OUR MISSION Our mission is to provide you with the best photographic experience, combining learning, both in the field and classroom, with unparalleled access to the best image making opportunities. We also make it a priority to ensure that you are surrounded by a fun and creative environment that fosters your individual growth. It is our guarantee that you will go home with stunning imagery and a memorable/joyful experience. Our trips/workshops are meticulously planned with attention to detail. From hotels, food, transportation and shooting logistics, all arrangements come together to provide you with a photographic adventure that runs smoothly and maximizes your shooting opportunities. All of our itineraries are tailored to get you to the best locations, during the right season and at the right time of the day. “Very few people have the opportunity to go to the places we go.� Tracking the sun, the moon and the stars are just some of the elements that go into our planning process. You will have in the field coaching to make sure you get the best rendition of the scene in front of you and that you are able to make that image in camera with little or no post processing. During your down time, we provide one on one critique sessions to make the most of your learning experience.
The Southwest of the United States is one of the dreamiest landscapes on the planet. The reds, greens and spectacular skies make for one stunning photographic canvas. This particular expedition covers four of my favorite parks: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks as well as Monument Valley and Antelope Pass in the Navajo Nation. Each distinct location offers a plethora of photographic opportunities throughout the 1400 mile/ten day journey.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS DAY 1
In Arches, every land feature is unique, requiring a specific photographic approach. It is here where we spend nights chasing the Milky Way, the thunderstorms and light painting these magnificent structures. Canyonlands is a mecca for panoramas. The vast overviews of both the Colorado and Green River canyons provide the right elements for multilayer panoramas infused with dawn and dusk pastels. Driving down the steep curves of Potash road provides a unique view to the formation of this alter-universe.
Arrive in Salt Lake City, take a shuttle to the hotel and get a good night rest before we start our adventure.
DAY 2 ARCHES NATIONAL PARK
Monument Valley, the set of many famous western movies, is quite an exquisite location. Its famous buttes dominate a huge valley full of color and life. Driving into this vast landscape is a thrill; scores of old weathered mesquites make perfect subjects for flash photography. Sunrise and sunsets here are like well-orchestrated symphonies of light and color. The slot canyons in Antelope pass are one of the most spectacular displays of light you could ever witness. Given the right time of the year, heavenly beams of light illuminate the eroded sandstone walls bringing these underground cathedrals to life. There is a picture in every corner; abstract renditions of color and shade dominate this magenta planet.
We depart for Moab home of Arches National Park. Once we arrive at the park, you will discover a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms and textures unlike any other in the world. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, in addition to hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins and giant balanced rocks. This red rock wonderland will amaze you with its formations, refresh you with its trails, and inspire you with its sunsets. We will have the opportunity to have a night shoot at the Double Arch and Balanced Rock.
DAY 3
DAY 5
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK
We depart before dawn to photograph the Milky Way in the Windows area of the park. Before dawn we photograph around Turret Arch for amazing sunrise shots .
We depart for Arches National Park. This is another opportunity for landscape photos of the night sky. On this shoot we capture Landscape Arch against a star-riddled sky.
You will then have the opportunity to edit and rest to be ready for the afternoon one on one session.
We shoot sunset at the magnificent Green River Overview.
Right after breakfast, you will have time to edit/rest. We then leave for Monument Valley. This Navajo Nation tribal park in the border of northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah. It preserves the Navajo way of life and some of the most striking and recognizable landscapes of sandstone buttes, mesas and spires in the entire Southwest. After an early dinner, we walk to the overview and photograph the wonderful landscape lit by sunset light. In this great valley, you will photograph sandstone masterpieces that tower at heights of 400 to 1,000 feet. The angle of the sun accents these graceful formations, providing scenery that is simply majestic to the eyes. We finish the day with a late night shoot of the stars over the valley floor.
DAY 4
DAY 6
CANYONLANDS & ARCHES NATIONAL PARKS
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK & MONUMENT VALLEY
We depart for Canyonlands National Park – You will see a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries.
Early morning departure for Monument Valley to shoot sunrise from North Window, from here you will see a palette of reds as the pre-dawn light hits the “buttes”.
At this park, we will photograph Mesa Arch, Buck and Grand View.
A quick stop in John Ford’s Point before heading out to breakfast. Time to edit and rest before your next photo critique.
After breakfast, you will have time to edit/rest and be ready for your second photo critique.
After dinner, we depart for Monument Valley to do some flash exercises and photograph sunset from the North Window.
Right after we travel to Canyonlands to photograph the sandstone-carved landscape product of millennia of the Colorado and Green River flows.
Right after the critique, we will depart to photograph the Arches National Park. On this shoot, you will photograph the Park Avenue and Courthouse Towers areas and finish the day at Balanced Rock.
DAY 7 MONUMENT VALLEY & ANTELOPE PASS
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE We will walk to Monument Valley for your first shoot of the day and photograph sunrise from the overview. After breakfast, we depart for Antelope Pass. These canyons will enchant you. The way the way curve, the beauty and grace in the swirls, and the pure coolness of the light beams coming down from the sky is truly mesmerizing. But the most beautiful and stunning part of the canyons is the colors – the dramatic yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, purples and blues that can be captured by the camera. After the shoot we check into our hotel in Page where we will have another one on one session.
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After dinner we depart for Upper Canyon for a night shoot of the stars from inside the canyon.
DAY 8 SALT LAKE CITY
PACKAGE PRICE: $ 3,100 Sign up deposit: $ 500
Price includes: Includes 9 days/8 nights of accommodation, one group dinner, tuition, local transportation Price is per person, SINGLE occupancy
After breakfast we will have our last critique session before driving back to Salt Lake City. After a short rest we will have our group dinner to celebrate our week together.
DAY 9 Departure
Airfare from/to your home cities, meals not listed above, alcohol, personal expenses, visas if required are not included This workshop is limited to 5 participants
YOUR WORKSHOP LEADER
RAUL TOUZON is a Documentary and Natural History Photographer who specializes in making images
Raul will guide you in creating unique images. We have several photography workshops that will provide you with a learning experience in some of the most unique places
that convey what he refers to as “THE ETERNITY OF THE MOMENT.” Raul has traveled extensively, exploring the remote corners of the earth never visited before. Amongst his expeditions are the completion of the Northwest Passage, Franz Josef Land in the Russian Arctic, the Sea of Okhotsk and the fjords of western Greenland. He has built a collection of dramatic photographs that have been featured in many publications including: TIME Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler and the National Geographic Magazine, where he has published four feature stories. In recent years, Raul has focused on visual-storytelling, documenting the Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala and the ever-changing Habana. For over a decade, Raul has been a full time educator and instructor. He produces and teaches his own workshops and photography expeditions around the world as well as for National Geographic Expeditions. National Geographic Creative, Getty Images and Corbis represent his images. His list of clients includes the U.S. National Park Service, Apple Inc., and the United Nations for whom he documented their operations in Sudan. These images can be seen in his book SUDAN THE PRICE OF WAR, THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE. Raul has pioneered the production of large-scale multi-frame panoramas, images that are featured in his two limited edition landscape books: VISIONS OF MY WORLD and JOURNEYS. Some of the images in these books have been sold by Christie’s Auction House. Most recently, his work is being featured at The National Geographic Fine Art Galleries opening all over the United States.