The Digital Workshops

The Colorado Rockies put on one of the most spectacular displays of fall color in the country.  In particular,  the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado  provide the nature a photographer a rich display of jagged peaks, sweeping mountain valleys, and breathtaking aspen groves in rich autumn color.  Join professional photographers Lewis Kemper and Charlie Borland for an incredible photo experience exploring one of the best color displays in the west.

Learn digital nature photography and Photoshop! Perfect for beginners and advanced alike!

We will make our base in Ouray Colorado and from there we will spend our days exploring the Sneffels Range, Dallas Divide, the Million Dollar Highway, historic sites, and the many back roads. We'll capture the hillsides ablaze in reds, yellows, and orange color as the fall season transitions. The days will be spent amongst the quaking aspens, ghost towns, rivers, valleys, and the best autumn colors in the west.

The Digital Nature and Photoshop Workshop is an opportunity for digital landscape photographers to learn from the best photographers in the field and in the business. You will experience and learn more in these five days than you brain can absorb. The days will be long, the instruction intense, and the education immeasurable. Your instructors will bring decades of professional experience and an intense passion for landscape photography.

Each day we’ll arise before sunrise and meet to carpool into the park to photograph in the early morning light. Mid morning when the light flattens, we’ll return to the hotel, grab a meal and meet in the conference room promptly at 11:00 am for The Digital Darkroom. At the beginning of each session, your instructors will give presentations on a variety of subjects. During the these days we’ll cover the digital darkroom, workflow, image management, Photoshop techniques, stock photography, and publishing your work. You will then have several hours to download your images and work on them in Photoshop with an instructor nearby. We’ll finish our computer session by mid afternoon and then grab a meal. Next we’ll meet up again to carpool back into the park to photograph in the warm light of the setting sun.

The Agenda
Sunday 28th                                                                                        7:00 a.m. Meet for a welcome breakfast                                            Depart for Ouray and shoot on our way there                                    Afternoon: Opening session

Monday 29th - Wednesday Oct. 1st                                                      7:00 am - 9:30 am Sunrise shoot
11:00 am – 2:00 pm the Digital Darkroom/Multimedia Presentations by Charlie and Lewis
3:00 pm until dark. Evening shoot                                   

Thursday 2nd                                                                                            7:00 am -9:30 am Sunrise shoot
11:00 am - 3:00 pm Computer Session                                            3:00 pm Group slideshow and return to Durango to spend one more night.

Digital Darkroom may be open on one night subject to workshop schedule.

(Actual times may vary depending on conditions, sunrise and sunset times, and any unknown factors) 

The Digital Darkroom
Most days, following our morning shooting session, we will return to the conference room for our Digital Darkroom session. This is a very important part of The Digital Nature workshop. During this time we’ll process our images from our photo sessions. Charlie and the Lewis will demonstrate shooting and digital workflow techniques. These include using your histogram in the field for correct exposure, techniques for increasing the dynamic range of your images, and Photoshop tips and tricks. In addition, there will be workflow demonstrations on photo organization, editing and filing your images, stock photography, and marketing your work. We’ll also have on hand a qualified assistant to help answer your questions. If you would like more information on the workshop, open our Workshop Packet.                                                                  
Photo Equipment
The Digital Nature Workshop is for digital photographers and proper equipment is crucial to your successful workshop experience. You will need a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses. The variety of lenses is up to you, but a wide angle through telephoto lenses are good choices, such as 28mm up to 200mm.

You will also need a laptop computer with a minimum of 1Gig of RAM and more would be better. You should also have at least 4 gigabytes of compact flash card space, more is better, and/or a portable, rechargeable hard drive to download in the field. You also need a means to download your images to your laptop, either by cord, card reader, or CF Card adapters. A sturdy tripod is mandatory for landscape photographers. If you do not have Photoshop CS3, follow this link and download the 30 day free trial. http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp Also download the trial version of Lightroom since we will look at that phenomenal program.  Do this several days before you leave for the workshop so you may use it for a few weeks after the workshop.

What's Included:                                                                                                            The workshop and transportation during the workshop from Durango, Colorado to Ouray, during the workshop and back to Durango. Fee does not include meals or lodging.

Getting There
Durango is in SW Colorado and approximately 240 miles SW of Denver. Several major airlines fly to Durango.
                                                                                                               Registration
This workshop has limited enrollment and cost is $995.00 per person.

1) To register for Colorado Rocky Mountain High, you can use our online registration  (PayPal). If you wish to not use Paypal then you can provide us your credit card information which we will run through Quicken Merchant Services. Click on this link and follow the steps. Or you can download our registration form and pay by check or money order.

2) Next, contact Best Western Twin Peaks Lodge at 1-800-207-2700     (http://ouraycolorado.com/bestwestern) and make your room reservations. Be sure and mention you are with the Aspen Photo Workshops group and they will give you the group rate of $79.00 per night.  Book your room for Sept. 28, 29, 30, and Oct 1st, 2008. (Please note that the group block of rooms expires August 28th and rates jump to $99.00 per night.) You are not required to stay here, but we strongly encourage it. This is the best way for you to receive all information regarding the next day’s events. If the weather changes and we decide to move to a different location, we want you to know about it.   

3) Contact the Best Western Mountain Shadows hotel in Durango at   970-247-5200 and make a reservation for the night of the 27th AND October 2nd when we return to Durango. (These are the dates before we leave for Ouray and after we return to Durango.) We will make several trips to the airport the afternoon of the 27th to pick up those arriving after 1:00 pm. We will return those who wish a ride to the airport at 8:00 am the morning of the 3rd.

4) Next, open and read the Registration and General Info pages. There is important information essential to a successful workshop experience.

5) This workshop requires a liability waiver for participation in this workshop. Please click on this link Liability Waiver, print it out, complete the form, and mail to the address on the form.

Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 60 days prior to workshop start date and receive a refund, minus a $100 processing fee. Less than 60 days there is no refund unless your space has been filled from a waiting list.