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 stories of Nephilim or giants! Part of the allure here is not fully knowing.
echoes of the ancients
November 2nd - 5th in Alamogordo, New Mexico
Join us for 3 days and 3 nights of astrophotography adventures as we immerse ourselves into the world of archeo-astronomy! This is a special night photography trip where we will be capturing ancient petroglyphs under extremely dark skies- the same quality of skies out ancestors and the ancestors of this region would have seen the night sky! We will be teaching you about the history of the region, history of astronomy, the people who carved these and what we know about them, and of course the photography techniques we use to capture emotion evoking night images with archeology as the focal point.
The arid climate, high elevation, and epic panels of petroglyphs and geology make this area of New Mexico an unparalleled night photography destination for those interested in archeology, geology, and astrophotography! We will have a guest archeology speaker who will be teaching us in depth about the history of the petroglyphs and some of the esoteric findings that are helping unravel the mysteries of the past in New Mexico and our ever-growing understanding of them.
This trip is wonderful for all levels of photographers, as our small group size of just 4 allows for lots of hands on instruction both out under the stars and in the classroom for editing. This astro tour is specifically tailored for those who are immensely curious about archeology, astronomy, astrophotography, and expanding their connection of humans and the night sky.
Above is an image taken of a common motif- often with ancient Mesoamerican touches, this Jaguar petroglyph has deeply religious, mythological, and cultural significance to the groups of people who survived, thrived, and even passed through this area. Ever heard of the Chaco Meridian? This area and the petroglyph styles and motifs are another important piece to the historical mysteries and stories of the Southwest’s history.
Ironically I have found capturing these beautiful works of art at night is better- the way the indents of pecking into the rocks capturing light painting allows us to actually get more clear images of petroglyph panels than during the day!
logistics
START: Monday November 2nd at 4pm in Alamogordo, New Mexico
FINISH: Thursday November 5th at 9am in Alamogordo, New Mexico
We recommend flying into El Paso, Texas with the most flights and rentals and a 1.5 hour drive up to Alamogordo, NM where we will be based out of. Albuquerque, NM is a 2.5 hour drive and also has great options. You are responsible for your transportation to and from the tour and during.
lodging
We are staying in hotels for all 3 nights! Individual rooms. This is included in the cost of your tuition. You are responsible for meals, we will be doing some group meals at restaurants in town.
difficulty and group size
This astrophotography trip is great for all level of astrophotographers and intermediate adventurers but lends itself well to intermediate night photographers looking to take their compositions and image quality to the next level! Because of our truly small group size, we can handle all level of photographers with plenty of 1on1 hands on instruction under the stars and in the classroom editing. We 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 hiking 2-4 miles of uneven terrain even at night. It is very important that you are able to balance and be free of mobility restraints for this trip, as we are extremely careful around all the rock art and often times will be on game trails that are uneven, at night.
Our small group size 4 (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 without tons of lights or feeling crowded, this is a true night photography experience!
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.
Light painting and solid compositions will be emphasized this trip! We will show you how to scout, plan, and pre visualize your images during the day; then to execute them with the proper settings and techniques at night!
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.
Along with landscape astrophotography, you will have ample time to improve your night sky imaging- we recommend this workshop for those also interested in using star trackers as this will be a great time during the moon cycle and we will even dabble in some “widefield” deep space astrophotography capturing the night sky at both wide angles and deeper focal lengths.
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.
I try to approach the petroglyphs with an attitude of reverence and humility! The fact the original artist survived and even thrived in these harsher desert climates hundreds and thousands of years ago, is extremely impressive. Although coming from an Anglo culture and these being of Native American origin, as a human being you are allowed to have curiosity and guess what some of the themes and meaning are behind the panels. There are panels with deep religious motifs that I don’t even attempt to understand and just purely enjoy, then there are more obvious motifs like a ram with projectiles in it! Clearly a work of art that has to do with hunting- but the style, inner patterns, and location of the ram with projectiles… are there deeper meanings beyond that? Is there an equinox or star alignment that signals a migration pattern? Part of this trip is to share with you the knowledge we have accumulated through smarter folks than us that help us approach rock art with a speculative and open mind. The more we approach the art panels with a multi-faceted and curious mindset, the more we can learn!
workshop cost & payment terms
The tuition for this workshop is $3,500. This includes permitting, accomodations, and hands on in the field guiding and night photography instruction. A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 is required to reserve your spot with the remaining balance due 30 days before the workshop starts. Payment plan options are also available at check out.
Join us!
This workshop is limited to 4 participants in order to maintain the small group size and allow us to tailor our photography lessons to your specific needs. You are welcome to bring a non-photographer guest +1 at a discounted rate to just enjoy the trip with us. Friends signing up together, groups, and alumni please reach out to discuss a discount.
itinerary
START: we meet between 2-4pm on Monday November 2nd at our hotel in Alamogordo, New Mexico
FINISH: we finish at 9am on Thursday November 5th at our hotel in Alamogordo, New Mexico
November 2nd
2-4pm - we meet in Alamogordo at our hotel to check in! We will do an intro then head out for our first sunset shoot. Please have already eaten or get a to-go dinner as we can enjoy dinner at our petroglyph site. We will be out until 11pm shooting sunset, twilight, and night photos!
6-11pm - shooting sunset, scouting out petroglyph foregrounds, twilight images, and night photography. Please pack water, food, and comfortable clothing and shoes for our shoot.
November 3rd
10am - feel free to sleep in or grab an early breakfast, we will do a group breakfast at 10am and then proceed into our first image review and post processing session!
2-5pm - we will be having a guest speaker from a nearby Archeology Association giving a presentation at our hotel about the history and archeology of the area! The idea is to go into the first night with just curiosity and wonder, and the second night we will have more context about the petroglyphs which will change and hopefully add to our second venture.
6-8pm - sunset, twilight, astrophotography shoot together at petroglyphs. We will depart early tonight for some rest, but then be returning during a special shoot later in the night!
12am - 3am - we will have pre-scouted several petroglyph panels with the intent to return later in the night to capture Orion and the Winter Milky Way over them as well as the moonrise around 1:54am! This will be a bit tougher on the energy levels, but totally worth it as the 23.8% moon will add a beautiful orange glow to our foregrounds naturally without washing out the amazing Orion constellation and part of the night sky.
We reserve our full itinerary details for privacy. If you would like to see the full itinerary, accommodations, packing list, or have any other questions, please reach out to us with the contact form below!
echoes of the ancients gallery:
