Milky Way on the Grand Mesa

Small Group Workshop in Western Colorado – June 2024

Grand Junction, Colorado: June 6 - June 9, 2024

This small group workshop will take you through pristine high alpine landscapes and dark skies of the world’s largest mesa at an elevation over 11,000 feet.

The Grand Mesa

Home to over 300 lakes, the Grand Mesa is the world’s largest flat top mountain offering tremendous views of the night sky. While the relatively large city of Grand Junction is only 45 miles away, the towering height the Grand Mesa puts you well above the light pollution, leaving only the jagged pine trees and glass-smooth lakes to reflect against a stunning backdrop of endless stars. This workshop will take you and a very small group (max 3) through these high alpine landscapes at an elevation over 11,000 feet. Through all of it, you will learn photography methods through the blue hours of sunrise and sunset, multiple exposure blending, multiple exposures for stacked processing, low level lighting, equatorial tracking, and various other night sky photography techniques plus classroom-style processing instruction.

Highlights of the Workshop

  • Lodging and transportation during the workshop is included. Transportation to / from Denver is available before and after the workshop (if arriving / departing during specified times)

  • This is a VERY small workshop with a maximum of 3 participants which means individual attention and stronger camaraderie and collaboration with fellow photographers.

  • We will explore many of the "Hidden Gems" of Western Colorado – Everyone knows Denver, but there's nothing quite like the Western Slope of Colorado.

  • Variety of landscapes (Alpine forest, mountain lakes, high vistas, and more).

  • Wide variety of shooting locations available and scouted with flexibility to travel to nearby areas if weather requires us to be mobile.

  • Chance to learn a number of low-light and night sky shooting techniques across a variety of conditions.

  • Learn how to properly shoot with a star tracker and related post-processing techniques.

  • Classroom-style post-processing instruction is included - you'll be able to develop your images from this workshop under expert instruction and small-group learning.

  • Mid-season shooting means late nights, but a beautifully positioned Milky Way with the potential for abundant alpine wildflowers.

  • Learn and travel in some of the most beautiful locations in the U.S. with a professional guide who has lived in the area for many years.

  • Red Cross First Aid / CPR Certified instructors; we also travel with GPS emergency response beacons.

  • Permitted and insured.

Cost of the Workshop

  • Total cost of the workshop is $2,175 per person. $500 deposit is required to reserve a seat, with the balance due 30 days from the start of the workshop.

Teaching Topics

This night photography workshop concentrates on the following teaching topics:

  • Understand the position of the Milky Way through the night and seasons

  • Planning your shot in the field and through the use of technology

  • Getting oriented under the stars and finding the galactic core

  • Overview of various resources for finding dark skies and predicting the Milky Way position

  • Proper camera and exposure settings for night sky photography

  • Overview and usage of basic and advanced equipment, including portable star trackers to extend exposure time without star trailing

  • Calculating exposure time based on focal length and sensor size / resolution

  • Understanding effective compositions

  • Planning and shooting composite images for clear foreground and sky

  • Low-level lighting techniques for foreground elements

  • Creating star trail images

  • Shooting multiple exposures for image noise reduction

  • Post-processing workflows

  • Image editing in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop

The visibility of the Milky Way is highly dependent on weather. Light to moderate cloud cover will not prohibit us from shooting the Milky Way. If we encounter dense cloud cover, we may adjust the shooting locations and/or focus on landscape shooting and lighting techniques.

 

The Instructor

Marc Rassel: Photographer. Designer. Outdoorsman. Space Nerd.

Marc is an award-winning, exhibiting landscape astrophotographer and workshop leader based in Minnesota, USA with a particular interest in astronomy. He has traveled to many locations around the world both professionally and personally, and has extensive experience photographing these landscapes and the wonders of the night sky in a wide variety of conditions. Through the experiences of owning and running an advertising and design firm, and formal training in graphic design and fine arts, he has amassed an array of skills that allow him to apply both a technical and aesthetic approach to his work and that of his students. When not leading workshops, Marc spends much of his time in the outdoors exploring and photographing the deep Northwoods of the Midwest and the mountainous landscapes of Colorado.

Recommended Equipment

  • Sturdy tripod with ball head

  • Digital SLR and/or mirrorless camera body with full manual control, preferably full-frame sensor (although cropped / APS-C will work)

  • Wide angle lens(es) with fast aperture (f2.8 or better). Some great lenses for night sky photography include the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 (or 24mm), Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8

  • Zoom of approximately 24-105mm

  • If you have a telephoto (200mm+) and it’ll fit your travel plans, bring it along – you never know what we might find out in the field

  • Polarizing and / or ND filters if you have them

  • Basic headlamp with red light function

  • Remote shutter release or basic intervalometer

  • Memory cards

  • Extra batteries (at least 3 fully-charged batteries per night)

  • Camera / lens cleaning supplies

  • Laptop / iPad / Lightroom and Photoshop software + file transfer accessories if you’d like to follow along during post-processing sessions

  • Hard drives and file backup accessories

If you don’t have everything you need, please contact me, I may be able to rent you the gear you need.

Suggested Packing List

  • Layered, clothing – We are likely to experience a wide range of temperatures as high as 95 F daytime temps, and as low as 30 F overnight on the Grand Mesa.

  • Warm base layers for legs and torso, gloves, hat, jacket, shirts, wool socks, and footwear / boots suitable for both warm weather hiking and cold weather. (**Avoid cotton in favor of wool fibers whenever possible!)

  • Water bottles / hydration packs.

    **We will provide hand / foot warmers, and hot beverages as needed throughout the workshop.

Trip Includes

  • Local transportation during the workshop

  • 3 Nights lodging in rustic cabins on the Grand Mesa (two per cabin with private rooms)

  • Transportation to / from Denver is available before and after the workshop (if arriving / departing during specified times)

  • Light snacks and refreshments

  • Professional guide

  • Field instruction

  • Post-processing instruction

  • Shared lighting equipment and stands

  • Photography guiding and instruction throughout the trip

Trip Does NOT Include

  • Airfare

  • Camera equipment

  • Laptop / post-processing software

  • Meals

  • Alcohol

Itinerary

Day 1 – Thursday, June 6:

We will meet in downtown Grand Junction, CO for a quick meet and greet and required introductory session including workshop timeline overview, field safety, and night shooting preparation. Following this session we will gather supplies, and drive up to our lodge on the Grand Mesa. After checking in, we’ll have some time for rest / dinner before we head out to our first location for sunset and our first night of capturing the Milky Way. This will be a late night as we may be out until the early pre-dawn hours.

Day 2 – Friday, June 7:

We'll allow plenty of time to catch some rest after an ambitious first evening until our first post-processing sessions beginning at 2:00PM until around 6:00PM. This will provide an overview of post-processing workflows and methods, and give us plenty of time to work together on specific questions and issues. After the session will be additional time for dinner / rest before our next night of shooting, again beginning around 7:30PM to learn some advanced techniques including blue hour foreground compositing, low level lighting, and tracked exposures.

Day 3 – Saturday, June 8:

Having arrived back at our cabins again around 3:00-4:00AM, we'll have some time for rest before starting another short post-processing session. Afterward we’ll have dinner, get some rest, and prep to head out and continue our shooting with multiple exposures of the Milky Way (for stacking in post), low level lighting, and blue hour foreground compositing. We'll keep our options open tonight and visit multiple locations for a variety of landscapes best matched to the current weather conditions. When the night concludes, we’ll head back to our cabins in the early morning hours.

Day 4 – Sunday, June 9:

On our final morning, we’ll keep things casual and meet (at your leisure) for some final post-processing and Q&A before we load up and head back down the mountain to Grand Junction. We would love for everyone on the trip join us for a group lunch and farewell, but if you have other travel plans or a flight to catch you may do so without missing any additional content beyond the company of your new friends and celebrations of this experience!