Death Valley to Mount Whitney - Thursday through Sunday, March 28 - 31, 2013 
Death Valley is famous for laying bare a wildly rugged and colorful geology. It's where the reality of the harshest of environments met the myth of the Old West. 

Our workshop will explore Death Valley's premier locations, including the giant sand dunes, the oasis at Salt Creek (with its amazing pupfish), Badwater – lowest point in the continental U.S. – and Zabriskie Point, as well as less known yet equally interesting places. We'll stay in comfortable motel rooms at Stovepipe Wells, the best spot to stay to photograph the dunes at dawn. 

There's something new this year: we'll spend a day along the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, below the highest point in the contiguous U.S., Mount Whitney, staying in the little town of Lone Pine. Locations will include one of the famed arches through which to photograph the Sierra Nevadas at dawn, and the Alabama Hills. The trip includes accommodations (single supplement available) and a group meal, as well as many spectacular locations, night photography, critique sessions, etc. There is limited space on this trip. Co-leader is San Francisco-based photographer Christine Kreig. Cost: $500. A $100 deposit will hold your place. Photographs from a prior year are here.

The French expression for "in the open air" is "en plein air" and when we hear it, we might think of the Impressionists like Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro. For our photography excursion, we will photograph in the open air, too. However, we will use our cameras and lenses, rather than a brush and paints, as we interpret the spectacular landscapes and seascapes, the historic architecture, and the people of the central coast of California. 

Photographers who have joined our  trips for the past several years know that Irene Shibata has provided us with many exquisite meals. To add to the fun, Irene will provide our group with four French Bistro-themed meals, which she will prepare on-site. You can't dine this well in France (we've rented a small house in the foothills of the Coast Range Mountains where Irene will prepare and serve a couple of our meals). 

The trip will include a variety of photographic locations, from Montana de Oro State Park on the south, to the edge of Big Sur, on the north, as well as Irene's meals, and we'll base ourselves in the wonderful town of San Luis Obispo. Co-instructor: Ken Rockwell. Cost: $400. 

The Sierra Nevada East Side: Bodie, Mono Lake and the Colors of Autumn - Sunday through Wednesday, October 19-22, 2013
We can expect, as we have the past many years, to enjoy the colorful autumn that will turn groves of aspens into flaming torches of yellow and gold. Bodie, the best preserved ghost town in the old west, lies east of Yosemite, as do the strange wonders of Mono Lake. Our travels will  take us into the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, including Lundy Canyon with its aspens and beaver dams, and we'll make at least one stop at the famous Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining. We'll stay in the little town of Bridgeport, far from the madding crowd. Trip includes two meals, entry fees, and a wild variety of field locations. Cost: TBA. Click here for photographs made on a prior trip. Co-instructor: Ken Rockwell (kenrockwell.com). A $100 deposit will hold your place.