Grand Canyon by Raft Photography Workshop
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Imagine standing next to the ancient Nankoweap Granaries, perched 500 feet above the majestic Colorado River. From this vantage point, the Grand Canyon reveals itself in all its splendor—a testament to the power of nature. As you gaze down at the fast waters below, framed by towering cliffs that have stood for millennia, you’re filled with a sense of wonder and awe. With each click of the shutter, you immortalize not just a scene, but a connection between past and present, nature and civilization.
An interactive VR 360 degrees panorama of the scene in the late afternoon can be seen here. This is only one of the extraordinary scenes you are privileged to photograph each day, as we intimately explore one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. Here are another high view, a river-level view, and a side canyon.
Despite the grandeur of the canyon when viewed from its rim, its true beating heart resides within the Colorado river. However immense the landscape, rafting along the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon offers a remarkably personal encounter where you experiencing the sheer vastness firsthand, from within its depths. You are not merely observing the canyon, you are living in it. Journeying along the river presents a captivating spectacle for the eyes. Each curve reveals fresh vistas: sunlight dancing on the canyon walls, mirrored reflections on the surface, intricate rock structures and steep cliffs meeting the water’s edge – the list goes on.
This ten-day Grand Canyon Rafting expedition workshop is unlike anything that you have experienced. You will grin from ear to ear as we navigate safely some of the world’s most famous rapids, sleeping under the stars each night by the side of the river (camping equipment provided). For ten days, you will experience the camaraderie of a wilderness expedition, away from phones, the internet, and civilization. Although you will be challenged, anyone in decent physical shape should do fine. No rafting experience is needed, as our experienced crew operates the raft, sets up camp, and prepares all the three delicious daily meals.
I can affirm that a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon is one of the most outstanding experiences to be had in America’s national parks because before I took a ten-year hiatus from leading workshops to work on my books, the last workshop I led was precisely such a trip – it produced all the photographs on this page. With Treasured Lands and Our National Monuments in best-seller territory, I am resuming workshops. To restart with a bang, I have decided to co-lead another rafting trip down the Grand Canyon in partnership with my friend Oliver Klink from May 1-12, 2025. Not only Oliver is a widely exhibited and published fine art photographer, but he is also a very experienced photography educator who has led several dozen workshops – including our previous Grand Canyon river expedition.
While a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon is always one of the greatest adventures to be had anywhere, with regular trips, photographers can be disappointed by the choice and timing of the stops and camps which cater to participants with vastly varied interests. For this trip, one of only a handful of photography workshops offered down the Grand Canyon next year, the custom itinerary has been designed with only one goal in mind: to maximize photographic potential given the constraints of floating the Colorado River, where there is no going back upstream. With a ratio of participants to instructors of 6, you benefit from individual mentoring to hone your photographic skills and leave with incredible images. The guides we have chosen have a tremendous knowledge of the place and understand our photographic priorities. You will be traveling only with fellow photographers. Each day, we explore different hidden secrets of the Grand Canyon accessible only by the river from huge caverns to sculpted slot canyons, waterfalls, reflecting pools, hanging gardens, seeps, springs, and ancient granaries, photographing at the best possible time of the day to create prized images of sight seen by few.
Waiting lists for Grand Canyon private river permits can be more than 10 years. Even guided river trips fill up fast, and our river running company asks for a commitment a year in advance.
Update April 25, 2024: the raft is full, but if you are interested, I suggest you sign up for the wait list, as we are working on adding a second raft with 5 participants. This will also guarantee that you will be among the first to get notified of a similar trip offering in the future – the earliest would be 2026, since per National Park Service regulations, for everybody except river guides, there is a limit of one river trip per calendar year.
