Fri eves 6pm-3am – Sep 15 (FULL) or 12 Apr or 10 May or 7 Jun or 5 Jul or 2 Aug —
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 Blue Mountains are one of the first places out 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 hotel/vehicle to location and Gary’s Pulpit Rock Gallery Training room in a comfortable 4WD Landrover
- Use of laptops for post processing instruction if required.
- Workshop certificate (sent via mail) and exposure of your best image (optional) on Gary’s social site/s
Any questions please email Gary
Prices:
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 15 Sep 2023 ‘Starry Night Photo Workshop’ FULL
- Moonset 5.56pm – Sunset 5:49pm – MW Core Sets SW 1.00am
FRI NIGHT 12 April 2024
- Moonset 7.55pm – Sunset 5.39pm – MW Core rise 9pm
Full amount $450
FRI NIGHT 10 May 2024
- Moonset 6,33pm – Sunset 5.10pm – MW Core rise 8pm
Full amount $450
FRI NIGHT 7 June 2024
- Moonset 5.15pm – Sunset 4.56pm – MW Core rise 6pm
Full amount $450
FRI NIGHT 5 July 2024
- Moonset 4.01pm – Sunset 5.02pm – MW Core Sets 5am
Full amount $450
FRI NIGHT 2 August 2024
- Moonset 2.53pm – Sunset 5.20pm – MW Core Sets 3am
Full amount $450
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.
Hi Gary just a quick question, I live up here in close to you and I’ve been to what I believe are all of the local wheelchair accessible places, just wondering if you know of, or can recommend any, besides Lincolns rock, the 3 sisters, and Wentworth Falls Lookouts. Cheers
Hi Ben, great question. There are quite a few where a gentle slope or purpose built concrete lookout exist. The ones off the top of my head (that are not the three you mention) would be:
Two obvious official ones
1 Cliff View – Park in small car park above Katoomba Cascades and a nice path out to Mt Solitary view (no view of 3 sisters but good ones of the valley)
2 The big new one at Hassan’s Walls – drive up the dirt track and the walkway takes you out to the biggest views around
others that are concreted to railings or with assistance and fit pusher might be worth a look but similar to Lincolns Rock! – all referenced at http://garyphayes.com/photography/garys-photo-guide/
3 Narrow Neck LO just off Cliff Drive around the corner from Eaglehawk. Park and view
4 Upper Leura Cascades – a short path off the carpark
5 Now the trees have been cut back, some views from the upper section of Sublime Point, down a concrete ramp from the car park
6 Lovely areas around Wentworth Falls lake all wheelchair friendly
7 If firetrail (very smooth) and a 3m of small rocky area is doable then it is possible to get out to http://garyphayes.com/photography/sunset-narrowneck-lookout-1/ – obviously one to check out first, but recommended as the last bit is just under a tree and takes you onto open smooth rock area.
8 Panorama Drive viewpoint, just next to the road near Lilianfels
9 The best ones around Blackheath in my opinion for wheel chair access are Govetts Leap and Evans Lookout of course. Govetts especially is very friendly and offers quite a few view points up the ramp/pathway up to the right…
10 Hargraves LO is very possible, big car park and short slopes to lookouts (worth looking at again first) but if you have done Lincolns, very similar…
11 Point Pilcher is worth a look out. Car park right next to viewpoint, might be a few small rocks, but check first
12 A real fave but minor bumps is Mitchells Ridge – again need some help, but the main area is navigable by more adventurous wheel chair and all railed too.
13 Around Lithgow Blast Furnace are good spots for chairs
14 A long 30km drive on firetrail but I do believe the last 5 min section to the main lookout is quite flat and takes you to the great lookout…my memory of the last section might need some other opinion, but again worth a look if a few small steps are not a major issue.?
Hope some of those help Ben? Cheers
Thanks Gary, I should have looked here, first before I did the drive, but I did get to two of the places you mentioned, and really appreciate the information! Cheers
Hi gary, i bought a star watcher for my camera, can i bring that along, and learn how to use it! Jen
Absolutely. I presume you mean a Star Tracker, which fits between the tripod and camera and once aligned properly, counters the rotation of the earth. Which model?
Hi do you still have availability ?
How does it work with the two dates is it either/or or will you run a workshop both nights? What happens if the weather is not suitable?
Thanks
Jason
http://www.bIgbaldbiker.photography
Hi Jason – thanks for contacting.
Yes these are two separate workshops, so either and if the weather is overcast or not suitable then we discuss a mutually convenient future date as a group. Availability on both workshops, but March 2 places left. Best Gary
Booked – Thanks
Hi Gary
My husband is very interested in doing this night workshop however we are in qld this weekend coming. Are you planning on running this again soon?
Many thanks, Niki
HI Niki – thanks for this. I am planning more after the winter, so starting Sept or Oct when it starts to warm up a bit. Keep an eye on this page. Best Gary
Hi Niki – new Astro workshops added now.
Hi Gary,
Will you be running anymore Starry Night Workshops this year, after the 15th Sept Date.?
Hi Kirsty
Milky Way season finishes after the last Sept date, it tends to set below the horizon too quickly. The Nebula Deep Sky workshops will be continuing though … the Milky Way workshops will begin again in March next year if you want to pre book. Best Gary