Fall Landscape Photography | 3-Day Educational Program

Fall Landscape Photography | 3-Day Educational Program

Hike Overview Continued

Instructor: Rob Harwood

September 22-24, 2023: Using the iconic scenery of Glacier National Park as our canvas, we will dive into the fundamental techniques of shooting and editing landscape photographs. You will engage in a mixture of classroom and field instruction over multiple days, learning the ins and outs of camera settings, composition, natural lighting, post-processing, and more.

As landscape photographers, we often spend large amounts of time exploring our coveted wild places, and as such, we have an important responsibility to be good stewards of these irreplaceable resources. As part of this class, we will discuss how to be ethical, sustainable photographers who leave a minimum amount of impact on the wonderful lands we visit.

Meeting Place: Glacier Institute Field Camp

Itinerary: (subject to change due to trail closures and weather)

Day 1: We will meet at Glacier Institute Field Camp at 7 a.m. for coffee and introductions. We will begin the course with a classroom session on fundamentals concepts and techniques for landscape photography. Next, we will load up in the Glacier Institute vehicles to see the finest of Glacier National Park. We will stop at various locations to practice capturing the landscape with our cameras. We will have sack lunches out on the trail. We will continue to hone our techniques through the afternoon. The group will return to Field Camp for dinner at 6 p.m. After dinner, we will head to Lake McDonald to catch the spectacular sunset.

Day 2: We will depart early to capture a Glacier sunrise. Then we will return to Glacier Institute Field Camp for breakfast. After breakfast, we will compare our sunset and sunrise photos, discussing the differences in lighting, contrast and focus. We will enjoy lunch at our Field Camp and continue our classroom portions of the course. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. After dinner we will head back out to capture another Glacier sunset. We will return to Field Camp and retire for the evening.

Day 3: We will depart early for one last sunrise, before returning to Glacier Institute Field Camp for breakfast. After breakfast, we will depart in the Glacier Institute vehicles for one last outing. We will hike along the trail, putting together all of the techniques we have learned throughout the course. We will hope to capture the changing colors of Glacier National Park with its enchanting water bodies and charismatic wildlife. The group will return to Field Camp to have a showing of their photographs taken throughout the course. After discussions, the course will conclude at 4 p.m.

Food: The following meals are included: Lunch on Day 1 through lunch on Day 3.

Accommodations: Two nights of lodging are included with the course fee. Our student cabins are basic, hostel-style cabins with 5 single beds, bedside lights, and electrical outlets. Students should be prepared to share a cabin with up to 4 other people. Cabins are separated by gender. Couples may be paired up in the event there is ample space. We provide a bottom sheet for your bed as well as a pillow and pillow case, but please bring a warm sleeping bag. Be sure to bring a flashlight or headlamp for night trips to the bathroom.

Park Entrance Fees: Participants are responsible for purchasing their park entry passes prior to the course. These can be purchased online at: https://www.recreation.gov/sitepass/74280

Academic Credit: Please contact us to learn about OPI credits for Glacier Institute courses.

Required Camera Equipment: All participants should bring the following items with them: A DSLR or mirrorless camera with full manual control. If you use a point-and-shoot camera, smartphone camera, or other consumer-level camera, you will not be able to get the maximum benefit out of this course because we will be covering techniques that those cameras are not capable of performing. A sturdy tripod will be essential for longer exposures. Make sure to double-check that you bring the accompanying tripod plate along with you! Enough memory cards to last for 3 days of shooting. Batteries and battery charger for your camera. An extra battery or two would be highly recommended so you don’t accidentally run out of juice in the middle of a beautiful sunset (and so you don’t have to constantly re-charge your battery every afternoon). A minimum of one wide-angle lens. A zoom lens such as a 10-18mm, 14-24mm, 16-35mm, or something similar would be ideal, but any wide-angle lens (including prime lenses) would suffice. (Recommended) A zoom lens covering a range of medium focal lengths would be recommended in addition to the wide-angle lens. Lenses such as a 24-70mm, 24-105mm, or 18-135mm are excellent examples. (Optional) A telephoto lens may be handy to experiment with, but not required. Anything in the 100mm to 400mm range would do. (Optional) Neutral Density filters can be beneficial for taking long exposures during the day but are not required for this Glacier Institute course.