Making Milky Way Dreams Come True

in Arches & Canyonlands, the Tetons, Yellowstone, and on Mount Evans

If you've ever thought about learning how to shoot the Milky Way stars with great natural foregrounds, you won't want to miss this opportunity. Pro photographers and instructors Mike Berenson and Darren White have teamed up to offer an incredible learning experience under the night skies in some of their favorite locations.

"Seriously I don’t know how you could improve it."

With a growing reputation for being some of the most patient trainers in the business, Mike & Darren make the most of their opportunities to share all they know about capturing engaging nightscape images. And with their workshop locations in some of the absolute best locations for night photography, Mike & Darren lead students out into the night to take advantage of a plethora of great opportunities to learn and capture incredible nightscape images.

"I've taken several workshops over the years and yours was most definitely among the best of the best. Your teaching style makes everyone comfortable, whatever their level of experience."

This could be your best chance to cross off that bucket list item and make your dreams come true... learning how to shoot Milky Way stars! Multiple night training events feature a combination of classroom training and in-field instruction all with great night sky timing and lighting. It's a terrific opportunity to get all the skills & support you'll need to be a great night photographer!

"You under-promised and over-delivered. That's a great formula for success."

See More Student Written Testimonials

Night Photography Workshop Events

Featured

Milky Way Photography Introduction on Mount Evans - 1 Night / 2 Days with Up To 12 Students - August 24-25, 2019

from 395.00

Where: Mount Evans
When: August 24 @ 1 pm - August 25 @ 4 pm, 2019
What's Included:

1 Night of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 1 Instructor (on Mount Evans)
2 Afternoons of Classroom Training (in Idaho Springs)

Moonlight: Thin Moon (30% Full) Rising @ 12:58 am
Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $395
Workshop Extension Option:

Available on the night of 8/23/2019 for $295
See full details at the bottom of the page

Milky Way Photography Workshop in Yellowstone - 3 Nights with Up To 12 Students - July 4-7, 2019

from 747.50

Where: Yellowstone National Park
When: July 4 @ 2 pm - July 7 @ 3 am, 2019
What's Included:

3 Afternoons of Classroom Training
3 Nights of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Moonlight:

July 4: 6% Moon, Setting @ 10:57 pm
July 7: 34% Moon, Setting @ 12:15 am

Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $1,495

Milky Way Panorama Workshop in Arches & Canyonlands - 4 Nights with Up To 8 Students - April 6-10, 2019

from 897.50

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks
When: April 6 @ 3 pm - April 10 @ 7 am, 2019
What's Included:

4 Afternoons of Classroom Training
4 Nights of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Moonlight:

April 7: 7% Full Moon Setting @ 10:29 pm
April 10: 31% Full Moon Setting @ 12:37 am

Maximum # of Students: 8 (4 per instructor)
How Much: $1,795
Workshop Extension Option:

Available on the night of 4/5/2019 for $295
See full details at the bottom of the page

Made from 19 images by Starry Landscape Stacker 1.4.0.

Milky Way Panorama Workshop in Arches & Canyonlands - 4 Nights with Up To 12 Students - May 4-8, 2019

from 697.50

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks
When: May 4 @ 3 pm - May 8 @ 7 am, 2019
What's Included:

4 Afternoons of Classroom Training
4 Nights of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Moonlight:

May 5: 1% Full Moon Setting @ 9:24 pm
May 7: 10% Full Moon Setting @ 11:34 pm

Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $1,395

Made from 19 images by Starry Landscape Stacker 1.4.0.

Milky Way Photography Workshop in Arches & Canyonlands - 4 Nights with Up To 12 Students - June 5-9, 2019

from 697.50

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks
When: June 5 @ 2 pm - June 9 @ 3 am, 2019
What's Included:

4 Afternoons of Classroom Training
4 Nights of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Moonlight:

June 5: 8% Moon Setting @ 11:25 pm
June 9: 48% Moon Setting @ 1:39 am

Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $1,395
Workshop Extension Option:

Available on the night of 6/4/2019 for $295
See full details at the bottom of the page

Milky Way Photography Workshop in Arches & Canyonlands - 4 Nights with Up To 12 Students - August 31 - September 4, 2019

from 697.50

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks
When: August 31 @ 1 pm - September 4 @ 2 am, 2019
What's Included:

4 Afternoons of Classroom Training
4 Nights of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Moonlight:
August 31: 3% Moon Setting @ 9:16 pm
September 4: 38% Moon Setting @ 11:29 pm
Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $1,395
Workshop Extension Option:

Available on the night of 8/30/2019 for $295
See full details at the bottom of the page

Nightscaper Conference - Single Night Milky Way Panorama Workshop on May 1, 2019

245.00

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks (and surrounding areas)
When: May 1 @ 10 pm - May 2 @ 4 am, 2019
What's Included:

1 Night of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Sun & Moon:

May 1: 11% Moon Setting @ 5:13 pm & Sunset @ 8:23 pm
May 2: Sunrise @ 6:26 am

Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $245 (20% discount for 2 nights or 30% discount for 3)

Milky Way Photography Workshop in Arches & Canyonlands - 3 Nights with Up To 12 Students - September 21-24, 2019

from 547.50

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks
When: September 21 @ 1 pm - September 24 @ 2 am, 2019
What's Included:

3 Afternoons of Classroom Training
3 Nights of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Moonlight:

September 22: 45% Moon Rising @ 12:05 am
September 24: 23% Moon Rising @ 2:04 am

Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $1,095
Workshop Extension Option:

Available on the night of 9/20/2019 for $295
See full details at the bottom of the page

Nightscaper Conference - Single Night Milky Way Panorama Workshop on May 2, 2019

245.00

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks (and surrounding areas)
When: May 2 @ 10 pm - May 3 @ 4 am, 2019
What's Included:

1 Night of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Sun & Moon:

May 2: 5% Moon Setting @ 6:14 pm & Sunset @ 8:24 pm
May 3: Sunrise @ 6:23 am

Maximum # of Students: 12 (6 per instructor)
How Much: $245 (20% discount for 2 nights or 30% discount for 3)

Milky Way Photography Workshop in Arches & Canyonlands - 5 Nights with Up To 8 Students - September 25-30, 2019

from 1,097.50

Where: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks
When: September 25 @ 1 pm - September 30 @ 2 am, 2019
What's Included:

5 Afternoons of Classroom Training
5 Nights of Location Guiding & In-Field Instruction with 2 Instructors

Moonlight:

September 25: 14% Moon Setting @ 5:55 pm
September 29: 2% Moon Setting @ 8:15 pm

Maximum # of Students: 8 (4 per instructor)
How Much: $2,195

See Events in: Arches & Canyonlands National Parks in Utah Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks in Wyoming Mount Evans in Colorado

Images From The Student Showcase

Window

A photographer sets up to capture a unique nighttime view of Turret Arch and the Milky Way through North Window.
©Abhishek Mukherjee ~ Student September 2016 ~ Arches National Park

Star Trail Person

Born as a student's vision, Abhishek brought it to life by standing still while stars trailed around him.
©Abhishek Mukherjee ~ Student September 2016 ~ Arches National Park

Star Circles Near Jackson Lake

Sometimes the view behind the scenery really stands out as was the case in this image with star trails above and truck light trails below.
©Hal Mitzenmacher ~ Student September 2016 ~ Grand Teton National Park

String Lake Footbridge

An overhead panorama taken at the String Lake foot bridge in Grand Teton NP. ©Hal Mitzenmacher ~ Student September 2016 ~ Grand Teton National Park

Glow of Delicate Arch

With the use of a wide angle fisheye lens Mike was able to create this unique composition of Delicate Arch and the Milky Way.
©Mike Wetzel ~ Student May 2014 ~ Arches National Park

Stars Over Mt. Moran

Mount Moran reflects in the Snake River as the stars shine above.
©Dirk Heseman ~ Student June 2015 ~ Grand Teton National Park

Long Exposure Star Trails

A single long exposure captures the rotation of the Earth around Polaris (North Star).
©Donald E Newsom ~ Student August 2015 ~ Arches National Park

Milky Way Over Shane Cabin

The Milky Way rises over one of the cabins on the Shane Homestead.
©Laura Booth ~ Student June 2015 ~ Grand Teton National Park

Milky Way Through Delicate Arch

Star Trails over Grand Teton

A Break from the Fog at Jackson Lake

Vega over Balanced Rock

With some nice side light painting Mike was able to capture not only the detail and textures of Balanced rock but also Vega just to the right.
©Mike Wetzel ~ Student May 2014 ~ Arches National Park

Moulton Barn Trails

Artistic Star Trails over Moulton Barn. 113 individual images used for this.
©Sergio Rill ~ Student June 2015 ~ Teton National Park

Delicate Arch

Star Trails over Grand Teton and Moulton Barn

Laura Booth uses a very long exposure to create beautiful star trails over the Tetons and Moulton Barn.
©Laura Booth ~ Student June 2015 ~ Grand Teton National Park.

Balanced Rock and Polaris

Finding the north star, Polaris, and capturing the Earth's rotation.
©Umashankar Bala ~ Student August 2015 ~ Arches National Park

Shane Homestead

See the Full Student Showcase or the Instructor Showcase

Latest Articles & Tutorials

Featured

Sep 10, 2018

Mike Berenson

Night Photography 2.0

Sep 10, 2018

Mike Berenson

For most people, night photography started with a digital camera… following in the footsteps of others who inspired us to get out and shoot in the dark. Our images were a little noisy and that reminded us that the higher ISO settings can give us more noise. With that, we accepted that nightscape images are generally more noisy (than daytime landscape images) because of the limits of the cameras we have available.

Introducing Stacking To The World

Astronomers have had some ability to "stack" multiple exposures to reduce noise for years. This is where we take advantage of the fact that the location of the noise dots on each exposure is different and this allows us to sort of "average" them together to get the noise dots to disappear where the points of light just reinforce each other. The result is significant noise reduction - although the software that does this is generally very expensive and overly complicated.

New To Me

When we're talking about new photo gear, let's make sure to include gear that's new to you and that includes pre-owned (aka used) equipment. In this direction, I like working with KEH.com but I've also been known to buy directly from other photographers through craigslist - knowing the latter approach has a lot more risk.

Introduction

MindShift Gear (founded by the creators of Think Tank Photo) makes a great line of backpacks that work well for the adventures I like to do with my night photography. I've been reviewing their packs for a little while now and the latest model I chose was the Firstlight 40L. I chose the big 40L model so it would hold all my gear including a bigger telephoto lens. I had high expectations for the bag and I was able to quickly see if it was going to measure up.
I'll be honest in saying that I did not buy this backpack. I had the opportunity to review it for MindShift Gear and I was happy to do so. That said, I'm including my honest opinions on it without restraint. If there are areas where it did poorly, I'm not afraid to say so.
To test the backpack, I took it out numerous times - during in-field training sessions in Arches & Canyonlands National Parks and Monument Valley with Night Photography Workshop and shooting on my own in the Bisti Badlands.