Experience a different level of night photography with Beth Ruggiero-York and Arizona Highways PhotoScapes as we photograph the dark skies in Death Valley National Park. In this workshop, Beth will teach and guide you to photograph night landscape images. During this workshop, and you will learn how to create dramatic night landscapes with star-filled skies. You will also learn how to photograph star-trail images with beautiful foregrounds. With the exquisite textures of Death Valley National Park there are many new photographic experiences for you to explore. We will shoot Zabriskie Point, as well as Mesquite Dunes, Dante’s View, 20-Mule Team Drive, and other unique locations. Other opportunities will present themselves as we travel through the park. There will be classroom sessions to review and reinforce night photography techniques, to critique participants’ images, and to learn special skills for post-processing night images for the best possible results. We hope you will join us on this one-of-a-kind night workshop in a one-of-a-kind location!

This is an Arizona Highways PhotoScapes workshop

Price: $2,195, $500 deposit

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Learn how to plan, scout and execute a night photography shoot using different planning tools, including the PhotoPills app. Having a successful night or Milky Way shoot requires the consideration of several things including the moon phase, location and accessibility, foreground choice, time of year, time of night, and equipment. Night photography expert, Beth Ruggiero-York will discuss all of these factors so you are prepared to take full advantage of the night sky. The afternoon will be spent learning post-processing workflow techniques for night images. Using Lightroom and Photoshop, you will learn how to prepare your RAW file for a great image. Noise Reduction techniques will be discussed using Lightroom, Topaz DeNoise AI and Starry Landscape Stacker for Mac or Sequator for Windows. Techniques for creative editing will also be demonstrated so that your vision comes to life. This workshop assumes you have a basic working knowledge of Lightroom and/or Photoshop. You should have previous experience shooting night images. This is NOT a basic night photography class. This is a planning and post-processing workshop and does not include field work.

This is an Arizona Highways PhotoScapes workshop

Price: $175

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Capture stunning photographs of the Milky Way galaxy in all of its splendor in Joshua Tree National Park. Over the course of this 4-day, 3-night workshop, We will explore dark sky locations with fantastic foreground subjects. We will concentrate most of our photography in the northwestern Mojave Desert part of the Park, where the jagged Joshua Trees and twisted rock formations are abundant and make compelling foregrounds to anchor your night sky images. During the workshop, we will be based in Twentynine Palms near the Oasis Visitor Center and north entrance of the Park. We will have 3 nights of field instruction, 3.5 days of classroom instruction and critiques. This will give participants an opportunity to improve their skills and have ample opportunity to practice their newfound knowledge. Included in the classroom instruction will be an introduction to post-processing techniques for night images.

This is an Arizona Highways PhotoScapes workshop

WORKSHOP DATES: POSTPONED TO MARCH 11-14, 2021

PRICE: $1,195  

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April 12-15, 2021

This night sky workshop will begin with a special stop at the Kitt Peak Observatory where participants will have the opportunity to view night sky galaxies utilizing their special cameras to take your own spectacular astrophotography images then your images. After our time inside the observatory, we will have an opportunity to photograph outdoors using the observatory domes for interesting foregrounds in our night photographs. After our amazing evening on Kitt Peak, we will depart for Rancho De La Osa Guest Ranch in Sasabe, AZ where we will be based for the duration of the workshop. With many foreground subjects at the ranch and nearby, this is a perfect setting for night photography. During the workshop, we will have opportunities to shoot the Milky Way and starry skies with little to no light pollution. During the day, photographer and author of “Fun in the Dark: A Guide to Successful Night Photography” Beth Ruggiero-York will host classroom sessions on night techniques, as well hold image critiques and provide instruction on post-processing for night images. Each night, we will choose different foregrounds for our shoot and use light painting as needed to enhance the compositions. Using the ranch as our base locations, participants have the flexibility to stay outside and shoot as long as they wish or turn-in to their rooms at their leisure. During the daytime, there will some free time to either shoot around this historic ranch, download and work on images, or simply rest and enjoy the surroundings.

This is an Arizona Highways PhotoScapes workshop

Price: $1,695 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION

To find truly dark skies for night photography, you need to go “off the grid”! Great Basin National Park in Nevada is just that. Deemed an official International Dark Sky Park, Great Basin’s remote location, minimal light pollution, and high elevation is the perfect place to view the celestial heavens. On moonless, clear nights, the skies are illuminated with thousands of stars, planets, galaxies, meteorites, and of course the Milky Way. During this five-night workshop, photographer and author of “Fun in the Dark: A Guide to Successful Night Photography”, Beth Ruggiero-York, will instruct on proper settings and techniques to capture the beauty of the night skies. The park’s diverse terrain of ancient Bristlecone pines, glacial lakes, and its towering 13,000′ Wheeler Peak, provides great foreground opportunities in your night sky images. When not in the field enhancing your night photography skills, Beth will show you how to get the most out of your images in post-processing and composition with in-class image critiques. We base the workshop at Hidden Canyon Retreat, a beautiful guest ranch about 20 minutes from the park. The ranch sits on 350 acres in Big Wash Canyon. While this workshop focuses on night skies, there is plenty to see and shoot in daylight as well, and we’ll make time to capture it.

This is an Arizona Highways PhotoScapes workshop

Price: $2,895

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A travel photography retreat with

Beth Ruggiero-York and Ron York

Marouatte Castle, Dordogne, France

Capture 'essence of place' in the Dordogne region of southern France while we  stay in Marouatte Castle and explore the charming medieval towns, castles, gardens, and surrounding countryside. Our castle home during this week-long workshop is set on 270 beautiful acres that offer endless photo opportunities.

Our week will comprise day trips to the surrounding towns, castles, monasteries, caves, markets and countryside, photographing fields of sunflowers, photographing around the castle and its grounds, including night photography of the castle bathed in moonlight, instruction and critiques, and fabulous meals at the castle and in the towns we visit.

You will fly into Paris and take the bullet train to the local train station, where you will be met by castle staff.

Workshop dates:  July 17-24, 2021

Pricing: $3,395 per photographer / $1,500 deposit upon signing up / balance due May 1, 2021

A non-photographer partner sharing your room: $2,395 (meals included but not local transportation; local car rentals are available). If 2 participant photographers share a room, the price is reduced $500 for each ($2,895/per person)

Payment is by personal check mailed to: 

Ruggiero Images LLC, 15948 E. Jericho Dr., Fountain Hills, AZ 85268

Credit card payments are accepted through PayPal (to ruggieroimages@gmail.com). Please note that a fee of 2.9% will be added for credit card payments in the US. For payments originating outside the US, a fee of 4.4% will be added.

Number of participants: 10

For more information and to sign up, email Beth at ruggieroimages@gmail.com or call Beth at (508) 241-4412  or Ron at (602) 810-8110

Itinerary and more details

Spend five days photographing spectacular scenes in Acadia National Park with photographer, Beth Ruggiero-York. During the workshop, our group will be based in the charming town of Bar Harbor, gateway to Acadia, with its ocean views and nautical ambiance. During the workshop, there will be an abundance of photo opportunities including capturing fall color at all times of the day, shooting the beautiful woodland areas, rocky beaches, carriage bridges, and enjoying a night shoot on Cadillac Mountain, the tallest mountain in Acadia with amazing views. Throughout the workshop, the group will have opportunities to improve their photography while shooting everything from vivid sunrises and sunsets to macro shooting, long exposures, and intimate landscapes. Join us in Acadia for what will be one of your most memorable photo experiences.

This is an Arizona Highways PhotoScapes Workshop

Price: $3,095 

Click here for more information and registration