Join Image Quest on a photo tour to the east side of the massive Sierra Nevada Mountains. We'll turn our creative eyes on Bodie, the greatest ghost town in the West, with over 500 structures still standing. We'll look for - and even learn how to create - autumn color in the mountains. We will also visit spectacular and eerie Mono Lake, with it's strange salt towers rising out of the water. During this pleasant time of year,  we can expect to find our various locations with relatively few other people. The sun, low in the autumnal heavens, will allow us hours of good light each day, in a part of California that is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

The Basics

Dates: Thursday through Sunday, October 22-25, 2026.

Cost: $700.00

Trip difficulty: None; conducted at a photographer's pace. We should all be able to walk up to three miles over the course of a day (although we probably won’t walk far), broken up into short segments. Our longest walks will see us at Mono Lake and the ghost town of Bodie.

Transportation: Via private vehicle; trip leader will help make carpooling arrangements between those who need rides and those who can offer rides.  Contact Dave Wyman if you are flying into California for the trip and need help with to where land. (Nearest major airports are in Los Angeles and, Las Vegas and Reno.)

Carpooling: We encourage everyone to carpool when and where possible. We'll send around, with your permission, a list of participants as the trip date nears, for those who want to carpool. We also want to carpool once we're gathered in Bridgeport. 

Weather: Expect cool to cold morning and evening temperatures, and mild to warm days. Rain and even snow are possible, but not likely.

Who is This Trip for, What is it About?

If you enjoy photography and have a desire to make photographs throughout the course of a few days, at a leisurely pace from dawn to sunset and even after dark, in some of the most beautiful locations in the world, this trip is for you. 

Our purpose will be to visually explore the natural world around us. In the process we will explore who we are, too, expressed through the creative artistry we’ll bring to our photographs. And we'll have a chance to explore relatively recent history, at the ghost town of Bodie, where human events played out in harsh surroundings.

Trip leaders have conducted this outing over the course of many years, and they will do their best to insure that we balance the need to spend enough time enjoy a location, but not at such length as to bore our group.

From participants to instructors, will act as force multipliers for each other, as we learn from each other, looking through viewfinders and LCDs, talking about what we're looking at, looking at photos during down times. 

What the Trip Isn't: This isn't an outing where the instructors will give lectures during the hours we can be out making photographs; it isn't a trip that will spend much indoor-time on computers. This is a hands-on tour, not a classroom tutorial. Ken and Dave will be available for any one-on-one participants time participants may want.

Trip Leaders

Dave Wyman - his photographs of Bodie have appeared Outdoor Photographer, Cross-Country Skier, the California State Parks Guidebook and his book, Backroads of Northern California. He is the author and photographer of three other pictorial guidebooks (Backroads of Southern California and Yosemite in Photographs, Yosemite in Photographs, and Fearless Photographer: Nature,). Dave has conducted photography tours since 1982, for the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Sierra Club, the University of Southern California, the Yosemite Association, and the Los Angeles Zoo. His unbridled passion for travel and photography have led him and the groups he conducts to locations throughout California, the Southwest, Oregon, Wyoming and Montana. Dave has taken his camera up onto mountains summits, down to rugged coastlines, and along remote roads by car and by bicycle. 

Ken Rockwell is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about photography. He can answer any question about any point-and-shoot digicam, film cameras, and the latest digital cameras. He is particularly well versed in the use of Nikon, Canon and Leica equipment. His loyal followers - who number in the many thousands each day - enjoy both his many stunning photographs and his often iconoclastic and sometimes controversial essays on understanding art and the technology of photography, as well as his detailed reviews of camera gear. A Southern California resident much of his life, Ken has explored and led photographers to California, the American West and the Southwest for more than two decades, to locations including Yosemite, Death Valley, California’s Central Coast, Zion, Taos and Santa Fe. He enjoys his knowledge and love of photography with fellow photographers. Visit Ken at kenrockwell.com.

Accommodations

Stay in the little town of Bridgeport, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Trip leaders will stay at the quaint and comfortable  Redwood Motel, as we have for several years past, and participants are invited to stay there, too. Limited space is available; however, there are several places to say in town, all within a stone's throw of each other. For those who wish to stay with Ken and Dave, it's first come, first served. Mention to the innkeeper that you're on the photo tour that weekend. If you’re joining us, call the Redwood Motel directly for a room reservation. Be sure to mention you’re part of the photo group with Ken and Dave – 760 932.7060.

Meals

We'll have dinners for the group as part of the trip. We'll be near places to purchase food at other meal times, including the amazing "gourmet" fast food restaurant, the "Whoa Nellie Deli" in Lee Vining (which is reason enough for coming on he trip); we'll make a couple of stops at the "deli." Participants may bring their own food and there are local markets as well as a variety of other restaurants. You'll want to bring snacks and water for when we're photographing away from the towns we'll otherwise be near.

Itinerary

Day one, arrive by 3 p.m. on the grounds of the Bridgeport Motel, meet the group and Ken and Dave and then we'll head out on a drive east of town to photograph some unusual architecture and beautiful scenery.  

Day 2, we'll photograph dawn over Mono Lake and views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Lee Vining Canyon with its colorful aspens and massive granite surroundings will draw our attention next. We’ll photograph the heavens after dark.

Day 3, it's dawn on the shore of Mono Lake. Then we'll travel the June Lake Loop, looking for more autumn color and spectacular landscapes. In the afternoon we'll visit impressive Lundy Canyon and . Sunset session in Bridgeport.

Day 4, we'll depart Bridgeport for a final sunrise session at the beautiful Brideport hot springs, have breakfast and then our time together will officially end by late morning. For those heading south from Bridgeport, feel free to caravan with Ken and Dave, who will make a few stops along the way.

What you need to Bring:
- A sense of adventure.
- Clothes for cool and warm conditions, including ski cap and gloves for cool mornings and evenings.
- Mittens (or gloves - an extra pair of socks will work, too).
- Shoes (tennis shoes or boots or any comfortable walking shoes).     
- Money for for meals not provided (there are restaurants and markets in Bridgeport and nearby Lee Vining).
- $7 for the entry fee to the ghost town of Bodie, separate from a special state parks group fee that's included in the cost of the trip.
- Camera gear (see below).

- Optional: If you would like to share some of your images with the group, bring along up to a dozen digital images on your laptop or tablet or phone. We’ll have time to share during a couple of mid-day breaks and dinner. If you make prints, feel free to bring some.

What is Provided by Image Quest:
- Trip leaders
- Two dinners for the group
- Guided photo walks
- Photographic instruction
- Night sky session
- Help with accommodations in Bridgeport, CA (participants are invited to stay with the instructors, see above)

Camera Equipment: a basic digital or 35mm camera will work well. So will a smartphone. Don't feel the need to purchase special equipment. However, for those with more gear, bring it along - this is the time to use it. A good accessory: a tripod (along with a remote or wired shutter release) will allow photography early and late in the day and for our nighttime photography session. Good filters, especially film photographers: a polarizer and a graduated neutral density filter. 

Medium format photographers are welcome, too. The instructors will probably bring along both film and digital cameras (Dave will bring his mother’s 1956medium format, twin lens Rolleiflex.)

We can view digital images from participants during a mid-day break and in the evening, if time and stamina permits. Feel free to bring along a dozen or so images to share on your laptop or tablet). 

Memory and power: Bring enough memory for your digital cameras, which will be working all day. Bring sufficient power, too. Don't forget a battery charger. Let’s remember to recharge batteries before going to bed.

Film: There are many choices; the instructors like Fujichrome films for slides. Both Fuji and Kodak make excellent print films.
 

To register: Use the link on this webpage, or send payment to Dave Wyman, 1164 Alvira Street, Los Angeles, California, 90035; Venmo and PayPal . Full payment due two weeks before the trip runs.

Cancellations: No refunds for cancellations made two weeks or less before the trip runs, unless another person signs onto the trip, in which case there is a $100 cancellation fee.

Remember, if you do join us, and you want to stay with Dave and Ken, make a reservation at the Redwood Motel, in Bridgeport, California. And call the motel directly for a reservation.