Join Image Quest on a photographic outing to Point Reyes National Seashore and Tomales Bay, north of San Francisco. Our tour will encompass forested highlands, headlands and beaches, historic towns, and a chance to photograph a variety of wildlife, including the the elk at Point Reyes. We'll explore iconic locations - Drake's Bay, the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse, etc., - as well as places not as well known, yet offering just as much creative potential.

Note: Sign-ups are will begin July 27 (see below).

Dates: Sunday evening through Wednesday morning, August 30 - September 2, 2009.

Cost: $630

Participants: 8-10

Level of Experience: Photographers with intermediate and above skills. 

Trip difficulty: None, conducted at a photographer's pace. There will be some walking. Participants should be able to walk at least a mile over the course of a a day (and we will walk far less than that distance at any one stop).

Transportation: via private vehicle; trip leader will help make carpooling arrangements between those who need rides and those who can offer rides. 

Carpooling: We encourage everyone to carpool when and where possible. We'll send around, with your permission, a list of participants as the trip date nears, for those who want to carpool. 

Weather: Expect cool morning and evening temperatures, and mild to warm days. 

Who is this trip for? No matter what level of knowledge, all participants need only have a love of photography, and a desire to make photographs throughout the course of a few days, from dawn to sunset. Our purpose will be to visually explore the world around us, with an additional benefit: we will explore who we are, too, in relation to the world around us, expressed through the creative artistry we will learn to bring to our photographs.

Trip leaders will do their best to insure that we balance the need to spend enough time to enjoy a location, but not at such length as to bore our group.

Trip Leaders:

- Ken Rockwell is known internationally for his website, kenrockwell.com. He is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about photography and cameras. He can answer any question about any point-and-shoot digicam, all film cameras, and the latest digital cameras. He is particularly well versed in the use of Nikon and Canon equipment, as well as Leica gear. His loyal readers - who number in the thousands each day - enjoy his often iconoclastic and sometimes controversial essays and detailed reviews of camera gear. Ken will share his photographs and his thoughts about photography with our group. A Southern California resident much of his life, Ken has explored  California and the Southwest with his camera, including recent explorations of Death Valley, northern New Mexico, and stretches of historic Route 66. Ken is conversant with a wide variety of camera equipment; he works with both with film and digital images. Visit Ken at kenrockwell.com.

 - Dave Wyman - his photographs have appeared in Outdoor Photographer, Cross-Country Skier, the California State Parks Guidebook and his books, Backroads of Northern California, Backroads of Southern California, and Yosemite in Photographs. Dave has conducted photography tours since 1982, for the San Diego and Los Angeles natural history museums, the Sierra Club, the University of Southern California, the Yosemite and Death Valley natural history associations, and the Los Angeles Zoo. His unbridled passion for travel and photography have led him and the groups he conducts to locations throughout California, the Southwest, Oregon, and Yellowstone. He enjoys photographing landscapes and wildlife, and he is able to establish a rapport with his human subjects. Dave takes his camera up onto mountains summits, down to rugged coastlines, and along remote roads in the western U.S, both by car and on a bicycle.


Accommodations: Dave and Ken will stay in a pleasant motel in the town of Petaluma, minutes from Tomales Bay and Pt. Reyes. You are invited to stay in the same accommodation, or you may make your own. Contact Dave by email or phone for information.

We'll send a list of participants around to help match up potential roommates.

Meals: A group dinner on Sunday night, and a continental breakfast (muffins, fresh fruit, coffee, etc) one morning are included.

Itinerary: on Sunday the group will meet for dinner in Petaluma. Monday: explore Tomales Bay. Tuesday: Point Reyes area. Wednesday: Dawn near Petaluma; farewells after breakfast. We'll send out a more specific itinerary to participants when we are closer to the trip itself.

What you need to Bring:
- A sense of adventure
- Clothes for cool and warm conditions
- Shoes (tennis shoes or boots or any comfortable walking shoes; consider bringing along an extra pair of shoes, just in case)
- Money for for meals not provided (there are restaurants and markets in the little towns around our photography locations that we'll visit at meal times)
- Camera gear (see below)

What is Provided by Image Quest:
- Trip leaders
- Two Meals
- Guided field sessions
- Photographic instruction
- Help with accommodations

Camera Equipment: a basic digital or 35mm camera will work well. Don't feel the need to purchase special equipment. Often, the lighter a photographer travels, the easier it is to make great photographs. However, for those with more gear, bring it along - this is the time to use it. A good accessory: a tripod (along with a remote or wired shutter release) will allow photography early and late in the day. Good filters, particularly for those with film, would include an 81B (to warm up images made in the shade) and a graduated neutral density filter (digital photography has made the latter filter somewhat obsolete). All photographers might want to bring along a polarizing filter. Medium format photographers are welcome, too. The instructors will probably bring along both film and digital cameras; digital images - from the instructor and participants - will be shown during the workshop during the evenings, if time and stamina after a day in the field permits. For print (negative) film, just about anything from Kodak and Fuji are excellent.

Old Ford Grill

Memory and power: Bring enough CF or SD cards to contain several hundred photographs. Cameras will be working all day, so sufficient battery power is important. Don't forget a battery charger.

Your Photographs: Feel free to bring along your own images. Bring up to 12 digital images (on your laptop, on a CD, etc.) and/or as many prints, for the the group to view.

To register: Send payment to Image Quest, 1164 Alvira Street, Los Angeles, California, 90035. Or use paypal.com and a credit card (check with Dave first, and let him know if you would like help using paypal). 

NOTE: Dave Wyman, who is handling the registration, will be in Yosemite until July 26. Sign-ups will begin July 27, after Dave returns from Yosemite. For those who wish to attend the outing, please email Dave, who will get back to everyone within a day or so of his return.

Can't Make This Outing? Join Dave Wyman the prior Friday through Sunday, August 28-30, on a similar trip conducted through the auspices of the Pt. Reyes National Seashore association. Contact the association here. Those with all levels of experience are welcome.

We'll send back a receipt and any additional documentation, including directions to our accommodations, maps, itineraries, etc., that participants will need. Cancellation fee: $100. No refund for cancellations less than two weeks prior to the start date of the outing unless another particpant joins us.