Colorado Astrophotography Workshop

What happens when you combine wildflowers, mountains, AND astrophotography?

Something Magical!

There will be a Colorado Astrophotography Workshop proceeding each CO Wildflower Workshop in 2024. These workshops will take place at the same location as the wildflower workshops! You can book either workshop separately or bundle them together for a discount.

Brief Overview of the 2024 Colorado Astrophotography Workshops:

There will be two wildflower workshops taking place one month apart from each other. Each workshop will be proceeded by an optional Astrophotography Workshop in the same area during the same week.

When:

Astrophotography Workshop 1:

Wed July 3rd – Fri July 5th SOLD OUT – Join the waitlist

Astrophotography Workshop 2:

Wed July 31st – Fri Aug 2nd 1 SPOT LEFT

Where: Crested Butte, CO, and surrounding areas

Capacity: Limited to 3 people and 1 instructor

Cost: $1850/person – includes lodging, transportation, and airport shuttles*. Bundle with the preceding CO Wildflower workshop and save $600!

($300 deposit to reserve your spot)

Book The WOrkshop

Learn a workflow that will take your Astrophotography to the next level. This is what we’ll cover:

Planning the shot
Choosing the right equipment
Astro timelapses
Star trails (if interested)
Blue hour foreground shooting
Blending exposures cleanly
Setting focus in the dark
Minimizing ISO grain
Dealing with grain in post
How to get the scene in focus from front to back
Editing your night sky without overdoing it
And many other tips and tricks along the way!

Your Fearless Leader

J Smilanic

Owner/Founder

I have been leading tours and workshops since founding WNC Photo Tours in July of 2019. I’ve worked with – on average – a hundred people a year to help improve their landscape photography. I am very passionate about sharing these unique experiences with our customers and helping them create images they are very proud of!

Each night will have a new composition & technical challenge to conquer at a different location than the previous night

What you should know

Don’t be intimidated!!

All skill levels are welcome at our workshops. Can’t stress that enough! The less you know about photography the more you will walk away with, and the better the experience will be for you, so don’t be shy. Photographers are generally pretty nice people 🙂

Lodging

Lodging will be in a cabin-style Airbnb near Crested Butte and will have all of the basic creature comforts one needs. Lodging is included in the total price of the photography workshop.

Food

We will likely share meals as a group. We’ll do a group trip to the grocery store at the beginning of the workshop!

*Transportation

I will be offering a shuttle from Denver International Airport to Crested Butte at the beginning of the Wildflower Workshop and a shuttle from Crested Butte to DIA at the end of the Astrophotography Workshop, but there will be no shuttles in between. If you do not bundle the workshops you will be responsible for your transportation either to or from the airport, depending on which one you book. Once in the Crested Butte area, I will handle all transportation needs.

Dates

Early summer workshops: SOLD OUT

Wildflowers: Sat June 29th – Monday July 1st
Astrophotography: Wed July 3rd – Friday July 5th

Mid-summer workshops:

Wildflowers: Sat July 27th – Mon 29th
Astrophotography: Wed July 31st – Fri Aug 2nd

Each workshop is 3 full days.

What’s the difference between the two Astrophotography Workshops?

Glad you asked! Minimal. For the second (mid-summer) Wildflower Workshop, there will be less snow on the mountain tops but slightly better compositions to be had. We’ll focus on the same types of foregrounds and compositions for each workshop.

Activity

You should be in decent physical shape to participate in this workshop. There might be some moderate hiking (no more than 1-2 miles) involved in getting to some of the more scenic spots.

Payment/Cancellations

50% of your initial deposit ($300 +tax) is non-refundable. Full payment must be made by May 1st. Any cancellations within 60 days of the workshop will not receive their payment back as it is very difficult to fill the space on that short notice. If we are able to fill your spot, we will provide you with a full refund, minus half of the initial deposit (~$204). If an emergency arises we will do our very best to work with you as we understand things can happen.

More details will be made available to those who book the workshop. We can’t wait!! Hope to see you out in the Rockies 🙂

WNC Photo Tours is an equal opportunity service provider.

Operating under a Special Use Permit on the Gunnison National Forest.

Questions? Email us!

Book The Workshop

What's your flavor of Colorado?

We have three different photography workshop offerings in the great state of colorful Colorado. Check them all out!