Badlands National Park Visual Artistry Photography Workshop
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
September 20 – 24, 2026
Badlands National Park
Big Badlands, The Doors, The Pinnacles, Sheep Mountain
September 20-24, 2026
Nature, Landscape, Long-Exposure, Infrared, Panoramic Photography
Stark landscapes, rock formations, yellow mounds. Tony and Susan have been photographing and teaching in the Badlands for 30 years and still discover new compositions as the rain and winds constantly alter the landscape. Our favorite locations include sunrises and sunsets, post-rain shower contrasts and colors, wonderful rock formations, patterns and textures, and small scenes in cracked mud.
Highlights
- 5-day workshop with 2-4 shooting locations per day to maximize your photo opportunities
- Workshop group size limit of 8 photographers to enable one-on-one instruction
- Fossil Trail and Norbeck Pass: particularly fertile photo locations
- Sage Creek Rim Road is home to many dynamic overlooks ideal for late afternoon light and sunset.
Pricing & Registration
$2,300 for workshop instruction only. Registrants are responsible for travel, lodging, and meals.
Contact Susan Milestone at susan@tonysweet.com to register or ask questions.
Group Size
Experience
Weather & Lighting
Travel
Itinerary & Locations
Our daily schedule is entirely dependent on the weather and lighting conditions. We check weather continuously and decide where to go and when each day using weather conditions and forecasts.
This workshop offers 2-4 photo session locations per day, around 15-18 locations and different times of day. Our favorite photo locations include Yellow Mounds, Sage Creek Rim Road, The Pinnacles, and Norbeck Pass.
What to Expect from Our Workshops
Each daily itinerary in our Visual Artistry workshops offers a perfect balance of shooting time in the field with rest, photo processing, and socializing with your fellow photographers.
Our workshops will shoot 2-3 locations each day, offering you a variety of scenes, lighting, and opportunities to advance your skills with help from Tony and Susan.
A typical day includes:
- Sunrise and Morning Photo Session: We have many locations for sunrise, depending on the conditions. We will capture the most varied color palette of the day with soft, pre-dawn violets and purples to various cloud cover and clear skies. We have locations scouted for all possible weather and light conditions, along with backup plans.
- Photographer’s breakfast: After the morning session, we invite our small group to join us as we retreat from our morning session for a leisurely group breakfast filled with “apres-shoot” conversation. Get to know your fellow photographers and learn from their personal photography journeys as you pursue your own path. We may or may not visit another morning location, depending on conditions.
- Early afternoon photo critique: Everyone is invited to submit several photos for helpful, supportive critique that can provide immediate feedback and ideas to try during the following workshop photo sessions. These photo review sessions are an invaluable way to explore the creative vision of your fellow workshop photographers and see ways to amplify the strengths Tony and Susan see in everyone’s work.
- Golden Hour photo session: In the afternoon, we will reconvene and move to our afternoon photo locations in time to discover and compose the scenes and prepare to adapt to rapidly changing lighting conditions.
After the final session of the day, you are “off the clock” and free for some alone time, dinner and/or drinks with companions, or further post-processing of the day’s harvest. Get rested and ready for the next morning, which arrives early.
