Arizona Monsoon Desert Lightning Photography Workshop

Tuition: $3999

Tour I: SOLD OUT!

Tour II: SOLD OUT!

The deserts of Arizona come alive during the months of August and September with a fury of powerful thunderstorms, dust storms and extreme displays of lightning! Welcome to monsoon season! During this workshop, we will head out each day in search of the most spectacular monsoon thunderstorms that Arizona can provide and photograph them alongside some of the most beautiful desert scenes. Monsoon season is known for its incredible lightning storms, and with high clouds bases and lots of clear air in front of these storms, the displays are intense and incredible to photograph! If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at photographing storms and lightning, this is the tour for you!

How It Works:

This workshop is a bit different then my others as these tours will consist of only four participants on each tour. July and August are the most active months of the year for monsoon weather in Arizona, but even with that said, there can be days without a cloud in the sky. If your tour happens to fall upon a period of time that looks to be incredibly slow, we will travel to Saguaro National Park or point-of-interest nearby to work on landscape and night sky photography while we wait for the action to return. During our tours, expect to be on the road starting in the early afternoon to late at night. Sometimes we can travel hundreds of miles in a day in search of thunderstorms. We will do our best to stop for meals during the trip, but some days we will be crunched for time and a simple fast food sandwich may have to work. We will be basing out of Tucson, Arizona. This simply means we will base out of Tucson and then travel out each day in search of the best and most electrical monsoon storms! We will go wherever the storms lead us!

What You Will Need:

A DSLR or mirrorless camera.
A wide angle and medium zoom lens.
A sturdy tripod.
Cable release or intervalometer.
A lightning trigger (not required, recommended).
A circular polarizer.
Closed toed shoes
Patience.

What You Will Learn:

What to look for when photographing monsoon weather.
How to photograph lightning during the day and night.
How to create stunning panoramas of storms.
How to position yourself in relation to a storm to safely create an image.
How to utilize filters to balance a scene.
How to avoid cacti

What's Not Included:

Airfare to Tucson, Arizona
Meals & beverages

What's Included:

Travel within the tour
Fuel and tolls
AirBNB accommodations (we will all be sharing an AirBNB home)
Vehicle maintenance
Any park entrance fees

Is There A Risk?

Absolutely. Photographing thunderstorms is a dangerous activity and there are risks that could result in injury or even death. Before attending any tour, participants will be required to sign a liability release. I have been documenting storms for 18 years now and have never been injured, but I have had close calls. This is part of the job and a risk you have to be willing to take. Our safety will always come first and there is no shot worth losing your life over, but we are not in control, Mother Nature is.

Where Will We Stay?

We will be basing out of an AirBNB home in Tucson, Arizona. This location gives us a great home base that is usually within an hour or two drive to storms.