Matt Hill

Cue Decade Two: Announcing Our 11th Season of Workshops and Tours

We are ready to announce … Season 11!

As we enter the second decade of National Parks at Night, we are grateful to all our amazing alumni, conference attendees and fellow lovers of night photography. The adventures have been amazing, your friendship has been inspiring, and we are not slowing down.

Thank you for coming along for the ride. We look forward to another decade (at least!) of learning, sharing and growing together in wild, wonderful places at night.

Over the coming couple of years we will explore even more countries and landscapes, resting under more stars than you can count, each of them awaiting your cameras, lenses and tripods. So come with usβ€”adventure awaits.

New Workshops

For Season 11, we are offering 29 workshops and tours, running in 2026 and 2027. We are returning to some of our β€œGreatest Hits”—Rocky Mountain National Park (in winter!), Ouray (for a panorama intensive!), Easter Island and more. Keep giving us feedback on your favorite places we’ve gone together, and we’ll make sure to return.

We are also finally checking off a few locations we haven’t been to before but that have been highly requested, including the otherworldly landscapes of the Atacama Plateau and the desert photographer’s playground of Namibia. Keep sharing where you want to go with us and we’ll do our best to take you there.

Rocky Mountain National Park. Β© Chris Nicholson.

Rust & Ruinism. Β© Tim Cooper.

One of the big pieces of night photography news the past few years has been the awesomeness of the current solar maximum. As long as the night sky giveth, we’re ready to taketh (with gratitude)! So we’re heading back to two of our favorite locations that have epic landscapes to mingle with the dancing green lights: the Lofoten Islands and Westfjords, Iceland.

Are you hooked on eclipses like we are? Two big ones are happening over the next two years, and we’ll be on location for both: For the eclipse of 2026, we’ll be camping in Iceland’s Hornstrandir Nature Reserve and road-tripping through northern Spain. And in 2027 we’ll be heading to Egypt.

Ouray Panorama. Β© Matt Hill.

Catskill. Β© Matt Hill

In other celestial news, the Geminid Meteor Shower should be epic next year, peaking with no moonlight for a predicted yield of over 130 meteors per hour. We’ll have two groups taking advantage: in Monument Valley and Everglades National Park.

Then there is the thing we love the best, having you stamp your passport to new national parks. In addition to the parks already mentioned, next year we will be exploring the beautiful alpine landscapes of North Cascades, the towering trees and pristine coastline of Redwood, the cliff dwellings and landscapes of Mesa Verde, and the park our alumni voted on revisiting, Glacier.

Easter Island. Β© Lance Keimig.

Lofoten Islands. Β© Tim Cooper.

Intro to Night Photography

Finally, we’re back to the basics.

Perhaps you’ve been following what we do for years, but haven’t felt like you have the experience or confidence to go on one of our adventures. If this sounds like you, you’re in luck, because we designed a experience with you in mind.

Our Introduction to Night Photography workshop offers full immersion into the fundamentals of shooting in the dark, with six days and five nights of classroom and field instruction. You’ll learn the basics of camera settings and focusing at night, as well as techniques for high ISO short exposures to capture the Milky Way and long exposures for star trails. We’ll also teach how to photograph in urban areas under artificial lights.

We’ll do all this in one of our favorite places––Cape Cod––at the best time of year to visit.

Cape Cod. Β© Lance Keimig.

Whatever your skill level and wherever you join us, we look forward to sharing, celebrating and seizing so many more nights with you soon.

A Few Notes

How are Some Already Sold Out?

As a special thank you to those who attend our workshops, who sign up for our waitlist and who subscribe to our email list, every year we announce our itinerary to those three groups before β€œgoing public.”

This year, as usual, our community has committed very strongly to many of the workshops. (Our gratitude is infinite.) Because of that, 15 of our new workshops and tours sold out during the past week. Additionally, three tours were announced last year and sold out some time ago.

Still, as of press time, nine of our Season 11 workshops and tours have seats left, so it’s easy to join us in amazing places such as Namibia, Atacama Plateau, Ouray and more.

If you really want to go to one of those other places with us …

We Can’t say it Enough: Use the Waitlist

Spots open up for almost every workshop, and those spots always get offered to the waitlist first. If you see something you really want to attend and there are no tickets now, we urge you to sign up for the waitlist today.

Extra Gear, Anyone?

If there’s one commonality among everyone who attends our workshops and tours, it’s … well, it’s that we all like making pictures in the dark. But if there’s a second commonality, it’s that we could also use an extra piece of gear or two when we go on a night photography trip.

To that end, we are crazy-excited to announce a brand new brand partnership that will help you maximize your efforts on workshops. We are now partnering with Lensrentals, specifically to bring you a good discount on gear loans so that you can load up before a trip and maximize your creativity.

Want to try a brand new camera in Catskill? Need a telephoto for our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park? How about a tilt-shift for the Michigan Lighthouses workshop? You can get all of that and more for 15 percent off, just for being a National Parks at Night workshop attendee. More info will be sent after you register for a workshop.

Atacama Plateau. Β© Gabriel Biderman.

Seize the Night in Season 11

As we get ready to commence our tenth autumn, we’re looking forward to a winter break from travel, followed by an epic Season 11 full of adventures and stars.

Where will you be joining us? Wherever the destination, we look forward to seizing the night with you soon.

Matt Hill is a partner and workshop leader with [National Parks at Night](http://www.PhotographingNationalParks.com). See more about his photography, art, workshops and writing at [MattHillArt.com](http://www.MattHillArt.com). Follow Matt on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/matthill) [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/matthillart) [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/MattHillArt).

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

Seize the Night in Season 9: Announcing Our New Workshops and Tours

Wow, can you believe it’s our ninth season of night photography adventure workshops and photo tours? It’s unfathomable how far we all have come (though we have a long way yet to go). Thank you so very much for supporting us all of these years, and we hope to see you very soon someplace awesome.

Here is a big lineup of 26 adventures and learning opportunities crafted to help you go places and be more of the night photographer you dream of becoming.

Eighteen destinations are domestic and eight are international. Yet two of the domestic destinations are outside the lower 48 states.

This year we visit five new national parks and return again to for national parks with new programming.

And whether it was by design or coincidence, we will soon be traveling to many, many islands: Bannerman, Easter, Faroe, Hawaii, Iceland, Ireland, Lofoten, Martha’s Vineyard, Monhegan and Puerto Rico.

If you’re new, or relatively new, to all of this, you might be interested in a special workshop we’re offering for only the second time next year: Our Intro to Night Photography course, this time to be held in Saguaro National Park. This workshop is for beginners to night photography. We take you step by step from exposure to focus and beyond, to get you started with seizing the night.

And one new kind of event is being offered: a night photography retreat in the Catskills that blends mindfulness, motion and creativity. Plus an all-new Rust and Ruinism tour that embraces the natural decay of human-made structure and infrastructure. We are also offering other level-up opportunities such as our Post Processing Intensive in Miami, a winter Panorama Intensive in Arches National Park and an alternate look on Death Valley.

So get ready to board planes, boats and automobiles for nocturnal adventures during 2024 and 2025.

The Workshops

Below you can read a little bit about each of the workshops we’ll be running in our ninth season. Click on the photos or the links to read even more.

If you’d like to see a lineup of all the workshops we have scheduled for 2024-25, including updates on how many tickets are available in each, see our Season 9 Workshops page:

Passport Series

These are our signature event workshops, which we hold in national parks. We teach every day, either in the classroom or on field trips, and we shoot every night in beautiful and inspiring places.

In 2024 we’ll be visiting some amazing and unique parks, including one far off the mainland, and an obscure one deep in the mountains.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Deep, narrow and dark adorned by a crown of stars.

This workshop brings you to breathtaking views of a narrow canyon with dark, steep wallsβ€”so steep that sunlight and moonlight barely visit its bottom. We will explore its South Rim under a crescent and first-quarter moon, photographing sheer rock face culminating in the distant rush of water below.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison β€” June 8-13, 2024

Crater Lake National Park

An ancient volcano filled with the most pristine blue water and dark skies erupting with endless stars.

The winner of the National Parks at Night alumni "return to this park" vote! We will traverse the caldera of this extinct mountaintop volcano, focusing on the expansive Milky Way-topped vistas and massive star trails over the deepest lake in the U.S. Crater Lake is home to world-class dark skies and otherworldly landscapes.

Crater Lake National Park β€” July 7-10, 2024

Gateway Arch National Park and Northern Route 66

Road trip! Exploring the night at Gateway Arch National Park, the north end of Route 66, and beyond.

Route 66 is known as β€œThe Mother Road” and was the shortest year-round route between the Midwest and the Pacific Coast when it was established in 1926. It stretched 2,448 miles, and was the first fully paved highway in the U.S. This road trip photography tour will cover the northern section of this amazing drive, traveling the entire Illinois section and much of the Missouri section, including the star of the show, Gateway Arch National Park.

Gateway Arch National Park and Northern Route 66 β€” October 18-23, 2024

Great Basin National Park

Bristlecone pines, mysterious subterranean passages and some of the darkest skies in the United States.

Great Basin lies just off the loneliest road in America. You don’t arrive here by mistake. Want to walk among the 4,000-year-old bristlecone trees that are just a few hundred feet from a spectacular glacier, or around alpine lakes reflecting the snowy mountaintops and the Milky Way? Great Basin reveals its true beauty among its many trails, and we’ll be hiking to experience it.

Great Basin National Park β€” August 8-14, 2024

Hawaiβ€˜i Volcanoes National Park

A national park on the island of Hawaii. Luxurious adventure in paradise.

The Big Island of Hawaii is simply amazing. Rainforests meet lava flows and the night sky blends into the endless ocean. From sea level to 13,678 feet, this island park has a stunning array of landscapes and ecosystems.

Hawaiβ€˜i Volcanoes National Park β€” June 6-12, 2024

Hot Springs National Park & the Solar Eclipse

Journey through The Natural State for the 2024 Great American Eclipse.

There is nothing like witnessing (and photographing) a total solar eclipse. The temperature suddenly cools, your skin tingles, and the entire world stands still and collectively holds its breath. It’s surreal and spectacular. We’ll be deep in the zone of totality at Hot Springs National Park, where the eclipse is predicted to last for 3 minutes, 39 seconds. Prior to that we’ll visit the dark sky park of Buffalo National River and get a better understanding of why Arkansas definitely lives up to its nickname β€œThe Natural State.”

Hot Springs National Park & the Solar Eclipse β€” April 2-9, 2024

Yellowstone National Park North

The world’s first national park. Clear skies, mountains, canyons, geysers and wildlifeβ€”this park has it all.

Yellowstone has pretty much everything a nature photographer could want to shoot, and we're going after it all! Explore the northern half of this epic park, where mountains reach high and valleys bottom out to beautiful rivers that meander through grasslands. We'll also explore waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, vast landscapes and more, under tantalizing Wyoming night skies.

Yellowstone National Park North β€” September 2-7, 2024

Adventure Series

The U.S. has other amazing places to shoot at night outside of national parks, and we like visiting those too. National monuments, national forests, scenic byways, urban ruins and more.

Our upcoming Adventures include a lighthouses workshop on an Atlantic island, a winter week dedicated to panoramas and a black-and-white adventure in the Deep South.

Arches: Panorama Intensive

Master panoramas in winter at Arches National Park.

Join us for a masterclass in panorama photographyβ€”during the night and daytime, combining big sky, high desert, natural stone and earth formations to form unforgettable images. This is a small class size with big results for those who aspire to master this craft inside and out.

Arches: Panorama Intensive β€” February 16-21, 2024

Bannerman Island

Spend an overnight photographing a historic castle in the middle of the Hudson River.

Just 1.5 hours north of New York City rests one of the most impressive ruins in New York state: Bannerman Castle. Built at the turn of the 20th century, it served as an armory, warehouse and mystery to those passing along the Hudson River. This is a rare opportunity to spend the night on an inspirational island and create epic night photos of the castle until the dawn breaks the evening sky.

Bannerman Island β€” June 15-16, 2024

Catskill Night Photography Retreat

Align your inner and outer stars on creativity.

Combine the craft of night photography with mindfulness and physical motion for a relaxing, invigorating creative reset. Join us for a unique experience: a night photography retreat in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York and the Catskill Mountains.

Catskill Night Photography Retreat β€” October 25-27, 2024

Death Valley Alternate Tracks

Jump into a Jeep and explore the lesser-visited gems of this incredible landscape, from ghost towns to canyons to sand dunes and more.

Death Valley is the largest national park in the continental U.S., yet most photography workshops tend to visit the same spots again and again. The park has a lot more to see, and this workshop is going to see it. We'll be avoiding the usual hotspots in favor of driving to and photographing other amazing sights around the park, from a volcanic crater to a Joshua tree forest to an old salt mine and more. Even (believe it or not) a desert waterfall!

Death Valley Alternate Tracks β€” December 2-7, 2024

Intro to Night Photography: Saguaro

Learn the fundamentals of night photography in one of the most fun national parks for practicing the craft.

You’ve almost certainly seen night photos on Instagram. Photos of beautiful points of stars, a stunning Milky Way, light-painted cactuses with their arms stretched to the sky. If you’ve dreamed of making photos like these, but you’ve never tried, or you’ve tried and failed, then we’re here to help. Join us in Saguaro National Park, the national park jewel of the Sonoran Desert, for five nights of learning how to shoot in the dark.

Intro to Night Photography: Saguaro β€” October 18-23, 2024

Lighthouses of Martha’s Vineyard

Immerse yourself in a location where lighthouses, sunsets and stars are the everyday and everynight life!

We'll start in western Cape Cod, with 2 nights of private access to a privately owned lighthouse, then we'll ferry over to Martha's Vineyard to embrace island life with bright blue skies, plenty of sandy beaches, the smell of fresh seafood and of course more lighthouses to photograph! For an additional 4 days and nights, we'll explore the island and photograph four of its iconic and historic beacons.

Lighthouses of Martha’s Vineyard β€” April 28-May 4, 2024

Monhegan Island

The fishing vessels. The hilltop lighthouse. The clapboard cottages. The spectacular dark skies. All 10 miles from shore on the quaint Monhegan Island.

National Parks at Night returns to Monhegan for a full five-night workshop on one of our favorite islands. Monhegan is a place that people go back to over and over again. It’s hard to stay away for long. We’ll explore this peaceful oasis entirely on foot, covering subjects such as the local lighthouse, the village, the waterfront cliffs and a nearly century-old shipwreck.

Monhegan Island β€” August 30-September 4, 2025

Puerto Rico

Discover the beauty and tranquility of the island of Puerto Rico, even more dazzling under pristine Caribbean skies.

From the bustling urban streets of San Juan to the serene coastal landscapes, you’ll capture the island’s diverse beauty under the moon and stars. Iconic lighthouses along the coast, bioluminescent bays aglow in the night, diverse nature preserves and the remnants of former plantations offer a rich canvas for your nocturnal photographic explorations. Days will be spent experiencing the vibrant culture and one-of-a-kind mix of West African, Caribbean, Spanish and mainland American cuisine.

Puerto Rico β€” March 17-25, 2024

Rust and Ruinism

Past, present and the beauty of decay. Peel back the past as we explore bygone American relics of the Midwest.

Rust and ruinism find their allure in the beauty of decay. From the period architecture of the Mansfield Penitentiary and the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum to the arrested deterioration of the mighty Carrie Furnaces, we’ll photograph some of the best urban decay in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Rust and Ruinism β€” June 23-28, 2024

Savannah in Black and White

One of the most charming, historic and photogenic cities in the U.S., glorious in black and white.

Founded in 1733, Savannah is one of America’s oldest cities and is steeped in history. From its Civil War forts and antebellum architecture to its cobblestone streets and city squares, this jewel of the south is a photographer's playground.

Savannah in Black and White β€” November 10-15, 2024

Voyager Series

As much as the U.S. is beautiful and dynamic, so is the rest of the world. We’re always on the lookout for beautiful landscapes and fascinating cultures to immerse ourselves in, especially in the dark. Over the next two years (we plan these trips a little further out), we’ll be heading to overseas destinations that range from northern European islands to northern Africa and more.

Denmark

Long days and pleasant twilights in Denmark’s cities and coastlines.

Twelve days and 11 nights of great experiences and more in a big adventure in a small Scandinavian country. We’ll spend time in small villages and along the beaches, and we’ll explore the long summer twilights with the country’s varied and iconic lighthouses. From city to country, shoreline to shoreline, you’ll see and eat your way through the world’s oldest monarchy.

Denmark β€” July 7-18, 2024

Easter Island

Be among the privileged few who get to hang with the moai under the stars.

Few places on earth are as mysterious or compelling as Easter Island. The giant stone figures known as moai oversee this remote island 2,200 miles off the coast of Chile. Most of Rapa Nui, as it’s known to the locals, is a national park. Not only is it hard to get to Easter Island, it is notoriously difficult to access the park after the sun goes down. But we will be taking a lucky group of fellow night photographers on this rare opportunity of spending an unforgettable week with the moai.

Easter Island β€” February 10-17, 2025

Faroe Islands

Explore and photograph the mystical Faroe Islands, in the dreamy North Atlantic waters of Scandanavia.

The Faroe Islands offer some of the most dramatic landscapes in the northern hemisphere. Faroe is an archipelago of 18 windswept islands between the Shetlands, Iceland and Norway. Mostly long and narrow, the islands rise steeply from the sea, with villages along the coastline wherever there is safe harbor. Many of the islands are connected by undersea tunnels, and villages on opposite ends of individual islands are connected by tunnels through the mountains.

Faroe Islands β€” May 11-20, 2024

Ireland: County Mayo

Explore the best of the west of Ireland on this 8-night tour of County Mayo.

This tour is based in Westport and Ballina, two charming towns of County Mayo, the gem of Ireland's west coast. From there we’ll make daily excursions to far-flung places such as Achill Island in the north and the edge of Connemara in County Galway to the south. Ruined abbeys, the castles of Mayo’s legendary Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley, and deserted-village timescapes all await.

Ireland: County Mayo β€” April 15-23, 2024

Lofoten Islands

The Lofoten Islands, a majestic mountain archipelago of dramatic landscapes, unspoiled beaches and winter wonderland.

Our favorite location to experience the auroras, which have been climbing to a solar maximum over the last few years. This will be a winter workshop focused on photographing the rugged snow-covered mountain islands, northern lights, pristine fisherman huts, and the untouched beauty of this remote and breathtaking region of the world. March is a perfect time to visit Lofotenβ€”the milder winter temperatures make the overall experience ideal for catching the auroras over a snow-globe winterscape.

Lofoten Islands β€” March 12-20, 2024

Morocco

Morocco’s mysteries will be revealed in this immersive 2-week exploration of the palaces, gardens, mountains, coastline and desert.

Majestic Morocco. Colorful spice markets, ancient earthen kasbahs and medinas, and a city painted blue are just a few of the mesmerizing locations we’ll explore. From the hustle and bustle of the markets to the starry skies of the Sahara and on to the Strait of Gibraltar, our trip will leave you with incredible memories (and photographs) of the people, places and food that have made Morocco such an exotic destination for so many years.

Morocco β€” November 10-24, 2025

Iceland: Westfjords

Puffins, herring factories and blueberries, oh my!

The northwest corner of Iceland is a dazzling and deeply indented coastline featuring about 30 fjords, each with different surprises awaiting discovery. We’ll visit the best place in Iceland to see puffins, spend 3 nights in a hotel that once housed herring workers, photograph waterfalls, swim in a geothermal swimming pool and wander some of the most magnificent landscapes you’ll ever see.

Iceland: Westfjords β€” September 7-13, 2024

Iceland: Westfjords Camping

Arctic foxes, waterfalls and aurorasβ€”oh my!

Immerse yourself even more fully into the remotest part of the remotest part of Iceland: the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve. We’ll camp in style during a fully catered experience in this sub-arctic wilderness. Days will be spent observing and photographing arctic foxes, as well as hiking through the valleys and up into the hills along the ubiquitous cascading waterfalls. There will be a night in Reykjavik with a welcome dinner, and a night on either end of the camping experience in Isafjordur, the largest town in the Westfjords.

Iceland: Westfjords Camping β€” August 31-September 7, 2024

Skills Series

All of the aforementioned workshops and tours focus a lot on exploration. Our Skills Series events focus on learning something specificβ€”still in an inspiring place, but we focus on a precise skill set. Next year in this category we’ll be teaching post-production on the beautiful shores of Miami.

Post-Processing Intensive: Miami

Master photography post-production with a week on the South Florida coast.

You’ve spent a lot of time building your camera skills and honing your photographic vision. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. Over 6 days in the heart of sunny Miami, we'll teach all the skills needed to use modern technology to finish our photos, and even to create images that were impossible only a few short years ago.

Post-Processing Intensive: Miami β€” November 11-16, 2024

A Few Notes

Before we get into the specifics of the workshops, we’d like to share a few ideas.

How are Some Already Sold Out?

As a special thank you to those who attend our workshops, who sign up for our waitlist and who subscribe to our email list, every year we announce our itinerary to those three groups before β€œgoing public.”

This year, as usual, our community has committed very strongly to many of the workshops. (Our gratitude is infinite.) Because of that, nine of our new workshops and tours sold out during the past week. Additionally, two other events were announced last year and sold out some time ago.

Still, as of press time, 15 of our Season 9 workshops and tours still have seats left, so it’s easy to join us in amazing places such as Gateway National Park and Northern Route 66, Morocco, the Faroe Islands, and more!

If you really want to go to one of those other places with us …

We Can’t say it Enough: Use the Waitlist

Openings happen for almost every workshop, and those spots always get offered to the waitlist first. If you see something you really want to attend and there are no tickets now, we urge you to sign up for the waitlist today.

Seize the Night in Season 9

As we wind down our 2023 itinerary, we’re looking forward to a winter break from travel, followed by an epic Season 9 full of adventures and stars.

Where will you be joining us? Wherever the destination, we’re looking forward to seizing the night with you soon.

Matt Hill is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. See more about his photography, art, workshops and writing at MattHillArt.com. Follow Matt on Twitter Instagram Facebook.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

Coming to Kanab? β€” Announcing the 2023 Nightscaper Photo Conference!

Back in February we announced that we acquired the Nightscaper Photo Conference. We were beyond excited, but a few months later we were beyond disappointed to have to postpone the 2022 event.

Now, however, we are back to the positive end of that excitement spectrum, as we get to announce the 2023 Nightscaper Photo Conference!

If you’re making plans for your 2023 spring Milky Way season, then include our conference in your schedule and level up your astro-landscape night photography skills. The 2023 conference will be held in the heart of the new moon week, May 18-21.

You’ll join other passionate photographers, scientists and inspirational speakers in Kanab, Utah. The daytime conference leaves plenty of room for going out at night with speakers, as well as with friends new and old. Several speakers will also be offering local workshops before and after the conference, so you can put together a pretty awesome night photography experience in one of the best places in the world for doing so.

The Nightscaper conference goes on for 4 days, starting each day in late morning to accommodate those who were out shooting the night before. Daily lunches are included, as well as one dinner.

Kanab, Utah. Β© 2022 Lance Keimig. Nikon D780 with a with a Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 lens at 24mm. Stiched pano, frames shot at 15 seconds, f/3.2, ISO 12800.

Tickets

Tickets are on sale now. We are offering Conference (in-person) + Replays tickets for those who can travel or Replays-only for those who cannot travel but still want all that education and inspiration. Right now both are offered as limited-time Early Bird tickets, so grab yours at a discounted rate while you can!

Speakers

The current speaker lineup includes:

  • Mike Shaw

  • Jess Santos

  • Joshua Snow

  • Bettymaya Foott

  • Dr. Kah-Wai Lin

  • MaryBeth Niczenski

  • Forest Chaput de Sanintonge

  • Aaron King

  • Dr. Bryony Richards

  • Dan Zafra

  • Kristine Richer

  • Erik Kuna

  • Paul Zizka

  • Adam Woodworth

  • our team from National Parks at Night

  • and more speakers to be announced in the coming months

Over the 4 days the speakers will present more than 40 1-hour classes and four discussion panels. There will be plenty of time and space to network with the speakers and other attendees.

Follow Us for News

More information is coming, so stay tuned by following us on the Nightscaper Conference social media accounts:

Also, be sure to sign up for the email list to receive all conference updates right in your inbox.

Finally, join the Facebook group to share your night photos and to chat all things night photography.

Action Time

Now is the perfect time to register for the Nightscaper Conference. Save money by signing up for an Early Bird ticket.

We look forward to seeing you in Kanab next year!

Register today at nightscaper.com.

Matt Hill is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. See more about his photography, art, workshops and writing at MattHillArt.com. Follow Matt on Twitter Instagram Facebook.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

How I Got the Shot: Grosvenor Arch Milky Way Pano

Grosvenor Arch Milky Way Pano. Nikon Z 6II with an Irix 15mm f/2.4 Firefly lens and FTZ Adapter, mounted on a Novoflex VR-System Slim Panorama System, lit with two Luxli Fiddle LED panels. Eight frames shot at 15 seconds, f/3.2, ISO 12,800 and stitched in PTGUI Pro.

The Location

One standout feature among many in the nearly 2 million acres of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is Grosvenor Arch.

This hulking double sandstone arch stands 150 feet above ground. Named in honor of Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (1875-1966), the first full-time editor of National Geographic magazine and husband of Elise May Bell, daughter of Alexander Graham Bell. Gilbert is credited with transforming the much-too-scholarly National Geographic into the illustrated and superb publication many of us have enjoyed for decades.

Figure 1. Grosvenor Arch sits in the backcountry of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is gigantic. Click here to download a map of the area. Satellite imagery courtesy of Google Earth.

Photographers from the National Geographic Society named the arch after Grosvenor during a 1949 expedition, as they believed he β€œhad done more than any other person to arouse public interest in geography.” So this was a fitting subject for Gabe Biderman and I to stop at during our 3-week tour of California, Utah and Arizona in 2021.

From our base in Kanab, Utah, Gabe and I made a day and night of driving north and past the entrance to Bryce Canyon (gasp!) and onward to Kodachrome Basin State Park for sunset (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Nikon Z 6 with a Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D lens, mounted on a Novoflex VR-System Slim Panorama System. Seventeen frames shot at 1/60, f/8, ISO 100 and stitched in PTGUI Pro.

A fun detour! But our real goal for the night lay farther down the primitive, hardpack Cottonwood-Canyon Road.

Upon arrival, we noted that 1) only one other car was present and the owner was either sleeping or hiking, and 2) there was a bathroom. Yay! The ample parking and paved walkway were welcoming after some of the back-trail adventures we’d had.

While scouting (Figure 3), I knew that my ultimate goal was the rise of the Milky Way core and the resulting arch connecting with the landform. Gabe and I studied the scene and planned the compositions. I was really into making panoramas during that trip (and still am!).

Figure 3. Scouting with PhotoPills.

The Pre-Shoot Shoot

As darkness drew upon us, we still had a long time to go before the galactic core appeared. Not ones to waste a good dark sky, we shot plenty while waiting.

We started with deploying some Low-level Landscape Lighting (LLL). Gabe hiked down the road a bit and then a little into the field to set up a Luxli Fiddle LED panel. Being over one-third of a mile from the arch, Gabe turned it on at 30 percent brightness. The result was a crisp, directional light source that defined the most important shapes and textures of the eroding rock formation.

We set up 1.5-hour star trail stack (Figure 4) and dove hungrily into our sandwiches.

Figure 4. Nikon Z 6II with a Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens at 34mm. Sky: 31 frames shot at 4 minutes, f/2.8, ISO 800 and stacked in Photoshop; foreground shot at 8 minutes, f/4, ISO 800.

After sitting back and enjoying the stars for a bit, we moved closer to the arch to shoot some star-point stacks, while the clock crept ever closer to the triumphant rise of the galactic center.

During that time I made this composite image with a 15-image star point sequence and a longer base image for the landscape (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Nikon Z 6II with a Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D lens. Sky: 15 frames shots at 10 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 12,800 and stacked in Starry Landscape Stacker. Foreground: 8 minutes, f/4, ISO 800. Blended in Photoshop.

Reviewing those images in the field, I noticed that the ground was dark in the composition. As natural as that was, Gabe and I agreed to draw out some more definition in the trees closest to us. We set up much closer to the foot of the arch to put even more of it above the horizon. Having that air around the formation really brought out the space between the eroded, airy portions, not to mention set the stage for a landing point when the Milky Way would appear.

The Shoot

It was dark. Really dark. Bortle Class 1 dark (Figure 6). So our short exposures were shot at ISO 12,800, and for star points we were using NPF settings (see below), which made the exposure even more challenging.

Figure 6. Bortle Class 1 info for the Grosvenor Arch area. Source: lightpollutionmap.info.

As we began setting up the panorama sweep, we set another Luxli Fiddle in the two trees in front of us. The concept was to cast shadows toward our lenses and radiating outward toward the arch. This gave the otherwise dull and dark trees shape and texture.

I placed and leveled my Novoflex TrioPod Pro75, then mounted my VR-System Slim Multi-Row Panorama System. This setup gives me reliable and repeatable rotations. Repeatability was necessary because I planned to execute the pano sweep three times with different settings. (Though I did end up getting it in one passβ€”lucky!)

I chose the Irix 15mm lens for this shot. NPF exposure duration for that lens on my Nikon Z 6 is 18.04 seconds for Default and 9.02 seconds for Accurate (Figure 7). (See the post β€œNPF: The New Rule for Shooting the Sharpest Stars in the Sky” for further information.) I was already at ISO 12,800 and didn’t want to push further. I opted for an educated guess of 15 seconds to drink in as much light as I could. I felt comfortable leaning toward letting in more light in the near-darkness versus a β€œcorrect” exposure with little information to post-process.

Figure 7.

After test shots, I waited for the Milky Way to be in the ideal position, and then I committed and shot the sequence. Job done! Well … almost.

The Processing

In Lightroom Classic, I first made basic local adjustments. Then I processed one of the image sets (Figure 8) by adding a mask for the sky using the new AI-assisted Masking tool. I also brushed in the negative space under the arch and cleaned up some of the land/sky mask using the Subtract tool. I adjusted to taste for an ideal sky.

Figure 8.

Then I created another mask using Select Sky (Figure 9), and I inverted that to mask the landscape instead. Again I cooked to taste, being extra careful not to over-boost the shadows and accentuate the noise in them.

I also got rid of sky junk, of which I found a surprising amount (Figure 10).

Figure 9.

Figure 10.

Once I got my adjustments down, I synchronized them across all the images. (Note: When you have one of the new AI-created masks and you sync it across images, you have to go in and recalculate each of them. Adobe, are you listening?)

After confirming that each of the eight pano images was processed correctly, I used the Export to PTGUI menu command and chose TIFFs with Lightroom Adjustments.

In PTGUI Pro, I moved through many of the different projections, looking for one that provided an ideal, natural perspective.

Figure 11.

Figure 12.

I ended up with Equirectangular (Figure 11) and reduced the field of view to 270 degrees (Figure 12). A final step in PTGUI was to drag in crop lines from each edge for a final composition (Figure 13).

Figure 13.

I exported from PTGUI to the same folder as the raw files, then synchronized the folder in Lightroom Classic to get that final image back into my catalog. Then I studied the image one last time. I noticed the trees in the foreground got bright again, despite careful processing before stitching, so I brushed in a local exposure reduction (Figure 14).

Figure 14.

Then it was time to make a final crop. I feel that the classic 3:1 ratio is perfect for this photo (Figure 15). It balances all the important elements in the scene.

Figure 15.

Wrapping Up

I find the final image (Figure 16) very true to the planning and preparation that went into this.

Figure 16. Nikon Z 6II with an Irix 15mm f/2.4 Firefly lens and FTZ Adapter, mounted on a Novoflex VR-System Slim Panorama System, lit with two Luxli Fiddle LED panels. Eight frames shot at 15 seconds, f/3.2, ISO 12,800 and stitched in PTGUI Pro.

It always pays to know when your celestial objects are going to be in the right place. PhotoPills was crucial in planning this from the hotel in Kanab.

What’s also essential is to look at a scene and have a bunch of other β€œtools in your toolbelt.” In this case, I was laser-focused on making a pano with the Milky Way arch, but it wasn’t the only photo I made that night. I made star trails, star point stacks and even a vertorama (not included here).

Making other photos while waiting on your dream image is the right way to warm up and to work out the kinks in any scene.

I hope you enjoyed coming along with me to one of the jewels in the crown of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Seize the night!

Further Learning

If you want to learn more about planning with PhotoPills, sign up for the waitlist for our PhotoPills Bootcamp: Bryce Canyon and be sure to get on our mailing list, as we’re sure to offer more PhotoPills workshops in the future.

If you want to shoot scenes like this under the amazing dark skies of the Kanab area, another outstanding opportunity to learn more about astro-landscape photography is by joining the outstanding group of instructors at the 2022 Nightscaper Conference April 26-29. Limited early bird tickets are available now.

Just for fun.

Matt Hill is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. See more about his photography, art, workshops and writing at MattHillArt.com. Follow Matt on Twitter Instagram Facebook.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

Growing the Community: We Are Now Running the Nightscaper Conference

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, or a regular anything with us, then you know how important we consider community to be. We treasure our community hereβ€”we feel so fortunate for this great group of folks bound together by our common love of going outside at night with cameras. And we love how this community has grown since it began back in 2015.

Well, that community is about to grow even more. We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have acquired the Nightscaper Photo Conference.

This amazing event was created a few years ago by the venerable Royce Bair, the original nightscaper, who we have had the pleasure of collaborating with behind the scenes since early 2021. The first conference was held in 2019, and it quickly became an admired common ground and gathering spot not just for night photographers, but also for scientists, artists and activists who care about night skies.

We have of course been very aware of the Nightscaper Conference and community for quite some time, and have long admired and respected the spirit of everyone involved, from Royce and his staff to all the photographers and others who are so passionate about exploring dark skies. We look forward to celebrating and carrying on that spirit.

Why are we Doing This?

When Royce approached us last year with this idea, it was a match made in heaven. Or perhaps the cosmos aligned. Royce is looking to spend more time with his family, and we’re always looking for ways to grow our community and to work with even more people who love the night. So this arrangement was truly beneficial for everyone. We eagerly discussed it and agreed to accept his offer.

Gabe and I attended the 2021 Nightscaper Conference and absolutely fell in love with the community and the event. The spirit and passion of everyone we met fits so well with everything we do and with everyone we already know and love, and at the same time it brings a unique energy into the fold.

We are eager to carry forward the dedication and care that Royce put into organizing and leading the first two Nightscaper Conferences. For our part, we are bringing to bear all our skills and care to make the event even more of something to remember every year.

The Conference

This in-person conference is happening in Kanab, Utahβ€”a hub with access to dark skies and stunning landscapes in southern Utah and northern Arizona.

We know that many of you have been itching for a reason to get out and get shooting. This is a great opportunity to scratch that itch!

White Pocket, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Nikon Z 6II with a Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D lens, light painted with two Luxli Fiddle LED panels. 13 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 12,800; 15 frames processed in Starry Landscape Stacker and stitched in PTGUI.

What’s New for the 2022 Conference?

The event is now 4 days instead of 3β€”April 26 to 29. We believe that having more time to spend in sessions and networking will give attendees an even richer experience.

Each session will be 1 hour long, to fully explore a topic.

We are planning to have 25 speakers this year, and 20 of them will be giving two sessions each, further allowing topics to be even more fully expressed.

The five organizers from National Parks at Night will be presenting one session each.

There will be four panel discussions to explore important topics to the community. Topic ideas are welcome and we’ll be soliciting those within the Facebook community and Instagram, so be sure to follow both.

We are adding elective image review sessions on the second, third and fourth mornings. You will be able to sign up for image reviews with participating speakers, for a reasonable fee. Further information about this will be released privately in the coming weeks to conference registrants.

Each in-person registrant will receive a custom-printed conference ring-spun shirt with glow-in-the-dark ink! You’ll be able to pick this up at the conference registration booth. And we may even make sweatshirts for pre-order!

This conference, as mentioned before, will be live and in-person in Kanab. Nestled along the southern border of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Kanab is also an amazing launching pad for adventures to Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef and Grand Canyon national parks, and much, much more.

Grosvenor Arch, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Nikon Z 6 with a Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D lens, light painted with two Luxli Fiddle LED panels. 8 stacked images shot at 4 minutes, f/4, ISO 1600.

Each session will be recorded and posted online for paid registrants to watch and re-watch at their leisure for a full year. We will also offer Replays-Only for folks who can’t make it to Kanab this April.

There will not be a simulcast livestream, as we believe that focusing on the in-person experience and community is important, and although the technology to stream is available, it’s better to record and post it. However, there will be some vital speakers who cannot travel and we will be recording their presentations. We plan to simulcast those recorded sessions online so the Replays-Only ticket-holders can watch something during the conference dates.

What Will be the Same?

Even if you attended last year, there are lots of reasons to come again.

If you are already in love with the Nightscaper Conference, you’ll be happy to know that we have no interest in trying to reinvent this event. We love it the way it is. The focus on sharing, listening, skills, techniques, data and community will all be the same. We want to encourage everyone to gather to exchange ideas, to engage in spirited discussions and to go out shooting together.

Some speakers are returning, and some new voices will be presenting. See the lineup on the Speakers page of the website.

We will provide all in-person registrants with lunch each day of the conference and dinner the first evening. All other meals are your responsibility. Fortunately, Kanab has lots of wonderful places to eat!

We are using Sched to organize the sessions and physical locations. Expect this to be released closer to the conference. It will include an iOS and Android app for up-to-date info.

Tickets

The total number of in-person tickets is limited to 300 so we can all be as safe as Covid protocols can allow.

  • There is a limited number of in-person early bird tickets that are first come, first served: 100 at $499 each.

  • When these are gone, the remaining tickets will sell for $699 each.

For those of you who cannot travel, we are offering Replay-Only tickets to watch all sessions streaming for 1 year after the conference.

  • There will be early bird Replay-Only tickets available on a first come, first served basis: 150 at $299 each.

  • When those sell out, Replay-Only will be available for $349.

How do You Stay Involved?

Join us at one of the most inspiring dark sky locations in the United States. Meet other night-minded creatives and get the creative juices flowing in the classroom, as well as go out on each night to explore the dark skies and surreal landscapes of the Kanab region.

Please share the 2022 Nightscaper Conference with your friends, other astro-landscape and deep-sky photographers, and those who want to jump-start their skills. We also encourage you to share it with folks who are just getting into the craft.

Let’s come together as one night photography community to explore ideas, to explore this beautiful region, and to fall in love with the night again.

Social Media

Royce will continue to run his Instagram account @roycebairphoto, where he shares photos tagged #nightscaper from the Facebook group and elsewhere on Instagram (links below).

National Parks at Night is taking over the Nightscaper Conference Instagram account @nightscaperconference.

We will also be assuming ownership of the Nightscaper Facebook group, but have no plans to change anything, as the moderators of that group are amazing, dedicated and passionate. We love what they do and look forward to working alongside them.

Follow our Instagram.

Join our Facebook group.

Tickets are on sale now. Learn more at nightscaper.com.

Matt Hill is a partner and workshop leader with National Parks at Night. See more about his photography, art, workshops and writing at MattHillArt.com. Follow Matt on Twitter Instagram Facebook.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT