Location: Grand Marais, Minnesota

Dates: Not Currently Scheduled

Prerequisite: You must have taken one of my other night sky courses or have equivalent experience.

Cost: Not Currently Scheduled

This event is in cooperation with and under a Special Use Permit from  U.S.  Forest Service, Gunflint Ranger District.

Do you want to capture stunning images of the night sky with a bright foreground? Join me for a five-night workshop where you will learn how to blend night sky images and long-exposure ground images to create amazing photos of the stars.

This workshop is for intermediate and advanced photographers who have some experience with night photography. You’ll need to know how to use manual mode, focus in the dark, and adjust exposure for different conditions.

During this workshop, you will learn:

• How to photograph the night sky for stacking and blending
• How to photograph a bright foreground with the proper focus
• How to blend foreground and sky images
• How to reduce noise
• How to stack star images
• How to use low level lighting

We will visit some of the best locations for night photography in the area, and practice shooting under different moon phases and weather conditions. You will also get feedback and tips on your images and learn how to edit them in Photoshop.

Don’t miss this opportunity to take your night photography skills to the next level. Sign up today and get ready for a dark sky adventure!

This workshop includes a FREE copy of my Adobe Lightroom Night Sky Presets. I use these presets to process my own Milky Way photos.

Note: If we have clouds, we will still be outside learning techniques for low level landscape lighting to subtly light the landscape to enhance your Milky Way foregrounds — this is not light painting. If we have a thunderstorm, we will attempt to capture lightning.

Itinerary

The schedule is tentative and may change based on conditions. The start times may vary based on sunset time. Sunset is 7:14pm. I’ll email an updated schedule to you about two weeks before the workshop.

Locations: We may repeat some locations that I use on my Northern Night Sky Workshop and my Night Skies of the Gunflint Trail Photo Workshop. While there may be a few repeats, there will be new locations as well.

Day 1:

• 1pm to 4pm: Classroom session to learn about the basic technique for two image blends.
• 4pm to 7pm: Break for dinner
• 7pm to late: Field session to practice techniques from the classroom session.

Day 2:

• 6pm to 8pm: Classroom session to learn about editing images from the night before. Topics: Editing in Lightroom, noise reduction, matching exposures, and blending in Photoshop using masks, and refining masks.
• 8pm to late: Field session to practice techniques from the classroom sessions. We will cover adding in low-level lighting to make your foreground images even better.

Day 3:

• 1pm to 2:30pm: Image review. Email me up to three images for review. Images should be 1500 pixels on the long edge and jpegs.
• 3pm to 5pm: Classroom session on foreground selection and multiple night sky and dark frame images for stacking versus a single image with noise reduction.
• 8:30pm to late: Field session to practice techniques from the classroom sessions.

Day 4: 

• 6pm to 8pm: Classroom for processing demo on stacked images or we skip it and shoot sunset instead.
• 8pm to late: Shooting images in whatever style you like.

Day 5: 

• 3pm to 5pm: Image review. Email me up to five images for review. Images should be 1500 pixels on the long edge and jpegs.
• 5pm to 8pm: Dinner break or optional sunset
• 8pm to Midnight: Shooting night sky images.

Additional Information

Maximum number of participants: 10

Experience Level: This workshop is for all levels of photographers and works best for photographers using digital cameras.

Activity level: Expect most of the destination to be near the cars. The longest hike may be up to one mile depending on the parking situation. We will be out late most nights.

What’s included in the workshop fee: Instruction fee and guiding.

What’s not included in the workshop fee: Transportation. Carpooling is required. We will use an application to help coordinate carpools before the workshop. Lodging. Meals. Trip insurance. Park entrance fees.

Lodging partner: After you register, I’ll send you information on how you can register for the room block. The hotel is in Grand Marais, MN

Check-in: September 4

Check-out: September 9

Getting there: Grand Marais, Minnesota is 110 miles north of Duluth, Minnesota on Highway 61. Duluth boasts a small international airport. It’s 260 miles north of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has an international airport that also acts as a regional hub. Grand Marais is 128 kilometers south of Thunder Bay, Ontario on Highway 61. Thunder Bay has a small airport. Car rentals are available at the airports.

Weather: The average temps for 54°F for lows and 71°F for highs. You should expect colder temps inland. Temps in the 40s are not unusual.

Equipment list: After registration, you will receive a full equipment list and participant package. The package will discuss equipment options, photography techniques and more.

Filters: No filters are needed, but Singh-Ray makes the Astro Vision Filter which reduces light pollution. It’s not needed for the workshop, but it might be helpful if you photograph an area with more light pollution. More information is in the participant package.  You get a discount when buying direct and using the code “hansel10”.

Registration and Cancellation Policies

Please, read the Registration and Cancellation Policies at the link. There are no exceptions to the policy.