Overview

The majestic Grand Staircase descending toward the Grand Canyon and the canyons of the Escalante are a creative photographer’s dream come true.  Boulder Mountain rises to the west of Capital Reef National Park in the picturesque Aquarius Plateau of South Central Utah. It is the highest timbered plateau in North America, with over 50,000 acres of rolling forests of pine, spruce, fir, and aspen, as well as expansive meadowlands. The area features the dramatic red rock canyons and sculpted formations for which southern Utah is famous, but it is a little known and refreshing alternative to more heavily trafficked southwestern locations.

The author and desert wilderness advocate Edward Abbey once astutely observed:

There are more hills, holes, humps and hollows, reefs, folds, domes, swells and grabens, buttes, benches and mesas, synclines, monoclines, and anticlines than you can ever hope to see and explore in a lifetime.

We’ll add that the quality of light and atmosphere here are superb.

Based out of the beautiful Boulder Mountain Lodge, and with first-class dining at the famous Hell’s Backbone Grill, this is a superb workshop scenario, which helps explain why Visionary Wild clients often repeat this experience. We hope you’ll join us!

Note: Visionary Wild, LLC operates this workshop under a Commercial Use Permit issued by the Bureau of Land Management at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Itinerary

The workshop will start with an early afternoon orientation and introductory session. Field sessions begin the evening of the first day. Each morning and evening, we’ll be out to photograph first light before breakfast and out for evening light before dinner. During midday hours, Jack and Bill will make presentations on advanced seeing, composition and creativity, digital workflow, and maximizing image potential. Critique sessions will follow each day before returning to the field for photography in afternoon and evening light. Saturday morning will be the final field session, followed by critiquing until we adjourn at 3:00pm.

Instructors

    • Jack Dykinga

    • Taste life and strive to make a difference. Pulitzer Prize (1971 Feature Photography) winning photographer Jack Dykinga blends fine art photography with documentary photojournalism.  He is a regular contributor to ...

    • Bill Ellzey

    • It's probably a colossal cliche to call oneself a seeker of beauty.  But I am one.  I believe that people who take photography workshops in nature are on a ...

Gallery

Pricing

Single Occupancy $4,195 (Limited)

Full $4,195

Double Occupancy $3,700 (Limited)

Full $3,700

No Lodging $3,295 (Limited)

Full $3,295

Registrations with accommodations after 10 August are subject to hotel availability. Please contact us prior to registering for single or double occupancy. No lodging registration is still available.

All costs are per person.

Click here to review our terms and conditions.

Clients who have participated in four or more Visionary Wild workshops or expeditions are eligible for a 5% discount on this trip. Enter coupon code 4ORMORE when you register to take advantage of this discount. Subject to verification.

Package includes lodging for four nights (checking in on Oct 15 and checking out on Oct 19) and all meals from dinner on October 15 through lunch on October 19 (including wine and beer with dinner). A prorated rate is available for those who do not require lodging.

Highlights

  • Small group of ten participants, with a student-to-instructor ratio of 5 to 1
  • Eight field photography sessions, morning and evening
  • Composition
  • Working the scene to capture its essence
  • Using various qualities of light to best effect
  • Exposure and tonal control
  • Essentials of digital workflow
  • Optimizing images in post-processing
  • Constructive group critique sessions

Accommodations

Boulder Mountain Lodge is an oasis of calm, comfort and luxury in the middle of Utah’s scenic red rock canyon country and mountain forests. It is perfectly located for quick access to the unparalleled natural wonders of the Boulder-Escalante region, and as if that weren’t enough, it features a superb restaurant on its premises – Hell’s Backbone Grill.

Travel

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For those traveling by air, the nearest major airport is in Salt Lake City, UT, 4.5 hours drive away. There are also flights into Page, AZ which is slightly closer, and the drive from Page is stunning.
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We will carpool to field locations no more than an hour from the lodge.
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Access to locations on foot is easy.
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Highs will likely range from the low 60s to the low 80s, with lows ranging from the high 20s to the low 40s first thing in the morning. Precipitation is unlikely.