echoes of the ancients
astro + photography + Arhceology adventure tour
Often cited as an AI photo because extra phalanges is a common trait of fake AI renditions… But this is not fake, there are actually tons of petroglpyhs in the Americas that have extra fingers! Maybe these artist having “polydactylism” meant they were divinely elected by their cultures to tell stories in stone, maybe the original artist’s had a good sense of humor, or maybe this is a reference to the ancient stories of 6 fingered giants similar to the Nephilim or fallen angels. We really don’t know!
echoes of the ancients
November 5th -9th in New Mexico
Join us for 3 days and 3 nights of astrophotography adventures as we immerse ourselves into the backcountry canyon country of Arizona! We do a mix of hotels and camping, one foot in comfort and one foot immersed in adventure as we 4×4 you out to spectacular backcountry canyon vistas where we set up camp, make you dinner, and teach you the art of night photography with world class views and dark night skies with 2 astrophotography experts teaching you.
The arid climate, high elevation, and epic geology makes this area an unparalleled night photography destination. We are the only night photography workshop with permission to camp overnight and teach you astrophotography at Coal Mine Canyon, giving us the best and easiest access to the best phases of light and starry alignments.
Above is an image taken in the Spring at Coal Mine Canyon, where we have exclusive access to camp at overnight! This Fall we will capture the Winter Milky Way and Orion over it with front row camping (hotel accommodations available) experience to the best phases of light and star alignments.
logistics
START: Friday October 2nd at 5pm in Page, Arizona
FINISH: Wednesday October 7th at 8am in Tuba City, Arizona (90 minutes South of Page)
If you fly in and out of Page, Arizona on the 2nd and 7th, we can handle all transportation for the duration of the trip, incuding airport pick up and drop off.
lodging
We are staying in hotels for 3 of the nights and camping for 2 nights- there are hotel alternatives during the last camping night but the first camping night is mandatory as we will be 4×4ing you deep to a spectacular backcountry camping sight where we will shoot at! All camping and food provided for you. The last night we camp at Coal Mine Canyon, and exclusive permission as we are close friends with the Navajo families who live there. You can get a hotel and commute if you prefer a bit more comfort, it is about 30 minutes from Tuba City where there are good hotels.
difficulty and group size
This astrophotography trip is great for all level of astrophotographers and adventurers. Because of our truly small group size, we can handle all level of photographers with plenty of 1on1 hands on instruction. We also excel at teaching intermediate photographers and adventurers who are looking to take their photography and adventures to the next level as we love teaching tracking, blending images, and advanced astro techniques.
You will need to be free of mobility issues, comfortable traversing some uneven terrain at night, and okay with being near large canyons and heights. You will have the opportunity to walk about a mile or much less at most of our locations, they are mostly just drive up (4×4) but be prepared to a mile of walking at each location.
Our small group size, 6 students to 2 teachers (some workshops have 12 students and only 2 teachers and call that small… crazy!) allows us to tailor lessons individually and give lots of 1on1 hands on instruction under the stars to each participant.
We provide in depth instruction both in the field hands on with your camera as well as in the classroom reviewing your images and teaching you how to post-process to maximize RAW image potential!
what will you learn?
We teach you our full workflow, from planning a shot with locations and astronomy fundamentals, creative pre-visualizing, aligning compositions with stars and the seasons, camera settings in dynamic environments, all the way to editing to maximizing the potential in your RAW photos and image blending!
We will cover astrophotography basics like focusing at night, optimal camera settings, composition, and light painting.
We build upon photography fundamentals to teach more advanced techniques like panoramas, using a star tracker, blue hour foregrounds, and blending multiple long exposure images to create details, colorful, and compelling night photos.
You will learn a fair bit about the local geology and history!
We do several editing sessions throughout the trip and follow up the workshop with custom editing video tutorials.
This workshop has a good balance of epic adventures and solid post processing sessions to take your images to the next level.
We take pride in providing fun, safe, relaxed, and immersive astrophotography adventures! We strive to create unforgettable memories together with our group, unique inside jokes, and amazing photos.
location highlights
Horseshoe Bend
Antelope Canyon, day time as well as a special NIGHT time shoot
Coal Mine Canyon
Unnamed Backcountry Canyon Site
Blue Canyon
A backcountry location we 4×4 you out to, set up camp, cook dinner, and then teach you night photography at! Camping allows us to shoot all phases of light here: sunset, twilight, Milky Way, then Orion and winter constellations rising, twilight, and for those with energy: sunrise! Enjoy coffee here with us for a bit, then we pack up and head to check into our hotel where we rest, shower, and do another image review and post processing session.
workshop cost & payment terms
The tuition for this workshop is $5,200 with hotels covered, camping set ups covered, and 4×4 transportation out to difficult to reach spots, and all Navajo/Hopi tour permitting fees and tours. A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 is required to reserve your spot with the remaining balance due 45 days before the workshop starts. Payment plan options are also available at check out.
Join us!
This workshop is limited to 6 participants in order to maintain the small group size and allow us to tailor our photography lessons to your specific needs, with 2 professional photography instructors. You are welcome to bring a non-photographer guest +1 at a discounted rate. Friends signing up together, groups, and alumni please reach out to discuss a discount.
itinerary
START: we meet between 3-5pm on October 2nd in Page, Arizona
FINISH: on October 7th at 8am in Tuba City, Arizona (90 minutes South of Page)
October 2nd
We will meet in Page to check you into your hotel for the next two nights! Join us for a group dinner, introduction, and workshop overview. We will be doing an easy adventure to Horseshoe Bend to capture sunset and astrophotography, an easy and great spot to warm up for our trip. Not many people know this, but it’s actually quite dark at Horseshoe Bend and at this time of year in the Fall, the orientation of the Milky Way Galaxy faces Southwest away from the small amount of light in the town of Page, and aligns nicely over Horseshoe Bend!
We will shoot until we get kicked out at 10pm or the Moon rises at 10:32pm.
October 3rd
We will sleep in and reconvene at 10am for our group tour out to Antelope Canyon. We will be scouting several slot canyons and capturing them during the day! Getting us familiar and teaching you how to scout and previsualize shots: we will return later that evening for our special night photography tour capturing the slot canyons again but AT NIGHT!! They’re incredible.
We reserve our full itinerary for privacy. If you would like to see the full itinerary, packing list, or have any other questions, please reach out to us with the contact form below!
cosmic canyons
