I have recently returned to Scottsdale, AZ following the 5-Day photography workshop Matt Suess and I taught in Zion National Park, Utah. Registration will open later this week for our 2014 Zion Fall Workshop but in the meantime enjoy this wrap-up from the 2013 workshop.

Fall is a great time to visit Zion National Park.  Unlike last year, this year we were treated to some unseasonably warm temperatures with daytime temps reaching the upper 60′s to low 70′s and nighttime temps falling to just above freezing to the low 40′s. While the fall foliage this year wasn’t as good as in the past – see Matt's fall foliage 2013 report here – we still were not at a loss for beautiful and dramatic things to photograph.

In order to photograph great light one needs to know about proper exposure and histogram use. Here, Matt is doing a presentation on camera settings and exposure.

Each morning we met with our students at 5:30am to photograph the sunrise. A mid-day break that lasted anywhere from 2 hours to 4 allowed our students to take a nap, download images, and catch lunch. Most afternoon sessions started a few hours before sunset and lasted until 6pm after the sun had already gone down.

I am showing one of our students how the slightest adjustment with the camera on a tripod can make a huge difference in the final image’s composition.

Our workshop was scheduled to provide our students with a great variety of locations at just the the right time of day for incredible light. We stressed proper composition and exposure and Matt and I had ample opportunities to work with each of our students one-on-one to help them with their own unique styles and shooting preferences.

In our photography workshops we make sure there is plenty of one-on-one time with Matt and myself.

By the end of the 5 days our students had a firm grasp on exposure and composition and were able to view things differently by getting outside their comfort zone and challenging themselves with new techniques and skills learned during the photo workshop. It was a great group of students and Matt and I loved sharing with them what we know.

I help a student as others look for an angle to photograph from.

Matt gives a demo on composition while out in the field photographing.

Matt gives a short field presentation on a laptop on how to process RAW files in Capture One Pro.

Photography is about timing and Matt and I brought our students to great locations at just the right time.

View our other upcoming Photo Workshops here.