This workshop caters not only to your eye, but to your other tastes too. From Friday lunch to Sunday lunch, the ARAMARK Mesa Verde Company will provide you with exceptional meals spotlighting sustainable foods and cuisine. These meals include two decadent dinners at the acclaimed Metate Room, which, perched atop Mesa Verde’s majestic landscape, was recently profiled in Nation’s Restaurant News (February 2007).

Please join Professor Gene Balzer and Mesa Verde National Park’s rangers on this incredible adventure.

Composition Study:  In addition to photographing we will review and discuss composition and photographic style.  Please bring four to six 8X10” prints or images on your lap top computer for a friendly critique.  These do not have to be photographs of Ancestral Puebloan sites; they can be any photo work that you have been doing.  Also bring two books on your favorite photographers.  If you want to bring a book on Ansel Adams, bring two additional books.  

Photo Equipment:  Quality photographs can be obtained with either digital or film cameras.  If you have a digital camera, bring your instruction manual.  All film formats 35mm, medium and large format cameras are welcome.  Transparency film will give the best results.  A warming filter is a great accessory for film cameras.  (Professor Balzer will be using Fujichrome 100F and a Tiffen 812 warming filter.)  Pack your camera gear so that you can carry it while taking the short walks or hikes into the sites.  Also bring your tripods and extra batteries.  

Survival Kit:  Please consider that Mesa Verde is at 7,000 ft. elevation.  Since the weather can change at any time, please dress in layers.  (Professor Balzer likes to bring power bars and snacks even if he cannot eat them in the cliff dwellings!)  

Dates:  October 15 - 17, 2010.  Each workshop is limited to 13 participants per session.  

Rates:  Rates are determined based upon your lodging needs. (Far View Lodge maximum occupancy 2 people per room). Mesa Verde Museum Association Members receive a 20% discount on Institute courses.  Click here to to become a member. 

Please select Individual Registration if you will be attending the workshop alone, or if you are attending with another person who will be lodging in seperate room.  Select Additional Registration if you are attending the workshop and will be sharing a room with the First Registration .  Select Workshop with NO Lodging if you will be lodging outside of the park.  If you are sharing a room with a spouse that will not be attending the workshop you will need to pay the difference at the Lodge desk.

All workshop participants will have their meals provided by the ARAMARK Mesa Verde Company from Friday lunch through Sunday lunch.

For more information about this workshop, e-mail Professor Balzer at Gene.Balzer@nau.edu

Mesa Verde National Park

Friday, October 15, 2010 at 12:00 PM - Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 4:00 PM (MT)

Mesa Verde Institute

Inaugurated on the park’s centennial anniversary in 2006, the Institute was established to offer visitors an expanded and in-depth experience at Mesa Verde National Park. Through weeklong seminars, day workshops, educational hikes, lectures, and special programs, visitors of all ages may engage in enhanced educational and interpretive opportunities and gain a new, behind-the-scenes understanding of Mesa Verde and the Four Corners region.

These opportunities share the message that a sustained and thoughtful stewardship ethic is essential to preserving and protecting cultural and natural resources. In this spirit, the Institute is dedicated to sharing Mesa Verde with the world.