental vehicles. Trip insurance may help cover these costs.

    Have Questions?

    Feel free to reach out, we are happy to help!

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