Eastern Sierra Four Nights Including 2 Nights Bodie Night Photography
June 18-22, 2025 and August 20 - 24, 2025
We’ll spend four nights shooting foreground subjects under stunning dark sky shooting conditions in the Eastern Sierra. First we’ll have two nights practicing night photography at the iconic Mono Lake South Tufa site and up in the Yosemite’s Tioga Pass area. Weather and photographic opportunities will influence our daily itineraries. For another two days we’ll have two post processing sessions before we head to Bodie and have the park to ourselves from 6 pm to 1 am. Having two nights in Bodie will give us time to shoot more subjects and (in June) more Milky Way arch panoramas, as well as star trails for those interested. In August the Milky Way is too high for arch panoramas, but there’s an extra hour of darkness per night, for 2+ extra hours total night shooting hours in Bodie. The daylight hours for the two days in Mono Lake and Tioga Pass will offer landscape photography, with favorable timing for wildflowers in the area. You will have two trip leaders, each with 60+ nights experience shooting and leading groups in Bodie.
In recent years we have updated our lighting, our exposure technique, and our post-processing techniques. We’ll have two practice nights with interesting subjects in the area before our two Bodie night, and we’ll pursue some daytime landscapes and sunsets as well, as well as schedule a post-processing session or two.
Originally a gold boom town in Mono County, CA during the late nineteenth-century, Bodie is now a historic ghost town. A popular tourist destination, we’ll have the park to ourselves during the evening and night sessions.
June can offer scattered rain showers during the afternoon, a colorful sunset and potentially rainbows as the storms clears, followed by clear skies for rising Milky Way photography under a dark night sky. August offers an extra hour of dark sky shooting per night. The tradeoff is that it has a more upright Milky Way position, so Milky Way arch panoramas are not practical).
We prefer for our night photography groups to be limited to about 8 participants. A portion of the proceeds of your fee goes to the Bodie Foundation to assist in their “arrested decay” program in preserving the park.
Please note that Bodie is at an elevation of 8374 feet. Consult your doctor if you have any concerns about being at altitude for a few hours on a few nights.
Sample Itinerary
To ensure you get the best pictures and to accommodate for any adverse weather, we keep the exact itinerary flexible. The following is an example of what to expect, though it may change slightly as necessary during the workshop.
- Day 1 – we’ll meet shortly after everyone has checked into their hotel in Lee VIning for an early dinner. From there we’ll head to either Mono Lake or the Yosemite/Tioga Pass area in the High Sierra for sunset and night photography, anticipating returning to our hotel rooms around midnight.
- Day 2 — we’ll let sunrise be an optional event unless it is forecast to be amazing. Then we’ll meet for an early lunch, possibly grab a picnic dinner and head up into the high Sierra in search of amazing compositions and a small hike if the group is up for it. We’ll have a second prtactice night in the Mono Basin or Yosemite/Tioga Pass area in the High Sierra for sunset and night photography,
- Day 3 – For this day, we’ll meet around 10 am, after folks have checked out of their hotels, to move to lodging closer to Bodie Road. Your sleep, and safety, are a top priority! We’ll meet in the morning for a post processing classroom session to cover what was taught the first two days, and review participants’ work to help them utilize the tools we teach. We’ll wrap up around 1:30 pm and move to our new hotel, rest up and meet around 3:45 for an early dinner. After dinner we’ll caravan/carpool to the Bodie gate, arriving by 6pm to meet our monitor for the night. He/she will give us a review of the park and its rules. We’ll have full access to the park during closed hours from 6 pm to 1 am. We’ll wrap up shooting in time to be out of the park by 1 am, per our permit’s guidelines.
- Day 4 – Meet around 10:00 am for a second round of post processing for a few hours, covering additional tools and techniques. Folks can then take a break and rest up before we meet around 3:30 for dinner and a repeat of the previous night’s adventure into Bodie!
- Day 5 – After four nights up late, most participants prefer to sleep in, take breakfast at their leisure, and check out for a return home. Or extend your stay a night for an additional sunset & sunrise in the area!
- If you have the time, our 320-page photographers’ guidebook “Photographing California Vol. 2 – South” can give you more locations to shoot on your trip, in Yosemite or southward down the Eastern Sierra.
Great Basin School of Photography, LLC operates under permit in Yosemite National Park.
Don’t book with an unscrupulous vendor that operates without permits!
What’s included:
- Guiding to optimal compositions, based on our ~80 special access sessions, day and night, exploring the Park
- Constant fine tuning of itinerary based on forecasts & conditions based on our local knowledge
- Lighting, photography instruction as desired
- Post-processing instruction
What’s not included:
- Lodging. Camping to luxury, your choice! (discounts may be available; lodging recommendations will be provided upon registration)
- Transportation – carpooling optional (no super-spreader van!)
- Meals/snacks/beverages (outdoor dining or take-out, as available)
- Entrance / parking fee (Yosemite, Mono Lake)
- Onerous group lodging terms (high price, poor cancellation, etc.)
