Mastering the Night At Mono Lake and Bodie- July 1-4, 2012

Mastering The Night: Advanced Night Photography and Light Painting

with Lance Keimig and Scott Martin

Dates: July 1-4, 2012
Location: California’s Eastern Sierra
Cost: $1250 plus accommodations, alumni discount available

The Night Skye and Onsight  invite you to Mono Lake in California’s Eastern Sierra this July.  As always, there will be night photography at Mono Lake, Tioga Pass, and Bodie Ghost Town.

This remote location is a favorite among photographers for its unique geological formations. Mono Lake’s signature monolithic rock structures that extend upward from the lake are ideal for night photography. Other photographic locations may include the dramatic granite moonscapes of Tioga Pass in Yosemite, the Travertine Hot Springs, the town of Bridgeport, and the world famous Bodie Ghost Town. This year we’re going to get into some advanced night photography topics and really take a close look at light painting and mutli-hour star trail image stacking. Techniques and inspiration will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice. We will all work closely together, sharing our knowledge and experience.

The Workshop

The workshop will cover advanced digital night photography techniques and is intended for people who have previous experience with digital night photography. If you are new to night photography, please contact us to see if this workshop would be appropriate for you. If there is enough interest, we may offer a introductory pre-workshop session for newbies on June 30. Topics covered will include optimizing exposure for RAW capture and development with Lightroom 4, light painting and light drawing, and image stacking combined with light painting to create truly spectacular images.

Getting There

The Eastern Sierra is isolated. The closest major airport is Reno, NV- 140 miles away. Driving from Reno is about 2 1/2 hours. San Francisco is about a 5-6 hour drive through Yosemite National Park, and Los Angeles is about 6 hours away by car. It’s well worth the effort to get there. If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car from Reno or the Bay Area, let us know, and we will try to connect you with someone.

Accommodations

Workshop participants stay at nearby resorts, hotels or campgrounds in or near Lee Vining. We strongly recommend Murphey’s Motel in Lee Vining. Budget minded travelers can camp in one of numerous nearby campgrounds, or stay in town at the El Mono Motel. Links to other hotels in town, as well as general information about the area can be found at the Mono Lake website. Plan to arrive on the evening of June 30, and checking out on July 5, or later if you want more time to explore the area. There’s plenty to see and do. The program begins on the 1st at 11 a.m., and ends late at night on the 4th. Participants are responsible for booking their own accomodations. We have reserved rooms in the back at Murpheys for the workshop. You should request one of the rooms reserved for the workshop when you register, or reserve a something independently as soon as you confirm your spot in the workshop.

Meals

Morning coffee is at the wonderful Latte Da Cafe at the El Mono Motel. They serve up homemade muffins and strong coffee to get us off on the right foot each day. If you need a bigger breakfast, there’s always Nicely’s, an old fashioned coffee shop. There are a couple of markets in Lee Vining if you prefer to picnic, but most people eat at the Whoa Nelly Cafe at the The Tioga Gas Mart in Lee Vining. Sounds strange, but this place serves excellent food- everything from omelets, gourmet pizza, and barbecue, to fish tacos, seared tuna, grilled Kansas City skirt steak ceasar, and herb crusted pork loin! The Mono Inn reopened in 2011 after closing several years ago, and the food and service are great, along with a fantastic view looking out over Mono Lake.

Cost

The cost of this workshop is $1250. If you have taken a workshop with Scott or Lance in the last two years, contact us for an alumni discount. There has been a substantial increase in the cost of permits for the locations we use in recent years, and unfortunately, we have to pass most of that on to our workshop participants. We still believe that the workshop is a good value for four days and nights with two experienced instructors, acknowledged as experts in the field.

Once you secure your spot by paying a $300 deposit for the workshop, you will be contacted with detailed information about the workshop. Refunds, less a $50 cancellation fee to cover expenses are available until the payment due in full date. You can make a deposit at any time, but space is available on a first come basis. Payment is due in full by April 30, 2012. You can still sign up after May 1 if there is space available, but you need to pay in full at that time. If you need to cancel after April 30, 2021, you will be refunded the amount you paid, less your deposit. If the program is cancelled for any reason, you will receive a full refund. We look forward to seeing you at Mono Lake!

About the Instructors

Lance Keimig is best known for night photography of the built environment. His book, Night Photography- Finding Your Way In The Dark was published by Focal Press in August of 2010, is in its third US printing, and has been translated into five languages. Keimig is the curator of Darkness, Darkness, a traveling exhibit of Night Photography and and was the curator of the Three Columns Gallery at Harvard University from 2005 to 2011. He has taught at the New England School of Photography in Boston since 2000, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, for the Texas Photographic Society, and the Houston Center for Photography. Keimig founded the Mono Lake Photo Workshops in 2003, and is also a cofounder of The Nocturnes Night Photography Workshops in San Francisco. Since 2001, Keimig has led annual photo tours to Ireland and Scotland.

Scott Martin is the owner of Onsight, which is a capture-to-print training and consulting business that helps digital imaging professionals optimize their workflows for quality and efficiency. Scott works on location with photographers, pro labs, artists, designers, prepress professionals and software developers perfecting the techniques and color management needed for top notch work. Scott holds the first ever known degree in Digital Photographic Imaging, is an Adobe Certified Photoshop Expert, and serves on the board of the Texas Photographic Society. His grand format fine art prints are shown in galleries and included in many public and private collections. Scott is the technical editor and was a major contributor to Lance’s book. He has been teaching photography workshops for over 15 years and this will be his 5th workshop at Mono Lake with Lance.


All images ©2012 Scott Martin and Lance Keimig