Overview

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Join me for three nights as we capture the rise of the Milky Way’s galactic core from the wild and beautiful West Coast. This time of year offers some of the best conditions for nightscape photography, with the core rising above reflective lakes, winding rivers, dramatic canyons and waterfalls. We’ll also head out late afternoon to capture the spectacular sunsets the West Coast is famed for, making the most of the golden light before transitioning into nightscape photography under the stars.

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Over the course of the workshop you can learn:

• How to plan and shoot the rising Milky Way core in alignment with striking natural landscapes.

• Techniques for capturing sharp stars and balanced foregrounds.

• The best settings suited to your gear

• The essentials of panoramas, star tracking, and exposure blending.

• My full post processing workflow in Lightroom, PTGui and Photoshop.​

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Daylight hours will be spent in the classroom, where I’ll guide you step by step through editing your nightscapes.

We’ll be based at Riverstone House, my home on the banks of the Taramakau River between Greymouth and Hokitika. You will enjoy your own private king or queen bedroom.

With a flexible itinerary shaped by the group’s goals and the weather, we’ll aim to visit some of my most beloved locations close by, including Lake Kaniere, Coal Creek Falls and the Great Coast Road. 

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What to bring

• Mirrorless or DSLR camera

• Ideally a fast, wide, prime lens; - f/1.4 through to f/2.8, 16mm through to 40mm for the best results

• Spare camera batteries and SD cards

• Sturdy tripod

• Leveling base (essential for panoramas) example

• Indexing rotator (essential for panoramas) example

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

• Remote shutter/intervalometer if not inbuilt into your camera 

• Laptop or desktop with Lightroom and Photoshop installed and a minimum of 16GB RAM

• Thermal base layers

• Warm jacket*

• Gloves

• Sturdy and warm footwear

• Hat, hood or beanie

• Head torch with a red light

• 2-3 lens cloths*

• Water bottle

• Snacks

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*The high humidity on the West 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. 

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If you are missing any of these items, please speak to me about borrowing equipment.

Whats Included