Colorado Fall Colors Photography Workshop

Regarded as one of the most beautiful locations in the world for fall foliage, the San Juan mountains of Colorado are breathtaking and absolutely stunning for photography. This year’s Colorado Fall Colors Photography Workshop – conducted by Nasim Mansurov, Spencer Cox, and Adam Sheridan – is designed to capture this specific period of the year when the mountain range gets the most stunning colors from aspens, shrubs, and other trees and plants in the area. It is truly an incredible experience to witness and photograph such magical transformations. Due to changes in weather and the amount of precipitation, the foliage colors and patterns can drastically change year to year, giving truly unique photographic opportunities for those who like visiting Colorado every fall.

Our fall colors workshop will combine lessons on landscape photography with the experience of photographing beautiful scenery in different areas of Colorado. We will travel together in cars and stop at the most scenic locations throughout the day, starting at sunrise and ending at sunset. Education will be provided throughout the workshop, and the instructors will spend one-on-one time with each participant (the workshop is limited to 10 participants). The goal is to learn how to capture beautiful landscapes in both normal and challenging lighting conditions.

2025 Workshop Dates

Participants will arrive to Ouray the evening of Thursday, October 2nd and will depart the morning of Monday, October 6th, 2025.

Health Requirements

All participants must be in good health before the start of the workshop. If you have altitude sickness, heart condition, and other health issues, you must report them in advance to see if the workshop environment is suitable for you.

Getting There

The workshop will take place around the town of Ouray, Colorado. Colorado residents might prefer driving to the location. If you are from out of state or a different country, the best option is generally to fly into Grand Junction (usually connecting through Denver or another hub), rent a car, and drive to Ouray. However, there are many other options as well, so it is worth looking into the different flight prices that are available:

• Denver International Airport (6 hour drive)
• Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (2 hour drive)
• Grand Junction Regional Airport (2 hour drive)
• Durango-La Plata County Regional Airport (2 hour drive)
• Telluride Regional Airport (1 hour drive)
• Montrose Regional Airport (1 hour drive)

Once you reserve your spot on the workshop, you will be able to coordinate your flight information with other participants and perhaps share car rental fees. Alternatively, if you fly into Telluride or Montrose, it may be possible to take a shuttle service into Ouray and avoid having to rent a car.

Accommodation

For the past few years, most members of our groups have been staying at the KOA campground in Ouray. If you don’t enjoy camping and would rather prefer staying in a cozy cabin, the KOA Ouray has plenty of those. You can check out the photos and the availability of these cabins through this page on KOA Ouray’s website.

You are also welcome to find accommodation elsewhere in Ouray – they have plenty of hotels, Airbnbs, RV spots, and other campgrounds. Since most of our group will be staying at the KOA, we will all load into cars there first thing. Then we will pick up any other participants at their accommodations in Ouray.

If you choose to stay in Ridgeway or somewhere else farther outside the town of Ouray, we may ask you to drive to a central location to be picked up each morning. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis, but it generally just involves driving to the KOA before we plan to leave in the morning.

Spouses

In the past, we have had many workshop participants ask about bringing their spouse along and whether we charge extra for doing so. If this is something you’re wondering, please be aware of a few things.

First, we only have room in our cars for a total of 10 participants on the workshop. If your spouse is traveling with you, then you must have a car of your own that you can drive instead of carpooling with us (and a capable SUV is recommended given the dirt roads we are traveling). Likewise, when we host the landscape photography lesson + photo sharing session indoors on Saturday, October 4th, there will not be enough room in our accommodations for more than 10 workshop participants. Your spouse must sit out that portion of the workshop.

Also, please be aware that our attention as workshop leaders will be focused solely on the participants of the workshop. If your spouse is also a photographer and wants to take part in our instruction and photography lessons, he or she must be a paying member of the workshop. Apart from that, there are no restrictions, and you are welcome to travel with your spouse!

Transportation / Driving Conditions

We will be driving on some dirt roads during the workshop, and driving conditions can be tricky especially if there has been recent snow or rain. Our group will have three capable SUVs with us that can accommodate all workshop participants.

However, if you are planning to drive yourself for any reason (such as traveling with your spouse, or staying more days before/after the workshop in order to explore the area), we recommend reserving a 4×4 vehicle / SUV. There is no need for high-clearance off-road vehicles because we are not planning to take any dangerous high-clearance roads in the area.

What to Bring

Please note that we will have limited space in each car for camera gear. Please consider reducing the amount of gear you will be taking with you each day so that it fits into one backpack.

Cameras and Lenses

You can bring any kind of camera equipment with you. Our team is pretty familiar with all camera systems out there, so choice of brand is a non-issue. As for lenses, our recommendation would be to bring several lenses:

• Wide-angle / ultra-wide-angle: It will be useful to cover the ultra-wide perspective with a lens that reaches at least 20mm on a full-frame camera – in other words, 14mm on APS-C cameras or 10mm on Micro Four Thirds cameras.

• Normal zoom lens: A 24-70mm, 24-105mm, or a 24-120mm zoom would probably be your most-used lens during the workshop. It’s going very useful for typical photos of landscapes and aspen trees, and most of these lenses have good close-focus capabilities, allowing you to capture abstract leaves on the ground.

• Telephoto lens: One thing we hear sometimes is “I wish I had brought my telephoto.” Please don’t leave your long lens at home!! There will be many good opportunities to take telephoto landscape photos that emphasize the scale of distant mountains or hone in on interesting details in the aspens. We highly recommend something like a 70-200mm, 70-300mm, or 100-400mm lens. Another option is to bring a superzoom like the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 or the Canon 24-240mm f/4-6.3. Today’s superzooms are sharper than ever, and their versatility can replace a normal zoom and a telephoto simultaneously.

Wildlife won’t be abundant during this time of the year, so I would not take any exotic supertelephotos. You might want to consider bringing a fast wide-angle lens if you already have one, like a 20mm f/1.8 or 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. In past workshops, we have sometimes stayed out for Milky Way photography on days when there are no clouds, at the expense of not waking up for sunrise the following day. However, we will also show you how to capture detailed Milky Way photos with ordinary lenses, so a 20mm f/1.8 or 14-24mm f/2.8 is not a necessity.

Tripod

A tripod is an absolute must for this workshop. Please take a good, sturdy tripod – see our article on choosing a tripod for recommendations. It will be needed for both sunrise and sunset shots. Don’t forget your tripod quick release adapters (we have had people before who forgot those). Make sure to use a tripod that is easy to set up (provided that it is not flimsy) – we will be driving, hopping in and out of the car quite a bit. There will not be any need for monopods or other camera support gear.

Filters

Filters are not necessary for this workshop. However, if you have them, you are welcome to bring them along and may find them useful.

1. Polarizing filter: Can be useful for fall colors, especially if there has been any rain recently. It can reduce reflections on leaves and make them more saturated and colorful.
2. GND filter: Potentially useful for sunrise/sunset shots in order to keep the sky from looking too much brighter than the foreground. Either a 2-stop or 3-stop soft-edge graduated neutral density (GND) filter would be ideal.
3. ND filter: Some years, depending on recent rain, we have had a chance to photograph waterfalls. If you would like to bring a neutral density (ND) filter to experiment with different shutter speeds, you may find it useful.
4. Color filters: If you are planning to shoot film, a yellow, orange, and red filter are highly recommended. Spencer and Adam will help teach large format film photography to any participants who are interested.

Laptop

We recommended bringing a laptop for post-processing (either PC or Mac) and loading the day’s photos. We are always happy to answer any software and post-processing questions that you may have.

Accessories

Don’t forget to bring a flashlight, memory cards, and extra batteries. Batteries deplete much faster in cold weather, so we would recommend bringing 2-3 batteries with you.

Clothing

Early October can bring all kinds of unexpected weather in the mountains. If you are from a warm area, you will need to get some warm clothes! Bring a winter jacket (water-resistant is preferable, in case it rains) and some clothing to layer up. Bring underpants / leggings, gloves, and a warm hat that covers your ears – you will thank us later! Mornings tend to get really cold, sometimes below freezing. With some potential wind, you will surely feel it. As for shoes, warm water-proof shoes are a must. No need for boots, as long as your shoes are a couple of inches higher than your ankle bone.

Your Best Pictures

You read that right! Please bring your most favorite 5 images you have captured so far. Please bring a processed JPEG and the original RAW, if you have it. This will be needed for the critique / post-processing section and we promise, you won’t regret attending that part of the workshop! Every participant from prior year workshops found a lot of value in this session. Some workshop participants choose to only select images from the prior days of shooting, which also works, as you will get suggestions on how to properly post-process and improve those photographs.

Meeting Times and Schedule

We recommend that you arrive to Ouray on Thursday, October 2nd at your leisure. You can explore the beautiful town and the surrounding areas before our first photoshoot on Friday morning. We will be having a dinner with everyone at 7:00 PM on October 2nd to get to know one another and make sure everyone is on the same page about the plans for the following days.

In particular, the plan is to load up at approximately 5:30 AM (depending on how far we need to drive that day) each morning for a sunrise shoot, then eat breakfast afterwards. We will then load photos, rest, and break for lunch, before going out to shoot all afternoon and sunset. Dinner will be back in Ouray each night. It is a busy schedule, so please use any rest breaks to recharge and keep your energy levels high! The exception to this plan is on Saturday, when we will be holding a detailed landscape photography lesson + photo sharing session in the afternoon.

Please note that the plans above are subject to change. Our goal with this workshop is to bring you to the most incredible locations in Colorado at the best times of day for photography, so we are constantly responding to changing weather conditions and fall color locations. However, any changes to these plans will be discussed and planned with all workshop participants in advance.

Physical Health State and Altitude

We will be traveling by cars when we are out shooting, and there will be minimal walking / hiking needed (typically no more than a few hundred feet). However, note that we will be in the high elevation zone (up to 11,000 feet), so we recommend you consult your doctor before the trip to make sure that you do not have high altitude sickness / problems. You will be asked to drink a lot of water during the workshop to avoid dehydration, headaches, and other problems associated with the high elevation.

Cost and How to Sign Up

The workshop cost is $1899 per participant. This cost excludes flight, car reservation, lodging, food, and other related costs. Workshop participants will be responsible for arranging their own flights, accommodations, and ground transportation to and from the workshop location in Ouray, Colorado.

In order to sign up for the above workshop, please use our secure Workshop Registration page [LINK OPENS IN 48 HOURS].

Cancellation

The workshop fees are fully refundable up until two weeks prior to the workshop, minus a $250 cancellation fee to cover our costs. In the event of workshop cancellation due to unforeseen circumstances (natural disaster, government closures, injury, death, etc.), collected workshop fees will be refunded (minus potential processing fees and permits acquired in advance). If the workshop must be cut short partway through, refunds will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Photography Life will not be held responsible for airfare and other potential expenses incurred due to workshop cancellation.

Testimonials

Below are some of the testimonials from the prior workshops. If you have previously attended our workshops and would like to leave additional testimonials, please leave them in the comments section below. Thank you!

I attended a fall color landscape workshop that Nasim held in Colorado. The workshop began with a tutorial on landscape photography, including camera settings. Over the next several days Nasim took us to many scenic venues in the early morning and early evening and made suggestions on composition, filters, etc. On the last day of the workshop he critiqued landscape photos we provided. Nasim’s expertise and instruction in all aspects of landscape photography was extremely valuable to me and the cost was a real bargain. Another benefit of this workshop was the interaction with the other workshop participants. I look forward to participating in other workshops Nasim organizes in the future. Jack Pearson.

This was my first photography workshop. It may be my last because I am not sure other photography workshops can top how well Nasim orchestrated this workshop. It was my expectation that I would receive adequate one-on-one attention and instruction; Nasim came through beautifully. I came home with several spectacular shots made possible through his guidance. It was so easy to ask him questions and engage in conversation. His explanations, instructions and answers were given in an easy to follow manner. I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend the Fall Colors workshop; it is an experience I will cherish. David Arthur.

The Photography Fall Workshop by Photography Life in Colorado will rank right up there for us as one of the best weekends we have ever experienced: peak fall foliage color, a terrific instructor and guide, and a fun group of fellow photography enthusiasts. Mark and Emily Fagan.

I have been to many photography workshops before, some of which were conducted by prize-winning National Geographic photographers. None of them were even close to the PL Workshop I was blessed to be a part of a couple of years back, all thanks to the passionate and super knowledgeable Nasim. He is one of the best instructions you can come by! I left the workshop full of knowledge and experience, not to count the beautiful images of fall colors, all of which helped transform the way I photograph today. Being out in the field and shooting with someone constantly helping you and fixing your mistakes is invaluable. I will surely be attending more workshops like this in the future by PL. Sunil Patel.