San Juan Mountains-Autumn Gold

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Rocky Mountain Gold Rush Photography Workshop

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Fall in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains – October 2-6, 2023

There’s gold in them thar hills! The San Juan mountain range, tucked away in the southwestern corner of Colorado, has become a mecca for photographers and with good reason. Fourteen thousand foot craggy peaks pierce clear cobalt skies. Autumn brings a chill to the air and color to the aspen forests that drape the jagged mountain tops with hues of blazing yellow, tangerine orange and tinges of crimson.  

But wait, there’s more!

The San Juan mountain range was the heart of an enormous gold rush during the 1800s. Spattered with abandoned towns, mining structures and crumbling cabins , this majestic range offers up a rich rich history and golden photographic opportunities.

Join nationally acclaimed photographer, Christopher Marona for a 4-day fall workshop during the peak of the color. Chris lives in Durango; the San Juans are in his backyard. He will personally guide you to his favorite spots.

We’ll drive the “Million Dollar Highway” to some prime photography locations. There remains some debate as to the origin of the name. Some say it was because, even back in the late 1800s, it cost a million bucks per mile to build. Others maintain that there is over a million dollars worth of gold ore and dust in the fill dirt used for the road bed. Yet, once seen, no one argues that the road is anything less than a gold mine of million dollar views.

We’ll photograph Crystal Lake, Chimney Rock, Cimarron Ridge and stroll among the ruins of an abandoned mining town. And, of course, visit Dallas Divide that delivers some of the most scenic views of the Sneffels range. Chris will also guide you to some of his favorite and unique spots.

All the while, you’ll have a professional photographer at your side eager to help you set up your camera for success, answer your questions and make sure you go home with awesome images! You will find Chris to be warm, personable and extremely knowledgeable.

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Who is it for?

This workshop will thrill all photographers, from raw beginner to experienced landscape shooter. After all, who wouldn’t stand in awe of Colorado’s most spectacular scenery during this majestic change of season?

This workshop is limited to 10 participants. The fee does not include transportation, lodging or meals. Participants are responsible for arranging their own transportation, lodging and meals. We will car pool from one location to the next, to better manage the vehicles and parking. So, please plan on packing your personal gear into a backpack, your camera(s) and lenses into a camera bag, backpack or case, and your tripod.

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We’ll gather at 5 pm on Monday afternoon to meet and welcome everyone. We’ll discuss the next day’s itinerary, address any equipment issues, field any questions and decide on car pool arrangements.

 To create the best images, we’ll be up early and stay out late. On Tuesday, October 1st, sunrise is predicted to occur at 6:42. We’ll gather and load up at 6:15 am so that we can be on location for sunrise. After our sunrise shots, we’ll explore other locations in that region and return to Ouray around 10:30 or 11am. Because our days will be quite long, chasing both sunrises and sunsets. We’ll enjoy midday breaks during which join other students, explore Ouray or Ridgway, or relax in your room.

 After lunch, we’ll meet to discuss photographic and post-production techniques specifically for landscape photography.

Among the topics to be addressed:

We’ll reconvene in the afternoon to head out to new venues. Wednesday and Thursday will be more of the same. Wednesday, however, there will be no classroom segment as we’ll be shooting most of the day. *After our sunset shoot on Thursday evening, will enjoy a dinner together. On Friday morning, we’ll meet at 9 am to say our farewells and look forward to our next adventures. Chris will be available to answer any parting questions you may have.

 

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Workshop Cost

$1250 per person. Click here for registration details.

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Who is it for?

This workshop will thrill all photographers, from raw beginner to experienced landscape shooter. After all, who wouldn’t stand in awe of this majestic change of season?

 

This workshop is limited to 10 participants. The fee does not include transportation, lodging or meals. Participants are responsible for arranging their own transportation, lodging and meals. We will car pool from one location to the next, to better manage the vehicles and parking. So, please plan on packing your personal gear into a backpack, your camera(s)

and lenses into a camera bag, backpack or case, and your tripod.

We’ll be up early and stay out late

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What to Bring

 Camera & Lenses

Tripod

Cable or remote release

Flashlight or headlight

Filters are not necessary. However, a polarizer will saturate the colors you’re going to see. It will also increase contrast and reduce reflections. A graduated ND filter can make a big difference for our early and late shots.

Plenty of storage media

Camera manual

 Plastic bags: ziplocs or trash compactor bag, just in case it gets moist.

 Sunscreen

Recommended Clothing

 The temperature can vary greatly at this time of year. Average temps run from lows of 30 degrees to highs of 60. Keep in mind that we’ll be at 7000 feet and go up from there. Several of the mountain passes that we’ll be driving are 11,000 feet. Bring plenty of warm clothes. Down jackets, gloves, ski hats and wool socks will keep you warm, happy and shooting amazing sunrise shots without shivering. That said, we’ve enjoyed afternoons in the past where everyone peeled down to shorts and t shirts.

 We won’t be hiking far, still your feet will thank you for wearing comfortable, broken in hiking boots.

Getting there:

Fortunately, there are many options for traveling to the Ridgway/Ouray area.

Flight 

Montrose, Colorado is serviced by Allegiant, American, United and Delta airlines. Ridgway is a quick 35 minute drive from the airport.

Durango, Colorado is serviced by United and American. Together, they offer non-stop flights from Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and Chicago. You need to check, however, because some of the routes vary by season. You’ll find plenty of rental car options at the airport. It’s 81 miles to Ridgway and takes about 2.5 hours if you drive straight through. But, because you’re a photographer, it will take longer-trust me.

Albuquerque, New Mexico has numerous affordable flights options available.

Driving to Ridgway

Denver – 7 hours
Albuquerque – 7 hours
Phoenix – 10.5 hours
Salt Lake – 10.5 hours

Lodging

Ridgway is a quick 15 minute drive to Ouray. We’ll be passing both on our way to shooting locations, so feel free to book your lodging in either place.
Here are some links:
Ridgway
https://ridgwaycolorado.com/businesses/accommodations
Ouray
https://www.ouraycolorado.com/directory/lodging-camping

The Other Stuff

Of course, we can’t guarantee that the weather will be perfect or that every location will display it’s peak color during our visit. However, we’ve been doing this for a number of years and have chosen these dates to maximize our chances at getting great color, minimize crowds (we do not schedule the workshop over weekends). The colors usually peak in the San Juans during the last week of September and the first few days of October. Occasionally mother nature will pitch us a curveball, with unusually warm or cold temps and more or less moisture which could cause leaves to change color and/or fall early or late. Try as we might, we haven’t figured out how to control that yet. Also, the specific locations that we visit may vary depending upon the weather and accessibility.
In the event that Colorado Photo Workshops cancels a workshop due to unforeseen circumstances such as inability to obtain permits, instructor injury, death… Then, CPW will refund fees collected by CPW for that particular workshop. In the event of a natural disaster, government closure or other happening of this nature that causes a workshop to be canceled, CPW may be unable to refund workshop fees. If this happens then funds collected by CPW will be applied as credit toward a future workshop of the participant’s choosing. CPW will not be responsible for other expenses (airline tickets, hotel deposits, rental car…) that may be associated with any canceled workshop.

????? Questions? Call or email us!

Ready to go?

Click here for registration details.

 

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“I had the great pleasure of attending Christopher Marona’s Wilderness Photography workshop July 2015.  Chris starts the workshop getting to know you and your personal goals and he keeps those goals in mind the entire workshop helping you to achieve them. Along with such personalized attention, he is also teaching important photographic techniques and concepts such as how to interpret the light and how to capture a subject in different ways to reveal your own vision as well as sharing his own ideas about the capture. The Weminuche Wilderness is a truly amazing setting and experiencing it for 4 days on horseback is a unique experience for a photographer to obtain some really exceptional images. It was a really great experience for me.”

K. Jones

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Colorado Photo Workshops | 970.247.2415 | Durango, Colorado | info@maronaphoto.com

Copyright © Christopher Marona 2016 | All Rights Reserved

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