AUGUST 14-18, 2024
RIDGWAY, COLORADO

Driving Experience Level: Moderate Off-Road Driving Required

Photography Experience Level: Beginner-to-Advanced

Physical Fitness Level: Easy-to-Moderate

Join Mandy Lea & Kendrick for an unforgettable adventure in their home state of Colorado! We’ll explore the rugged roads of southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and set up base camp in a beautiful backcountry site. This site will allow easy access to experience the blooming wildflowers, flowing cascades, historic mining ruins, gorgeous mountain vistas, sunrises, sunsets, and countless stars. Most of this beauty is nearly impossible to reach without a four-wheel drive high-clearance vehicle and a sense of adventure!

And if that’s not enough, you’ll be in some of Colorado’s most beautiful scenery with two great photographers! So, make sure to bring your camera (or at least your smart phone) because the San Juan range provides countless photo opportunities! Whether you’re a smart phone shooter hoping to capture great memories to show the family or a veteran photographer looking to pick up new tips and techniques; you’re sure to go home with some amazing photos!

This workshop will focus primarily on 4x4 driving and backcountry camping. We’ll also focus on taking you to breathtaking locations where beginner photographers can work on basic skills and more experienced photographers can practice advanced shooting techniques. During the workshop, we'll be there to help you capture amazing images, provide photo editing advice , and share our knowledge of off-road driving and backcountry camping!

Workshop Size Limit: 8 vehicles.

Note: The group size is being limited to 8 vehicles (not including support vehicles). The vehicle limitation is to ensure safe driving for the group. Minimum class size of four participants must be met or workshop will be cancelled.

What’s Included:

Four-wheel driving instruction
Additional support vehicles
4 nights of backcountry camping
Photography instruction
All necessary camping gear (tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, pillow, cook/dinner ware, water treatment), if needed. Available on first come, first serve basis. All of our gear is lightweight backpacking gear. This means our tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and pillows are fairly small.
All meals prepared at our backcountry campsite. We will do our best, but cannot guarantee accommodating all dietary restrictions.
Coffee and tea at camp

What’s NOT Included:

Four-wheel drive, high-clearance vehicle. We will help students in securing a Jeep rental for themselves, if needed. We will also help connect students who want to share a Jeep rental or prefer not to drive.
Any meals and drinks in town before, during, and after the workshop
Snacks
Bottled water (we will have safe, treated water in bulk containers)
Air/ground transportation before, during, and after the workshop
Lodging before and after the workshop
RV storage during the workshop
Other expenses

Optional Camera Gear to Bring:

Camera (DSLR, mirrorless, or smart phone)
Lenses (macro, wide angle, wide-mid zoom, telephoto)
Memory cards & readers
Batteries & chargers
Tripod
Hand-held light for macro and night photography
Laptop (for editing in the field)
Backpack to carry camera gear to shooting locations
Cable release or intervalometer (recommended, but you can use the camera self-timer)
Rain cover

Read our Terms and Conditions before registering for any workshop

Colorado Off-Road Driving, Camping, & Photography

$1,400.00

NOTE: If you would like to join and do not have a vehicle (you would like to ride with someone else, not drive) please contact us at mandy@mandyleaphoto.com and we will give you pricing and details.
Transportation:
Transportation is the responsibility of each attendee. This workshop will almost exclusively involve driving to locations on rough, dirt roads where four-wheel drive and high clearance is absolutely necessary. We will not be held responsible for any damage to personal property, including vehicles, or lease/rental property, including vehicles. We will not allow clients to participate in this workshop in any vehicle we do not feel is safe for these roads. All client vehicles must be pre-approved by us prior to the workshop.

Altitude:
We will be at elevations of around 8,000’ up to 13,000’ during this workshop. Our campsites will be at high elevations. Everyone’s body reacts differently to the effects of elevation. Some people will have no problems at all, while others may struggle. The most common symptoms of altitude sickness are headaches, tiredness, nausea, dizziness, and shortness of breath. There are over-the-counter medicines to help alleviate these symptoms. The most important thing is to stay hydrated and avoid overuse of alcohol if you’re not used to the effects of altitude.

Physical Fitness:
Low-to-moderate fitness level. Most shooting locations will be at or near parking areas. However, some locations may require up to a few miles round-trip of easy-to-moderate, slightly uphill hiking on potentially rocky, uneven terrain. Even at the locations with these longer hikes there is the opportunity to not hike the entire distance and take photographs closer to the car. There’s no shortage of things to photograph in the San Juans! We will try to keep the hiking to a minimum since we will be at such high elevations. Comfortable hiking shoes/boots are recommended. Water shoes/sandals are also recommended for photographing in/near creeks.

Weather:
Temperatures can vary greatly in the Colorado high country during the summer months. The morning, evening, and night temperatures can be downright cold. It is strongly recommended to bring warm gear (gloves, hats, warm coats, water/windproof jackets, warm pants, base layer pants, etc.) and dress in layers if you are not used to mountain weather. Our workshops are subject to bad weather just like everything else in life. This workshop will go on as planned even in inclement weather as long as risks to the group are minimal. The sun is also much stronger at higher elevations than most people are used to experiencing—WEAR SUNSCREEN! Bug spray is also highly recommended. Mosquitos can be bad sometimes. During this time of year it’s almost certain that we’ll get some rain, too.
Lodging reservations before and after the workshop are the responsibility of each attendee. To ensure you have a place to stay, please make reservations as soon as possible when completing workshop registration. Ridgway and Ouray are VERY busy towns in the summer and things fill fast! We recommend arriving the day before the workshop begins and leaving the day after it ends.

Airbnb—This is probably the best option for finding lodging.

Hotels—Hotels can fill up quickly in Ridgway and Ouray. If you prefer to stay in a hotel then we suggest making a reservation as soon as possible.

RV/Tent Campgrounds—Mandy and Kendrick will be camping in Ridgway State Park before/after the workshop, as well as keeping their camper there during the workshop. We will TRY to reserve a small block of campsites. If you’d like to camp with us then send an email upon registration to mandy@mandyleaphoto.com to request a site and arrange payment.

If you’re not able to find lodging that meets your needs in Ridgway or Ouray then we suggest Montrose as an alternative. Ouray is only 15 minutes away from Ridgway and has several options for Airbnb, hotels, and campgrounds. Montrose is about 30 minutes from Ridgway State Park.

Colorado Off-Road Driving, Camping, & Photography

NON-DRIVING ATTENDEES

PAYMENT DETAILS

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

TERMS & CONDITIONS

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