Portland Light Trails Photography Workshop (June 28 , 2024)
When: Friday, June 28, 2024, 9:00 to 11:00 pm
Where: Downtown Portland
After purchase, participants will receive more workshop details, including specific locations & meeting details, instructions, and gear to bring.
Outdoor workshops may change due to weather. We keep an eye on the forecast, and if we need to change the date, we'll talk with you to find the best alternative. For this workshop, 6/30 and 7/2 are the first-choice backup dates.
About This Workshop
Creative photography takes on many forms. It challenges your photography skills and is a lot of fun! Get out of your comfort zone and learn to shoot long-exposure images of light trails during sunset, blue hour, and twilight. Create images the eye cannot normally see with lights from traffic and more. We have carefully selected some ideal locations for long-exposure photography.
In this workshop, Northwest Aperture will teach you everything you need to take photographs of light trails (camera setup, use of manual control, exposure settings, composition, and more). After the workshop, we will schedule a Zoom training session to review images and demonstrate post-processing techniques.
Walking up to 2 miles in an urban setting is required. Participants must be in sufficient physical condition.
Certain equipment is required for this workshop—see below.
What You Get
Personal attention: this workshop is limited in size to provide individual instruction.
On-site instruction: how to successfully capture amazing long exposure light trail images with the proper shutter speed, focusing techniques, shooting for later blends, and the challenges of shooting after dark.
Follow-up instruction: 1-hour Zoom class covering choosing and editing your best photos (including blends) and tips for your next adventure.
What to Bring
This workshop is open to those with a working knowledge of their equipment and a basic understanding of photography. We will take photos using exposures ranging from a few seconds to dozens of seconds. Therefore, be sure to bring:
A tripod is required.
A DSLR or Mirrorless Camera with the ability to manually control exposure length, aperture, and ISO. Or phone-camera with an app that provides equivalent manual control (see below).
Lenses: medium-telephoto (24-70mm give or take) is optimal for this workshop. Wider angle (e.g. 15mm) and more telephoto (70mm to 150mm) range can be useful for certain compositions.
We recommend a remote shutter release. (Or equivalent control if using a phone.)
Camera settings and controls to become familiar with:
Manual mode on your camera and how to adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Familiarity with shutter-priority mode is also useful. If using a phone, must have a camera app with equivalent manual control and be familiar with its use.
Optional: know how to use bulb mode (for shooting exposures over 30 seconds) and be able to use your remote shutter release or app.
If using a phone with camera app: ensure you have an app that allows manual controls equivalent to a DSLR: manual focus and manually setting ISO, shutter-speed, and f-stop (aperture). This often requires aftermarket / 3rd-party apps.
The Fine Print
Weather: we will make every effort to check weather forecasts and communicate with participants regarding the forecast for the area. We will communicate with the group via email in the days leading up to the workshop if an alternate date becomes necessary due to the weather. (Be sure your email and phone when signing up are correct.)
Transportation: participants are responsible for their transportation. The start location is convenient for bus & MAX routes downtown. If you wish to coordinate with other participants, you may start a discussion on the Facebook events page for the event.
Facilities: there are no public restrooms at the shooting locations. Attendees are welcome to break from the group as needed.
Waiver and Refunds: participants agree to certain conditions by attending the workshop. Sample waiver and refund policy full terms and conditions here. Terms for this workshop shown when registering.
Contact us at nwaperture@gmail.com with any questions.
Check out all events at nwaperture.com/events.