Your photography workshop starts in Spearfish Canyon, photographing waterfalls, wildflowers, stream scenes, and Black Hills vistas throughout the Canyon.  We will explore what goes into the creation of beautiful landscape images, from sweeping panoramas to capturing intimate forest scenes. You will receive an in-depth study of landscape composition concepts and techniques, helping you create and capture your creative vision of the amazing landscape scenes we will visit. We will review everything from equipment and exposure settings, to how to find those stunning places and “work” a scene, along with special techniques like HDR photography and creating panoramic images.  The waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon are among the prettiest in the west and along with stunning wildflower displays it will be a great landscape photography opportunity!

From there we will move on to a working cattle ranch, photographing genuine folks who live the life, and are cowboy to the core. These are not professional models, just honest hard working cowboys and girls. In other words, this is as authentic as it gets, and we promise you will not see a rhinestone anywhere on this workshop. 

We'll photograph a huge variety of action, scenery, and subjects, including cowboy portraits, riding, roping, running horses, close-ups of cowboy gear and tack, horse pushes, cattle pushes, farrier work, and more. Led by award winning professional photographers, this will be your best opportunity to photograph authentic working cowboys and cowgirls on a real ranch setting in the Dakotas. And when we say “real” and “authentic”, just remember this is a working ranch, so you’ll have to watch where you step!

So join us for the "Best of the Black Hills Photography Workshop", where we will show you the very best this beautiful area has to offer in great western and landscape photos! 

About Us - OPW offers you the best in outdoor adventure and nature photography workshops, helping you improve your photography and make great images in a fun and relaxed setting. We believe in a laid back atmosphere where we can have a good time, while making sure you get the photo instruction you need, and the photos you dream of. Please review the details for this workshop below and feel free to email or call us with any questions. 

Instructors – Les Voorhis (www.focustwestgallery.com) and Rick Sammon (www.ricksammon.com).  

Location – Spearfish, South Dakota

Dates – May 30 - June 2, 2013

Photography Skill Level - Any, Beginner to Pro

Activity Level - Light to Moderate. Short hiking along well maintained paths for the waterfall portion as well as short hiking for the cowboy portion.  Participants should be able to haul gear up to 200-300 yards and bend and kneel for the best angles.  Heavy hiking or carrying large loads is not necessary or required.

Price - $1,495 which includes all photography sessions and instruction, transportation during the photo sessions, lunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the workshop.  

Not Included:  Lodging, meals (breakfast and dinner), tips, and transportation before/after, and to/from Rapid City Regional Airport is not included.  

Deposit - A nonrefundable $500 deposit is required to register 

Class Size - We have a max ratio of 8 students to 1 instructor for this workshop, with a maximum of 16 participants.  A minimum of 8 participants is required for this workshop to be held.

Travel - The best airport to fly into in the area is Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP). 

Lodging - We recommend you stay at one of the many hotels in Spearfish, South Dakota. Lodging is at your own expense. 

Time Zone - Mountain Standard Time, please adjust your clocks accordingly when you arrive.

Itinerary - We keep a very flexible schedule during the workshop to respond to the opportunities the wildlife, weather, and light provide us. However to plan your travel, here is a tentative schedule of where we will be and when.

Day 1 -  Thursday Evening - The workshop begins with a classroom based talk by Les and Rick on Thursday night, where we will discuss a variety of photography skills and techniques to prepare you for the workshop.

Day 2 -  On Friday we will photograph the waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon along with a variety of scenes in the Canyon.  Midday will be spent reviewing and editing the images we took in the morning and preparing for what we need to shoot that afternoon.

Day 3 -4 - Saturday and Sunday will be spent photographing cowboy portraits and cowboys in action at various ranch and equestrian facilities around the northern Black Hills.  There will be a shoot each morning and afternoon (four total cowboy shoots) with a review and edit during the mid day break between sessions.

Afterwards - Download, sort, and review all the great images you got on your trip. Buy a new hard drive to store them all. Send us an email with your favorites. Tell all your friends about us. Wallpaper your home with your beautiful Black Hills shots. Win photo contests with all your killer cowboy images. Sign up for another OPW workshop with your prize winnings... :)

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