2-night buy-in
$700
Choose 2 specific nights at registration from the 8-night workshop window.
8-Night FlexStarts at: $700
May 27–June 3, 2027 · Southern Utah
Southern Utah Opening Summer MW Panorama
An 8-night Southern Utah panorama flex window with a 2-night buy-in, 4-night upfront option, and weather-managed add-on nights.
Why this workshop exists
Panorama Season is the most magical time of the Milky Way Season
Having multiple nights to work around weather is the failproof strategy for taking full advantage of Southern Utah landscapes. The larger 8-night window gives us more room to let bad weather pass, choose the strongest nights, and avoid pretending one fixed route is the answer.
Weather will decide the exact route, but the big priority is getting at least one strong Milky Way panorama opportunity at Grand View Point in Canyonlands, my favorite Milky Way panorama location of all.
After that, the next priorities are panoramas over Factory Butte, Goblin Valley, and Devil’s Garden. Now that the road to Devil’s Garden near Escalante is paved, that area becomes much easier to include as a regular Southern Utah option when weather and group logistics make the extra driving worth it.
This workshop prioritizes panoramas, which means we often take turns at the strongest composition. Come prepared to shoot supporting images while waiting for your turn in the spot, move efficiently when it is your turn, and help everyone avoid having someone else’s camera lens or face poking into their panorama.
America's 250th Celebration Sale
Southern Utah Opening Summer MW Panorama
Get 2 Nights for $500
Lock in this workshop now, then Aaron will help you choose the best shooting nights after purchase.
Reserve This Workshop for $500
8 students max per night. Reserve before the sale ends.
Reserve this page's workshop
Southern Utah · May 27–June 3, 2027
Availability
Now booking
16 total spots available. 8 students max per night.
8 students max per night
Quick facts
Choose your nights
8-Night Flex Calendar
Workshop nights Not selectable
Highlighted dates are the available shooting nights for May 27–June 3, 2027. Non-workshop dates are muted so the whole two-row week view stays easy to scan.
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Pricing and flexibility
How the 8-Night Flex Works
- ✦Aaron is on location for 8 straight nights.
- ✦A $700 buy-in gets you 2 shooting nights, chosen at registration from the 8-night window.
- ✦A $1,000 upfront payment gets 4 total nights, also chosen at registration. The discount rewards committing early to more nights, not holding unlimited flexibility.
- ✦The most flexible part is adding extra nights on-site for $250/night when weather, space, and your schedule make sense.
- ✦Each night caps at 8 students, with up to 16 total workshop spots sold.
- ✦Weather-forced changes can be managed during the week, but nightly group size still matters.
Pricing options
4-night upfront option
$1,000
Choose 4 specific nights at registration. The discount is for committing to more nights early.
Add nights on-site
$250/night
Available during the workshop if weather, space, and your schedule make sense.
Availability
Now booking
16 total spots available. 8 students max per night.
8 students max per night
America's 250th Celebration Sale
Southern Utah Opening Summer MW Panorama
Get 2 Nights for $500
Lock in this workshop now, then Aaron will help you choose the best shooting nights after purchase.
Reserve This Workshop for $500
8 students max per night. Reserve before the sale ends.
Reserve this page's workshop
Southern Utah · May 27–June 3, 2027
Example itinerary
Example Southern Utah Opening-Summer Itinerary
An 8-night Flex opening-summer route usually starts with efficient Green River access and then expands as the sky allows. The exact order can change, but this is the style of panorama-focused field adventure we are trying to create when the weather cooperates.
Night 1
Goblin Valley
- ✦Use the Green River starting zone for many compositions and a strong first-night teaching location.
- ✦This is a practical place to build panorama workflow before the route gets more ambitious.
- ✦If clouds say otherwise, the first night can still shift.
Night 2
Royce Bair Milky Way Butte near Hanksville
- ✦Huge desert forms and open horizons create strong Milky Way arch opportunities.
- ✦This is a great night for working on scale, composition, overlap, and clean panorama execution.
- ✦It also keeps the route efficient when Green River remains the best base.
Night 3
Canyonlands / Dead Horse / Island in the Sky
- ✦Canyon country gives dramatic depth and a very different kind of panorama payoff.
- ✦Weather may push the group toward Moab, Canyonlands, or Dead Horse Point if that side opens up.
- ✦If skies cooperate, this is where the route can start to feel huge.
Night 4
Devil’s Garden, Goosenecks, Hoodoo Village, or Toadstool-style cloud chase
- ✦The last night is often where weather decides the route.
- ✦If Escalante skies are better, Devil’s Garden is more realistic now because of the paved access road; if southeastern skies hold, the group may stay closer to Canyonlands or Goosenecks.
- ✦If southwestern skies are clearer, Hoodoo Village or Toadstool-style options may become the better play.
Southern Utah range
Southern Utah workshops can move across a wide range of locations depending on clouds and conditions. We may chase clear skies anywhere from Southeastern Utah, including Canyonlands, Green River, Factory Butte, Goblin Valley, Dead Horse Point, and Goosenecks, all the way toward Southwestern Utah locations like Hoodoo Village, Toadstool Hoodoo, Escalante, and Devil’s Garden.
This is a perfect-weather example, not a guaranteed route. Southern Utah is huge, and we use that to our advantage. Clouds, smoke, wind, road conditions, moon timing, and group energy can change the plan day by day. The goal is not to force one printed itinerary. The goal is to put the group under the clearest sky with the strongest possible foreground.
Typical rhythm
What to Expect Typically Each Day
Hotels stay flexible
Do not book non-refundable lodging.
Do not book non-refundable lodging for Southern Utah panorama workshops. Do not lock yourself into one city too early. Anything booked should be 100% cancellable/refundable because the route can shift with clouds, smoke, wind, access, and the forecast.
Big route flexibility
- ✦Southern Utah panorama chasing can mean Green River, Moab, Hanksville, Factory Butte, Goblin Valley, Canyonlands, Escalante, and sometimes farther if weather forces it.
- ✦Before the workshop starts, students may not know the exact starting city.
- ✦The goal is clear skies first, then the strongest foreground we can reasonably reach.
Priority locations
- ✦Priority 1: Grand View Point / Canyonlands panorama.
- ✦Priority 2: Factory Butte panorama.
- ✦Priority 3: Goblin Valley panorama.
- ✦Priority 4: Devil’s Garden / Escalante if weather and logistics make it worth the move.
Factory Butte expectations
- ✦Factory Butte panorama work can involve walking roughly 1.25 miles through soft or crusty badlands terrain, sandy sections, and short steep spots where people may use hands for balance.
- ✦The goal is to reach more interesting rippled foreground terrain below Factory Butte, not just the flatter boring foreground near the start.
- ✦Factory Butte lets multiple people shoot more easily than some tight locations.
Goblin Valley expectations
- ✦Goblin Valley is visually incredible but logistically more complicated for panoramas.
- ✦Low-level lighting can make the hoodoos work beautifully, but a lit version and a no-light or long-exposure version can take extra time.
- ✦Students may take turns at the best spot, so everyone needs to be efficient enough for the whole group to get a chance.
Canyonlands expectations
- ✦Canyonlands is the top priority because the scale and composition are incredible.
- ✦We may need to take turns at the best composition.
- ✦This is a major reason the workshop exists.
Devil’s Garden / Escalante option
- ✦The paved road makes Devil’s Garden much more realistic as an impulse weather-based option.
- ✦If the western or southwestern sky is better, the extra driving may be worth it.
- ✦Devil’s Garden has many foregrounds in a compact area and works well for Milky Way compositions.
Driving
- ✦Come ready to drive. Southern Utah drives are part of the adventure.
- ✦The route may move across a huge stretch of Utah.
- ✦The scenery between locations is genuinely part of the experience.
What you’ll photograph
- ✦Majestic canyons, winding rivers & chasms
- ✦Clear skies under Bortle 1 level darkness
- ✦Milky Way panoramas over desert foregrounds
- ✦Panorama workflow and efficient turn-taking
- ✦Low-level lighting when the foreground needs it
- ✦Weather-based route decisions
- ✦Blue-hour or time-blended foregrounds when timing makes sense
- ✦Sandstone foregrounds
- ✦Desert night skies
Opening summer Milky Way panorama instruction with emphasis on Grand View Point / Canyonlands, Factory Butte, Goblin Valley, Devil’s Garden, planning, clean overlap, and efficient turn-taking.
Practical expectations
Terrain, lodging, and transportation
Uneven desert terrain, sand, warm days, late nights, long drives, and possible walks around 1.25 miles at Factory Butte.
DO NOT RESERVE NON-REFUNDABLE HOTELS YET.
100% cancellable lodging only
Southern Utah workshop routes can change late because weather decides where we go. Do not book non-refundable lodging. Do not lock yourself into one city too early. Anything you book should be 100% cancellable or refundable until Aaron confirms the route closer to the workshop.
Weather can change the route.
- ✦Everyone drives themselves. That is intentional because Southern Utah workshops can shift across large distances; Green River, Moab, Blanding, Escalante, and Kanab can all become useful depending on the route and clouds.
- ✦Green River is often the starting point because it gives fast access to Goblin Valley and Factory Butte. Salt Lake City is usually the easiest airport for Green River starts; Las Vegas can work, but it is a much longer drive to Green River and is better positioned for Kanab or Southwestern Utah.
- ✦Keep lodging flexible when possible. Do not book non-refundable lodging too early unless you are comfortable with the risk, because weather can change the route. Aaron will send location links and final meet-up details as the forecast becomes more trustworthy.
After the workshop
After the workshop, you’ll also get a 1-hour Zoom processing help session. I’ll send out scheduling options after the trip, and there is no expiration date. You can use it right away or wait until you are ready to work through your images.
Before you arrive
Review the Workshop Prep Guide
Use the prep guide for camera skills, lenses, clothing, footwear, and field expectations before any workshop.
Open the Prep GuideWorkshop scenes
Southern Utah workshop gallery
America's 250th Celebration Sale
Southern Utah Opening Summer MW Panorama
Get 2 Nights for $500
Lock in this workshop now, then Aaron will help you choose the best shooting nights after purchase.
Reserve This Workshop for $500
8 students max per night. Reserve before the sale ends.
Reserve this page's workshop
Southern Utah · May 27–June 3, 2027
Ready to talk details?
Ask Aaron whether this workshop fits your goals.
Now booking
16 total spots available. 8 students max per night.