Sept 13th - 18th, 2026

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Don't delay! This one fills up fast.  Awesome days exploring ruins and prairie life. Includes ground transportation AND fabulous lodging in Residence Inn Suites. Traveling through Northern North Dakota is like jumping into a time machine and going back over 100 years to a period when this territory was thriving with immigrant farmers.  However, the difference is that we are now seeing what remains. In general, we will be shooting abandoned homesteads, churches, barns, grain elevators, and old cars and trucks, all under the big skies of North Dakota, creating fine art and filling our memory cards with fabulous images for our portfolios.

This workshop will consist of six days and five nights. You will fly /drive into Bismarck, ND, to meet the group. We’ll stop and photograph locations on our way to Minot. This city will be our hub for the remainder of the workshop. We will stay in one hotel, so there is no packing and unpacking. As a rule of thumb, we will spend an average of 30 minutes and a maximum of 2 hours at any given sight, allowing for time to shoot and receive individual instruction. We will aim to be traveling from 7 am until 6 pm, with a time out for a quick lunch.  However, those times may vary throughout the week as we adjust for weather, visibility, and special opportunities. In other words, we may do a sunrise shoot one or more times, or even a night sky shoot. So flexibility is the key, as the weather permits.

So what do we do?

A typical day can see us stopping at 6-10 locations. We will discuss composition, camera settings, and special effects, as well as get you thinking about color or B&W. Of course, we'll cover whatever topic you feel that you need help with: from basic camera settings to understanding your meter, as well as other camera “bells and whistles”. You will receive as much instruction as you want, or if you’re a more independent or seasoned professional and prefer to shoot autonomously, you can do that as well.

Workshop Inclusions

The cost includes instruction, a single-occupancy hotel suite, breakfast at the hotel, and ground transportation during the workshop in North Dakota. The group will be capped at 10 people. Don’t delay; there will most likely be a waiting list. Many more details will be shared with registered participants. If you have a specific question, feel free to email or call.

The workshop's physical requirements are easy to moderate concerning fitness level. There is some field walking and stairs, as well as some plowed rows and harvested fields that may be a tad tricky. There will be a lot of car time, but it’s broken up by stops every 30-90 minutes. We will provide you with advice for clothing/footwear, as well as talk through the camera gear and accessories post-registration. The minimum suggested camera equipment is the ability to range from a wide angle like 24mm to a short telephoto zoom, like a 70mm-200mm, based on the 35mm full-frame camera. Fast lenses are not required since you can shoot with a tripod, although there are many opportunities to benefit from them. The days can be long with an occasional departure time as early as 5:15 and not returning back to the hotel until after 6:30. We try to avoid these really long days, but we'll also consult with the group as far as stamina levels and fatigue, presenting what it is that we are going after.  Promise we will not try and torture you.