white sands national park
overview
Join Derek Culver and Andrew Imhoff for 4 nights of astro + photography adventures in White Sands National Park, New Mexico! We have exclusive access in the park after dark to capture the expansive dunes during the best light; sunset, twilight, and full darkness when the stars are out! We’ve rented a big Airbnb house in Alamogordo where we will be based out of and doing our editing lessons at while we tour you around White Sands and teach you the art of night photography! Oct 22-26 is right at the tail end of the Orionid Meteor shower and during the New Moon cycle, and Fall in New Mexico weather is quite pleasant.
Fall is a time of epic transition where you can capture the Milky Way core right after sunset and have an assortment of amazing targets to capture throughout the night like Cygnus, Andromeda, the Great Rift, and Orion!
Date
October 22nd - 26th, 2025
Difficulty
This astrophotography workshop is great for all level of photographers and adventurers. It requires group hiking with camera gear about 1-3 miles in sand at night. We will cover astrophotography basics like planning your shot, focusing at night, and mastering settings for single exposures; then build upon shooting and editing fundamentals as we get into tracking, stacking, and combining exposures. Our smaller group sizes, allows us to tailor lessons individually and give lots of 1on1 hands on instruction to help you reach your artistic goals, beginner and advanced.
Lodging
We will be staying at a nice Airbnb house with single occupancy rooms in Alamogordo, NM. We will be eating out at cafes and restaurants in Alamogordo and doing all our editing sessions at our Airbnb!
logistics
Everyone is responsible for their own transportation to the workshop and during the workshop. Most of the time we can help arrange carpools between our workshop guests from the airport and in the parks in order to save costs and add to the social atmosphere of the workshop! We can provide airport pick up/drop off and transportation the duration of the workshop for a fee.
workshop cost & payment terms
The tuition for this workshop is $3,500 total, with a non-refundable deposit of $750 to reserve one of the limited spots in the workshop. The remaining total balance of the workshop is due 1 month before the trip starts. Alumni discounted cost is $3,000 total, $500 deposit to reserve a spot, but with the discount applied when the remaining workshop balance is collected!
Join us!
This workshop is limited to 6 participants.
itinerary
Wednesday october 22nd:
Meet: Alamogordo any time between 12-5pm.
Stay: Airbnb/Hotel in Alamogordo the entire time where we will do all our editing sessions.
Shoot: We will scout out several compositions in White Sands and begin our lessons at sunset, shoot twilight. The park closes after sunset at 6:30pm but we get to stay in until Midnight capturing the stars and viewing the Orionid meteor shower!
