Muench Workshop: Extreme Sierras, August 2008

Andy

Muench Workshop: Extreme Sierras - August 2008

[imgl]http://www.smugmug.com/photos/265039506_hqLey-L.jpg[/imgl]Trek deep into the backcountry, for a 6 day workshop in the High Sierras, August 24-30, 2008. This workshop features a very special guest, David Muench! :barb All the information is here. Fire your questions at Marc Muench, or me, right here Hope you can make it!

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And the photos:

- Marc's Sierras Thread
- Ian's catch
- Sarah's adventures, 2
- CatOne's Extreme Sierras
- SteveF's Sierra shots

CatOne

I'm in!

Marc Muench

CatOne wrote:

I'm in!

Glad to se you can make this one:D Nothing better than morning coffee at ten thousand feet:ivar And the hike in is only 5 miles so we'll have plenty of time to shoot on the way.

kitvan

I have a noob question:

I would love to attend this dGrin workshop, but cannot afford the all-inclusive fee. I am, though, and avid hiker and backpacker and reside in California.

My question is:
Do you allow individual participants to transport themselves to the workshop location, find independent lodging (i.e. camp) , and to meet up with the group to participate in the activities?

Christian Vandervort

ehughes

This one looks fun.....

CatOne

kitvan wrote:

I have a noob question:

I would love to attend this dGrin workshop, but cannot afford the all-inclusive fee. I am, though, and avid hiker and backpacker and reside in California.

My question is:
Do you allow individual participants to transport themselves to the workshop location, find independent lodging (i.e. camp) , and to meet up with the group to participate in the activities?

Christian Vandervort

Pro photographers have to eat, and leading these workshops (and paying for the guides to haul all their stuff) is a way they make a living. Given the workshop is limited to 10 people, and there are 3 photographers and guides, it's not going to be a $10 trip.

I doubt the people who are paying would be overly fond of having someone who's not paying popping in.

Note this isn't the same as the other DGrin workshops (a la Yosemite, Bryce/Zion, Glacier, and Arches). This is a smaller, more interactive workshop.

kitvan

CatOne wrote:

Given the workshop is limited to 10 people, and there are 3 photographers and guides, it's not going to be a $10 trip...

Note this isn't the same as the other DGrin workshops (a la Yosemite, Bryce/Zion, Glacier, and Arches). This is a smaller, more interactive workshop.

Ahhhhh. I see. I didn't realize it was such a limited function- yeah I wouldn't be too thrilled either if I was a paying member and someone hiked up and dove in.

Thanks for the heads up Cat

DavidTO

kitvan wrote:

Ahhhhh. I see. I didn't realize it was such a limited function- yeah I wouldn't be too thrilled either if I was a paying member and someone hiked up and dove in.

Thanks for the heads up Cat

Commercial use permits for this area are very restrictive. The guide only has a limited allocation of person-days per year. Part of what you're buying in your fee for this workshop is the privilege of using a chunk of that time. IOW, his annual income is based in large part by the limited number of people he can take into this area in a given year. It's the economics of supply and demand.

All this means that the answer is not a simple no, but a no-way-nuh-uh.

CatOne

DavidTO wrote:

All this means that the answer is not a simple no, but a no-way-nuh-uh.

Marc Muench

kitvan wrote:

My question is:
Do you allow individual participants to transport themselves to the workshop location, find independent lodging (i.e. camp) , and to meet up with the group to participate in the activities?

Christian Vandervort

Christian,
The process of backpacking for most is very time consuming, in fact as I've seen over the years besides photographers, fishermen and climbers, most spend their time fiddling with all the crap they purchased in the outfitters store Our goal on this trip is to spend our precious time on photography and Bishop Pack Outfitters will allow us such a luxury. I understand and respect your question, but just cant accommodate your wish. With viewers and the large displays on the backs of cameras we will have much to critique around t he camp fire. I believe it is this time of instant feedback from the entire group that becomes most valuable.

kitvan

No problemo, I completely understand. Hopefully I'll be able to attend a dGrin workshop in the future and meet some of you nice folks.

Have a great time everyone! I'm sure it will be beautiful!

btw Marc, I believe my father, Don Vandervort worked with David on home improvement projects with Sunset Books/Mag decades ago. Just thought I'd mention it after as his ears perked up when he heard your last name.

DavidTO

UPDATE:

4 slots have been sold for this workshop, leaving 6 still available.

Marc Muench

I just made one of my favorite drives of all time, HWY 395 along the Eastside of the Sierra Nevada Mountains through the lovely towns of Lone Pine, Big Pine and Independence. This is one of the best snow packs the Sierra's have had in years, which means that by August the wildflowers and waterfalls will be exceptional



From left to right, Mt Langley elev (14,026 ft) Mt Whitney (14,505 ft) Lone Pine Peak (12,944 ft)

CatOne

Marc Muench wrote:

From left to right, Mt Langley elev (14,026 ft) Mt Whitney (14,505 ft) Lone Pine Peak (12,944 ft)

Awesome!

Are we gonna see this guy's oldest brother?



Last time I was there the road was pretty snowy so we couldn't go up to the upper grove with our 2WD car. I know your dad knows where the oldest one is, and I figure he's shared that knowledge with you as well

Andy

Marc Muench wrote:

I just made one of my favorite drives of all time, HWY 395 along the Eastside of the Sierra Nevada Mountains through the lovely towns of Lone Pine, Big Pine and Independence. This is one of the best snow packs the Sierra's have had in years, which means that by August the wildflowers and waterfalls will be exceptional



From left to right, Mt Langley elev (14,026 ft) Mt Whitney (14,505 ft) Lone Pine Peak (12,944 ft)

w00p

I'm so ready.

thebigsky

Well this looks fantastic, can I ask what sort of average temperatures you would expect for this trip?

Charlie

DavidTO

thebigsky wrote:

Well this looks fantastic, can I ask what sort of average temperatures you would expect for this trip?

Charlie

Marc may have better feedback, since he has experience up there, but this should help.

Marc Muench

thebigsky wrote:

Well this looks fantastic, can I ask what sort of average temperatures you would expect for this trip?

Charlie

Because the lake where we stay is over 9 thousand feet in elevation the days range from 60 to 80 F with the nights dipping into the low 40s and upper 30s If sunny, shorts for the day but pants and thick jacket at night!

thebigsky

OK, thanks guys.

Charlie

PHOTOempt

Hey Charlie,
Are you going to Sierras? That's great, except I'm going to be so depressed seeing how fabulous your images are. Love the ones I've seen you post from Mull. I'm so enjoying all the photos people are posting. I got back from London last night - wow, a real change from the sublime beauty of Scotland to the noise and grime of London. You were right about tripods and police there - I now have a police record under the Terrorism Act for pointing a loaded camera at the iconic Georgian buildings of Bedford Square. Apparently Bloomsbury is under greater threat than Westminster, Big Ben etc, as I was left there to shoot happily, undisturbed. The world has gone mad, and Mull was a blessed relief. I think the Sierras will be another piece of heaven, too. Now I have a few images to sort through...see you in the mountains I hope - Sarah

Andy

thebigsky wrote:

Well this looks fantastic, can I ask what sort of average temperatures you would expect for this trip?

Charlie

What temps do you want? Based on our Mull trip, we can get any weather you like

thebigsky

Andy wrote:

What temps do you want? Based on our Mull trip, we can get any weather you like

I noticed that

Well if I tell you I was generally on the warm side in Mull you'll know I'm not keen on anything much warmer.

:whew

Charlie

Llywellyn

After the great time I had in Mull and seeing the comments starting to appear in this thread again, I checked my bank account in hopes I could eek out enough funds to do this workshop, too. But my checkbook just pointed and laughed at my pleading expression. :cry

Does SM have the equivalent of "washing dishes" in exchange of funds? :giggle

Looking forward to seeing everyone's images from this. Hopefully I'll get to pal around with some of you again in the near future. Have a great time!

Moogle Pepper

Llywellyn wrote:

After the great time I had in Mull and seeing the comments starting to appear in this thread again, I checked my bank account in hopes I could eek out enough funds to do this workshop, too. But my checkbook just pointed and laughed at my pleading expression. :cry

Does SM have the equivalent of "washing dishes" in exchange of funds? :giggle

Looking forward to seeing everyone's images from this. Hopefully I'll get to pal around with some of you again in the near future. Have a great time!

Hey that was my idea! I will even wash dirty underwear too! By hand if necessary!

DavidTO

Moogle Pepper wrote:

Hey that was my idea! I will even wash dirty underwear too! By hand if necessary!

That's just weird.

Moogle Pepper

haha

Hey, I would do tons of dirty work as an exchange of funds to go to one of these workshops. Think of it as Dgrin's own "Dirty Jobs." Well there is an extent to what I would do...

thebigsky

PHOTOempt wrote:

Hey Charlie,
Are you going to Sierras? That's great, except I'm going to be so depressed seeing how fabulous your images are. Love the ones I've seen you post from Mull. I'm so enjoying all the photos people are posting. I got back from London last night - wow, a real change from the sublime beauty of Scotland to the noise and grime of London. You were right about tripods and police there - I now have a police record under the Terrorism Act for pointing a loaded camera at the iconic Georgian buildings of Bedford Square. Apparently Bloomsbury is under greater threat than Westminster, Big Ben etc, as I was left there to shoot happily, undisturbed. The world has gone mad, and Mull was a blessed relief. I think the Sierras will be another piece of heaven, too. Now I have a few images to sort through...see you in the mountains I hope - Sarah

Hi Sarah,

I missed this post originally, sorry. I doubt if I will be going but I am sorely tempted, never say never.

That's quite a contrast, Mull to London, it is of course clear to anyone that if you were of nefarious mind, a somewhat conspicuous DSLR and tripod would be your weapon of choice as opposed to a compact point and shoot, doh! Remember when common sense ruled?

Thanks for your kind words about my pictures, perhaps it will give you heart to know I hardly used Photoshop on them, I processed most of them entirely in Lightroom which I think is relatively simple to grasp.

Looking forward to seeing some of your Mull pictures, and also some from Umbria (was it Umbria or Puglia?)

Charlie

PHOTOempt

thebigsky wrote:

Hi Sarah,

I missed this post originally, sorry. I doubt if I will be going but I am sorely tempted, never say never.

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Hi Charlie - sorry to hear you don't think you're going - I was looking forward to seeing you, and your stunning shots. Yes, I did try to point out to both police and some security chappie at Canary Wharf, that I might try to be less conspicuous, and not take 20 minutes setting up a shot, playing with filters, waiting for better light, etc, if I was really a terrorist. They still didn't really get it, but just filled in the forms. I now have a souvenir copy! Thank you for your words of hope re processing. We have Aperture and Photoshop (not Lightroom), and I have started to go through David's excellent (thank you David!!) tutorials and Scott Kelby's kindergarten special on CS3. First image has gone quite well - second is a back lit tree at that first stop, Firkin, at Loch Lomond (Le Mond for Marc!). Layering got complicated and frankly useless, so at midnight, I called a halt and will attack again after some more reading. I WILL DO THIS!!
Sarah
PS Umbria

PHOTOempt

help with driving?
I am arriving from Italy on , probably, the 22nd August, and probably to LA. I will look into public transport to the Lodge (which I doubt exists), as it seems silly to rent a car for one person for a week, for it to sit at the lodge.

I am wondering if I can share driving/driving costs with anyone coming from same direction as me? As I haven't booked air travel yet, I am open to suggestions that fit in with anyone who can help?
Many thanks in anticipation, Sarah

PHOTOempt

PHOTOempt wrote:

I am arriving from Italy on , probably, the 22nd August, and probably to LA. I will look into public transport to the Lodge (which I doubt exists), as it seems silly to rent a car for one person for a week, for it to sit at the lodge.

I am wondering if I can share driving/driving costs with anyone coming from same direction as me? As I haven't booked air travel yet, I am open to suggestions that fit in with anyone who can help?
Many thanks in anticipation, Sarah

I seem to have created a silence here, as no-one is able to help out. Not to worry - I have rented a car and will see you all there - looking forward to meeting up with everyone... Sarah

DavidTO

There are two spots left for this trip.

Just sayin'.