Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains Workshop
February 23 - March 1, 2025
The three instructors, Mark Gardner, Al DaValle and Bruce Barnbaum fully cover today’s photographic field.Al DaValle and Mark Gardner are digital experts; Bruce Barnbaum is a traditional film/darkroom expert (with a bit of knowledge of digital methods, as well). All three are deeply committed to helping you progress to meet and exceed your own goals. From the technical to the artistic, these three will supply answers to your questions and worthy suggestions for your further development.
Take advantage of this unmatched expertise in a setting that cannot be topped: the awesome the Sierra Nevada Mountains with its thick winter blanket of snow. The 14,000’ summits rise more than two miles above the Owens Valley (North America’s deepest valley), where the workshop is based. In late February those mountains are draped in snow, making them even more awesome than at any other time of year. We’ll make the most of that mountain wall, the extensive and bizarre boulder fields below it named the Alabama Hills, together with photographic sessions to the ancient bristlecone pine trees (the oldest living things on earth), the nearby semi-ghost town of Keeler (yes, there are still a few ruddy residents there, they welcome all photographers, and they can be willing portrait subjects!), and the unique rock formations of Westgard Pass. The photographic opportunities are endless, and it’s not just this eye-popping landscape.
Our time in the workshop is divided into structured, but fluid and informal sessions in the field and indoors, as well as even more informal get-togethers for sharing and socializing. The sessions will cover the complete photographic workflow from initial vision, effective image exposure, to the finished digitally post-processed image or traditional darkroom image. We’ll focus on the art of photography including insightful seeing, better understanding light, and using the elements of composition to produce better photographs.
To view a selection of images from past workshops, click HERE.
In the indoor sessions, we’ll review the photographic work of all students, with instructors and students all providing input, ideas and encouragement to one another. We’ll also review the work of the instructors, with questions about their equipment, materials, workflow and, above all, their thinking behind the imagery being shown. As time allows, we’ll also review images made during the workshop and explore topics of interest to the group in lectures and discussions. There are no secrets; instead there is remarkable sharing of everything photographic. This is a perfect time to dig into instructors’ brains—and those of fellow students—about their thinking and approach to photography knowing that all question are valid, worthy of thought and consideration.
In the reviews, we’ll focus on the complete process from initial vision to finished photograph. We’ll dive into the heart of your work and your photographic goals, unlocking ideas that you may never have considered in your thought process. These sessions will not only reveal things about your work that you never consciously recognized; they’ll also provide new paths to explore in making your photographs. All reviews will be done in the most encouraging and supportive way possible. They’ll be totally honest—no pandering allowed—but, with an open mind, the reviews of your work will boost you to levels you never believed possible.
The workshop begins on Sunday, February 23, 2025 in the town of Lone Pine, in the Owens Valley, beneath the Sierra wall. We ask all participants to arrive the day before that, Saturday, February 22, and join us for an informal “get-to-know-you” dinner that evening, when our motel reservation also begins. (For those who wish to camp, nearby campgrounds are available. You can also make your own reservation elsewhere for the duration of the workshop, if you so choose.) The workshop begins shortly after breakfast the following morning.
The workshop runs until noon Sunday, March 1, 2025. Please make your travel plans with that in mind, so you don’t miss any of the workshop. If you are coming from a long distance you can fly into either Reno, Las Vegas or Los Angeles, where you can rent a car for the drive to Lone Pine. (From Reno or Las Vegas plan on a 4-hour drive; from Los Angeles plan on a 4 1/2-hour drive.) During the workshop, we will carpool to our various outdoor field destinations. Detailed travel plans will be sent to you once you apply for the workshop.
Accommodations have already been secured at the Dow Villa Motel in Lone Pine for the duration of the workshop. Once you sign up for the workshop, you'll simply be asked for your room preference—either a single or shared room—and your accommodations are taken care of. (If you plan to camp or stay elsewhere, just let the workshop know, and we can accommodate that, as well.)
If you have further questions, please contact Mark Gardner at markbgardner@outlook.com or call 360-472-0191, or Bruce Barnbaum at barnbaum@aol.com or (360) 691-4105.
To register for this workshop please visit Bruce Barnbaum's website. The workshop fee is $2150. Payment can be made using your Visa or Mastercard credit card (sorry, no other credit cards). If you register with a deposit of $250, the full payment will be due 6 weeks prior to the workshop. You will receive an email response to your application shortly. (If you are applying for more than one workshop, please do this for each workshop you wish to attend.