Travel with our mentors and try out all of the
latest equipment from Nikon! Including world class digital SLRs, Nikkor lenses and the Coolpix line of Digital Cameras.
Uncap your lens and join Nikon professional photographers Bill Durrence and David Tejada on a sizzling trek to California’s Death Valley National Park! You will encounter one photo op after another as you travel amid the Park’s diverse geography, unique desert wildlife, historic sites and clear night skies.
Begin your journey by watching the sunrise over Zabriskie Point, an area located in the Amargosa Mountain Range and known for its remarkable erosional landscape (many will also recognize this locale from the cover of U2’s album The Joshua Tree). Next stop will be Devil’s Golf Course, which you will soon find out is not actually a golf course but instead a large salt pan with a jagged terrain comprised of salt crystals (the name stuck after a 1934 National Parks guide book stated that “only the devil could play golf” on its surface). Your camera will meet even more otherworldly landscapes when you visit the Badwater salt flats, home to hexagonal saucer-shaped landforms created after the salty pan dries and the salt crystals expand. The Badwater area is also notable for containing the lowest point of elevation in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Next, arrange colorful compositions at Artist’s Drive and Palette, a collective rock formation renowned for its many-hued facades caused by the oxidation of various metals. End your day with stunning sunset panoramas at Dante’s View, a truly memorable vantage point showing the sceneries of Badwater Basin and Telescope Peak, among others.
The following day, capture the sun as it rises over Stovepipe Wells sand dunes, a 14-square mile expanse of rippling land, often said to be the most photographed sand dunes in the world. Journeying on to Ubehebe Crater, prepare to encounter a truly magnificent sight when your lens meets this half-mile-wide volcanic crater. The majestic vistas continue at the Mesquite Flat Dunes, a landscape so picturesque that it has been used as the backdrop for many Hollywood films, including the Star Wars series.
A stop at Titus Canyon is sure to fill your frame with even more stunning images. A deep, narrow gorge cut into the Grapevine Mountains, Titus Canyon is home to rugged terrain, colorful rock formations, petroglyphs, a ghost town, rare plants and astounding canyon narrows. Offering out-of-this-world views in a truly unique atmosphere, Death Valley National Park is a must-see locale for every photographer
Bill Durrence
Nikon School
Nikon World
www.billdurrence.com
David Tejada
NikonNet
Photo District News
www.tejadaphoto.com
John Reddy
Men's Journal
American Heritage
www.johnreddyphoto.com
Workshop Cost: $1100*
* includes entrance fees, coach transportation to the park from a pre-selected city and to each shooting location, lectures, in the field training, digital presentations, an Mpix photo book & digital review sessions.
Furnace Creek Ranch
Death Valley National Park
Highway 190
Death Valley, CA 92328
t. (760) 786-2345
Ask for Reservations and Use Booking #106950
Rate: $142.50
Cut off Date: January 17, 2009
Non-Photographers/Spouse Policy
We would like to notify you that spouses or non photographers of trek participants who travel with them to mentorseries trek destinations advertised as part of the mentorseries will be charged the prevailing workshop cost. This is because of limitations in the workshop classes, transportation and seating at the many venues we work with on the treks.
Digital
Be sure you bring your laptop for review sessions; edit sessions and the Photoshop presentation, as well as a extra memory cards and storage devices.
Equipment
Bring a camera, all your lenses, flash and lightweight tripod. We suggest lenses ranging from 12-24mm to longer lenses 75 – 300mm. Be sure to bring your battery charger and more then one set of rechargeable batteries. Be sure to bring your camera's manual too. Bring an external hard drive besides your laptop to guarantee you have enough space, especially if you are shooting RAW.
Weather & Dress
We are usually very casual on the treks. We will be both shooting mainly outdoors, so bring a variety of clothing you can layer. Dress comfortably, with good walking shoes. Make sure to have rain gear with you at all times to protect your camera bag and camera.
Incidentals
You are responsible to pay for all charges to your room when we check out of your hotels. Incidentals such as room service, drinks, phone calls, business services, laundry, etc. are not included.
What to Bring
camera/ camera instruction booklet
film/flash unit (and the instructions)
fresh batteries/sharpie magic marker
interchangeable lenses (if you have them)
lens cleaner and lens-cleaning paper
tripod / mini tripod / monopod
laptop
bathing suit/sunglasses / sunhat/sunblock
Death Valley Trekkers:
It’s easy to think of the high desert country as lifeless and barren, but Death Valley is a fascinating landscape with far more photo opportunities than you might realize. It can be hot and hostile, though, so be sure you have sunblock, a good hat, and some bug juice. It is difficult to make photographs when you are physically uncomfortable and it will be cool sometimes and warm at other times. Dress in layers so you can be warm when we start and peel them off as it warms up, then adding back layers as it cools again in the evening. It can get windy as well, and maybe we even get a rare shower, so a rain parka that can also serve as a windbreaker, gloves, earmuffs and scarves are not a bad idea. If you bring the right attitude, there’s always a picture. It may not be the one you were expecting and it may not be the best one you’ve ever taken, but if you know how to look, there’s always a good picture to be had.
Beyond that, if you bring nothing more than the simplest point-and-shoot compact camera, you’ll learn something, get some nice photos, and go home with good memories of the people you met and the things you saw. If you are going to being more camera gear—Jay Maisel says, “The more equipment you bring the fewer pictures you’ll take.” While I agree, I also bring a lot of options to a location like this. But I also bring a small belt pack that I use for working and only carry a few things at one time. I like to have at least two camera bodies so I can have each with a lens I use a lot and don’t have to change lenses as much, which is a shooting convenience and helps minimize possibilities of getting dust on the camera sensor, or sand in the camera. Also, if one camera dies, I still have something to keep shooting. I like to have lenses from the 10.5 Fisheye to at least the 70-200 as well. Wildlife possibilities in this location are more limited than many parks and usually at a distance so an even longer telephoto can be handy, but of limited usefulness. A greater benefit of long lenses here will be the compression you can get in making some interesting landscapes like turning the sand dunes into abstracted patterns. A flash and a good tripod are always useful, but I would emphasize “good” when referring to tripods. Most people get something for convenience (light, small, and portable) which means it often does not provide the stability you want in a tripod. Be sure you have your computer and a portable hard drive for backing up your photos and always have extra camera batteries and flash cards.
Thoreau said, “Beware adventures that require new clothes,” and I think that is good cautionary advice against purchasing new equipment just for a workshop. I find that many of these purchases are made with insufficient understanding of the features to look for and lead to wasteful spending. If you do want to buy something for the workshop so you can get some education in using it, and you are not knowledgeable about that type of product, or if you have other questions about the workshop, feel free to contact me for whatever advice or guidance I might be able to offer. You can contact me through my website, www.billdurrence.com
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