We’re passionate about photography, and everywhere we shoot!
About the Instructors
If you want to chase the light most efficiently, there’s no substitute for real time guiding and feedback/instruction.
Jeff Sullivan and Lori Hibbett cofounded Great Basin School of Photography, leading workshops together in Death Valley, Yosemite, the Eastern Sierra in Bodie and Nevada ghost towns and more since 2012.
Jeff was the winner of the 2011 International Astronomy Photographer of the Year “People and Space” special prize. He has been named a Top 100 Travel Photographer in the World.
A dark sky advocate and avid time-lapse astrophotographer, his blog is ranked as a Top 30 Astrophotography Blog. Jeff wrote the book on landscape photography in California: “Photographing California Vol. 2 – South” (320 pages).
One important factor in a successful workshop is subject knowledge. Jeff started shooting with 35mm film cameras and printing in a darkroom in 1974. He studied computer science and electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and upon receiving his degree went directly into digital imaging at the Graphic Printing and Imaging Division at Tektronix (world leader in color graphics at the time). This gave him an in-depth technical knowledge of the entire process from sensors through post-processing to printing.
Dark sky night photography can be particularly challenging for both capture and post-processing. Jeff has pursued his interest in space and astronomy for decades, and has attended multiple NASA launches and landings. He was awarded “Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2011” in the People and Space category by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). One of his star trails photos was selected for the October 2011 cover of Outdoor Photography Magazine. If you want to take international award-winning images and get them published, learn from someone who has that experience.
Title page from 320-page “Photographing California Vol. 2 – South”
Another important factor is site knowledge. For decades he has spent extensive time exploring the American West. Jeff dedicated five years of his life to exploring California while writing his 320-page guidebook “Photographing California Vol. 2 – South”. He lives in the Eastern Sierra region on the California/Nevada border, and also returns as often as possible to photographing Utah, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado.
I personally lead all of my workshops, I don’t pull a bait-and-switch and pawn you off on a newbie instructor. I value my limited time: you can be sure that I’m planning every trip for a peak season or opportunity: wildflowers, Milky Way, meteor showers, sunset moon rises, and so on.
Lori Hibbett has been shooting alongside Jeff since 2010. She has her own voice, her own eye for subjects and composition, so I think you’ll benefit from interacting with both of us.
One of our photography workshops in Death Valley.
My services have been utilized as a location scout and I am also available for private sessions at the location of your choice. Please contact me for pricing and availability. (Some locations may require 6+ months of lead time in order to secure permits.)
Do I need a particular camera?
Lori at Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park
Jeff currently shoots with the Canon 5D Mark IV, Nikon D850, Canon 6D & 70D, and many prior DSLR & digital camera models back to 2001. His partner Lori Hibbett shoots primarily with full frame and DX format Nikons: D750, D800E, D7000, previously with the D600 and D40. Depth of field varies from full frame to crop sensors, so it’s important that your instructors have years of experience with both to adequately meet the needs of a diverse group. The concepts of landscape and night photography are consistent across brands; we’ve taught many people with Sony, Fuji, Panasonic, Pentax, Leica, and Hasselblad cameras as well.
For the workshops specifically designed to pursue Milky Way photography at night, camera models with a full frame sensor will perform better (produce images with less noise) than crop sensor cameras. Lenses that are “fast”, have apertures f/2.8 or wider, will give the camera the most light to produce an image with less noise. Camera and lens rentals are an excellent option if needed. Contact us if you’re not sure about your camera setup for dark sky night photography!
Do you have first aid certification?
Jeff originally took the 120 hour Outdoor Emergency Care course offered by the American Red Cross. He treated actual injured people outdoors for many years with the National Ski Patrol at Squaw Valley. Lori maintained her first aid certification while co-leading wilderness survival trips in the Sierra Nevada through UCLA Extension for 10 years with Ron Hood.
All of the federal lands that we work with require proof of current first aid certification from each of us.
What are you doing with respect to Covid-19?
As a condition of operating under a commercial use permit, all members of our group are required to honor current State and local guidelines for Covid-19 safety at the time of the workshop. Common restrictions may include wearing masks in public places indoors and 6′ distancing. When such guidelines are in place, typically we’re running our workshops with 6 participants and 2 instructors so we can shoot in sub-groups of 3 photographers. These are behaviors managed by the respective participants. Additionally since indoor settings involve more risk, whenever possible we dine outdoors or get take-out food. We’ve operated several workshops under these conditions without incident.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions! Thank you for considering joining us in the places that we love!
Clients capturing a Milky Way arch panorama over Bodie’s church, June 2017.