Ultimate Desert SW Workshop

Please consider joining us on our Ultimate Desert SW photo workshop to experience the incredible beauty of the desert landscape. In conjunction with John Pedersen, we are offering this workshop for the 20th year, and every year brings us different conditions, light and most of all experiences to last a lifetime. 

We strive to provide a richer and more rewarding experience than any other workshop or if you visited on your own and our ultimate desert SW workshop is designed to provide that.  Our years of experience, plus our Navajo guides, will ensure that we get to the right places at the right times for the most memorable photographic opportunities.  We will visit iconic locations as well as many locations not widely known.  Plus, our guides will be able to get us to locations few have access to!

We are adding two additional days to our normal workshop this year to provide you ample time and space to absorb this beautiful area as well as work to craft compelling images. We will have an additional day in the Monument Valley area to explore the icons and lesser known, but equally beautiful areas.  After we transition Canyon de Chelley, we will have TWO DAYS in the canyon because this area is more amazing than what we can capture in one day alone. 

April is a fantastic time to be in the valley as the foliage is a vibrant green which contrasts against the red rock and sand.  The temperatures are milder and there is a good chance for drama in the skies. September is the best time to be in this part of the world — the summer crowds are gone and the temperatures are very comfortable out in the field. Seeing a sunrise from Hunt’s Mesa is simply amazing!!!  

Monument Valley is part of the Navajo Nation tribal park, straddling the border of northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah on the Colorado Plateau. 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. The area is entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation near the small Indian town of Goulding, established in 1923 as a trading post, and now has a comprehensive range of visitor services.

Workshop Details

Monument Valley

Our ultimate desert SW workshop starts in Monument Valley Utah.  Our base will be at a local hotel which provides all the conveniences we need to stay comfortable for the long days ahead.  We will visit several locations in Monument Valley, including areas only accessible if you have a Navajo guide to escort you.  We will visit the Totem Pole area, Suns Eye, Ear of the Wind as well as spend time with a Navajo family deep in the valley to photograph their hogan and surroundings.

We will also visit several other locations throughout the valley, photographing at different times of day to capture the essence and spirit of this magical desert landscape.

Hunts Mesa

While in the Monument Valley area, we have a special treat planned for our workshop. We will meet our Navajo Guides and travel from the hotel to the top of Hunts Mesa.  We will camp out on top of the Mesa, with everything provided for you!  Tents will be set up with cots and blankets for sleeping and that evening we will enjoy a wonderful camp dinner prepared for us.  We will photograph the sunset from on top the Mesa and after dinner and the sun goes down, the night sky will erupt with thousands of stars visible making for some outstanding night photography.  After a nights rest, we will arise before the sun and get in position to capture sunrise from the top of the Mesa looking down to the desert floor and landscape features.  A truly memorable experience!  After a prepared breakfast, we will make the drive back to our hotel to regroup and continue photographing the area.  The drive is via 4WD vehicles over rough terrain and some say this is the best part of the experience!  For a video of the drive, click HERE. 

Canyon de Chelley

After Monument Valley, we will travel on our own to Chinle AZ to check in to our next hotel near the canyon.  After getting settled, we will spend the remainder of the day photographing at various locations around the area.  The next morning, we will meet our guides for an all-day trip in to Canyon de Chelley.  We will travel through sacred lands to rarely photographed locations deep inside the canyon.  We have specific locations we recommend to photograph such as White House Ruins, but are also always open to the conditions and environment and may visit other more memorable locations within the canyon.  Having an exclusive guide who lives here affords us unique access to the canyon as well as an intimate knowledge of the landscape and providing the best vantage points for our photographic goals.  The first day in the canyon you will be amazed at the towering rock walls and the vast amount of ruins and petroglyphs and at times it can simply be overwhelming. So, after a night decompressing at our hotel, we will spend a second day deep in the canyon really working to come away with artistic interpretations of our impressions and experiences.  One day is simply not enough, that is why we’ve added a second day on this Ultimate Desert SW Workshop!

A box lunch will be provided during our days in the canyon.  More details on the itinerary and menu options will be provided after registration.

After the last day in the canyon, we will return to the hotel and the workshop will end.  Because it will be late in the day, we recommend to spend the night in Chinle before traveling home.

The price for all Navajo guides, Hunt’s Mesa overnight and location admittance are included.

Preparation and being in the right mindset can help you achieve better results. Before the workshop begins, we will send you several updates so you can better prepare for the conditions and environment.  Also, please read this helpful article on how to prepare for one of our photo workshops.

This Ultimate Desert SW workshop is truly an memorable experience.  More than just photography, it is guaranteed to be an immersive and varied experience that you will remember for a lifetime.

Workshop Purchase and Registration is transacted through JohnPedersenPhoto.com

Check out a teaser video below from past workshops!

Fitness Level: Easy/Moderate

• – Most photo locations are near the vehicle and do not require much walking
• – We will have short walks over un-even terrain to get to the best vantage points
• – The ground on Hunts Mesa is uneven rock/sand so if you are unstable, please bear this in mind
• – Hunts Mesa is over 6300′ high.  Those coming from sea level may notice the altitude
• – At each location, you can stay near the vehicles or walk amongst the landscape.  Be aware that these are wild lands with uneven terrain 

Logistics

The closest airports to our workshop start in Monument Valley are Phoenix or Albequerque both roughly 5 hours drive away.  You may be able to fly in closer to a smaller airport.  You will need a rental car to travel to the workshop start and during the workshop (though we try and carpool as much as possible). When we visit Hunts Mesa and Canyon de Chelley, transportation will be provided by our Navajo guides.  Our workshop will end in Chinle Arizona.