Sequoia Parks Conservancy Dark Sky Festival
Explore Landscapes #53: Join me and the Sequoia Parks Conservancy and explore the night sky of Sequoia National Park. Kick off the Dark Sky Festival with this evening workshop on September 6th.
If you‘re new here, welcome. I’m a professional landscape photographer and hiking/backpacking guide specializing in Joshua Tree National Park. My weekly Monday newsletter is typically a long-form ‘teaching’ article for paid subscribers and workshop attendees. My free Thursday newsletter should interest a wider audience and is typically about my hiking, volunteering, or workshop adventures.
Please subscribe to read more of my posts, visit my website to view my images, or book a workshop or mentoring session. If you value what I provide, consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a coffee instead. I look forward to helping you improve your photography!
I know I’ve mentioned it a few times already (and probably will again), but I’m super excited to be leading an astrophotography workshop at the Sequoia Parks Conservancy Dark Sky Festival on Friday, September 6th.
Any proceeds from this event will go towards Sequoia Parks Conservancy's Dark Sky Festival Fund, allowing them to keep the Dark Sky Festival free. I’m leading the workshop as a volunteer via the NPS Volunteers-in-Parks (VIP) program, as I do for some of the Desert Institute classes in Joshua Tree National Park.
This post is a bit on the long side, and Substack is telling me it may get truncated when delivered to your email inbox. If so, please click ‘View in browser’ at the top right of the email.
During my trip to Sequoia last week, in between all the hiking and backpacking (see post below), we also scouted multiple (I think seven in total) potential locations for the workshop.
As soon as I saw the deck at the Wolverton Picnic Area, I knew it was the right spot for the workshop. It has a nice clear view of the sky, lots of lovely trees to give a silhouette in the foreground, and an easily accessible platform (about 50 yards from the parking lot, with a ramp) for a dozen photographers plus partners.
Sydney, Barry, and I came well-prepared for our scouting trip. After planning where and when the Milky Way would be, we settled down on our camp chairs for a delightful buffet of assorted snacks (see note below) while we waited for the end of astronomical twilight and nighttime to officially start.
[FYI: Trader Joe's Sweetened Dried Orange Slices pair extremely well with their Belgian Dark Chocolate Bars while you wait for celestial bodies to maneuver in time and space].
This is a great location to shoot the Milky Way, and I can’t wait to lead the workshop next month. I hope we get a good turnout, and I would be so pleased if we got the full dozen photographers.
I’ll leave you with another Milky Way image shot last week from right above my truck camper in the Wolverton Service Camp. This is one frame from a 1,200-frame timelapse that I shot that evening - which I’m yet to edit.
Kick off the 2024 Sequoia National Park Dark Sky Festival weekend with an Astrophotography Workshop.
📅 Date: Friday, September 6, 2024
⏰ Time: 7 PM - 10 PM
📍 Location: Wolverton Picnic Area, Sequoia National Park
👥 Group Size: Max of 12 participants
🎟️ Reservation: this is a free event; however, you must reserve your spot via the event page
✨ Half the park is after dark! Join me and Sequoia Parks Conservancy and explore the night sky of Sequoia National Park. Kick off the Dark Sky Festival with this evening workshop set among the towering giant sequoias. Find your composition(s), and learn how to photograph the Milky Way and Star Trails. Please visit the event page for full details and reservations.
Donations: Any proceeds from this event will go towards Sequoia Parks Conservancy's Dark Sky Festival Fund. This fund allows Sequoia Parks Conservancy to keep the Dark Sky Festival free to the public. For questions, please email adventures@sequoiaparks.org
Here are a few of my posts that you might be interested in reading:
Interesting musings, images, and art from others:
"But I Have My Birds" by James Freitas
Can my own photography inspire me? by Shital Morjaria
Multiple Exposures from The Prairie by Dan Jandl
Blue Lakes Trail (S24: Part 4) by Rachel Jeffrey
The Sunday interview: 5 questions for Les Longino by PerfectLight
The Honduras Mission, Part I by Erik Hogan
My Philosophy for Simply Great Photo Edits in Landscape & Outdoor Photography by Cornelius Muller
Perspectives from a canoe: a strong foundation to support growth by Jenn Woltjen
Nature’s Serenity: Finding Peace in the Pacific Northwest by Lisa Kennedy
Letter From the Desert: Canis latrans by Chris Clarke