Big Bend National Park Photography Workshop

Workshop location; This sunset panorama is from a mountain top in Big Bend National Park facing south and west. Jagged cliffs in the foreground are receiving faded orange light. Behind them is a blue hued, deep valley across to another set of rugged desert mountains. On the right side of these, the sun is setting behind one of the peaks. Orange and yellow sunset colors fill the sky in this area, but moving left, the sky shifts to blue.

May 10th - 15th, 2026

Space Available

$1790 USD

Instructor: Andy Cook

DESCRIPTION

Big Bend National Park offers an exceptional variety of photographic opportunities to the landscape photographer. During this workshop we sample a bit of everything Big Bend has to offer.

FOCUS: Photographing southwest landscapes, sunsets, and the Milky Way in America's premier dark sky national park.

ADDITIONAL: This is a blend between a night sky and daytime workshop.

We intend to utilize Time Compressed Imagery; photograph foregrounds at dusk and the Milky Way when it is visible, then combine the scene in post processing.

Andy will provide post processing instruction. Participants should return home with some processed, finished images.

Workshop location; Large boulders are in the foreground of this image, but there are wide enough gaps between to see nicely past them to the rugged hillside behind. Above, the Milky Way sparkles in the night sky. — Exhibit Ridge Milky Way

Photography location; Vertical image of Big Bend National Park. The soil on the foreground hillside, which slopes up to the right, is comprised of white volcanic ash and is free of plants except for a few cactus. Strewn about, on top of the white ash, are rocks and boulders of reddish, orange volcanic rock. Further back, in the mid ground, on the left side of the frame, an old, dark volcanic core juts out of the white ash. Above, building storm clouds and wispy higher clouds cap off this very dramatic, desert landscape. — Big Bend National Park

ITINERARY

The workshop starts on Sunday, May 10th, 2026 at 5:30 pm with introductions and a discussion. Afterward, we will photograph sunset.

LODGING LOCATION: Terlingua TX.
Check-in Sunday, May 10th, 2026; Check-out Saturday, May 16th, 2026.

LODGING INSTRUCTIONS: The instructor's lodging will be determinded as the workshop approaches, registered participants will be notified.

Workshop ends after evening photography on Friday, May 15th, 2026.

ARRIVING: Consider arriving in TX on Saturday, May 9th and drive to Alpine, TX, a college town with many hotel choices, book early. Drive time from Alpine, TX to Terlingua, TX is 2 hours.

RETURNING: Be cautious about departure flights on Saturday, May 16th. It is a long drive to an airport. Consider scheduling return flights on Sunday, May 17th.

Workshop location; Dark, foreboding clouds fill the top three quarters of this image. The bottom shows a road entering at the center of the frame, the yellow striped, black pavement cutting through a bushy desert. The road leads straight back, a long way, narrowing to a point at the steeply rising Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. — Road to Chisos Mountains

DAILY ROUTINE

MORNING: We do not emphasize sunrise photography on this workshop. Group breakfast every morning.

MIDDAY: Post processing discussions, demonstrations and individual instruction. Bring a laptop with Photoshop installed to receive processing aid with your images.

EVENING: Variable, weather dependent. Late afternoon, sunset and night photography is emphasized. We do not intend to photograph the Milky Way every night. We'll eat in a restaurant before photography.

Photography location; Leading lines seem to arise from hillside drainage patterns in this stark desert landscape. In the bottom of this vertical image white ash soil strewn over with reddish rocks bring the eye into the scene and back to the mid-ground half way up the frame. Here, Cerro Castellan rises into the night sky on the left side, while the bright core of the Milky Way occupies the right. — Cerro Castellan Night Sky

REGISTRATION / DEPOSIT $300 USD

TERMS-CONDITIONS CANCELLATION POLICY

DEPOSIT or FULL

Registration / Payment

BALANCE

Pay Balance

REPEAT BALANCE

Pay Repeat Balance

Workshop location; Two thirds of this image is the night sky with the milky way cutting through at a 340 degree angle. The lower portion shows a view across a valley to a rocky ridge that slopes down to the left out of the Chisos Mountains to the hazy plains of Big Bend National Park. — Big Bend Milky Way

DETAILS

EXPERIENCE: Intermediate and Advanced.
Because participants need to work their cameras in darkness and our post processing techniques are advanced this workshop is not advised for beginners.

GROUP SIZE: Target number of participants is 6.

EFFORT: Difficult - Trail hiking is involved. One hike starts at 5,650 feet in elevation, is 2.4 miles each way and has an elevation gain of 1,100 feet. One must be able to carry one's camera gear, food and plenty of water, 3 to 4 quarts.

CONDITIONS: In May, average temperatures in Big Bend range from 61 degrees to 81 degrees. With a bit of a breeze it can be cold at night, bring warm clothes.

ELEVATION: The elevation range of our shooting locations is 3,000 to 7,000 ft. Proper hydration is a must at higher elevations.

DANGER: Cactus hide in the terrain and snakes inhabit the park. Ankle high, solid leather, hiking boots are highly recommended. Andy will use snake gaiters and recommends participants bring their own.

Workshop location; In this black and white image a moody, cloud filled sky broods over the Terlingua cemetery. The neglected desert cemetery, overgrown with bushes, odd piles of rubble and leaning crosses is the perfect match for this tumultuous sky. — Terlingua Cemetery

TRANSPORTATION

AIR TRAVEL: Likely airport choices are El Paso and Odessa / Midland, TX.

Driving time from El Paso to Big Bend, TX is about 6 hrs 15 min.
Driving time from Odessa / Midland to Big Bend, TX is about 4 hrs 15 min.

DRIVING CONDITIONS: Usually, paved roads. A standard rental car should be sufficient. We prefer participants car pool with each other to limit our impact and get to know one another.

MORE WORKSHOP INFORMATION

Workshop location; The bottom two thirds of this image shows the top of a rounded, desert hillock with prickly pear cactus and yucca dotting it's rocky soil. In the top of the image, two rugged mountains, diving toward each other, form a v shape sky. On the left mountain, behind one of the larger jagged points, the sun is setting and forms a starburst in the image, and the sky is filled with clouds taking on sunset color. — Window, Big Bend National Park

EQUIPMENT

RECOMMENDATIONS: MORE WORKSHOP INFORMATION

FOR BIG BEND: NIGHT SKY - Cameras with full frame sensors, the lens should be at least 16mm wide.
Cameras with partial frame sensors, 1.5 LMF, the lens should be at least 10mm wide.

Test the wide aperture performance of lenses in advance of the workshop: PDF How to test lens sharpness.

SUNSET - A lens range from 16 mm to 400 mm after the lens multiplication factor is recommended and polarizing filter.

TRIPOD: Sturdy, solid; not thin legs. Viewable at one's standing height without bending over.

SOFTWARE: In order to process images during the workshop please bring a laptop with Photoshop installed. Another useful program to consider is Topaz Denoise. We highly recommend each participant download the phone app PhotoPills to use during the workshop.

OTHER: Hiking boots, snake gaiters and ability to carry ample water.