LOCATION West Virginia
DATE Oct 5th - October 10th, 2026
INVESTMENT $1,250.00 / $1,000.00
LIMIT FULL
ACTIVITY LEVEL Easy
DURATION 4 Nights / 5 Days
ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP
We will spend 6 days and 5 nights photographing the darkest night skies in West Virginia amongst the changing falls colors. We will spend the first nights in the Seneca Rocks area where we will photograph the wind-swept highlands of the Dolly Sods as the fall colors begin to explode over the higher terrain and capture stunning night sky images from Dolly Sods, and from the highest point in West Virginia, Spruce Knob. It will all depend on the weather and which area will have the most photographic potential. The following day we will head south to the Glade Creek Gristmill in Babcock State Park and stay the night at a nearby town. This location is iconic to WV and thought it would be nice for us to explore a little, weather permitting we will have some night sky photo ops here! We will also make some pit stops on way down to see other waterfalls and a covered bridge or two. After our night down by the Glade Creek Grist Mill, we will head back north to finish up things by capturing the waterfalls, canyons, fall colors, and dark night skies over Blackwater Falls State Park!
We will learn to photograph star trails, the milky way, timelapse, and we will also learn to use a star tracker for capturing deep space images like galaxies and nebulas. Fall Color is hard to predict, but we will be here a little on the early side so areas like the Glade Creek Grist Mill may not be peaking at this time, but it is always worth a meet up when we are in the area. Other areas at higher elevations like Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods and Blackwater Falls will have the better chance at seeing that better color. Colors can come late and arrive early, this puts us in the middle of the window to guarantee fall colors. We will also be here around a new moon so lots of night sky and possibly some autumn auroras!
NIGHT SKY CONDITIONS
Most of the night we will have moon free skies. The slender crescent moon will rise after midnight giving us excellent shooting conditions for our milky way and night sky sessions. Most nights we end by 1:00 am, unless we decide to shoot longer!
CURRENT CAMPING / HOTEL INFORMATION
Please make hotel reservations in advance, limited lodging can book up fast during the fall season! If you wish to camp during this trip please select the Spruce Knob Lake Campground the first night. You can stay at the Comfort Inn New River in West Oak, WV the second night, or camp at Babcock State Park the second night. The last 2 nights you can make reservations at Blackwater Falls Lodge or at the Blackwater Falls Campground.
WEATHER
Temps can be colder and breezy along the higher elevations, I suggest bringing a warm pair of clothing for the nights at Spruce Knob and at the Dolly Sods. Some years it was in the 70s!! We will just wait and see!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Jeff Berkes Photography reserves the right to make changes to the schedule, dates if need be. We are not responsible for bad weather, delays or cancellations. We are also not responsible for lost or stolen items, injuries, sickness, death or damages to personal equipment and lost of personal travel expense. Failure to comply to park rules, regulations and will result in you being ejected from the workshop. For more information, questions or to register please contacts us here at [email protected]
DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
We will also have the opportunity to fly a drone at some of the locations during the workshop. This will allow us to capture some amazing shots from both the land and air.
WHATS INCLUDED
- Commercial Permit Fees at all Parks
- Night Sky Photography - Milky Way, Star Trails, Timelapse and Star Tracking demonstrations
- Drone Photography at some of our locations
- Light Painting Techniques
- How to create compelling compositions
- How to maximize color in your images
- FREE Video Tutorials
- Dolly Sods Wilderness
- Spruce Knob
- Seneca Rocks!
- Babcock State Park
- Blackwater Falls State Park, and all spot in between!
- Babcock State Park - Glade Creek Gristmill sunrise, sunset and night sky photo ops + Drone Photography
- Blackwater Falls State Park - Night Sky , Waterfalls, Fall Colors, Drone Photography and more!
PAYMENTS
Payments are non-refundable, if you need to cancel at any point, you will receive full workshop credit for any future workshop with us. Some workshops are conducted with Art school across the country, and that credit will not be able to be applied to those unfortunately.
| 2021 West Virginia Milky Way Madness |
