Astro FOcused 3 Night/2 Day Workshop

When:                        27th - 30th June 2025
Where:                       Riverstone House | West Coast
Group Size:                Minimum 2, maximum 4
Photography level:     Intermediate +
Cost:                          $1990.00 | 10% deposit required

Overview

On this celestial adventure we'll be focusing only on astro and will shoot both the rising Milky Way early in the evening, then the setting Milky Way arch in the wee hours. Our days will consist of editing, relaxing and catching up on sleep back at home base.
You will need a good understanding of your camera and settings, and should already be confident in capturing single exposed images of the Milky Way to participate on this particular workshop.
 

We will be visiting some of my very favourite spots to shoot on the West Coast, all within an hour drive from our base at Riverstone House, which is situated on the banks of the Taramakau River halfway  between Greymouth and Hokitika, owned and operated by yours truly.

You'll have your own private king or queen bedroom with access to a full kitchen stocked with all the essentials, including continental breakfast provisions that you can help yourself to.

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The workshop commences at 3.00pm Friday 28th of March and concludes Tuesday 31st of May at 11.00am.​​

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The exact schedule will be determined according to the whole group’s photographic objectives but mainly the weather will be the deciding factor in where we visit on the night and  I keep a flexible itinerary to accommodate this to find the best dark skies possible for you.

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Places we may explore include the beautiful beaches, sea stacks, rivers and lagoons of The Great Coast Road which is consistently rated among the top drives in the world and the tranquil bays and jetty's of Lake Brunner and Lake Kaniere which are both a photographers dream with their epic reflections on a still night. We also may have the opportunity to capture the Milky Way rising majestically behind Coal Creek Falls.

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​​​​       What you can learn

• How to plan your compositions using apps such as Photopills

• Wide-field landscape astrophotography

• Blended exposure techniques including blue hour blends 

• Milky Way panoramas (mosaics) and how to stitch them

• Image Stacking 

• Post processing to make your images pop, using Photoshop, Lightroom, plugins, PTGui and Sequator 

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What to bring

• Mirrorless or DSLR camera

• A tracker if you have one

• Ideal lenses: 
  -A fast and wide prime lens for astro; f/1.4 through to f/2.8 or 16mm through to 24mm for the best results, although up to f/4 is fine if your camera has high ISO capabilities. Please ask if you wish to borrow a Canon lens.

• Spare camera batteries and SD cards

• Sturdy tripod (essential) Please ask if you need to borrow one.

• Lens heater (not essential but very helpful if you have a bulbous lens that is prone to fogging up at night)

• Remote shutter or intervalometer if not in-built in your camera body

• Laptop or desktop with Lightroom Classic and/or Photoshop installed.

• Thermal base layers 

• Warm jacket*

• Gloves

• Sturdy and warm footwear

• Hat, hood or beanie

• Head torch with a red light or low light setting

• 2-3 lens cloths*

• Water bottle

• Snacks
  
  
  *The high humidity on the Coast causes dew. If bringing a puffer jacket, please bring a waterproof jacket to go over top. This also is why we need plenty of lens cloths in case your lens starts fogging up at night.