Eastern Sierra Photography Workshops
Black Friday discount code “blackfriday” for 10% off extended through December 20! (Click on the start date of the workshop, then the discount box appears during checkout after you change the number of participants from 0 to 1 or more.)
We have multiple small group Bodie night photography workshop itineraries for 2025. All include two practice nights in stunning places before our first night in Bodie (the minimum required for fellow workshop participants not to be trashing your foreground with their lights, and for everyone to be shooting efficiently so we can all capture more compositions in our limited time in Bodie).
- 1 night in Bodie in a 3-night workshop
- 2 nights in Bodie in a 4-night workshop (two dates)
- 1 night and one morning/interior session in Bodie in a 4-night workshop (coming soon)
- 1 night and one morning/interior session in Bodie plus fall colors and bristlecone pines in a 5-night workshop (coming soon)
We feel that a maximum of 8 photographers is warranted for the spaces we’ll be shooting in, and that two guides/instructors, each with several dozen nights experience in Bodie, is best to keep a group with mixed experience and various cameras productive. All of our Bodie workshops are conducted with proper permits to enable us to shoot the best locations in the area.
Bodie Night Photography Workshop plus Mono Lake, High Sierra
Four nights with one in Bodie plus morning access to interiors
May 28 – June 1, 2025
$2145
We run Bodie itineraries including interior access upon demand, and we had requests for two in 2024, so we’ll repeat that again in 2025! In May we’ll have Eastern Sierra wildflowers enhancing landscape photography opportunities, plus Bodie morning and building interior access, plus Bodie sunset and night photography! This night session will enjoy a 32% crescent moon for subtle illumination of our foreground subjects and the surrounding town, but it’ll be out of our compositions and not in front of the Milky Way. With roughly 65 nights experience shooting in Bodie by the start of our 2025 (14th) season, Lori and I can help you maximize the subjects you cover in the time we have available, and our compositions are optimized for the month and time of night as the Milky Way moves. In recent years we have updated our lighting, our exposure technique, and our post-processing tools and techniques. We’ll take advantage of 2-3 practice nights with interesting subjects in the area before our two Bodie night. We may be the only operator this year with permits for both Inyo National Forest/Mono Lake and Yosemite National Park. We’ll conduct post-processing sessions to help you produce the best possible results with your images!
More information here.
Bodie, Mono Lake, and Eastern Sierra Landscape and Night Photography Workshop
Four nights with two in Bodie
June 18 – 22, 2025 (second session August 20-24, 2025)
$2195
Our two nights in Bodie will feature no moon in the sky, for preistie dark sky shooting conditions until we have to work our way back to the parking lot to be off Park lands by 1am. The Milky Way will be low to the horizon, on the east side of Main Street. We can capture compositions with the Milky Way prominent across the sky, as well as Milky Way arch panoramas. With dozens of nights experience shooting in Bodie, Lori and I can help you cover more subjects in the time we have available, as well as compositions optimized for the time of night as the Milky Way rises. In recent years we have updated our lighting, our exposure technique, and our post-processing workflow, tools and techniques. We’ll have two additional practice nights with interesting subjects in the area before our two Bodie nights. We’ll pursue daytime landscapes, wildflowers and sunsets as well. We’ll schedule post-processing sessions to make sure that you get the best possible results with your images.
More information and registration here.
Bodie, Mono Lake, and Eastern Sierra Landscape and Night Photography Workshop
Three nights with one in Bodie
June 27 – 30, 2025 (second session July 23-26, 2025)
$1795
We’ll have two additional practice nights with interesting subjects in the area before our two Bodie nights. We’ll pursue daytime landscapes, wildflowers and sunsets as well. We’ll schedule post-processing sessions to make sure that you get the best possible results with your images.
Our night in Bodie will feature a 26% crescent moon setting behind the Bodie Hills around 11:10 pm. This is Lori’s favorite moon phase, since we’ll enjoy subtle light in the foregrounds of our Milky Way shots while the moon is up. Then we’ll have our usual dark sky night photography until we have to work our way back to the parking lot to be off Park lands by 1am. The Milky Way will be rising on the east side of Main Street. We can capture landscape and portrait compositions with the Milky Way prominent across the sky, as well as Milky Way arch panoramas. In recent years we have updated our lighting, our exposure technique, and our post-processing tools and techniques. We can’t wait to show you around our local park!
More information and registration here.
Night Photography Bootcamp
Five nights with one in Bodie plus sunrise/interior access in Bodie
July 18 – 20, 2025
$695
An intensive weekend of guiding, instruction (if you like), daytime landscape photography, dark sky night photography / landscape astrophotography, multiple post-processing demonstrations for day and night photography, feedback, and more photography!
We’ll cover composition, black and white conversion, special exposure techniques for highest quality results (day and night), lighting, post-processing tools and workflow, star trails composite images, even the generation of time-lapse videos if you like.
Jeff won a coveted special prize in the 2011 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition conducted by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Lori and Jeff have been pursuing astrophotography and teaching photography to others in well over 100 dark sky night photography workshops since!
This is like our Bodie workshops, without the extra nights and fees of accessing Bodie. We run this workshop with permits to operate on USFS lands (including Mono Lake) and in the High Sierra region of Yosemite National Park, all within a short drive from our home. Take a night photography workshop with the locals, the professionals, the best!
More information and registration here.
Eastern Sierra Fall with Bodie Interiors and Night Photography Workshop
Five nights with one in Bodie plus sunrise/interior access in Bodie
September 22 – 27, 2025
$2295 Coming soon!
This itinerary offers a taste of early Eastern Sierra Fall colors plus Bodie sunrise and building interior access, plus Bodie sunset and night photography! Full darkness arrives in Bodie at 8:14 pm, so we’ll enjoy over 4 hours of dark sky night photography! The Milky Way will cross Main Street, and be well positioned for the 1937 Chevy and more. We can capture compositions with the Milky Way prominent across the sky, as well as Milky Way arch panoramas. With over 65 nights experience shooting in Bodie by 2024, Lori and I can help you cover more subjects in the time we have available, as well as compositions optimized for the month and time of night as the Milky Way moves. In recent years we have updated our lighting, our exposure technique, and our post-processing tools and techniques. We’ll take advantage of 2-3 practice nights with interesting subjects in the area before our Bodie night. We’ll sample daytime landscapes including early fall colors spots, and we’ve expanded our itinerary a day this year to see more. We’ll conduct post-processing sessions to help you produce the best possible results with your images!
More information and registration here.
2024-2025 Workshop Calendar, Great Basin School of Photography
Both owners Jeff and Lori lead groups of 8 photographers, for a 4:1 guide to client ratio.
December 8-13, 2024 Death Valley Winter Light Photography $1695 Color and black and white landscape photography Last call for 2024 prices!
February 18-23, 2025 Yosemite Horsetail Fall & Winter Photography $1995 3 spots left!
March 2-7, 2025 Death Valley Spring Photography $1995 Bring a friend!
March 28 – April 2, 2025 Death Valley 4WD Adventure (The Racetrack, etc.) $1995 2 spots left!
May 28 – June 1, 2025 Bodie, Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra Landscape & Night Photography $2145 4 nights with 1 night plus morning interiors in Bodie New!
June 18-22, 2025 Bodie, Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra Landscape & Night Photography $2195 4 nights including 2 nights in Bodie New!
June 27 – 30, 2025 Bodie, Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra Landscape & Night Photography $1795 3 nights including 1 night in Bodie New!
July 18 – 20, 2025 Night Photography Bootcamp $695New! 2 nights (no discounts)
August 20-24, 2025 Bodie, Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra Landscape & Night Photography $2195 4 nights including 2 in Bodie New!
November 1-6, 2025 Yosemite Fall Colors $1995 5 nights New!
December 9-14, 2025 Death Valley Winter Light Photography $1995 5 nights New! Color, black and white, night, and the Geminid meteor shower
Contact us about any of the following:
May 10-14, 2025 Yosemite Spring and Moonbow Photography $TBD On demand, contact us to schedule a small group.
May 2025 Nevada Ghost Towns Photography $TBD On demand, contact us to schedule a small group.
July 23-26, 2025 Bodie, Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra Landscape & Night Photography $1795 (3 nights including 1 night in Bodie) Coming soon! (second session after June 27-30 fills)
September 22-27, 2025 Eastern Sierra Fall Colors Landscapes, Bodie Interiors &Night Photography $2295 5 nights (1 sunrise/interior session plus 1 night in Bodie) Coming soon! (second session after May 28 – June 1 fills)