Fri eves 6pm-2am 2026 – Mar 20 or Apr 17 or May 22 or Jun 19 or Jul 17 or Aug 14 or Sep 11

A workshop focused on capturing the wonderful Milky Way core and it’s interaction with foregrounds of the ‘earth’ but gives a taste of much more including trails, time-lapse, light painting and some deep sky tracking. The Upper Blue Mountains are one of the first places west of Sydney where the ambient light ceases to be a major problem in astro photography.

Focusing on Milky Way photography and other wide cosmos plus landscape work, his workshop begins at 6pm with early evening instruction in night sky photography capture and processing techniques. This is followed by 3-4 exciting locations before and after included dinner to test wide field & milky way technical and creative ideas – we return to the training lab to process and see the results.

Around midnight we head off to explore more nearby locations followed by some advanced techniques in deeper sky, time-lapse, light painting and more.

This will include general technical skills but also the artistic side which includes basics such as milky way as subject and backdrop, through to star trails and time-lapse as well as more advanced long exposure tracking using Gary’s portable unit/s and specialist astrophotography scopes (with adapters for your Nikon, Canon or Sony). We will also look at balancing star exposures with artificially lit foregrounds.

Included:

  • Personal instruction from Gary in the field and in his Training Gallery.
  • Group dinner and late evening snacks/drinks.
  • Transportation from your (Blackheath/Mt Vic) hotel/vehicle to locations and beginning in Gary’s Pulpit Rock Gallery Training room in a comfortable 4WD Landrover
  • Use of laptops for post processing instruction
  • Optionals: Workshop certificate (sent via mail) and exposure of your best image on Gary’s social site/s

Any questions please email Gary

Prices:

Also note custom workshops for 2 or more can be arranged midweek or weekends – contact Gary to enquire 

Cost: $450 per person. In the event of only one booking on a workshop 1 week out, a full refund will be given or the participant moved to an agreed future workshop.

Please read the Cancellation Policy before booking … 

 

Fri Night 20 Mar 2026 – $450

  • Moonset 8:10pm MW Core rise 11pm

 

Fri Night 17 Apr 2026 – $450

  • Moonset 5:10pm MW Core rise 7pm

 

Fri Night 22 May 2026 – $450

  • Moonset 10:47pm MW Core rise 7pm

 

 

Fri Night 19 Jun 2026 – $450

  • Moonset 9:35pm MW Core rise 5pm

 

Fri Night 17 Jul 2026 – $450

  • Moonset 8:23pm MW Core set 4am

 

Fri Night 14 Aug 2026 – $450

  • Moonset 7:00pm MW Core set 2am

 

Fri Night 11 Sep 2026 – $450

  • Moonset 5:55pm MW Core set midnight

 

 

Private Sessions – Temporary Payment Links

 

Pre-requisites for all workshops

Note:  photographers without all of the camera equipment below will be instructed in how to get the best out of what they have and see the advantage of extra equipment.

  • PASSION: It is inspiring to Gary and the other photographers if you have a great attitude and can make the best of whatever the weather throws at us or your expectations of the workshop. We will come away with great pictures regardless.
  • BRING: A good quality hiking tripod and familiarity with using it.
  • BRING: A decent quality DSLR or Mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and have a working knowledge of it.
  • BRING: Two or three lenses. Suggest an ultra wide (14 to 20 ish), wide (24-35 ish) and medium telephoto (60-100 ish). Or combinations in zoom lenses.
  • BRING: Filters. Any combination of – neutral density, 5 or 10 stops. Graduated neutral density 2 and/or 3 stops. Polarizer circular. It is not critical to have filters as we will explore blending and/or HDR techniques without using them.
  • DO YOU: Have a moderate level of fitness and able to walk confidently on rocky terrain with camera equipment (this will vary on each workshop but call for information if in doubt). Gary is not liable for equipment damage, so use protective camera bags at all times when moving between locations or exploring new spots as a group. 
  • BRING: Comfortable hiking shoes, good camera back pack and waterproofs/warm clothes in case the weather goes south.
  • READ: It is recommended that you orientate yourself with the mountains by reading my introduction post A Landscape Photographers Guide to Visiting the Blue Mountains Australia which helps break down the geography and refers to many of the locations we will be exploring.