Capture Stunning Night Photos
Do you want to learn how to photograph the Milky Way? Or maybe you want to capture star trails and paint with lights?
Then join us for this special night photography workshop in Central Alberta, Canada, and learn the different techniques of photographing at night.
Over the course of this 4-day workshop, we will cover everything you need to know to begin taking epic night time shots. From using long exposure to capturing the perfect sunset we will guide you through it all.
Your Accommodations
Built on the original river lots of Métis settlers to this region in the late 1800s, Métis Crossing is home to Alberta’s first Métis cultural interpretive centre.
The Lodge at Métis Crossing is a 40-room, boutique luxury lodge, located on historical Métis river lots.
Overlooking the North Saskatchewan River, guests to the lodge will inevitably find themselves summoned by a sense of nostalgia and wonder about what came before.
Skywatching Domes
As part of your experience at this night photography workshop, you can sleep under the stars, further exploring how the Métis people used the stars and sky to navigate, and how the sky was used as a clock, calendar, and provided critical instructions for understanding when to plant, hunt, and work the land.
Luxury Sky Watching Domes include a transparent ceiling, king bed, running water, bathroom, heated floors, air conditioning, kitchenette, and electricity.
Master the Magic of Night Photography: What You’ll Learn
Dive into the fascinating realm of low-light shooting, where you’ll conquer the art of managing varying light situations. Explore the independence of shooting in manual mode, gaining confidence in adjusting ISO, aperture, and shutter speed to capture the night’s allure.
Unleash your creativity with long exposure techniques that will allow you to capture motion in the most captivating way. With our guided tutorials, you’ll gain hands-on experience in noise reduction strategies, ensuring your night photos are free from graininess and maintain the pristine clarity you desire.
Master the skill of focusing in the dark, and unlock the potential of painting with light to create magical and artistic images. Our experts will guide you through capturing star trails and mastering night portraiture, balancing flash and ambient light to create stunning portraits under the starlit sky.
Under the mentorship of your experienced instructor, you’ll discover the secrets of night landscape photography and the mesmerizing domain of astrophotography. Get well-versed in distinguishing between natural and artificial light sources, setting the right white balance, and exploiting available light to your advantage.
We will even help you to choose the right equipment, and teach you how to set it up.
This workshop will be 3 full afternoons of instruction, 3 nights of shooting and practicing the techniques you’ve learned and a final afternoon of image review and photo processing techniques.
These are some of the skills you’ll come away with, and techniques you’ll likely learn:
- Long exposure techniques: Unleash your creativity, using longer shutter speeds to capture motion, transforming ordinary scenes into surreal masterpieces.
- Painting with light: Learn to add intrigue to your night photos by introducing your own light sources, creating luminous highlights and shadows that add depth and intrigue.
- Capturing star trails: Embrace the grandeur of the cosmos, learning the techniques to capture breathtaking photos of star trails.
- Night portraiture: Master the delicate balance of flash and ambient light to create stunning portraits under the stars, adding a human touch to the vast night landscapes.
- Night landscape photography: Develop the ability to capture landscapes under the moonlight, learning how to use the natural features of your surroundings to add interest and context to your shots.
- Astrophotography: Step into the world of celestial photography, mastering the techniques to capture distant galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae.
- Blue hour photography: Harness the enchanting light available during the blue hour, capturing stunning images in the moments just before sunrise and just after sunset.
- Silhouettes and backlit subjects: Explore the art of creating silhouette and backlit shots, adding a dramatic flair to your night photography.
- High Dynamic Range (HDR) night photography: Combine multiple exposures to create images with a wide range of tones, capturing detail in both the darkest and brightest parts of your scene.
- Capturing northern lights (if conditions allow): Experience the thrill of capturing one of nature’s most beautiful displays, learning the techniques to photograph the northern lights.
- Focusing in the dark: Navigate the complexity of focusing when light is scarce, ensuring your subjects are sharp and your compositions are compelling.
- Noise reduction strategies: Minimize digital noise in your night photos, ensuring your images maintain the crisp clarity and detail that make them truly stand out.
- Recognizing and utilizing light sources: Enhance your understanding of light, learning how to identify and use both natural and artificial light sources to add ambiance and depth to your night photos.
- Setting white balance at night: Discover how to accurately represent colors in your night photos, maintaining the true ambiance of the scene.
- Using foreground interest: Add depth and dimension to your night photos, using objects in your foreground to draw the viewer’s eye into the scene.
- Using moonlight for landscapes: Learn to use the natural light of the moon to illuminate your landscapes, adding a serene and enchanting quality to your images.
- Post-processing for night photography: Gain an understanding of the essential post-processing techniques to enhance your night photos, including noise reduction, color correction, and sharpening in software like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
- Low-light shooting: Overcome the challenges of varying light conditions, learning to capture the elusive beauty only visible after the sun sets.
- Manual mode shooting: Gain the autonomy you need in night photography by mastering ISO, aperture, and shutter speed adjustments, thus enabling you to capture stunning images that truly resonate with the night’s allure.
Kind Words From Past Workshop Attendees
Feedback from previous workshop participants.
I highly recommend anything Darlene does.
Not every good photographer is a good teacher however, in my opinion Darlene has both fields covered very well.
I’ve taken classroom instruction from Darlene, private photography tutoring and attended her workshop. I can’t recommend her enough.
Pete Seerden
4 Day WorkshopI LOVE that learning never stopped
I feel much more confident navigating through the settings and menu’s on my camera and also using a tripod. The one-on-one instructor contact, combined with enthusiastic participants who were willing to share, was invaluable.
Kelly McNaughton
4 Day WorkshopLearned MORE than I thought I would.
Darlene does a very good job at explaining Lightroom / photo processing techniques and has excellent shooting knowledge. Our group experienced a vast variety of techniques.
I myself learned more about image processing, general camera use and about paying more attention to the light!
Kelly Driedger
4 Day workshopPricing
This night photography workshop has it’s pricing based on single or double occupancy, if you have a spouse or non-photographer coming with you, and if you want to book a Skywatching pod.
Workshop Price: $1595 CAD
This is the base price of the workshop. This includes:
- 3 breakfasts
- 3 dinners
- 3 night photography sessions
- 3 days of classroom instruction
- Image review sessions
For those interested in having their own room, are brining a spouse or guest or a different camping option, there are supplemental prices in addition to the base price.
Single Supplement: $495 CAD extra
This provides you with your own room, if you’re by yourself
Spousal Supplement: $850 CAD extra
The spousal supplement includes the single supplement providing your own room for you and the spouse, plus a meal and activity supplement of $350. The spousal supplement includes the same meals and access to the same activities provided at the center that the rest of the group will be involved in.
Skywatching Dome Upgrade: inquire
Skywatching domes are limited and book quickly. If you’re interested in this upgrade, please inquire. We’ll find out if one is available and give you personalized pricing.
Notes:
While no lunches are provided, they are available at the lodge if you choose. We do our best to pair up the registrants for roommates by gender, but that is not always possible. If we are unable to provide even pairs, you will be charged for a single supplement.
I have never quite accomplished a good night shot when it comes to including skies and stars, even after a class in night shooting and multiple tries on camping trips. I was attempting it again while practicing light painting at the hoodoos and after a few suggestions from Darlene, I had a turning point moment. I looked at the preview in my camera and I was stunned, I could hardly believe I had taken the picture I was seeing.
That single moment was worth the entire trip
Karen Albert
Workshop participantKind Words From Past Workshop Attendees
More testimonials from past photography workshop participants.
Loved the workshop!
I learned so much about night photography as well as getting to know my camera settings better. It was great to get so many valuable tips on how to make my photographs more interesting. I’ll tell everyone I can about this workshop.
Lee Ann Man
4 Day WorkshopDarlene really knows her stuff!
She’s patient and instructs in a laid back way that encourages learning. I learned so many things in this workshop including back button focus which will help me with my bird photography.
I look forward to attending more trips, tours and workshops with Darlene.
Mike Perkins
4 Day WorkshopLearn your camera better than you thought possible.
Be rested and ready because you are going to learn your camera better than you thought possible and also get a gallery of shots that surpass anything you ever imagined being able to take!
Dara Choy
4 Day WorkshopDarlene, you were most certainly meant to teach!
I was not sure what to expect going in, as I knew I had a lot less experience than anyone else in the group. I was basically starting from scratch with SLR photography. The group size was perfect for me to ask questions, get some help, and then play around on my own. Darlene you have an incredible amount of patience with everyone, most definitely meant to teach. I feel inspired to keep learning, and will be back for another photography workshop in the future.
Stacey Oviatt
4 Day WorkshopWell thought out and well planned.
I learned lots of valuable information at this workshop. The locations, meals and notes were all well chosen and detailed class plans all came together in a great value photography workshop.
On the second day, I was already approaching my shot differently which improved my photography significantly.
Kimberly Chrysler
4 Day WorkshopThat single moment was worth the entire trip!
I have never quite accomplished a good night shot when it comes to including skies and stars, even after a class in night shooting and multiple tries on camping trips. I was attempting it again while practicing light painting at the hoodoos and after a few suggestions from Darlene, I had a turning point moment. I looked at the preview in my camera and I was stunned, I could hardly believe I had taken the picture I was seeing.
Karen Albert
4 Day Workshop
Your Instructor
Darlene Hildebrandt
Your instructor for this night photography workshop is Darlene Hildebrandt. Darlene is the creator of Digital Photo Mentor, a photography teacher, tour leader, traveler, and a cat owner.
She has over 30 years of experience as a professional photographer, has been teaching since 2011 and has led over 14 photo tours and 20 photography workshops.
Darlene is a Fuji user but speaks almost all other photography languages. Whatever your skill level and experience, she can help you unlock the next level and take better photos.
FAQ’s about this Night Photography Workshop in Central Alberta
Our Photo Tours & Workshops
Click here for our complete list of photo tours of Central America, Africa, Asia and South America, and if you’d like more hands on, photography education, you’ll love one of our workshops, held in Western Canada.