Announcing an exciting River Running workshop in Southern Utah with Alain Briot and Natalie Briot
Natalie and I are announcing a new and uniquely exciting 8 day, river rafting photography workshop in Grand Canyon National Park. This workshop will take us through the entire length of one of the wonders of the natural world. It will allow us to visit rarely photographed areas that are only accessible by boat.

Our expedition is professionally outfitted by one of the most knowledgeable Grand Canyon river running companies. I went down the Grand Canyon with this company for the first time in 1986. I never looked back. If you want my opinion, and I have lots of experience to support it, there is no better way to see the inner Grand Canyon.

This is a charter trip opened only to 12 workshop participants. What this means is that it will be just us and no one else! This unique adventure will be tailored to our photographic needs with guides who know where the most photogenic locations are, the best times to be there, and the best places for sunrise and sunset. If this workshop has your name on it, if you want to spend a full week with like-minded photographers, improve your photography skills and build a truly unique portfolio, read on.

1- Your Workshop Itinerary

Day One - May 18th, 2006: Orientation in Las Vegas, Nevada
We will meet at our designated hotel in Las Vegas. If you are flying a shuttle is available from the Las Vegas airport to the hotel. If you are driving you will be able to safely park your car at the hotel for the duration of the workshop. We will return to the same hotel at the end of the workshop. Safe storage is available for luggage you do not want to take with you on the river. Orientation will take place on the first day.

Day Two: First day on the river
We will depart Las Vegas early and travel by bus to Lees Ferry, Arizona, on the Colorado River. Our boat and crew will be waiting for us. Everything will be packed on the boats and we will get on the river promptly and start our journey down the Grand Canyon.

Great food is on the menu, and all tables have a great view ;-)

Day Three to day Eight
We will raft the entire length of the Grand Canyon, nearly 300 river miles, over the course of the next 7 days. We will explore and photograph such unique locations as Marble Canyon, The Confluence of the Colorado and the Little Colorado River -known for its unique turquoise-blue waters- Elves Chasm, Maktakamiba and Deer Creek, and many other locations only accessible from the Colorado River.

Our trip is chartered only for our group and our sole focus is photography. We will chose all the locations we stop at, visit or camp with photography in mind, giving top consideration to light quality, compositional opportunities and unique photographic potential.

A detailed view of our boat.

Day Eight:
We will end our River Journey at Cove, Arizona on Lake Mead. Our transportation crew will be waiting for us to take us back, by bus, to Las Vegas and to the hotel we stayed at the first day.

Map of the general area near Grand Canyon.
The blue dotted line shows the 280 river miles we will be exploring and photographing.
The red dots show where our journey will begin and end.

2-Important things to keep in mind:

Meeting place:
Las Vegas, Nevada

Closest airport:
Las Vegas.

Lodging:
The first night lodging is in Las Vegas.  All other nights are spent along the river. The last night will be spent in Las Vegas unless you depart immediately after the end of the workshop.

Maximum number of participants:
12 photographers

First you'll be scared, then you'll love it, then you'll miss them and want to come back.
Rapids are that much fun!

What is included:
- Transportation from Las Vegas to Lees Ferry and from Cove to Las Vegas. All food, camping equipment and river rafting for the whole duration of the workshop once we are on the river
- Personalized photographic instruction by Alain and Natalie Briot as well as detailed information on the history and prehistory of the area we will be visiting by our guides.

What is not included:
- Travel to and from Las Vegas from your home.
- First and last night lodging in Las Vegas (based on your travel plans)
- Guides Gratuity

Things to remember:
- Bring clothing suited for a variety of temperatures, from cold mornings to warm afternoons. Also be prepared for potential rain and for getting wet on the river. We will be in a warm desert environmentbut the Colorado River water is cold year round (around 47 degrees fahrenheit).
- The exact itinerary may vary depending on river level, weather, group ability and interest.
-All hikes are optional. You can do as many or as little hiking as you want. The choice is yours. While hiking will take you to places you cannot see from the river, there is plenty to do and photograph whether you hike or not.
- You will be asked to wear a life-jacket at all times while on the boats

3-How to protect your camera gear from water
Your camera gear will be subjected to water and sand damage during this trip unless it is securely protected. Waterproof ammo cans will be provided by the river running company.  However, these ammo cans are not padded and may not accommodate large cameras.  A great alternative is to carry your gear in a Lowe Pro Dry Zone 200 Waterproof Camera backpack (or equivalent).

The Dry Zone is unique because it offers a fully water tight design. It consists of the inner camera bag compartment and  then an outer waterproof enclosure which the camera bag fits into.  Each compartment has its own zipper.  The camera bag compartment is very similar to the other bags that Lowe  makes. It consists of a well padded bag with adjustable dividers with a zippered lid. This in turn fits inside the waterproof enclosure which  is made from ballistic nylon sealed by a waterproof zipper. The last  part of the Dry Zone 200 consists of a shell that fits over the waterproof  enclosure and provides shoulder straps, a waist strap and some additional  storage pockets. The dimensions of the camera bag are 14.5”Wx11.5”D x19”H

5-About Alain and Natalie Briot
Alain Briot specializes in creating large format, fine art landscape photographs for display in home, offices and public spaces. His work is part of thousands of private and public collections in 138 countries worldwide and in all 50 states. Alain has been photographing since 1980 in Europe and since 1983 in the United States. Alain has 6 years of experience teaching photography and communication courses at the graduate and undergraduate level at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona and at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. He has 20 years of experience photographing the Southwest and Utah's Canyon Country, the fascinating region we will explore during this river rafting workshop.

Natalie Briot is a certified Art Teacher. She has been teaching since 1992, first in Houghton, Michigan, then in Chinle, in the heart of NavajoLand, starting in 1995. Natalie loves teaching and specializes in helping her students fulfill their vision through visual exercises. Natalie is extremely patient and attentive to her students' needs.

We will take you to each of the locations shown in the photographs on this page so you can bring back your own photographs from these amazing places! The detailed itinerary on this page lists the specific locations we will visit along the Colorado River.

6-The four unique and exciting aspects of this workshop:

1- You will be working under the guidance of not one but two instructors: Alain, professional large format photographer and Natalie, painter and Certified Art Teacher.
You will be working with two professional instructors who both have intimate knowledge of the Grand Canyon and of each location where we will be taking you along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Having two instructors plus our guides for such a small group is a huge benefit. It means that you will literally get one-on-one attention. This will result in much faster skill improvements than if you were working either on your own or as part of a large group.

Natalie and I also have a widely different teaching style. I focus upon taking photographs, finding the best light and the best composition possible and then framing the scene, calculating the exposure and so on. Natalie, on the other hand, takes a more relaxed and less driven Approach, focusing on helping you build visual skills one at a time and completing your Photographic Skills Enhancement Exercises in a constructive manner. As I said before (and I cannot say it enough) Natalie is very patient and very dedicated.

Working with both of us, and being exposed to our two teaching approaches, will be a pleasurable and effective experience for you. While I will focus on technical photographic aspects as well as on composition and finding the best photograph, Natalie will focus on helping you with your exercises, with answering questions and with providing additional information on a variety of topics.

2-We will take you to some lesser known locations which we discovered after years of exploration.
We know many little known, or completely unknown locations which we discovered during our explorations in this area. We will be taking you to some of these locations. Of course, knowing me and my work you know that I will choose locations that offer the most exciting photographic opportunities! Visiting these locations is dependent on water level, weather and trail conditions so we may have to adapt our itinerary based on nature's unpredictable variables.

3-You will be practicing Photographic Skills Enhancement Exercises daily
In my 9-part article series on Aesthetics in Photography I introduce my Photographic Skills Enhancement Exercises. This concept is based on approaching photography as an activity in which visual training is necessary. This approach is based on conducting specific exercises designed to allow you to practice your photographic skills.

While my articles describe these exercises and provide you with the theory behind them, my workshops are designed to go much farther by providing an environment where you can apply the skills you learned in my articles under the guidance of Natalie and I. Natalie is very personable, very patient and very attentive to everyone needs. I know you will love working with her.

Of course, you can get as little or as much instruction and input as you want. If you prefer to focus on your own work you will have all the time needed to create your images. Just let us know and we will work with you to provide a learning environment tailored to your needs.

4-You will enjoy a visit led by instructors intimately familiar with Southern Utah's Canyon Country and with river running
This is a definite advantage for you and the guarantee of an enjoyable visit. As you know Natalie and I have lived in Chinle for 7 years from 1995 to 2002 in the heart of the Canyon Country. On top of that I I have personally been exploring, hiking, river running and of course photographing the Grand Canyon since 1983. I have 21 years of experience exploring and photographing this specific area. Natalie and I have been selling my work at Grand Canyon since 1997, first at the El Tovar Hotel and now at Grand Canyon Assotiation bookstores.

Our intimate knowledge means that we will be able to provide you with a unique introduction to the area and to historic and prehistoric Indian cultures, including the Anasazi, whose dwellings and rock art offer a photography subject sought after by photographers world wide, and the geology, fauna and geography of the Grand Canyon Region. Our knowledge, and our guides' knowledge, will make your trip as safe, instructional and inspirational as it can be.

7-Instructor Availability
We will be helping you and photographing with you from sunrise to sunset, with a break for breakfast and lunch, during the entire duration of the workshop. Since this is a river running workshop our availability will be greater than during our other workshops. If you are looking for a workshop which gives us the maximum number of opportunities to interact with us one on one, this is it!

8-Cancellation policy:
All monies are non-refundable. If you cancel participation in this workshop your registration fees will be transferred towards registration in another Beaux Arts Photography workshop so you do not loose any money. If you decide to attend a higher priced workshop the difference in cost between the two workshops will be charged to your credit card when you notify us that you want to sign up for another workshop. Your registration is guaranteed only when we have payment in full. If this workshop is cancelled by us you will receive a full refund.

9-Liability Limitation
Beaux Arts Photography, Beautiful-Landscape.com, Alain Briot, Natalie Briot, guides, and cooperating agents aim to provide every participant a safe, educational, and enjoyable experience. We act solely as agents for you regarding accommodations, special activities, and travel, by any means, and assume no liability for any act, error, omission, injury, loss, delay, mishap, or damage to persons or property arising from any cause during the course of the workshop or in transit thereto. We can accept no responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in the services to be provided. We reserve the right to change our arrangements should conditions necessitate, or to cancel any aspect of the workshop due to exceptional circumstances. In the event that we deem it necessary to cancel the workshop we will provide a full refund which the participant(s) acknowledges as full and final settlement. In the event of a workshop cancellation airline tickets, car rentals and hotel reservations associated with participation in this workshop will not be refunded. We recommend you purchase refundable airline tickets and make refundable car and hotel reservations. We also recommend you carry travel and camera equipment insurance.

As there is always an element of risk in any adventure associated with the outdoors, participants must read this form carefully. This liability release will certify that the participant is physically fit and capable of participating in outdoor photography exercises in field locations, and is fully and completely aware of any associated risks created by field locations and weather.

Meeting times, meeting places and itinerary are subject to changes dictated by the weather, the road conditions and other imponderable variables that are part of doing landscape photography. We do not carry cell phones. You are responsible for being at the meeting place at the designated time and have your photographic equipment with you.

By joining this workshop I acknowledge that I have read the above information concerning responsibility and release Beaux Arts Photography, Alain Briot, Natalie Briot, their guides, instructors and any cooperating agent from any liability. Beaux Arts Photography, Alain Briot, and Natalie Briot will assume no liability for injury, illness, or loss of personal property or expenses thereof associated with workshop participation. I also acknowledge that Alain and Natalie Briot have the right to refuse service to anyone at anytime and that workshop policies are subject to change at any time .

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