June 12-15 2011, Mono Lake, Calfornia
led by Lance Keimig, Tim Baskerville and Scott Martin
with guest speakers Troy Paiva, Tom Paiva, Joe Reifer, Russell Brown, Stu Jenks, and more
2011 marks the 20th anniversary of The Nocturnes, and we’re throwing a party at Mono Lake!
Onsight, The Night Skye, and The Nocturnes invite you to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Nocturnes together at Mono Lake in California’s Eastern Sierra this June. This year we’re organizing a special program with introductory and advanced level Night Photography workshops, an afternoon program of seminars with many Night Photography Luminaries including Troy and Tom Paiva, Susanne Friedrich, Stu Jenks, Joe Reifer, Gabriel Biderman, Andy Frazer, Dan Squires, and Al Hiltz. Adobe’s Russell Brown will be a special guest that will introduce some new image stacking software that he and Scott Martin have been working on. As always, there will be night photography at Mono Lake, Tioga Pass, and Bodie Ghost town.
This remote location is a favorite among photographers for its unique geological formations. Mono Lake’s signature monolithic rock structures that extend upward from the lake are ideal for night photography. Other photographic locations may include the dramatic granite moonscapes of Tioga Pass in Yosemite, the Travertine Hot Springs, the town of Bridgeport, and the world famous Bodie Ghost Town. This year we’re going to get into some advanced night photography topics and really take a close look at light painting and mutli-hour star trail image stacking. Techniques and inspiration will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice. We will all work closely together, sharing our knowledge and experience.
Target Audience
This program offers something for everyone. There will be an Introduction to Night Photography workshop with Tim and Lance on June 12 and 13, and Advanced Night Photography workshop with Scott and Lance on the 14th and 15th, Festival guest presentations every afternoon, and photography every night. Workshop participants will have 2 opportunities to photograph at Bodie Ghost Town, people attending the festival without taking a workshop will photograph at Bodie on the last night.
The Festival
The Festival consists of afternoon presentations from 3-5:30 each day by distinguished Night Photographers on special topics, a portfolio review, casual image sharing and trading session, and ample opportunities to photograph the spectacular Eastern Sierra landscape. A schedule of guest presentations will be posted here soon. The cost of attending just the festival is $395.
The Workshops
The introduction to Night Photography workshop will be held on June 12 and 13 from 11:30-2:30 and after the dinner break each night until late. It will cover the basic procedures and techniques for both digital and film based night photography, with an introduction to Light Painting.
The Advanced Night Photography workshop will be held on June 14 and 15 from 11:30-2:30 and after the dinner break each night until late. It will cover advanced digital techniques including optimizing exposure for RAW capture and development, a more detailed exploration of Light Painting, and image stacking combined with Light Painting to create truly spectacular images.
The cost of attending either of the workshops is $750, or 995 for both. Festival admission is included with either workshops. All workshop attendees get to photograph at Bodie for two nights. Festival attendees will photograph at Bodie on the last night only.
Getting There
The Eastern Sierra is isolated. The closest major airport is Reno, NV-140 miles away. Driving from Reno is about 2 1/2 hours. San Francisco is about a 5 hour drive through Yosemite National Park, and Los Angeles is about 6 hours away by car. It’s well worth the effort to get there. If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car from Reno or the Bay Area, let us know, and we will try to connect you with someone.
Accommodations
Workshop participants stay at nearby resorts, hotels or campgrounds in or near Lee Vining. We strongly recommend Murphey’s Motel in Lee Vining. Budget minded travelers can camp in one of numerous nearby campgrounds, or stay in town at the El Mono Motel. Links to other hotels in town, as well as general information about the area can be found at the Mono Lake website. Plan to arrive on the evening of June 11, and checking out on June 16, or later if you want more time to explore the area. There’s plenty to see and do. The program begins on the 12th at 11 a.m., and ends late at night on the 15th. Participants are responsible for booking their own accomodations. We have reserved rooms in the back at Murpheys for the festival. You should request one of the rooms reserved for the workshop when you register, or reserve a something independently as soon as you confirm your spot in the workshop.
Meals
Morning coffee is at the wonderful Latte Da Cafe at the El Mono Hotel. They serve up homemade muffins and strong coffee to get us off on the right foot each day. If you need a bigger breakfast, there’s always Nicely’s, an old fashioned coffee shop. There are a couple of markets in Lee Vining if you prefer to picnic, but most people eat at the fabulous Whoa Nelly Cafe at the The Tioga Gas Mart in Lee Vining. Sounds strange, but this place serves excellent food – everything from omelets, gourmet pizza, and barbecue, to fish tacos, seared tuna, and herb crusted pork loin!
About the instructors
Tim Baskerville, B.F.A., received his degree in photography and liberal arts from the University of San Francisco. He has been photographing at night for more than 25 years, and currently teaches night photography at U.C. San Francisco, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Santa Cruz, and the College of Marin. He has taught at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, Boston; RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco; and the Cape Cod Photographic Workshops on Cape Cod. He has written articles about NPy for Camera and Darkroom, the Friends of Photography with Nazraeli Press, and Photo Metro magazine. He originally curated The Nocturnes, a Night Photography exhibit, in 1991, and founded The Nocturnes.
Lance Keimig is best known for night photography of the built environment. His book, Night Photography- Finding Your Way In The Dark was published by Focal Press in August of 2010. Keimig is the curator of Darkness, Darkness, a traveling exhibit of Night Photography and of the Three Columns Gallery at Harvard University. He has taught at the New England School of Photography in Boston since 2000, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, for the Texas Photographic Society, and the Houston Center for Photography. Keimig founded the Mono Lake Photo Workshops in 2003, and is also a cofounder of The Nocturnes Night Photography Workshops in San Francisco. Since 2001, Keimig has led annual photo tours to Ireland and Scotland.
Scott Martin is the owner of Onsight digital imaging, which is a capture-to-print training business that helps photographic professionals optimize their workflows for quality and efficiency. Scott works on location with photographers, pro labs, artists, designers, prepress professionals and software developers perfecting the techniques and color management needed for top notch work. Scott is known for pushing technology to it’s limits, holds the first ever known degree in Digital Photographic Imaging, and is a beta tester for many products in the industry. His grand format fine art prints are shown in galleries and included in many public and private collections. He has been teaching photography workshops for over 16 years and this will be his 4th workshop at Mono Lake.
Registration
Festival
Intro to Night Photography Workshop
Advanced Night Photography Workshop
Both Workshops
Once you secure your spot by paying a $100 deposit for the festival or $300 deposit for the festival and a workshop, you will be contacted with detailed information about the workshop. Refunds, less a $50 cancellation fee to cover expenses are available until the payment due in full date. You can make a deposit at any time, but space is available on a first come basis. Payment is due in full by May 1, 2011. You can still sign up after May 1 if there is space available, but you need to pay in full at that time. If you need to cancel after May 1, 2011, you will be refunded the amount you paid, less your deposit. If the program is cancelled for any reason, you will receive a full refund.
All photos on this page are copyright Scott Martin and Lance Keimig. Thank you, and we’ll see you in Mono Lake!
