Overview

Zion National Park’s red rock and limestone cliffs and spires tower above sculpted canyons, grottoes, and waterways, forming a unique and awe-inspiring landscape at the convergence of the Colorado Plateau, the Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert.  Autumn’s arrival brings comfortably cool temperatures and fall colors in the maples and cottonwoods.  Zion is quite simply one of the gems of the National Park system, a highlight of the American Southwest, and one of our favorite outdoor photographic “classrooms.”

For three decades, Jack Dykinga has captured the astonishing beauty of light, form, texture, and natural history that make the southwestern American deserts and canyons unique. He knows this landscape and its amazing light better than anyone and enjoys nothing more than sharing his insights and vision with other passionate photographers. Assistant instructor Justin Black has co-led three prior workshops with Jack at Zion and is always struck by the way Zion reveals its secrets like the layers of an onion being peeled back – every visit yields a new discovery and new qualities of light. This all-inclusive workshop will be based at Flanigan’s Inn of Springdale, Utah, just outside the western entrance of Zion National Park, providing excellent access to field locations. Along with eight field sessions, Jack and Justin will present projected lectures on composition, light, exposure control, anticipating and working through changing conditions, and essentials of digital workflow. Three critique sessions will provide essential constructive feedback on images created during the workshop.

This Creative Core workshop deals heavily with developing creativity and visualizing compositions, with a great deal of photography in the field. Creative Core workshops are general outdoor photography workshops designed to expose participants to the full creative toolbox, but the emphasis of individual participants’ work is up to them. Whether they wish to focus on classic landscape, abstraction, color, black and white, HDR, panoramics, multiple exposures, or all of the above, any enthusiastic photographer will feel right at home in this workshop. Jack and Justin have decades of experience successfully accommodating a range of experience levels within the context of a workshop.

In advance of the session, we supply materials to get everyone up to speed with fundamentals of digital camera set-up and technique, as well as essential equipment recommendations, recommended packing list, and other guidelines to ensure that everyone is ready to make the most of the experience.

Note: This workshop is operated under National Park Service Commercial Use Authorization.

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 ...

    • Justin Black

    • JUSTIN BLACK is a photographer, writer, editor, expedition leader, photo workshops instructor, a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers (ILCW), a former executive director of the International ...

Gallery

Pricing

Single Occupancy $2,950

Deposit $1,475
Full $2,950

Double Occupancy $2,595

Deposit $1,297.50
Full $2,595

No Lodging $2,225

Deposit $1,112.50
Full $2,225

Highlights

  • Eight field photography sessions, maximizing opportunities during “magic hour” and in the warm glow of reflected canyon light.
  • Composition and creativity
  • Working the scene through changing conditions and light
  • Understanding and using various qualities of light to best effect
  • Exposure and tonal control
  • Essentials of digital workflow
  • Three projected group critique sessions

Accommodations

Package includes single-occupancy lodging, all meals, and adult beverages with dinner. Prorated fees are available for double occupancy and for those who do not require lodging. Flanigan’s Inn in Springdale, Utah is a comfortable, quiet, and welcoming lodge-style accommodation just outside the western entrance of the park. It provides easy access to both Zion Canyon and the high country and features an excellent restaurant on its premises, the casual but elegant Spotted Dog Cafe.

Travel

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The closest airport to Zion N.P. is in St. George, UT, (SGU) a little over an hour's drive away, offering daily flights from Salt Lake City, UT, and Los Angeles, CA. Airport shuttle service is available from St. George Express ( http://www.zionshuttleservice.com/ ). The closest international airport is McCarran Int'l in Las Vegas, NV (LAS), 160 miles away.
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We will carpool to field locations up to an hour away from Springdale.
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Walks at our field locations are easy. Some locations involve traversing rugged, uneven terrain or wading, though this is optional.
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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.

Expectations

Participants in this workshop should expect inspiring,  enthusiastic, effective, and generous instruction from Jack and Justin, both in the classroom and hands-on in the field. Photography in the field will make the most of our familiarity with the phenomenal opportunities available in the area, and we will work with each participant to ensure their goals for the workshop are met. Three constructive group critique sessions will do wonders to refine your composition and techniques in the field, while allowing you to learn from the unique eye of each of your fellow participants. Most of all, this will be a fun, positive, and inspiring workshop that will exceed your expectations, provide new understanding and the keys to continue your development, and will leave you energized and excited to apply what you learned.