Armored car I — by Joe Reifer

Registration for the first night photography workshop at our new location opened this morning via email list, and filled by early afternoon. The Paul’s Junkyard Night Photography Workshop runs April 15-17, with headquarters in Lancaster. Contact me if you’d like to get on the waiting list, or to get on the email list for priority notification on future workshops.

Here’s a gallery of 18 new night images from Paul’s Junkyard: a Mojave Desert location with hundreds of vehicles, many used as props in the television and film industry. There are police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, buses, limousines, taxis, armored cars, garbage trucks, travel trailers/RVs, semi-trucks, heavy equipment, a jet, and 2 helicopters. The site also contains a crushed cars, farm equipment, collapsing garage buildings, and piles of metal waiting to be recycled. This amazing mix of vehicles and debris is a night photography paradise. Enjoy the photos, and hope to see you at a future workshop!

Chrysler, Cat, and cockpit — by Joe Reifer

Troy Paiva and I just returned from 2 nights of full moon photography in the Mojave Desert. For those of you who are interested in attending a night photography workshop this spring, we hope to have some good news for you within a week. The workshop email list will get priority notification when registration opens. Stay tuned for more information including a gallery of images from the new location, and some road trip hijinks. Hope you had a great moon!

Vega with garter belt — by Joe Reifer

Earlier this week Troy Paiva and I let our night photography workshop email list know that the owners of the Pearsonville junkyard are crushing and recycling a large number of cars this month. A crew will be living at the yard full-time, and they hope to complete the work by the end of January. About 200 cars in the NW section of the yard will be spared from the jaws of the crusher. We won’t know whether the location will still be suitable for night photography workshops until next month.

We’re researching new workshop locations, and will send an email update as soon as there is any news. If you’re aware of any large junkyards in the Western U.S. that might make a good location, we’d love to hear from you. We’d be happy to negotiate a finder’s fee if things work out.

The tag-line for this workshop has always been: “Pearsonville, as it is today, will be gone in a few short years.” Well, time is up. We’d like to extend a big thank you to the attendees of the 7 amazing workshops that were hosted at Pearsonville between 2008-2010. We appreciate your support, creativity, and spirit of adventure. A special tip of the hat to Mike Hows for originally sharing this location with us.

Whether you’re a Pearsonville alumni with a rusty tear in your eye, or a night photography workshop was on your short list for 2011, stay tuned — Pearsonville may be a garter belt on your rear view mirror, but who knows what exciting locations await.

Ghosts and Renegades — by Joe Reifer

Last night’s Renegade Meetup night photography workshop was a lot of fun. We worked on a variety of lighting techniques with flash and flashlights — including ghosts and demons. Thanks to Martha for organizing, and to all the photographers who attended. The energy and creativity of this  group was really inspiring! And for the group portrait at the end of the night, everyone light painted themselves during the 1 minute long exposure. Check out more photos from this adventure on the meetup site.

Ghosty Renegade Meetup Group

The photos above have the same exposure: 4 minutes at f/8, ISO 200. The difference is 15 seconds of light painting with a flashlight.

1. Troy Paiva and will be working on light painting techniques with a few lucky photographers this week at the Pearsonville Junkyard Workshop. We hope to offer another workshop at Pearsonville next March or April. The best way to make sure you don’t miss out is to sign up for our email notification list.

2. I’ll be teaching a one-night workshop in the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday October 16th through the Renegade Meetup group. The tuition is an affordable $69, and this workshop is a great way to learn new light painting techniques.

3. In November I’ll be joining Nocturnes honcho Tim Baskerville for a trip to one of my favorite places — Death Valley. We’ll photograph at a variety of stunning moonlit locations that may include: Furnace Creek Ranch, Rhyolite, Zabriskie Point, Badwater, and the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells. Daytime lectures will include night photography history and technique. The workshop runs November 19-21, 2010, and tuition is $595. Register on www.thenocturnes.com

Hope you have a fantastic September full moon!