May was a crazy month for photography! One of the most exciting things I did at the end of May was run my first annual Dinosaur at Night Photography workshop at Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP). I have to say I had the best group of participants to kick off this workshop. Everyone was keen to learn and in-between shooting (and eating) we spent a lot of time hanging out, talking shop, talking pets, and having what one of our tour guides called “actual intelligent conversations.” [I think he meant that we were out of small talk mode, not that he expected unintelligent conversation =P]
With this workshop, I wanted to include some activities that let the participants experience the park. We went on two tours to guided only sections of the park and saw so many fossils. In one area, fossils were sticking out everywhere you walked.
We also had a chef to take care of our meals while everyone was learning, exploring and recovering from the lack of sleep. Christine from Reflective Catering did an amazing job and kept us so well fed with delicious meals every day.
My weekend was all about teaching, so I did not end up taking too many photos. I did get enough to show you what the weekend was like hopefully. Unfortunately, on the day we all drove into the park, the smoke from the wildfires in Northern Alberta also joined us. We were still able to work on night photography skills, even with the smoke-filled skies. A four-day workshop offers lots of opportunity for weather and in this case, winds to change. On the last night, we got our Milky Way shots, and everyone had already practiced their night shooting techniques leading up to the final night. The group spent almost three hours photographing the Milky Way and came away with some cool images. One of the participants even won his local Photography Club’s year-end contest with an image from this workshop!
The rest of the blog consists of photos of each “section” of the workshop. Most were taken with my Nikons, but some with my iPhone.
The Day
The Tours
The Food
The Night
I took this shot while standing next to a participant and helping her compose and get the settings for her image. 
Our first spot, just as the sky was getting dark and the Milky Way was getting above the haze on the horizon. 
Group shot! \m/ 
The Visitor Centre lighting up the smoke in the air during our first – the group worked on using their cameras in the dark and light painting.
I’m already planning Dinosaur at Night 2020! If you’d like to get the details as soon as I have them, make sure you sign up for my newsletter.
There are also spots available in my upcoming 2019 workshops.
What a fantastic weekend! The smoke was a bit challenging for milky way photography, but Monika was able to keep us busy regardless! When the smoke cleared…amazing!! The milky way, the stars, and the park gave you so many areas to take photos.
The tours were fabulous and such a great idea.
AND THE FOOD! Christine from Reflective Catering was awesome!
I highly recommend this tour when Monika does it again! You WILL NOT be disappointed.
It was a fantastic workshop, the instructor, the chef, the food, the participants and the smoke-filled days and the clear skies offered variety of shooting situations. I would highly recommend this workshop to photographers interested in Night photography and the times surrounding the night. Interval sleeping is the norm.