Milky Way & Star Trails
& Bluebonnets

February 13 -16th, 2026
3 nights in BIG BEND

Join me in February for three nights in the Big Bend.

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Bluebonnets: We've had a ton of rain this monsoon season and I am hoping for a bluebonnet superbloom this coming February!

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Golden hour: While most of my workshops are about night photography, we will spend time photographing in the park when the light gets good (golden hour).

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Milky Way: We will have about two hours of the core of the Milky Way rise in the morning (before twilight).

Star Trails: We will spend some time shoot star trails too!

Tentative Schedule

We will get into a good location before the sunsets and shoot until about 11 pm each night.

Then, we will sleep until about 3:30 am.

The Milky Way core rises around 4 am through twilight.

We will continue to shoot through the best light of morning.

Night Skies

This time of year, there are several shooting opportunities in the night sky

the Orion constellation,

the "winter" Milky Way arch, &

the galactic core.

My workshops are designed for the beginner to understand the art (and technique) of night photography.

I want you to learn how to work with the light and conditions that are given. We will learn how to light paint using low-level-lighting as well as taking blended shots (blending blue hour landscape with night sky) and how to shoot star trails.

Bluebonnets start to pop up in mid to late February.

With all the rain West Texas has had in 2025, I am hoping for a superbloom like we had in 2019.

Topics covered in the field:

Camera settings for night photography
How to focus at night
How to photograph the Milky Way and star trails
How (and why) to use an intervalometer
What is focus stacking and how to focus stack for landscape photography
Using PhotoPills to plan your Milky Way shot
Using Augmented Reality to plan your night photographs
How to shoot panoramic pictures in landscape photography
How to light paint foreground objects for landscape photography shots
Exposure and blue hour blending

Post-Processing Videos after the Workshop:

Attendees will have access to post-processing videos after the workshop. Videos include:

Using Lightroom and Photoshop for post-processing night photography pictures
Lightroom: Upload and organization
Lightroom: Basic editing for Milky Way images - global and local edits
Lightroom: Advanced Editing: Luminosity Masking
Lightroom: Editing batches of pictures for import into stacking software or Photoshop
Photoshop: import from Lightroom for advanced editing for Milky Way, including masking, dodge and burning, and luminosity masking.
Photoshop: Layering for Focus Stacking for day or night landscape photography
Photoshop: Layering for exposure blending
Photoshop: Import from Lightroom for stacking (layering) for star trails
Creating and stitching panoramic pictures from Lightroom or Photoshop.
StarStax and Photoshop: Import from Lightroom for stacking for star trails
Stacking for Noise Reduction.

I am also available during the workshop for one-on-one assistance in post-production.

Reserve Your Spot

Attendees are responsible for park entrance fees, lodging, and meals
A detailed itinerary will be sent to all attendees one month prior to the workshop (and after the final balance is paid).
Required and recommended equipment can be viewed HERE.
Lodging recommendations can be viewed HERE.
See the BIG BEND WORKSHOP FAQs pages to get answers to some very common questions.