Dark Sky Sessions, night-sky photo tours in Crested Butte, Colorado
Star trails2 hrs stacked · f/4 · ISO 800
The core over the lakef/2.8 · 20s · ISO 3200 · 14mm
Camp at 9,800 ftf/2.8 · 15s · ISO 2500
Sat Mar 14 · moon down 10:50 pm · meet 9:00 pm MDT$240 · Book this night
★★★★★ 5.0 · 138 Google reviewsPermitted guideGroups of 4 maxAll levelsLoaner tripods
Crested Butte · Gothic · Kebler Pass
The Milky Way, from 9,800 feet.
Night-sky photo tours with Anna, for four people at a time, at the darkest lakes in the Elk Mountains. Every night is planned around the moon, and your camera is set up before the stars come out.
Nights
Four kinds of night
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f/2.8 · 20s · ISO 3200 · 14mm April to September · 4 hours
Milky Way night
An alpine lake with the core rising over the ridge and its reflection in the water. Your camera is set, focused on a star and framed before the sky is dark enough to need it.
$240a photographerBook this night
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f/4 · 30s · ISO 1600 · 20mm December to March · 4 hours, on snowshoes
Winter sky night
Orion over the peaks, moonlit snow for the foreground, then star trails once the moon sets. Snowshoes, hand warmers and hot cocoa come with it.
$240a photographerBook this night
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2 hrs stacked · f/4 · ISO 800 All year · 2 hours
Star trails
Two hours of frames stacked around Polaris over a dark ridge, and a half hour after on how to blend them on your laptop.
$180a photographerBook this night
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f/2.8 · 15s · ISO 2500 June to September · overnight
Camp night
A night at 9,800 ft: dinner at the lake, the core at 2:40, and sunrise from the tent door. Tent, pad, a 0°F bag and breakfast included.
$480a photographerBook this night
The calendar
Coming dark nights
Times are Mountain. The meet point is sent with your booking.
| Night | Session | Moon | Meet | Price | Spots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 14 | Winter sky night | Moon down 10:50 PM | Meet 9:00 PM | $240 | 2 of 4 left |
| May 8 | Milky Way night, before dawn | No moon | Meet 1:00 AM | $240 | 4 of 4 left |
| Jun 5 | Camp night | No moon | Meet 6:30 PM | $480 | 1 of 4 left |
| Jul 3 | Milky Way night | No moon | Meet 9:30 PM | $240 | Full · waitlist |
| Jul 31 | Milky Way night | No moon | Meet 9:30 PM | $240 | 3 of 4 left |
| Aug 7 | Star trails | Moon down 10:10 PM | Meet 10:00 PM | $180 | 4 of 4 left |
| Aug 12 | The Perseids | Moon down 12:40 AM | Meet 11:30 PM | $240 | 2 of 4 left |
| Sep 4 | Camp night | No moon | Meet 5:30 PM | $480 | 4 of 4 left |
Sat Mar 14, hour by hour
A night at the lake
- Meet at the trailhead
Headlamps switched to red, snowshoes on, a gear check with cocoa. Anna sets each camera to manual and tapes the focus ring once it’s sharp on a star.
- Walk in, 0.6 miles
An easy, flat half hour on a packed trail to a frozen lake under the peaks. No white lights from here.
- Moonlit snow
The moon is still up and lights the snow like a soft flash. Wide frames of Orion over the ridge at f/4, 30 seconds, ISO 1600.
- The moon sets
The sky goes black and the stars triple. Cameras turn north to Polaris and start the star-trail stack.
- The last frame
About 240 frames each. A thermos goes around while the cameras finish.
- Walk out
Back at the cars by 1:30, with a card full of frames and a note on how to stack them.
In July and August the same four hours face south: the core is up over the ridge by 10 PM and sets the shape of the night.
Gallery
Guest frames
Shot by guests on their first or second night, with the settings they used.
Four tripods, one lake · Julyf/2.8 · 20s · ISO 3200 · 14mm
Aspens under the core · Kebler Passf/2.8 · 25s · ISO 2500 · 16mm
The old cabin · Gothicf/2.8 · 20s · ISO 3200, 2 frames
A Perseid · August 12f/2 · 15s · ISO 3200 · 20mm
Crescent and Venus · Gothicf/5.6 · 1/4s · ISO 400 · 70mm
Trails over the snow · March3 hrs stacked · f/4 · ISO 800
Before you come
What to bring
- A camera with manual mode
- Any mirrorless or DSLR. A phone with a night mode works too; we’ll show you how to get the most from it.
- Your widest, fastest lens
- Anything 14 to 24mm at f/2.8 or faster is ideal. Kit lenses at f/3.5 still make fine star trails.
- A tripod
- Or borrow one of ours, with a remote shutter, free with any night.
- Layers for 30°F
- Even in August it is near freezing at 9,800 ft by midnight. Hat, gloves, a down jacket, warm boots.
- A full battery and a spare
- Cold drains them fast. Keep the spare in an inside pocket.
- A headlamp with red light
- We hand out red ones at the trailhead if yours is white only.
About
Anna Lindgren
I grew up in Duluth, where the northern lights came maybe twice a winter and my dad woke me up for every one.
I came to Crested Butte in 2009 for one ski season and never left. Summers I counted bumblebees for a field station up in Gothic, which meant a lot of nights in a tent above 9,000 feet, looking up.
In 2014 I bought a used camera and a manual 14mm lens and spent a whole summer getting it wrong: soft stars, green skies, a tripod that blew over into a lake. By the next summer friends were asking me to take them. I’ve guided under a Forest Service permit since 2017.
I keep groups to four because that’s how many cameras I can check in the dark without anyone waiting. And I plan every night around the moon, because the sky up here is the whole point.
Anna
- Since 2014shooting Colorado night skies
- 4photographers a night, at most
- PermittedForest Service guide, insured
Reviews
5.0 from 138 photographers
“Anna had the core in focus before it cleared the ridge. Best night of our trip.”
Claire H.Milky Way night, August“We’d never shot the Milky Way. Anna had us dialed in in ten minutes.”
Tom B.Milky Way night, July“Four of us, one guide, nobody waiting. My first star-trail stack is on our living room wall.”
Marisol V.Star trails, October“Snowshoes at 9 PM sounded like a lot. Then the moon set and I forgot my feet were cold.”
Ben K.Winter sky night, February
Stay
Stay for sunrise
The camp night, June to September: $480 a photographer, everything but your camera included.
- 5:30 PMMeet in town, drive and a two-mile walk to camp, packs carried by Anna’s pack llama, Juniper.
- 7:30 PMDinner at the lake: chili, cornbread and something hot to drink.
- 10:00 PMFirst frames, then sleep with your alarm set.
- 2:40 AMThe core over the water. Coffee in a thermos.
- 6:12 AMSunrise from the tent door, then breakfast and the walk out.
Staying in town instead? Crested Butte is twenty minutes from every meet point. Anna sends a list of quiet places to stay with your booking.
Where
The Elk Mountains
Lakes and ridges between Crested Butte, Gothic and Kebler Pass, chosen for the darkest sky the weather allows that night.
Questions
Before you book
What if it’s cloudy?
Anna checks the forecast at 3 PM on the day. If it looks like more than half cloud, your night moves free to the next clear one, or your deposit comes back. You never pay for clouds.
I’ve never shot at night. Is that OK?
Most guests haven’t. Bring a camera you can put in manual, and by the first frame you’ll know why each setting is what it is. The group is four at most, so nobody waits for help.
How hard is the walk?
Short and flat: half a mile to a mile on a good trail, at about 9,800 ft. If you’re flying in, give yourself a day in town first; the altitude is the hard part, not the walk.
Why only on dark nights?
A bright moon washes out the Milky Way. Nights are planned around the new moon, or around the hour the moon sets, so you shoot under the darkest sky of the month.
How does the $80 deposit work?
It holds your spot and comes off the price. The rest is paid on the night. Clouds move it free; anything else, you can move once up to a week before.
Can kids come?
Twelve and up, with a parent on the same booking. They’re often the quickest with the settings.
Book
Book a night
Pick a night and how many of you are coming. $80 holds each spot, and Anna texts you the meet point, the forecast and a settings sheet the week before.
Milky Way and winter nights $240 · star trails $180 · camp nights $480, a photographer
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