Saturday, October 8^th 2022

The Lodge at Mountaineer Square

620 Gothic Rd C-100, Crested Butte, CO 81225

(970) 349-4000

Beginner to Advanced-Intermediate photographers looking to develop their eye and challenge photographic norms. We will be discussing concepts like lighting, location scouting, composition, and ways to increase productivity and creativity. Also, we will discuss and employ a creative workflow process from image conceptualization through post-production. We will have contingency plans in place, assuring workshop participants that all possible efforts will be made to put us in “the right place at the right time” as Clark is a firm believer that fortune favors the prepared!

Photography workshops are the best way to take your photographic skill up a notch while exercising and developing your “eye.” We will take a “Work Hard/Play Hard/Relax/Repeat” approach, where we will push ourselves (and one another) to be more creative and look at things from new perspectives, while out in the field, while taking enough time to enjoy the surroundings and, of course, the experience. Expect to come away from the Workshop with many new ideas, perspectives and skills that you can work into your own photographic journey, while exploring these stunning and amazing locations!

Camera Equipment:

• Any DSLR/ILC body (Please be somewhat familiar with your camera and its basic functions)
• A case or camera bag for all gear
• Cleaning supplies (think sensor, lenses)
• Tripod (don’t forget a quick-release plate)
• Remote shutter-release (2-second timer will work in a pinch
• Extra batteries and memory cards
• Battery Charger

Recommended Lenses (focal lengths for full-frame)

• 12mm-24mm for wide-angle shots
• 24mm-105mm covers most of the types of scenes we’ll encounter
• 70mm-200mm to “bridge the gap”, a useful focal length range for a lot of aspen groves, and some distant mountainscapes
• 200mm-600mm for some “compression” shots and other unique angles
• Filters are completely optional, but a neutral-density filter and a polarizing filter could be useful

Laptop/Tablet

• All cables/card readers needed to interface with camera
• Adobe Lightroom (and/or Photoshop)
• A memory stick for sharing images
• Please test all camera/computer equipment before arrival at the Workshop

Field-appropriate clothing

• Dress in layers
• Avoid cotton
• Boots or hiking shoes
• Gaiters are helpful in protecting your socks and feet from getting wet
• Waterproof pants are helpful when getting down low for certain compositions
• Hat with a brim
• Sunglasses
• Gloves

Other field accessories

• Insect Repellant
• Sunblock
• Water bottle

If you have any questions or need recommendations on gear for the Workshop email or call Clark!

This workshop will take place at 6,000’-10,000’ above sea level.

For those traveling from lower-altitude locations, we strongly recommend acclimating for at least a day or two beforehand.

It is important to understand the effects of altitude on your body, the experience is different for everyone

• Eat lighter, more frequent meals and snacks
• Double the amount of fluids you drink—the dry mountain air hovers around 15-25% humidity
• Limit alcohol consumption
• Take frequent breaks—the most common side effect of altitude is shortness of breath, sometimes with very little exertion
• Some have more pronounced effects like headaches, nausea, fatigue, and sleep/appetite disruptions

We will provide an immersive, comprehensive experience for all participants. The locations have been selected while bearing in mind that one mustn’t be a seasoned backcountry hiker to get everything out of this

experience. The walks and hikes included are a maximum of two miles of easy
hiking (one mile out and one mile back, for example.) Please contact Clark for more information, or to discuss physical considerations. 

Clark Schiring is an image-obsessed photographer and road-trip warrior, and the proprietor of the Wilderness Exclusives gallery in Summit County, Colorado, as well. He started teaching himself the fundamentals of image creation out of a book from Barnes & Noble because his photos weren’t coming out right, and quickly began experimenting with new techniques and effects, mostly involving low-light photography, after that. He now focuses his energy on ways to capture the “mood” of the scenes he finds in nature, as seen on his work on display at Wilderness Exclusives.

Clark started taking workshops soon after becoming obsessed with the craft of Photography, and noticed specific incremental steps of improvement after participating in them. He hopes to promote the art form, and help them improve, because this will help foster the growth and progression of photography! He loves watching others grow more obsessed with image creation because they learned something that changes the game for them—Clark is a firm believer the the more one learns about the photography, the more fun it becomes!

• We reserve the right to change, amend, or cancel this itinerary at any time, for any reason.
• If the Workshop is cancelled, 100% of your payment will be refunded. Reasons for cancellation could include, but are not limited to: public health emergencies, extreme or hazardous weather forecasts, outside the acceptable parameters for this workshop
• We must have at least 4, but not more than 8 participants for this Workshop by September 24th 2022. It will be cancelled, and all Tuition will be refunded in the case we do not fill the requisite 4 spots.
• All participants must either be vaccinated against COVID or provide a negative COVID test prior to the opening of the Workshop. Unvaccinated participants who test positive for COVID will not be allowed to participate and will not be refunded.
• All participants must fill out our Waiver of Liability and Insurance form.
• Any participants that cancel within 96 hours of the Workshop’s beginning forfeit their tuition costs—however, if we can fill that Participant’s spot with another spot from the Wait List, Participant be able to apply their tuition to a subsequent Workshop. Contact Clark for more details.
• Travel Insurance is available from your Travel Agent, or from a number of sources online, and can be applied to this Workshop. We recommend this for any prospective Participants that are nervous about contingencies with their experience. 

We will be departing Carbondale (leaving personal vehicles behind) in my SUV before sunrise in the morning of October 8^th, and heading out in the field, making our way to Crested Butte. We’ll check-in to the hotel, and take a break in the afternoon, before heading out in the field for the evening. We’ll have a classroom session in the hotel, with dinner provided, that evening.

We’ll head out much the same way on Sunday, early in the morning to shoot some locations in the optimal lighting and conditions as the day dictates. We’ll end up back in Glenwood Springs, and have a final photo presentation/critique that evening.


All ground transportation for the Workshop is provided in the cost of the Workshop. Transportation to Glenwood Springs is not provided. Glenwood Springs is located 2-1/2 hours west of Denver on I-70. The Eagle County, Colorado airport has several daily flights to Eagle, which is about 35 minutes east of Glenwood Springs.
 

A large part of what makes this type of workshop fun is the dynamic weather in the Rockies, especially this time of year—providing changing, evolving and other types of magical conditions to capture on film. We could encounter 60-degree temperatures, or there could be a foot of snow. The latter would likely hinder our ability to host this Workshop (please see “Terms and Conditions.”) However, we have designed this workshop to have several location/route options, allowing us to pursue different scenes/images as the conditions dictate. Part of any outdoor photographyer’s responsibility is to work with the light that’s available (as well as cloud cover/accessibility/crowds and all other contingent factors) and we will not only be able to work with the conditions, but we are prepared to make the most of them. 

Please see the verified Google Reviews of the Wilderness Exclusives Fine Art Photography Gallery, and some thoughts from some past workshop participants, here. Here are some excerpts of what they’ve had to say so far.

Past Participants:

Joe K, Fall Photography Workshop 2021

“Great preparation in selection of shooting sites and … dates for the workshop to optimize shooting opportunities…I believe my photography improved dramatically over two days, and I walked away with…a learning roadmap for the next six months.” Says Joe K, who was also excited to learn some of Clark’s processing techniques: “…opened my eyes to rich opportunities for better processing—I was skeptical until I saw what he could do in the studio session. Clark is a master of using these advanced processing techniques to augment his vision.”

“If you want to learn how to use your iPhone, DSLR,
mirrorless or Polaroid, take one of his classes and thank me later.”

Austin C, Night Photography Workshop, 2019

“Clark Did a great job of helping me brainstorm different
concepts out in the field, And he was knowledgeable, as well as helped me to
understand, different photographic approaches and concepts to get the most out
of a given scene.”

Taylor R

Night Photography Workshop, 2019