In the Bisti Badlands & Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Milky Way Photography Workshop is my MOST HIKING workshop outside of the Faroe Islands. Even in the Faroe Islands we skip a lot of hikes depending on the group because there are loads of options that don't need hikes. In Bisti we are focusing on low-level lighting, panorama, 45-degree Milky Way compositions and timelapses. At this time of the year we have to wait until the Milky Way is in position so prepare yourself to BEGIN your night at midnight and be up until 4-5am most nights. 

The Cracked Eggs is a nice far hike but like I said above, it is more of a long walk as we never have any elevation change. It is just a long walk in and over to the location where the eggs are found. Compositionally you will need to FOCUS STACK the subject to get the most out of it and then wait for the sky to bring the Milky Way galactic core into the correct position before you capture for the sky. So to reiterate, you will capture a foreground focus stack with settings appropriate to the foreground rocks and then a different secondary capture of the sky to get the best Milky Way core to finish off the image. You will need to blend all the frames together in post making this the most difficult shot of the week to execute.

Milky Way Canyon is the fun name we nicknamed the area because of the many pillars of stone hoodoos that make you feel like you are giants walking through canyon. There are many compositions to take advantage of in this area. The BEST part of the area is that it is only .3 miles in from the parking lot and it will be an easy effort night with many compositions. Making it one of the best nights of the entire workshop! Come ready for panos and single image captures that will be stunning!

Sea of Hoodoos is a very similar hike to Milky Way Canyon. It is a location more northern requiring that we park away from the trailhead parking. The rock hoodoos are mostly ankle-biting tiny rocks but they get bigger the further in we walk. There are many options where we can line up the entire group, low level light the terrain and enjoy a solid wide angle scene that takes in all the different color rocks and Milky Way with yet again a great dark sky!

Alien Throne is fantastic! Again, let me emphasize this: I LOVE IT! The biggest challenge here is fitting everyone in. It takes time and patience as I move the group in and out here but there is plenty of time and lots to capture while waiting for your turn at the big gnarly spire! The hike here is gnarly too at times. But it makes it fun! You approach the area where the throne is and you have to navigate enemy hoodoos seemingly blocking you from getting to the king. It's a longer nearly 2-mile hike in and 2-mile hike back that will be tiring but you don't have to do any hard maneuvering outside of the area right next to Alien throne.