Colorado Astrophotography Experience
Colorado Astrophotography’s mission is to connect people with nature in a healthy, creative, and curious way to appreciate all the beauty, Colorado, and our Universe have to offer. My name is Maggie Martin and I’m a seasoned landscape photographer. Astro photography has become my most passionate element of photography. I’m excited to share my love for astrophotography and connecting with nature in a different way, with others.
What We’ll Do for Astrophotography Experiences (workshops)
The night photography tours are usually about 3 hours and begin within an hour after sunset. We shoot whatever is in the sky, so if the moon is out, we shoot the moon, if the milky way is out, we shoot the milky way. All tours include photographs of the Rocky Mountains against the majestic mountain-scapes of Colorado. If there is something specific (constellation or planet) you are wanting to capture, we can look that up and see what time of night it may be visible in the sky. Please look up moon phase and rise/set times. We can still go when the moon is out, (and get beautiful nightscapes with more stars than you can see with your eyes) it just dilutes the milky way and brightens your foreground.
**Colorado Astrophotography operates on clear, mild nights. All experiences are weather and safety dependent. We analyze the weather forecasts the day of the experience and will reach out to you if a forecast is partly cloudy or worse. It’s our intention for everyone to get the best possible experience, so we will only operate if conditions are safe and optimal for astrophotography. More information can be found about how we base our decisions to proceed, here on our weather policy.
We drive about 30 min into the darkness, then spend another 30min getting cameras on their best settings. After that, we head to stunning mountain views to behold what the night sky has in store. We stay close to the car, and I teach you how to take optimal astrophotography photos. We return home with amazing photos.
What I provide:
Instruction in astrophotography and some key stargazing knowledge. There are add- ons for transportation or equipment if needed or if you would like a friend to join you, we allow one “bring a friend” as an add on per person who books the astrophotography lesson. If you bring your own camera, please email us prior so we can make sure you have the right type of lens you need for optimal use. Also please note if you are bringing your own vehicle, Colorado does have traction laws that pertain to our locations (AWD or 4WD).
What We’ll Do for Astrophotography Photo Shoots
What We’ll Do for Astrophotography Date Nights
Where we will be
We conduct two main tour locations on Guanella Pass and Loveland Pass for our workshops and photo shoots. The Guanella Pass location operates on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Loveland Pass location operates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The base price for the tour is just for the tour and photo lesson. You can choose to add on equipment rentals and transportation for the tour as needed. We also include options to bring additional guests who just want to enjoy the stars and photoshoots of your experience. Mostly our locations will be safety, weather and forecast dependent. Maps of permitted areas available in our Policies and Procedures section.
We are also happy to meet you anywhere you might be (within reason) where you are permitted to be, so if you want to meet in a mountain town you are visiting, we are usually willing to meet up with you where you are (depending on scheduling). We do charge for transportation and accommodation if it is outside of our 50 mile radius. Be mindful that we operate under specific permits, so inviting us to come out of our standard tour areas will require additional permitting and time to plan so get with us as soon as possible if this is something of interest to you. We also ask that requests for small bookings requesting us to travel outside of our typical tour areas happen on a weeknight (Tuesday-Thursday) since we accommodate larger scheduled bookings on the weekend.
Misc
If mountain driving scares you, just let me know and we can keep it nice and slow. I’m happy to accommodate any concerns you may have. My goal is to have fun too!
COVID 19: We are respectful of all different perspectives of the COVID 19 virus. We are committed to operating per Colorado state policy and procedures around social distancing, sanitization, and health and safety. We happily support any other comfort requests you may have such as taking your own car, bringing your own drinks, or whatever you might like. Our goal is to provide a relaxing experience to engage in a healthy and loving moment.
Read our full refund policy here.
Group Experiences
We are happy to accommodate large groups at a discount, such as: corporate team building events, adolescent campouts, travel tours, etc. Contact us (maggie@coloradoastrophotography.com) directly with large group requests. We offer a discount for groups of 6 or more.
Gift Cards
We are happy offer gift cards for whatever amount you would like, or per experience booked. The gift voucher is valid for 1 calendar year from the purchase date and a printable gift voucher will be provided via email for redemption. We are happy to offer gift vouchers for a custom amount- please email me directly for customized gift voucher purchases.
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Loveland Pass Experience $175
This tour takes place on Loveland Pass, which consists of three stops across Colorado's Continental Divide. This is a three hour experience. We provide training on the camera for optimal night photos as well as a tour of the sky. You can choose to bring additional people along to enjoy stargazing on the tour, with no astrophotography lesson for an addtional $25 per person.
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Guanella Pass Experience $175
This tour takes place on Guanalla Pass, which consists of three stops in the Arapahoe National Forest. Viewpoints on this tour include the Rocky Mountains, forestscapes, and lakes and rivers when open for the season. This is a three hour experience. We provide training on the camera for optimal night photos as well as a tour of the sky. You can choose to bring additional people along to enjoy stargazing on the tour, with no astrophotography lesson for an addtional $25 per person.
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Bring a Friend to Stargaze $25
No cameras, this is just for people who book a photography experience and want to bring someone with for the stargazing tour. We allow 1 bring a friend to stargaze for ever person who has booked the experience.
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Advanced Astrophotography Workshop $600
This workshop is for folks who have mastered the single shot astrophotography and are wanting to learn more advanced astrophotography skills such as: using star trackers, creating time lapses, doing star trail images, creating panoramic milky way photographs, and learning stacking editing techniques. This workshop comes with a pre virtual session where we go through all the equipment needed and your objective for instruction (choosing one focus area from above), a one on one in the field session where we use the targeted skill, and one post processing virtual session where we will go over software and techniques needed to create the result you are looking for.
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Virtual Post Processing for Astrophotography- Zoom $115
Book a virtual zoom lesson to learn how to use detailed processing techniques to pull out the colors and details of the night sky.
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Date Night Stargazing Experience/Photo Shoot $600
This hands on star gazing astrophotography experience includes stops at three mountain locations along with an astrophotography camera set up and lesson. We also provide a photo shoot of your party with at least 5 digital images under the night sky. Perfect for engagements, anniversaries, and honeymoons.
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Stargazing Photo Shoot- 5 Images/1 Location $350
This photo shoot is at one location and we will produce at least 5 professionally edited photos. This is perfect for headshots, senior pictures, or just snapping a few photos under the stars with your loved ones.
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Stargazing Photo Shoot-10 Images/2 Locations $600
This photo shoot is at 2 locations and will produce at least 10 professionally edited photos. This is perfect for folks who want more images and variety in their photo shoot. Great for family portraits, bachelor/bachelorette parties, company outings, etc..
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Stargazing Photo Shoot- 20 Images/ 3 Locations $1200
This photo shoot is at 3 locations and we will produce at least 20 professionally edited photos. This is perfect for elopements or for folks who want a variety of shot arrangements including single portraits, couple portraits, group portraits, etc...
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Custom Night Sky Commission $350
Have us capture a specialized night sky photograph to commerorate any occasion such as "The Night You Were Born", "The Night We Were Married", "The Night We Met" ect. Simply select a specific date, and we will go out and photograph the night sky and anything unique to that night- such as the moon, specific constellations, or planets to create a breathtaking and unique gift. We will provide at least 5 images that capture the sky on the selected night. You will receive the processed digital images with the options to order prints and other photo gifts as well.
- Add on Equipment Rental
- Add on Transportation
- 3-4 Hours
Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! There is an option to add transportation on to any tour for an additional fee.
I’m happy to reschedule or refund due to the weather.
Yes, there will be less stars if the moon is out, but the moon lights up the scenery very well. We can get stars on any clear night. You can learn more about what to expect during different cycles of the moon over on my blog.
Not at all! Beginners are definitely welcome on astrophotography experiences.