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Leaders: Weldon Lee Price: $1850 (based on dbl occp - single suppl avail) Deposit: $300 Limit: 8 Days: 7 days/6 nights From: Estes Park, CO Includes: lodging, complete meals, grnd transport (incl airport pick-up & deliv), park fees, 5 full days shooting
An unmistakable voice finds its way through the early morning fog and into the mountain valley. Closer and closer comes the sound until finally -- your viewfinder is filled with the magnificence of a bugling bull elk. Bull moose, with headgear as large as any found in the Tetons, wander among the willows near the headwaters of the Colorado River, while stately mule deer inhabit the forests near Beaver Meadows. Bighorn, marmots, pika, chipmunks, ground squirrels, along with a variety of birds only adds to this list of subjects from which to choose.
Few locations in the United States equals the variety of wildlife found in Rocky Mountain National Park. This, combined with the ease with which they may be photo-graphed, is what makes Rocky popular with wildlife photographers around the world.
Add to this, spectacular mountain landscapes bathed in the glory of Colorado’s fall colors, and you have the ingredients for an unmatched photographic adventure.
During the workshop, you’ll learn how to work wild-life and capture on film the beauty as seen by the eye and felt by the soul; and, we’ll share our secrets for producing award winning images. A special program is planned for each day. We will do everything in my power to make this a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Breathtaking Landscapes & Unmatched Wildlife Photo Opportunities
Itinerary
Day 1 - Arrive in Estes Park, Colorado, no later than 5 PM, at which time participants will gather for dinner. Following dinner, you’ll receive instruction and a briefing on the next day’s shooting lineup.
Day 2 - Sunrise will find you in Moraine Park -- the music of bugling bull elk filling your senses as their likeness’ fills your viewfinder. Mid- to late morning, you’ll go into town for breakfast. Afterwards, it’s time for classroom. The after-noon will be spent checking locations know for wildlife activity. When the sun starts going down, you’ll head for Trail Ridge Road and catch the show.
Day 3 - Your destination this morning is the beautiful Kawuneeche Valley on the park’s west side. It’s here, near the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River, that moose browse among the willows. Numerous herds of elk also call the valley their home. Following a hearty breakfast in Grand Lake, you’ll explore the area around Shadow Mountain Lake for wildlife and fall colors before returning to the park and continuing your search for moose along Onahu Creek. Sunset will find you working the talus slopes along Trail Ridge Road for pika; not, however, before photographing jays -- Steller’s, gray, and Clark’s nutcrackers -- at Farview Overlook, where you’ll likely have the opportunity to work with ground squirrels and the ubiquitous chipmunk. Don’t get ready for bed too early. Following dinner, you’re scheduled for another classroom session.
Day 4 - Hallet Peak, illuminated in alpen glow and reflected in the waters of Sprague Lake, will fill your spirit as well as our viewfinder. Who knows, you may even meet an elk or two during your morning trek along the lake shore. Next, you’ll photograph the park’s most beautiful display of fall colors which just happens to occur between Sprague and Bear Lakes. Following breakfast and your afternoon class-room session, it’s back to the park for more wildlife and landscape photography before calling it a day as you watch the sun go down from a vantage point in Moraine Park where your subject, once again, will be elk.
Day 5 - Today is D-Day -- that’s Deer Day pilgrim. Sunrise will find you along the banks of Beaver Creek, where you’ll spend the morning searching for mule deer. Following breakfast, and classroom, you’ll head for Endo Valley, one of the park’s many spectacular setting’s for landscape and wildlife photography. We may even see a band of bighorn sheep along the way. For sunset, it’s back to Trail Ridge Road. This time -- Forest Canyon Overlook.
greatest wildlife events - the elk mating ritual, or rut as it’s know to many. Following breakfast, and your last classroom session, it’s back to the park for a full day of shooting -- capturing those images missed earlier in the week. You will end the day with one of my old friends, a wind sculpted limber pine skeleton, along Trail Ridge Road.
Day 7 - All good things must come to an end. It’s time to go home and have all those rolls of film processed. Following breakfast, everyone will say their good byes and return to their homes across the country. Shuttles to Denver International Airport will depart at 8AM.
This itinerary is meant as a guide. Weather conditions will dictate when, and if, we visit certain locations.
Weldon Lee's Rocky Mountain Photo Adventures is authorized by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, to conduct photography workshops in Rocky Mountain National Park.
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Dates:
September 21-27, 2008
Day 6
- Sunrise in Moraine Park. This will be your last opportunity to photograph one
of Earth’s