Eastern Washington Daily Photo Tours
Join us in the Tri Cities, Washington for daily photography tours featuring spectacular landscape photography attractions in Washington and Oregon. This region is home to unique landscapes that are often overlooked and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Abstract farmlands, rolling mountains, huge rivers, jagged basalt gorges, fantastic waterfalls, colorful wildflowers, gorgeous limestone bluffs, protected wildlife preserves, and epic sunsets are all present here.
Whether you're a beginner or advanced photographer, you will improve your photo skills with personalized, professional photography instruction. You will use various exposure techniques and filters and learn ways to improve your compositions. Lightroom and post processing instruction can be added to all daily photo tours to enhance your digital workflow and editing skills.
Daily tours are available every day between already scheduled photography tours, and can be combined to become multiple-day tours. Tours begin in the late morning or early afternoon and continue through sunset. Check out all the current day tour options below.
PALOUSE FALLS
Pickup at your hotel is available or we will meet at a pre-determined location and depart for Palouse Falls. Created more than 13,000 years ago, Palouse Falls is among the last active waterfalls on the Ice Age floods path, and was designated as Washington's state waterfall by the state legislature in 2014. Palouse Falls plunges 198 feet into a swirling pool before moving swiftly through a winding gorge of colorful columnar basalt and merging with the Snake River.
Please eat before departure. Drinks and snacks are provided. Three spots available per tour. Before booking, please email or call 310.272.9363 to check availability.
Physical Requirements: Must be able to walk unassisted for one mile on sand and dirt trails.
Tour Duration: 6 Hours
Price: $275.00
WHITE BLUFFS / HANFORD REACH
Pickup at your hotel is available or we will meet at a pre-determined location and depart for The Reach Museum. Using photos, movies, and historical props and literature, this unique facility documents the history of the Hanford Reach - also known as White Bluffs - including Hanford's role in the top secret Manhattan Project and race to obtain nuclear weapons. After visiting the museum, we will travel to White Bluffs, which was once part of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and has been untouched by development or agriculture since 1943. This stunning location along the mighty Columbia River is filled with vibrant colors, tremendous textures, rolling mountains, wind-blown sand dunes, desert plants, and wildlife, and the photo opportunities here are limitless.
Please eat before departure. Drinks and snacks are provided. Three spots available per tour. Before booking, please email or call 310.272.9363 to check availability.
Physical Requirements: Must be able to walk unassisted for 3 miles on gravel, sand, and dirt trails with elevation gain of 300'.
Tour Duration: 8 Hours
Price: $325.00
ANCIENT LAKES
Pickup at your hotel is available or we will meet at a pre-determined location and depart for Ancient Lakes. Ancient Lakes is a beautiful area created by the Missoula Ice Age floods that carved out canyons and left several lakes and waterfalls surrounded by towering basalt cliffs and colorful desert foliage.
Please eat before departure. Drinks and snacks are provided. Three spots available per tour. Before boDrinks and snacks are provided. Three spots available per tour. Before booking, please email or call 310.272.9363 to check availability.
Physical Requirements: Must be able to walk unassisted for 3 miles on gravel, sand, and dirt trails with elevation gain of 500'. The hike to the lower lake is rated as moderate due to loose rocks.
Tour Duration: 8 Hours
Price: $300.00
THE PALOUSE
Pickup at your hotel is available or we will meet at a pre-determined location and depart for Steptoe Butte. Located high above the Palouse Hills on the eastern edge of Washington state, Steptoe Butte offers unmatched views of a truly unique landscape. The towering bluff stands out against flowing hills of green and beige with an occasional barn breaking up the landscape and colors shifting and changing in the light. This is a fantastic landscape filled with abstract patterns, shapes, colors, and shadows.
Please eat before departure. Drinks and snacks are provided. Three spots available per tour. Before booking, please email or call 310.272.9363 to check availability.
Physical Requirements: We drive directly to locations. Very little walking involved on this tour.
Tour Duration: 10 Hours
Price: $350.00
WHITE RIVER FALLS
Pickup at your hotel is available or we will meet at a pre-determined location and depart for White River Falls. White River Falls is an outstanding double-tiered waterfall that drops into a rugged basalt canyon near an abandoned hydroelectric power station that once energized and irrigated the region. Although located in Eastern Oregon, it's still within reach from the Tri Cities, and is an incredible day trip filled with extraordinary landscape photography opportunities.
Please eat before departure. Drinks and snacks are provided. Three spots available per tour. Before booking, please email or call 310.272.9363 to check availability.
Physical Requirements: Must be able to walk unassisted for 1.5 miles on gravel, sand, and dirt trails with elevation gain of 200'.
Tour Duration: 10 Hours
Price: $375.00
MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARK
Pickup at your hotel is available or we will meet at a pre-determined location and depart for Mt. Rainier National Park. Established in 1899, Mt. Rainier National Park is the fourth national park created in the United States and includes 369 square miles surrounding the 14,410-foot tall active volcano. Mt. Rainier is the tallest peak in the lower 48 states and last erupted in 1854. We photograph the Paradise area of the park that features pristine lakes, gorgeous waterfalls, beautiful streams, deep valleys, and lush meadows.
Please eat before departure. Drinks and snacks are provided. Three spots available per tour. Before booking, please email or call 310.272.9363 to check availability.
Physical Requirements: We drive directly to locations. Very little walking involved on this tour.
Tour Duration: 12 Hours
Price: $400.00
LIGHTROOM / POST PROCESSING INSTRUCTION
Post processing can be overwhelming if you don't know how to properly use Lightroom and have a good workflow in place. If you would like to improve and speed up your post processing skills and create a workflow that makes it easy to catalog and find your images, add Lightroom / Post Processing instruction to any day tour. This is a 2-hour session that includes:
• Creating and Organizing Your Lightroom Catalog - Make Finding Images Easy
• Importing & Exporting Files
• Presets and Keywords
• Color Balance
• Local and Global Adjustments (Hue, Saturation, Luminance, Vibrance)
• Contrast Control
• Using Brushes - Burning and Dodging
• Linear and Radial Gradients
• Masks (Sky, Foreground, Background)
• Image Sharpening (Online vs. Prints)
• HDR Processing
• Adding Copyright Info / Signatures / Watermarks
• Resizing Images for Internet Publication and Printing
• Easy Photoshop Techniques (that are better than Lightroom)
Note: Lightroom and post processing instruction is also offered as stand-alone sessions without booking a day tour. Before booking, please email or call 310.272.9363 to check availability.
Requirements: Must own or have an Adobe Lightroom Classic & Photoshop subscription and a laptop computer.
Price: $125.00
DAILY PHOTO TOUR DETAILS
What's Included
Professional photography instruction, location expertise, private transportation, park fees, museum fees, non-alcoholic drinks, and snacks.
What's Not Included
Meals, alcoholic beverages, and gratuities to instructor / guide.
Physical Requirements
See each tour for specific information. There are hikes over a variety of terrain including pavement, gravel, sand, and dirt trails. Hikes are easy or moderate with a maximum altitude gain of 500'. The longest hikes are 3 miles round trip. NOTE: Heat could be high in areas we explore and be aware that rattlesnakes are present.
Recommended Equipment
The following list of photography equipment and accessories is recommended for all photography tours. You are not required to have all these items but it is a well-rounded assortment that covers the various conditions of every location and environment we explore.
• DSLR or Mirrorless Camera(s)
• 16-35mm Zoom Lens
• 24-70mm Zoom Lens
• 70-200mm or 80-400mm Zoom Lens
• Polarizing Filters
• ND Filters (2-stop, 3-stop, 4-stop)
• Graduated Filters (2-stop, 3-stop, 4-stop)
• Tripod & Head
• Shutter Release Cable / Remote Shutter Release
• Extra Memory Cards
• Extra Camera Batteries
• Sensor Cleaning Kit
• Lens Cleaning Cloth
• Camera Backpack
• Hiking Poles (for Ancient Lakes, White Bluffs, and White River Falls, if you like to use them)
• Memory Card Reader (For Lightroom / Post Processing)
• Laptop Computer (For Lightroom / Post Processing)
• External Hard Drive (For Lightroom / Post Processing)
• Adobe Creative Suite (For Lightroom / Post Processing)
Cancellations & Refunds
For refunds, we require that a written cancellation request be received 72 hours before your tour. If we receive your request before the deadline and can refill your space, we will refund payment in full. If we cannot refill your space, we will refund 50% of your payment. No partial refunds are given for unused services. There is a $50.00 charge for all returned payments. Please see our complete Liability & Cancellation Policy.
