Transportation
& Itinerary
Unlike most of our guided expeditions where lodging is provided as part of the workshop fee, being centrally located in Sedona gives participants the opportunity to book their own lodging at a variety of luxury resorts. We will provide transportation for those who desire it and would like to eschew a car rental for five days, but you also have the option to drive yourself. Our workshop fee is less and you have the freedom to choose your own accommodations. You can even camp out if that works for you!!
Day 1 - Thursday, August 5
We’ll meet at 1PM to introduce ourselves, discuss individual participants’ workshop goals and briefly outline our daily schedule, safety issues and group dynamics. Kim & Derek will give a multi-media presentation on the variety of locations we’ll be shooting and we’ll begin our workshop-long discussion of composition and creativity. We’ll go over the basics of the technical aspects of shooting like a professional landscape photographer and outline our approach to instruction.
At 4PM, we will proceed to our sunset shoot location to be determined based on weather and lighting conditions. With sunset at 7:45PM, we’ll most likely work until 8PM.
Day
2 - Friday, August 6
We will begin our day at 4:45AM shooting the delightful waterfalls, reflecting pools, and sandstone cliffs of Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon. We’ll work on the basics of field photography—composition, focus & exposure—with emphasis on long exposures of flowing water as we take advantage of the magnificent early morning reflected light that characterizes this section of Oak Creek. After our morning shoot we will take a break at Indian Gardens for a morning snack before heading up for a Sedona vista shoot at Merry-Go-Round Rock on Schnebly Hill.
Around 11AM we will break for lunch until around 2PM when we will begin participant portfolio critiques. We’ll review the photographs that participants have brought from their portfolio and critique them on composition, exposure, focus, lighting and creativity. Critiques will probably last 2-3 hours when we will go to our sunset shoot which we will be decided based on conditions.
Day 3 - Saturday, August 7
Another early day, starting at 4:45AM, we will be heading into Oak Creek Canyon to capture the beautiful reflective light of early morning. We will shoot for about 3 hours before taking a break for breakfast in Sedona. Following breakfast the digital darkroom portion of the workshop will begin with a discussion on using Lightroom for file organization, archiving and RAW workflow.
After lunch, we will continue to work in the digital darkroom with Photoshop. We’ll outline the digital workflow process through to the final edits focusing on using non-destructive, layer-based adjustments in Photoshop. After working through most of the afternoon, we will head up to Jerome and the ghost town & fabulously rusted trucks, cars & people of Gold King Mine for more field work.
Day 4 - Sunday, August 8
Our morning will begin again at 4:45 AM with a morning shoot that will be determined based on conditions, followed by a short break for breakfast.
After breakfast we will continue our digital darkroom work by processing participants’ photographs from the workshop using Lightroom & Photoshop. We’ll go through the entire workflow process from beginning to end, preparing each photograph for the following day’s printing session.
We’ll break for Lunch around 11AM and reconvene to continue processing photographs until it is time for our sunset shoot.
Day 5 - Monday, August 9
Our day will start the same with a sunrise shoot with a break for breakfast. Following breakfast, we will discuss the printing process and print your favorite photograph from the workshop.
We’ll break for lunch around noon. At this time participants have a couple options; depart for home, hang out in Sedona or join us for a bonus sunset shoot at Red Rock Crossing.
What's
Included (and what's not!)
Unlike
most of our guided expeditions where lodging is provided
as part of the price, this workshop gives participants the
opportunity to book their own lodging at a variety of world-class
Sedona resorts. The workshop fees reflect this. We will,
of course, provide transportation for those who desire it
and would like to eschew a car rental for three days, but
you'll also have the option to drive yourself.
We do
offer for all our early arriving & late-staying guests the
option of an additional photo shoot at Sedona's legendary Red
Rock Crossing. It's wonderfully close to town and, with the
right conditions, offers an incredible photo opportunity for
a relatively easy sunset shoot. We'd love it if you'd take advantage!!
While
some early morning and mid-day snacks (yogurt, breakfast bars,
trail mix, etc) and water will be provided to tide you over
on our long days, all formal meals and drinks are the responsibility
of participants.
We think
the optimal way to travel to Sedona for our workshops is to
utilize the Sedona-Phoenix
Shuttle, especially for those wishing to save
on car rentals. It's inexpensive, convenient, fast, but it's
also not included in the workshop price!!
Baggage & Camera Gear (Very
Important!)
On most
trips, we accommodate participants with three pieces of luggage,
specifically one sturdy camera backpack (with tripod carrier!),
a second pack for computers, chargers, extra batteries, lenses,
etc, and one large duffel bag ( maximum size, no exceptions:
36"L x 20"W x 20"H) or a similarly-sized suitcase.
Room for gear is limited in our 4x4 SUVs & you will be held
responsible for adhering to these baggage requirements. Should
you exceed these requirements, you will have to make your own
arrangements in Sedona to store your extra gear.
Participant's Physical Fitness
Requirements
As there
is always an element of risk in any adventure associated with
the outdoors, participants must be physically fit and capable
of participating in outdoor photography in field locations and
aware of any associated risks created by field locations and
weather. Workshop instructors will take considerable time to
familiarize participants with safety precautions, almost to
a fault. It will be the responsibility of each participant to
listen and follow precautions carefully. Your safety is our
#1 priority and if necessary insuring your safety will take
precedence over ruffled feathers!!
All participants
are required to provide on our registration
form current and accurate medical information.
Where applicable, participants will be required to provide medical
release forms from their supervising physicians to participate
in the outdoor physical activities associated with workshop
photography.
Policies
Southwest Perspectives Photographic Workshops, Derek von Briesen, Kim Hoshal, all guides, and cooperating agents aim to provide every participant a safe, educational, and enjoyable experience. We act solely as agents for you regarding accommodations, special activities, and travel, by any means, and assume no liability for any act, error, omission, injury, loss, delay, mishap, or damage to persons or property arising from any cause during the course of the workshop or in transit thereto.
We can accept no responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in the services to be provided. We reserve the right to change our arrangements should conditions necessitate, or to cancel any aspect of the workshop due to exceptional circumstances.
In the event that we deem it necessary to cancel the workshop we will provide a full refund which the participant(s) acknowledges as full and final settlement. In the event of a workshop cancellation airline tickets, car rentals and hotel reservations associated with participation in this workshop will not be refunded. We recommend you purchase refundable airline tickets and make refundable car and hotel reservations. We strongly advise purchasing some form of trip insurance. We also recommend you carry travel and camera equipment insurance.
At the time of registration, a 50% deposit is required. Payment in full must be made thirty days prior to the workshop. In the event that a participant cancels their workshop reservation, the cancellation must be at least sixty days prior to the workshop to receive a full refund. Cancellations less than sixty days prior to the workshop will be subject to $100 lost booking fee.
As there is always an element of risk in any adventure associated with the outdoors, participants must read the liability release form carefully. Participant's signed/dated release will certify that said participant is physically fit and capable of participating in outdoor photography exercises in field locations, and is fully and completely aware of any associated risks created by field locations and weather.
Meeting times, meeting places and itinerary are subject to changes dictated by the weather, the road conditions and other imponderable variables that are part of doing landscape photography. We will be carrying cell phones but reception is not always possible. You are responsible for being at the meeting place at the designated time and have your photographic & camping equipment with you.
