07/22/2026
Recap: 3-Night Colorado Astrophotography Retreat
We wrapped up our 3-night Colorado Astrophotography Retreat over the weekend. The first retreat of its kind, hosted right here in South Park, Colorado.
Our first night was stubbornly cloudy, but it turned out to be the perfect opportunity. We used the evening on the deck of our retreat cabin to work through camera settings, focus techniques and other gear issues before heading into the field on the nights that followed.
From there, our adventures took us well beyond Park County, from the DarkSky-certified skies of Florissant to the summit of Cottonwood Pass along the Chaffee and Gunnison County line.
Our daytime sessions covered everything from essential astrophotography post-processing techniques to more advanced topics like tracking, stacking and blending. We also explored how to get started in astrophotography without breaking the bank before diving into an overview of deep-sky astrophotography.
One of the most rewarding parts of leading workshops and retreats is helping photographers work through the challenges of their gear and technique while giving them access to landscapes and night skies they may not otherwise have the opportunity to photograph.
By the end of the retreat, everyone left with images they could be proud of and, more importantly, the confidence to head out and chase the Milky Way whenever the urge strikes.
We’ll definitely be back next season with another Colorado retreat. Here are a few of my own images from our nightly adventures:
