Palouse Country Photo Tours & Workshops
The Experience What Can You Expect?
In addition to endless opportunities to photograph incredible and continuously changing landscapes, nostalgic buildings, and turn of the century farms, you will also:
- Learn the history of the Palouse. While traveling and photographing the Palouse, your tour leader will give you an insider's look into the history of the region and tell unique stories about the people that make the Palouse their home. At the end of your tour, you'll also receive a comprehensive narrative of the Palouse Region to remind you of what you've seen.
- Tell a story. A common theme of our tours is to give you the opportunity to tell a story through your photographs. Each day we will seek out a different story to tell, such as the history of the Palouse, farming practices, the lifestyle of a farming/ranching family, and to capture images of the unique patterns of crop and geological formations found in the endless landscape.
What is included in a Palouse Country Photo Tours and Workshops?
- 5-days of being led to some of the best photo sites on the Palouse. Each day we head out into the field at 4:30-5:30 am and return back to the motel around 11 am for a much-needed break. We head back into the field around 3 pm and shoot past dusk. Overall, we get in 12-14 hours of shooting daily.
- In the field photo instruction: While the majority of participants attending a Palouse Country Photo Tour are seasoned photographers needing little or no instruction, I will offer individual assistance to anyone needing help with composition, lighting, or operating their camera so they can maximize the experience. I do not photograph during a scheduled Palouse photo tour or workshop, thereby making myself available to participants to answer questions or provide in-the-field instruction.
- Access to our private Wheatland Farm, loaded with numerous photo subjects, including vintage trucks and tractors, farm equipment, windmill, and a barn. With a 360 degree panoramic view of the Palouse, this is also an excellent location to capture stunning images at sunrise, sunset, and after dark.
- A fun, informative, and informal dinner at our Wheatland Farm. One evening during our Palouse Country Photo tour/workshop, the group will meet up at our Wheatland Farm for a relaxing evening and to better get to know each other while sharing and critiquing our photographic journey during our time together. This is a time to kick back after sunset while enjoying a BBQ dinner together at our tranquil home and farm.
For those enthusiastic and tireless photographers in the group, we will venture out into our field for a couple of hours of night shooting.
- Critique of images after the workshop. I believe that learning should not end on the last day of the workshop, so everyone is encouraged to submit images captured during their Palouse photo tour/workshop for a final critique. Whether it is 1-week or a couple of months after the workshop, I am willing to objectively critique your images and give you written feedback to help improve your photographic skills.
Motel, meals, and local transportation are not included in the fee.
Unless otherwise stated in the tour/workshop description, each participant is responsible for their own transportation. To minimize congestion on the limited access and back roads, we encourage carpooling. If someone needs local transportation during the photo tour, arrangements may be made to ride with other participants.
Year-round Custom/Private Palouse Photo Tours and Night Photography
Custom or private Palouse Photo tours/workshops: Living on the Palouse full-time, I am available to conduct a custom or private 1-3 day Palouse Photo Tour/Workshop throughout the year that meets your unique needs. Tell me what you want to photograph, and I will develop a custom tour that will include several of my favorite photo sites under the best available light. Most custom tours last 11 to 12 hours of shooting in the field. If you are interested in shooting the Palouse region during spring, summer, fall, or winter, contact us to arrange a custom photo tour.
Palouse After Dark - Night Photography: I am available to provide individual training on how to photograph the Palouse at night. The Palouse offers endless opportunities to shoot the Milky Way over barns, windmills, vintage vehicles, silos, and other structures. Regardless if you are new to night photography or a seasoned shooter, the images you will capture during a night shoot will be stunning. You can arrange for either an "Introduction to Night Photography on the Palouse" session or a 4 to 5-hour field shoot. Available dates: May, June, July, and August near or on a New Moon.
For additional information, refer to the "Photographing the Palouse after Dark" page on this website.
"Tuscany of North America"
"I was very excited about photographing the Palouse and had very high expectations about what I would see. To summarize… my experience greatly exceeded my high expectations. On your website, you mentioned 12-14 hours days of photographing. Well, looking back, I got every minute you promised! Knowing that I would be visiting the "Tuscany of North America," I appreciated the challenge of being exposed to topography which I have yet to come across, except in the Tuscany region of Italy. The rolling, sculpted fields of spring and winter wheat were almost surreal in their beauty. In addition, the various rustic small towns, barns, and numerous farm vehicles were almost overload. I also would be remiss if I did not comment on your knowledge of the area. The fact that there were other tours going on while I was there did not go unnoticed by me; more importantly, the fact that your obvious local knowledge (40+ year resident) allowed me to see so much made my trip all the more valuable. As I recall the various websites I visited prior to selecting your photo tour, I can't help but shake my head at what the other photo tours would miss without someone having local knowledge, given all the Palouse area has to offer. Your local knowledge alone was worth the price! I guess one of the best means of judging a photo tour is the resulting images. I have more printable images (16 x 20 or larger) from the "Weekend on the Palouse" than I have ever made from a photo tour."