2023 MONTANA SUMMER ADVENTURE

A summer photography tour and workshop in Glacier National Park.

WEEK 2: JULY 21 - 25, 2023

Glacier National Park in Montana is known as the Crown of the Continent and offers ample and diverse photographic subjects to challenge every photographer's creativity. From glacier carved majestic mountain peaks and turquoise alpine lakes to wildfire ravaged forests with fresh wildflowers bringing new life, there are opportunities for unique compositions around every turn! On this 5 day Summer Photography Workshop you will immerse yourself in some of the Rocky Mountains most scenic locations. With any luck we will also be able to photograph some of the the famous wildlife in Glacier National Park! You will be guided you to some of the most beautiful spots in the park including some off the beaten path, and provided with expert instruction on how best to capture the light and interesting compositions. The goal of the workshop is to give you the ability to explore, learn, and fine tune your photography skills both in the field as well in post processing development to bring your images to life. 

INSTRUCTORS: Chris Byrne & Ryan Smith                        

 GROUP SIZE: 10 Participants

COST: $3350 (No Lodging) / $3950 (Single Room Lodging Included)

DEPOSIT: A 50% deposit is required to secure a spot, with the balance due 90 days prior to workshop

ALTERNATIVE DATES AVAILABLE: Click here for July 15 - 19, 2023

ITINERARY

We will meet in the afternoon of Friday July 21 (day 1) in St. Mary for introductions and an early dinner before heading into the park for the late afternoon and into sunset. After the first day, we will meet well before sunrise to get to the best possible locations to chase the morning light and continue shooting until the sun is too high and light too harsh. The goal of each day is to find the best photo locations in Glacier National Park, including its beautiful wildlife when possible. We will break each day in the late morning until mid afternoon to eat and rest up for our afternoon/evening photography session. This will also be the time dedicated for post processing instruction in both Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for those that are interested. We will gather a several hours before sunset to take advantage of the late afternoon sun and mountain shadows and continue photographing until the last of the evening light fades. We will also dedicate one evening for shooting the night sky.  Being far away from any city lights, Glacier is a wonderful location for photographing the Milky Way, shooting stars, star trails, and even the rare northern lights. This recipe calls for early mornings and late nights, which is why it's important we rest up in the middle of the day (the morning after our star photography session we will sleep in!) The workshop will end after sunset on Tuesday July 25.

USEFUL INFO / PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY

The sun rises at approximately 5:30 am and sets at 9:30 pm during this time of the year in northern Montana. Add in driving time to and from locations and this will make for very early mornings and late nights. Temperatures can range from 40 degrees at night to 90 degrees during the day.

Physical difficulty of the locations will be easy to strenuous. It is important for participants to be in good physical health. While many locations will be a short distance from a parking lot, there will be a couple more strenuous hikes of up to 6 miles roundtrip with elevation gains up to 1000 ft and some short but steep sections. We will not be doing very much hiking off trail and all of the trails in the park are well maintained, however some are more difficult than others. 

AIRPORT / ACCOMMODATIONS / RENTAL CAR INFO

For those that would like to include lodging as part of this workshop, standard single occupancy rooms have been secured at local motel in St. Mary, Montana, and charged at cost for the nights of July 21 - 25, with checkout on Wednesday July 26. This time of the year is very busy for the park, so if you would like to handle your own lodging then it is strongly recommended that reservations are made at the same time as a workshop deposit and spot has been reserved. Please contact us if you have any questions or need help to book lodging. 

We will be using the St. Mary park entrance as our home base and meeting point. Lodging near there includes: St. Mary Lodge, St. Mary KOA Campground (tents, RVs, cabins), Johnson's of St.Mary, the Cottages at Glacier as well as the St. Mary campground and Rising Sun campground inside the park itself.

The nearest airport is Glacier International Airport in Kalispell, MT. It is 75 mile drive to St. Mary and will take approximately two and a half hours (crossing through the park on Going to the Sun Rd).

A standard small to mid size rental car will be fine for this workshop. There will be no high clearance roads, and while there are a couple rough pot-holed roads, by driving slowing and carefully a regular car can handle it no problem. As parking can be tight we will also be carpooling to locations as often as possible. 

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

An adventure packed week in one of the most beautiful national parks in America! We will find the best photo spots in Glacier National Park as we travel around the area. Photography locations will take us to nearly every corner of the park including Two Medicine, Lake McDonald, Logan Pass and Many Glacier. As stated previously there will be early mornings and late evenings but the days are structured to not wear anyone out and get the most enjoyment of the surroundings and scenery. I will provide tips in the field to capture images correctly "in camera" with the goal being that part becomes second nature and students can then focus on the creative aspects of landscape and nature photography. Post processing instruction will run the gamut of importing and organizing files into Lightroom to processing images in Lightroom and Photoshop and finally prepping images for the internet or for print. I am an open book and willing to share any tips or tricks I’ve learned to help you turn your photos into art!

MEET THE INSTRUCTORS

Ryan Smith developed early on in his life a love and passion for the outdoors, which fueled an obsession for landscape photography. Ryan’s artistic style is unique and unmistakable which has led to prestigious awards and work featured within publications. His work is also found within various high-end galleries throughout the west. Combining his professional experience as a corporate trainer with his passion for photography, Ryan has a knack for sharing the technical aspects of photography in an easy to understand way through various workshops, tours, and events through the west and the Hawaiian Islands.  He enjoys adapting to the various needs of his attendees whether its in the field learning the technical side and composition techniques, or if its in the classroom focusing on perfecting post editing techniques and helping achieve a print ready image.

Hello there! I’m Chris Byrne and I spent way too many years aimlessly wandering the earth and working for the man before finding my true passion in nature and landscape photography. My love of nature started very early in life as I would study the photographs in my dad’s huge collection of National Geographics, and also spend as much time as I could out exploring in the woods with my younger brother. Fast forward many years and after getting a finance degree in college I went to work in the stock market for over fifteen years (and didn’t get rich). During my time, I saw first hand two of the most devastating financial crises in our country’s history, and after the second go around I completely lost interest in my profession and desperately needed something more. I found myself in a place in life without any inspiration or excitement for what I was doing.

Then on a trip to Glacier, Montana I rediscovered my love of nature. However, the photographs I was trying to get just didn’t do the place any justice. It was then that I decided to get serious about photography and quickly poured all of myself into the craft, learning as much as possible as quickly as I could. I was a super sponge and had a new passion for life! As soon as I became proficient in my skills, I wanted to share my knowledge and began teaching others. Now I lead workshops to some of the best places on the globe.

Along the way I’ve won a few awards, but with so many contests out there, I wouldn’t claim that’s a good judge of a good teacher. Rather I am proud to be able to inspire others and spend as much time as I possibly can with each person in helping them connect with nature while teaching the techniques to capture the images that they want to create. Seeing people make breakthroughs in their art is something that I cherish. I truly believe that nature is good for the soul. The more you explore, the more you will be inspired. Join me on an unforgettable photography adventure!

CANCELLATION POLICY

We reserve the right to cancel the workshop if minimum participants are not met or in the event of an emergency. In the event of emergency where Chris cannot personally attend, then a replacement guide will be the first option. If a cancellation does occur, participants may either use the fee towards a future workshop or receive a full refund. We are not responsible for travel expenses incurred and therefore strongly recommend travel insurance to cover such costs.

A $200 change fee will be charged for changes or cancellations. Participants who cancel prior to 90 days before the workshop will receive either a full refund or credit to a future workshop minus the change fee. Any cancellations within 90 days of the workshop cannot be refunded under any circumstances. Only if we are able to fill the vacancy, will the participant will receive a credit to a future workshop minus the change fee. Workshop credits are good for one calendar year from the date of the missed workshop.

Any cancellations within 30 days of the workshop (for any reason) will forfeit their entire registration fee as it is extremely difficult to fill the space on that short of notice. If a true emergency arises last minute we will do our best to work with you granting a partial credit towards a future workshop, but this is not guaranteed. Major life events such as weddings, babies, and buying a house are not last minute emergencies and should be planned for as soon as they are known about. Again travel insurance is strongly recommended.