Badlands Photography Workshops
with Rikk Flohr
Rikk Flohr served as Artist in Residence for the National Park Service at
Badlands National Park in central South Dakota on three separate
occasions since 2007. With over 100 days of experience in the park
locating scenic vistas, finding unusual formations and discovering the
area's unique wildlife, Rikk can greatly enhance your photographic
experience. Rikk's Badlands workshops begin on Saturday evenings
with an optional sunset shoot and continue until the following Wednesday sunrise shoot and farewell breakfast,
or the light gets tough. Over the course of four days, you will
experience the grandeur of the landscape from inside the park with the
cooperation of the National Park Service. There will be classroom
time devoted to the mechanics of photographing the park as well as image
review sessions and, of course, there will be hands-on field instruction by
Rikk Flohr and Associate Instructor,
Laurie Hernandez. We keep our workshop size limited to 8
participants to ensure quality time with our instructors.
Spring Workshop: May 18-22, 2013
Saturday
night we start with an optional sunset at a pre-determined location in the park.
The workshop goes until Wednesday morning when we finish with a final
sunrise and free shooting till the light gets tough. The three
full-days in the middle will be spent finding the very early sunrises
and very late sunsets as we travel the park setting up our tripods at
the best formations. Of course there will be wildlife along the way as
we photograph the Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Bighorn Sheep, American
Bison, Mule and White-tailed Deer, There is always a chance at
more exotic subjects such as the North American Porcupine, the American
Badger, the Coyote, the Bobcat and the
numerous other birds and
beasts which populate the wilderness. This workshop has early mornings,
late nights and warm weather. Don't worry, we take a little
downtime in the middle of the day to compensate.
Winter Workshop: December 7-11, 2013
Saturday night those arriving early are treated to an
optional sunset shoot before
dinner. Unlike the spring workshop, the sunrises come late and the
sunsets early. We plan to shoot them all! In the winter,
various mating seasons and the quiet of the park during the colder
weather contrive to make the best time of year to capture wildlife at
Badlands. The light is good all day so we shoot all day. The night
comes early and we retreat to our accommodations to learn and share.
The variable weather in December can mean we are shooting in anything
from bright, warm sun to a blizzard. In any case, the landscapes are
dramatic and the wildlife plentiful. We shoot until breakfast on Wednesday
hoping for four sunrises and sunsets and all the animals we can shoot in between.
Accommodations:
The workshop is based at the
Circle View Ranch, located a few miles
from the park visitor center. In addition to being a working ranch, it
has scenic vistas of both the White River Valley and Badlands National
Park. Here we will eat our breakfasts, plan our shoots, hold our
seminars, review our images, take our slumber and get to know each other
along the way.
We price the workshop without room and board so that we can keep our options open and the prices low. The Circle View contains a variety of room styles including singles, doubles and a family-styled room or two. When you register with our workshop, we will reserve a room for you based upon the information you provide to us on a first-come, first-serve basis. There are other motels in the area, should you desire privacy or need different accommodations but we recommend you stay with us. The camaraderie of my photo workshop is not a thing to miss. Besides, Amy makes a legendary breakfast! Breakfast is included with your room at the Circle View and we have arranged an optional evening meal for Sun-Tue nights during each workshop. Lunches are on the fly during the day wherever we can get them. Guests staying at the Circle View also have the option of doing their own cooking in the guest kitchen. Who knows what surprises might appear from there. The welcome reception, on the arrival evening, however is on us. We provide a more complete list of options with our registration packet.
Logistics:
We design our photographic workshops with everyone in mind. Badlands is one of those great parks where there is so much good stuff right by the road that there's no need to go far off-trail. Most of the areas in which we shoot allow for parking and have good paths with little strenuous hiking. That's not to say that there isn't great hiking adjacent to every place we set up, you just have the option of the easy or the difficult paths. On a scale of 1-5 difficulty, most of the places from which we do our field capture are a 1-2 rating. The Spring workshops can encounter normal spring weather and warm temperatures. The winter workshop can be bitterly cold to mild. More information is contained with our registration packet.
We welcome photographers of all skill levels on our workshops. We are accustomed to giving you as much (or as little) individual attention as you require.
Transportation is done by car pool or on your own. Many people choose to divide up into groups based upon skill-level and subject shooting. In any case, you will have the freedom of travel in the group caravan or breaking out on your own at any time.
Costs:
$695.00 ($200.00 deposit due at registration) Meals, lodging and transportation are not included but room reservations will be made for you upon registration unless you specify alternate accommodations.
