January 16 – 19. New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache (see pictures) & White Sands National Monument (see pictures) . Must have 6 participants to offer this 4 day workshop for just $575 each. Each workshop participant gets my Photographer’s Guide to Bosque del Apache FREE (worth $35). White Sands participants get my White Sands Alkali Trail Guide FREE!

See my New Mexico images from 2009!

Full Moon Workshop at Bosque del Apache NWR - with add on option to photograph & Hike at White Sands National Monument

Only $575 per person but I must get at least 6 people to participate to offer this price. Please fill out the form below to show your interest. A $100 deposit is necessary to your ensure commitment to workshop dates.

Offer deadline: December 15, 2010. Your deposit will be refunded by December 20 if we do not attract six people for this incredible offer.

All participants are responsible for their own airfare, hotel and meals. The hotel I stay in is the Super 8 in Socorro, just a 20 minute drive north of the Bosque. Once we have a group of people signed up I will put everyone in contact with one another – you may wish to buddy up  with another person to share rental car expenses and hotel rooms.

The Plan:

Jan 15 –  (Saturday): Everyone arrives in Socorro. Meet at the Super 8  for a meet and greet and itinerary for the following day. Anyone who wishes to go to dinner from here may do so.

Jan 16 – 19 (Saturday – Tuesday): Early morning flight photography of sand hill cranes and snow geese. Watch for other wetland habitat. Though we will be gathering as a group for photography in the mornings and afternoons, there is plenty of time to be on your own. There are many opportunities for hiking and photographing during the day as well as  time to break for lunch, naps or anything else that you may wish to do before we resume photography for the late afternoon light and flight shots at last light.

January 19 (Wednesday): This evening marks the end of Bosque photography tour.

January 20 (Thursday): Check out of hotel and fly home. I recommend taking a later flight if you can and spend the morning photographing on your own. Those of you signing up for the White Sands National Monument add on may opt to photograph on your own at Bosque in the morning. We will leave late morning to caravan to White Sands National Monument. We will photograph in the afternoon at White Sands through sunset.

White Sands Additional 2 day Workshop January 20  - 22 (Thursday afternoon –  Saturday morning):  Please  keep in mind that there is missile testing at White Sands National Monument once in a great while. It is not possible to predict this far out as to whether our workshop dates will conflict. The missile testing usually shuts the park down for a few hours out of the day.

Workshop includes time for your questions, photo critique, and light Lightroom and / or Photoshop instruction.

Download your Bosque del Apache Guide for Photographers now

It’s here with much more than my competitor’s (AM) guide has for $50… Mine is just $35 and contains : 30 page printable PDF with GPX files to load into your GPS device, KLM files to SEE the lay of the land before you get to Bosque, photography tips on how to photograph the birds of Bosque, when and where … and your guide to landscapes of Bosque and hiking as well … be more and see more than a line you would stand in via a Bosque group workshop…  … your own vision makes you unique and who better to gain those tools from than someone who does that for herself? ..

Buy here for immediate download

Testimonial: “I really appreciate your guide, it was very helpful with what to expect, and I really enjoyed it.” Dennis Derby after his return from Bosque del Apache.

Snow Goose Blast Off at Bosque del Apache NWR, 2009

For just $35 you’ll have your own instructional guide for photographing at Bosque del Apache. Though group workshops have their benefits they can be costly and if there are too many people in a group and you lose individual attention from the instructor. You may find yourself in a line of many others, photographing the same scene, making the same pictures….

I have been working a ton on the products of my passions which extend beyond photographs themselves… Every single one of my photographs reminds me of the smell, the anticipation, the hike, the temperature, … all of what got me to that place that allowed for that small fraction of a second where my finger gently pressed the shutter  … like a song reminds you of a high school dance or your first kiss, … like a smell reminds you of the home you grew up in .. every one of my photographs brings back the memory to me of what really was .. what I was experiencing before I ever could share it.

The photographer’s guides and my workshops are created to give to you some tools .. but mostly they are designed to help you design your own personal style. … gee, look around at all the photography workshops out there and you will see a line up of people and tripods like kids lined up in the cafeteria waiting their turn in the lunch line… um, what are we serving today?

I don’t want clones of me. .. Personally and selfishly I’d like to keep my individual style and not give that away .. however, I’d love to help you to develop your own unique vision … My Bosque Photographer’s Guide will be available probably by tomorrow online – I will post when it’s done .. But for now let me guide you to some individualized workshops made only for the free in spirit … if you want to follow the masses there are plenty of workshops out there .. if you want to follow your own path, I’ll help you find it …

One on One Workshops

… or take me on Location where you want to go …  Location Workshops

White Sands National Monument – Monochrome Image made in camera with a red filter.

Good Morning,

I will simply leave you with some of my recent images from Bosque del Apache, White Sands National Monument and other of  New Mexico’s special places. I was in this magical place for 12 days so I have just been back a handful of days and have not had a lot of time to get as many of my images out as I’d have liked.. but I thought it would be appropriate to at least share a sprinkling of the magic with you on Christmas Day.

Enjoy and more to come soon!

More to come soon … now I am off to spend Christmas with my folks!

Merry Christmas!

Kristen

A very happy Kestrel that kept hovering as he scouted for his next meal.

The landscape of Bosque del Apache.

White Sands National Monument – Double Exposure..

I met and spent 5 days photographing with one of the finest photographers I have ever met, John Ford. He was certainly more knowledgeable than most other professionals that I have met. He is a wildlife editorial photographer, keeps a pretty low profile, but we connected and he shared valuable time and knowledge with me.

The above image in White Sands was inspired by some of his ideas that were kin to me. And the snow geese blast off image below, as difficult as it is to do, was successful with much fore thought and planning collaborating technique and ideas with John.

Special thank you to John Ford

Snow geese

Burst to flight

to Dance with the Sky

A flurry of orchestrated chaos

Surrounds us with its Serenade..

Marrying us into their world,

Painting us into the Land,

Connecting us to the Pulse of Life,

Imprinting us with their Wisdom,

They expose us to the core of our Soul.

……. Kristen Westlake, December 19. Inspired by the experience – Written from the memory enroute from New Mexico to Milwaukee, WI.

I got in to the area late on Dec 6 and made my first sunrise the next day. Each day has been dramatically different due to weather. Today started with beautiful sunrise and then photography of quail in the quail santuary.

A 9.5 mile hike and back in time for magic hour images of the sandhill cranes as they came in to land for the night… until tomorrow..  its been great so far!