Beware of Photography Workshops

If you’re interested in photography, you will probably eventually run into ads for photography workshops. Indeed, you will find photography workshops available for many different genres of photography. With a little digging, you can quickly learn what a particular workshop is all about. However, you do need to beware of photography workshops. I’ll tell you why if you keep reading.

What is a Photography Workshop?

A photography workshop is a short-term (a couple days to a week, usually) and intense learning experience in photography designed to teach lots of skills with proper application, usually on-location. They are open to photographers of all skill levels, but they are often pricy. The idea is that the photographer participant comes away from the workshop with some photos which he or she couldn’t otherwise capture without significant skill, resources, research, etc.

Photography workshops normally require some travel to a particular location. Perhaps it’s a national park or a ranch. Depending upon your workshop specifics, you might even visit more than 1 location. Sometimes, you might see a photography workshop which will take you overseas to some “exotic” location. There are plenty of travel options out there for photography workshops.

Another aspect of a photography workshop is the education side. You will spend time on-site with your camera shooting what subject matter the instructor prepared. The other part is classroom instruction where you will learn how to process up the photos you took using post-processing software (usually Lightroom or Photoshop). Oftentimes, you can receive one-on-one instruction on how to process up these photos you took to their very best.

Overall, you could look at a workshop as a shortcut to some amazing photos in your portfolio. It sounds like an intense package deal, right? Many photographers think so and are also willing to pay for such an experience.

What Photography Genres Participate in Workshops?

There are lots of photography genres out there. However, not every genre seems to offer workshops to its photographer base. Some genres may not be compatible with the workshop model. This is fine. But that’s not what you want to know. So, here are some photography genres which I’ve seen offering photography workshops.

Landscape Photography

Wildlife Photography

Astrophotography

Modeling Photography

This is merely the list which I’ve passively encountered. I don’t actively seek out this information. So, I came by photography workshops for these genres through ads showing up in my social media feeds. There are other ways to more actively seek this information for yourself.

Other genres of photography, such as weddings and other events along with portraits, don’t tend to lend themselves to the workshop model. You may not encounter workshops for those genres. However, I could be wrong. Like I said, I don’t actively seek out this information and ads for these kinds of workshops do not show up in my social feeds.

Why Caution?

Now that we know what photography workshops are, we come to the question of this article. Why should I beware when it comes to photography workshops? There’s a very good reason.

Photography workshops obviously require a lot of insider knowledge. To run a photography workshop, you need camera equipment knowledge, post-processing software knowledge, location knowledge, and more. Depending upon the photography genre, such as with modeling, you need industry connections. Obviously, you do not gain all this information quickly. Industry connections are often the most difficult to acquire so you don’t want to freely give away something so valuable. That’s often a way to lose such connections. Beware of photography workshops offered by hosts who don’t have or appear to have the industry knowledge and connections which should make a workshop successful.

If you’re reading this article, then there’s a good chance you might agree with the premise above that photography workshops might be a shortcut in your photography education. Indeed, that possibility exists. If you are willing to pay for such a workshop, then you might find out for yourself. This is why you need caution.

Many more experienced photographers know that there’s a lot of money in photography workshops. New and amateur photographers are sometimes willing to pay big money for that dream photo in their portfolios. So, you might imagine there are experienced photographers willing to capitalize on this dream. However, some of these experienced photographers take things too far. This is why you need to beware of photography workshops. So, please beware and take the time to sift out unscrupulous photographers and photography workshops from your consideration. To properly illustrate things for you, I’ll share an example with you which I recently ran into (at time of writing).

An Example of Why You Should Beware of Photography Workshops

I recently ran into an ad on both Facebook and Instagram for an upcoming photography workshop in Zion National Park. The account sponsoring the ad is from a photographer I don’t know or recognize in the landscape photography sphere. I’ll admit that this ad did not catch my attention much other than the location, and that was minor at best. However, thanks to the stupidity of touch screens, I accidentally clicked on the ad.

I didn’t want to look at it further. In actuality, I wanted to read the comments below the ad. But the platform decided I wanted to look at the linked ad page, so it took me to there instead. Since I was already there, I thought I might as well do a quick surface scan to see what it was all about. Here’s what I discovered.

Relevant Photography Workshop Details

First off, as I said, this workshop is upcoming as of the time of writing this article. By the time of article publication, it’s already over. It’s scheduled for the middle of April this year. It’s a 4-day workshop. The photographer is someone I don’t know of at all. I’m not going to tell you who it is as I don’t want anyone harassing this individual, especially if this workshop is fully above board. If you manage to learn who this person is on your own, DO NOT HARASS them. I will not condone such behavior on your part.

I’ve deliberately altered certain facts and figures to try and further obscure who this photographer is and which workshop he or she is hosting. However, the listed altered facts and figures herein are close to the actual information given for the workshop; but the workshop location is not altered. This should further protect the photographer from harassment.

The ad starts with early bird pricing for the upcoming landscape photography workshop in Zion National Park, Utah. It’s $5000 price tag with a minimum $1500 deposit (advertised as fully refundable up to 30 days before the event). The regular price is listed at $7000. There are up to 15 slots for participants. There is no minimum headcount listed.

The schedule listed shows both a daily dawn and a daily dusk photo shoot in the park along with a daily 2.5 hour “retouching session” or post-processing session in the afternoon between shoots. These “retouching sessions” are held in a nearby, so far unspecified, hotel conference room according to the ad.

You will not find out where precisely in Zion National Park (a big place) you will be shooting until you are at the workshop. These mystery photo shoot locations are also listed as weather dependent.

As for food, lodgings, and transportation, the advertisement says you provide all of that for yourself. In other words, you are on your own there. The ad does include a brief recommendation for using an online hotel booking aggregate website or using Airbnb. It also lists creating a chat group using the free messaging service of WhatsApp for workshop group communication to try and arrange for carpooling if necessary.

There is a short list of FAQs with a contact email listed for more questions. The contact email is a Gmail address.

This far from everything listed on the ad page, however it is the most relevant information the ad provided. So, it’s what I will run with as we analyze it for ourselves.

My Background

Now, it’s time for me to reveal the necessary information which will help you understand why I’m particularly qualified to analyze this specific photography workshop ad and tell you to beware of ads like it. Here’s my background for you.

I’ve been a landscape photographer for about 10 years now (at time of writing). Also, I happen to live in the relative neighborhood of Zion National Park (about 1 hour away). I see lots of tourism for Bryce Canyon, which is only 30 minutes away, but many of the tourists also visit Zion on the same trip. Here are some of the Zion landscape photos I’ve taken over the years.

Also, I’ve looked into the idea of hosting photography workshops myself, specifically in the local national parks. With both super popular parks of Bryce and Zion so close by, it seems financially irresponsible of me to ignore or overlook the photo tourism industry of photography workshops and put my knowledge to use there. However, at time of writing, I’m not ready to attempt my first landscape photography workshop yet.

The Analysis

Now, it’s time to analyze this specific photography workshop advertisement. Let’s check out some of the red and yellow flags you should beware of when evaluating photography workshops.

Who is the Photography Workshop Host?

The very first flag I end up noticing when a photography workshop ad pops up is whether or not I recognize the photographer hosting the workshop. Most of the time, I do not. This is not necessarily a red flag. It’s more of a yellow flag. It means I need to examine things much more closely before I decide to sign up for such a photography workshop.

To determine whether or not the unknown host name is a red flag or a yellow flag, you need to dig in deeper with the photographer. Examine his or her website and portfolio. See what social media he or she has. Read up on online reviews, if available. In other words, do your homework on who the host is before you give him or her money. They could be legit and just starting into photography workshops. Then again, there might be something … off. Only research will help you uncover this fact for yourself.

I did not take the time to research out this particular unknown photographer as I have no intention of signing up for the photography workshop. So, I cannot report either way on whether this photographer is legit or not. They may very well be so; I just don’t know and didn’t research it out. For the sake of this article, I will assume they are legit. If you have such interest and questions, you should definitely research things out for yourself.

What is or is Not Included in the Workshop Package?

There are some very critical questions you should ask about your photography workshop package, in general. Scheduled photo shoots and post-processing coaching sessions are givens. Other points include lodging, food, gear, and transportation. How do you travel to the workshop? Where will you stay? Who’s feeding you? How you will you travel to and from the photo shoot location(s)? What gear (camera and otherwise) do you need to provide vs. what will the host provide?

Every photography workshop and host will be different regarding what’s included and not included. A good host should tell you upfront about this. If not, then see if you can contact them ahead of time and obtain this information.

When it comes to this particular photography workshop, the ad lists that you will be responsible for your own lodging, food, gear, and transportation. So, at least we have the green flag of telling you these answers up front. Whether or not such considerations should or should not be included is a discussion point for the value proposition of this particular photography workshop. If you do not find at least some answers to these questions, then you should beware of any photography workshops which don’t give you such answers upfront.

What Do the Photo Shoots Offer?

One of the key features of a photography workshop is the photo shoots. This is what you really pay for. So, naturally, you should be asking very specific questions. What those questions are depends upon what genre of photography you are shooting. However, here are some examples.

• Where are we going?
• How are we getting there?
• What are we shooting?
• For how long are we shooting?
• Should we expect animals to be involved in the shoot? (Obviously a yes for wildlife photo shoots)
• What gear will I need for the shoot?
• Do you have the proper permitting and permissions in place, if applicable?

A proper photography workshop should give you a very detailed itinerary containing answers to these questions and more, as applicable. You should see much of the itinerary in the long-form advertisement. As an example, a modeling photography workshop should give you an itinerary list item somewhat resembling the following.

We will be photographing Model X for 3 hours at Ranch Y. This shoot will involve 3 outfit changes and 45 minutes with a horse. It will start at Time Z. We will be providing lighting using 3 soft-boxes, 1 hair light, and 1 beauty dish.

Gear Requirements

Oftentimes, from this kind of itinerary information from above, you can extrapolate what gear you will need. So, the gear question is often implicitly answered if you’re already reasonably experienced in the field. If not, you should find a gear list, like this basic version, in the ad.

• camera body
• wide-angle lens (recommended range might be specified)
• telephoto lens (recommended range might be specified)
• tripod
• cable release
• memory cards
• polarizing filter
• spare batteries/charger

Obviously, you can add your own gear which you personally own and feel you would benefit from during said shoot and workshop. The host photographer may or may not be able to assist you with that gear during the shoot. So, know how to use any extra gear properly before you go, just in case.

Now, when it comes to this particular photography workshop, we don’t see answers to many of those questions. We know the dawn and dusk photo shoots will take place within Zion National Park. However, that’s a big place with lots of different shooting options. A couple popular landscape photography locations require special permits just to access (Angel’s Landing and the Subway). Other locations (such as the Narrows) will require special gear like waders and neoprene to access (especially in April during heavy water flows). From the tiny FAQ tidbits about personal equipment like a jacket, beanie, and mittens, I assume the Narrows is out.

All the information we have about each photo shoot is that the specific location will be given during the workshop. It will also be weather dependent. The weather dependent part is absolutely fair as April rains are unpredictable, even in the desert where Zion National Park lies. This overall lack of specificity for personal gear, though, could be a serious red flag. Beware of mysteries like these in photography workshops.

Conversely, this photography workshop does give a specific camera gear list in the FAQ. As a landscape photographer myself, I can tell you that it is indeed a proper gear list for such an excursion. Here, the workshop displays a green flag.

Proper Permissions and Permits

Here in the USA, we have some interesting rules and laws regarding public and private property, especially for commercial use. Yes, a photography workshop (where the host photographer makes money off the event) is absolutely considered commercial use.

Commercial use of private property requires the property owner’s permission. Period. It’s best to get that in writing ahead of time. If you do not have the property owner’s permission to use their land or facility, then you cannot do so. Full stop. Also, you must follow their rules. If they say you have a limited time to be there and use it, then you must honor that window. If they say you can go here but not there, then that’s what you do. These are the rules of private property.

Public lands become a bit more complicated. It depends on who’s in charge of the land. Different states and municipalities will have different rules and laws regarding how to use their public lands. An example of this is drones. The US National Park Service forbids the use of drones over any NPS property across the nation. However, the state of Utah allows you to fly drones in state parks with a drone permit. Both the NPS properties and the Utah state parks are public lands.

While each jurisdiction handles their public lands differently, you can reasonably assume you will need a commercial use permit no matter what public land you intend to use. Indeed, the NPS does require a commercial use permit if you intend to take a photography workshop into any NPS property, as does the state of Utah. If you have questions about commercial use permits, you should contact the agency in charge beforehand and ask if you need 1 for your planned activity. If it’s photography workshop, then you should probably assume ‘yes’ but double check anyways.

Now, I’ve looked at lots of landscape photography workshops over the years. Not all of the advertisements list whether or not the photographer host has a commercial use permit for the area. Some areas don’t need a commercial use permit at all. For those that do, it’s not uncommon to see that specific information missing from the FAQs, for example. However, they always put out a specific itinerary. You will know what and where you will be shooting. You will know specific locations and features you can expect to see and shoot during the photo shoot sessions. They are not afraid to put the specifics out there, which implies they do have the proper permits in place. Although, you should always feel free to double check just in case.

Now, back to this particular photography workshop. The lack of concrete locations on the itinerary makes me nervous. For Zion National Park, the list of locations could include places like Angel’s Landing, Canyon Overlook, Observation Point, the Narrows, the Watchmen Mountain, the Towers of the Virgin, Checkerboard Mesa, the Emerald Pools, the Court of the Patriarchs, Kolob Arch, Double Arch Alcove, the Subway, Archangel Falls, and more. Here are some examples of what they could have listed.

To me, this seemingly deliberate vagueness suggests a couple possible problems: lack of proper permitting for the workshop or lack of familiarity with the area. Either of these possible problems is a serious red flag. The photos illustrating the full-page ad along with the promo video suggest the answer to this question might not be the lack of familiarity. This is of course, assuming that all of this media does indeed belong to the photographer host.

If, indeed, we are dealing with the lack of permit problem, then not advertising where the workshop group will congregate for the shoot helps prevent the park rangers from interfering. If the rangers discover this workshop operating without the proper permits in place, then they will certainly break up the workshop. They may do more to the host photographer, like issue fines. This potential lack of permits problem is a good reason to beware of photography workshops. This itinerary vagueness is indeed a major red flag with this particular photography workshop.

Contact Channels

Each photographer host should set up channels for communication before, during, and after the photography workshop. Through these channels, the host should communicate all the necessary information about the workshop so you, as the participant, can properly prepare. These channels are also for emergency communication such as suddenly needing to cancel the workshop at a moment’s notice.

The photographer host’s choice of communication channels will say a lot about the host. Free channels, while perfectly viable, do not convey the same level of professionalism that other channels do. This is perfectly fine for those starting into the photography workshop space. You obviously use what you can and make it work until you can find something better. The use of such free services like Gmail, WhatsApp, and Facebook groups, along with other free services for communication channels is a yellow flag. It might be fine. But you should still look deeper into the matter just in case.

This photography workshop specifically lists a Gmail address in the FAQ section as a further contact point. Also, it talks about using a WhatsApp group to communicate with everyone. So, here we have 2 separate free services listed as communication methods for the workshop. It seems this workshop is waving 2 yellow flags on the communication side.

The Value Proposition

We’ve discussed several different points which should flag your attention concerning photography workshops: some you should lean in closer for and others you should beware of. Now, let’s turn our attention to perhaps the biggest and most important consideration of all: the value proposition. After all, that is the real reason to make your final decision.

Now, when it comes to the final value proposition for a photography workshop, you must weigh all the pros and cons of the excursion against keeping the money and time you would consume by going. Do you believe that the photos you COULD come back with (although are not guaranteed to return with) are worth several hundreds or thousands of dollars to obtain? Indeed, that is a question only you can answer for yourself.

One way to find out is to research the prices of other photography tours and workshops in the area. The internet should be full of such information for popular sites. Also, read up on reviews of the photographer host if available. Other people can give you an idea of whether or not you will probably come back with those valuable photos you dream of. As an example, let’s analyze the value proposition of this Zion National Park photography workshop.

The Zion Workshop Value Proposition

This workshop is advertised as $7000 USD at regular price and $5000 for early bird pricing. It’s a 4-day workshop where you must provide your own lodgings, food, and transportation. You know you will be shooting every golden hour opportunity during the entire workshop at some mystery location and also receive a 2.5 hour “retouching” session every day at a so far unidentified hotel conference room as well.

Let’s start with the price tag. I’ve looked at lots of different photography workshops in my general interest sphere. The regular price of $7000 is a price tag I’ve come to associate with going overseas to places like Patagonia, Iceland, Greenland, Antartica, Italy (Dolomites), Africa on safari, and more. I’ve seen photography workshops put on by photographers I do know in the industry going to exotic places like those. This cost for the workshop is not unusual. I expect there are added costs like passport, visa, lodgings, food, incidentals, and more which will bring the cost up to around 5-figures.

Since this is a photography workshop happening in Utah (which is not exotic in the US), that high a price raises my eyebrows. Especially since it doesn’t include lodging, food, or transportation. I realize that part of the price will go to the conference room rental and overhead. But how about the rest? I’m certainly not opposed to this photographer making a profit. But I must wonder about the wisdom of pricing out a LOT of the potential target audience.

As I live in the Zion area, I can tell you that April is the beginning of the tourist season, but not the peak of the season. There’s still hotel availability. Prices are starting to rise but have not yet reached peak season prices. You can still find some local rental cars. Gas prices are rising but are not yet at summer rates. Most of the restaurants are open for the season but still have open seats most of the time. The park entrance fee is $35 per vehicle for 7 days all year round.

So, you’re looking at 3-4 nights of hotel stay and food for each meal in addition to gas. You might also be looking at car rental for 4-5 days and airfare. Let’s estimate a hotel cost of about $50-$200 a night. Then your restaurant meals of about $50 a plate. Car rentals can range from about $100 a day and go up. Airfare, especially over long distances, can go for hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Suddenly this regularly priced photography workshop total price jumps from $7000 USD to something closer to $9000 when you add in about $2000 for hotel stay, car rental, gas, food, and incidentals. Depending upon your distance, flight time, and other factors, you could easily add another $1000 or more to your overall cost. So, let’s round to an even $10,000 USD ballpark, which gives us some minor price flexibility and a small amount of room for a few unexpected expenses and maybe a souvenir or 2. Realistically, $11,000 or $12,000 might be a better estimate depending upon airfare and headcount. So, beware of photography workshops which do not offer lodging, food, and transportation as your out-of-pocket costs could easily spiral out of control like this example.

I must say, given this approximate total price tag for a single person to attend this photography workshop while flying in and renting a car, those photos had BETTER be worth it. However, without a specific itinerary, I cannot tell for sure that it WILL be worth it to me. As a local, I know that the famous and iconic bridge shot is no longer allowed, and the rangers DO enforce no pedestrians on the bridge. So, that’s 1 shot I would want completely ruined. The roughly 5-figure cost and the mystery locations and subject matter (with 1 iconic shot stricken, 3 others listed above locked behind lottery permits and yet another rendered inappropriate for the season without specialized gear) makes the value proposition sink deep in my opinion.

A quick side note here. There are indeed many iconic scenes in Zion National Park. I’ve shown several here in this article. There are others I have not shown here. However, many of these iconic shots require some serious and even strenuous hiking to reach. This workshop description makes no mention of hiking at all. Neither does it list gear I would associate with these hikes such as water bottles, hiking sticks/trekking poles, sun and wind protection, proper shoes, and more.

Even if I was to pursue this photography workshop as a local, I wouldn’t do it. As a local, I could erase most of the travel cost down to wear and tear on my current vehicle along with gas. I could also reduce my food cost by using my own food. Also, I could erase the hotel cost by staying at home instead. However, I still don’t see the value proposed here. Even the early bird pricing of $5000 is WAY too much in my opinion.

Comparison Photography Workshop Value Proposition

For a point of comparison, other local photography tours and workshops heading to equally if not more iconic locations do not cost this much. I routinely see a company around here which runs tours into Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks. They offer 3.5-day photography workshops (complete with editing sessions) for about $1700-$2600 per person (depending upon the tour) with a max count of 4 people. Interestingly, this may include lodgings and transportation to and from the sites depending upon the workshop. Now this really does sound like a much better bargain and a much more personalized experience than the $7000+ and 15-person cap for the discussed Zion photography workshop.

Also interestingly, local tour companies offer daytrips out to the Wave at the approximate price range of $200-$600 per person, complete with transportation, tour guide, and trail food if you already have the highly coveted permit. Of course, this does not include your accommodations, incidentals, airfare, and other considerations.

For other types of photography workshops, like modeling workshops, it may very well be worth a few thousand dollars to add a couple popular in-demand models to your portfolio. This could open doors for you in the industry much quicker than they would otherwise. A couple modeling photography workshops could springboard your career if you have the money to invest and the skills to walk away with professional quality photos.

In the end, only you can know for yourself if that total photography workshop price tag is worth it for you. Unlike me, you may think that the roughly $10,000 price tag for Zion is well worth it to you. In that case, please enjoy! Do so with my blessing. But if not, then please consider many of these points discussed here when considering attending a photography workshop. However, always beware of photography workshops which don’t answer these questions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you must beware of photography workshops. They seem to promise the moon. Whether or not they deliver what you want is for you to discover for yourself if you go. If you do want to go, look for all the flags from green to red. Weigh each carefully before making your decision. Mysteries are always wildcards. You should consider that they might work against you in your calculus. Beware of mysteries in photography workshops. If you have questions, please ask before you commit your money.