Astromaster La Palma Reviews

Night Sky Photography Workshops, Tours, Talks

Other reviews: Iceland Aurora Tours, Maine Stargazing & Photography, California Nightscapes

Vahid Jazayeri, Washington (May 2023) After attending Babak’s aurora tour of Iceland in 2022, I discovered my deep interest in the sky and astronomy and fell in love with nightscape photography. During that tour, I learned about the Astromaster workshop and found it as an excellent opportunity to kick start this life long hobby of mine. I was a total newbie who bought his first professional camera just a few months before the workshop. With passion and focus to learn the required skills, I ended this program with photos that no friend could simply believe were mine. Since the workshop, I’ve been to many parks and places for shooting dark sky and improving my skills, and in this journey, Astromaster La Palma will always remain as the starting point for me.

This workshop is a perfect opportunity to learn or boost your knowledge and techniques about astro and nightscape photography, mixed with an amazing opportunity to meet friendly photographers and people who all share passion for science, sky and photography, and can become long-term friends beyond the workshop. No need to mention that sitting at Babak’s information-rich presentations and interactive classes and learning from his knowledge and techniques in planning, shooting, and editing, all are invaluable life experiences. The workshop is featured with Babak’s expert and lovely colleagues from the region including Ana with great knowledge of astronomy who gave us a great tour of GTC, the world’s largest single-aperture telescope, and helped with touring the island and planning the shooting sites. I also appreciate Candy and David, friendly colleagues who gave us safe rides day and night, even as late as 4 AM who patiently waited all night for us without a complaint.

The important lesson that I learned was that planning before the dark is a critical part of a successful night sky photography. The workshop also taught me a vast overview on several editing tools and techniques. The content of the daily lectures were great and editing sessions were really useful. I wish the classes could cover more of planning techniques and apps such as Photopills which I learned from classmates and found super useful but complex and unintuitive.

The nightly site visits were unique, beautiful and non-touristy with so many choices of subjects to capture with big variety of foregrounds (Core of the Milky Way rising, Venus and Moon, Star trails around Polaris, Sun setting below clouds, etc.) to the extent that I regretted not having multiple cameras. The observatory with GTC and MAGIC telescopes were the best. The salt pans were also amazing and colorful at night.

The workshop exceeded my expectations on all fronts. It was not a simple photography program. We learned a lot about science and enjoyed Babak’s stories and collection of beautiful photo arts and photos of rare celestial phenomena hardly captured by others. I also made great friendships with professionals who I’m still in contact with and learn from.

Photo © Vahid Jazayeri

Photos © Vahid Jazayeri

Brian Fanning, Oregon (May 2023) I returned for my second Astromaster workshop because I learned so much during the first that I didn’t have time to apply everything I learned. This second time I wanted to refine some of my techniques and return to a few of the amazing sites we had photographed my first time. This workshop again exceeded my expectations. Every night provided something new to photograph and a unique perspective on the island.

This workshop is a perfect blend of learning about science and technique during the day, touring interesting areas in a location I might not otherwise visit, and amazing astrophotography possibilities. Ana’s local knowledge is second to none and Babak is a night sky science and photography genius. I really enjoyed the classroom lectures. If anything, I’d like to spend more time watching Babak edit images from participants to watch how he approaches different subject matter

I started the workshop with several years of astrophotography under my belt. While I did pick up some new shooting techniques, where I really accelerated my skills was in the processing/ editing sessions we held each day. I learned shortcuts and workflows that regularly save me hours and hours of work. Babak is excellent at simplifying processes and explanations. Some of the edits he showed us were much less complicated than how I might have approached an image with a much better result. Understanding the few, minor adjustments he usually makes to an image has dramatically simplified my astro workflow.

We had great spots to work with again this year. The only suggestion I’d offer (and I know this is difficult to do) would be to try and share the nightly location earlier in the day with the group. I would have liked to spend a bit more time planning out my shots before arriving at the site if possible (maybe we could do an in class demo of Photopills or Planit Pro showing the site we’re going to later that evening.)

Did you have a favorite shooting location during the workshop? If so, what was it? * The observatory, of course! I also really enjoyed the salt pans because they offered so many different compositions in a relatively contained space.

Photos © Brian Fanning

Pol Rosset, Catalonia (May 2023) I am the CEO and founder of WindowSight, a company that my brother and I founded. WindowSight is a platform for professional photographers and artists to publish their content, and be seen and enjoyed worldwide through TVs.

I had worked with Babak for a few years (though I had never met him before). La Palma was the perfect excuse to get to know him, how he works, his philosophy of life, some of his techniques and a piece of his extensive knowledge not only about photography, environment, astronomy…To be honest, I was far from a photographer, the camera I used in the program was not even mine. I enjoyed it a lot and learned a lot, but I recommend it to people who have a basic level of photography and editing which will get the most out of the program.

Astromaster La Palma was a unique experience where I got the chance to know more about Babak, learned skills about night sky photography, general photography, cameras and programs for editing, science, and a lot about the environment related to the night and the sky! Apart from that, I met amazing people with whom for sure I would spend another week and more!

The daily classroom lectures are very interesting, not only the technical ones but the ones about the sky, environment, climate change,… all these topics. The presentation I liked and remember the most is the one about finding the “mistakes” on images that were participants of photography awards, but were edited badly, and his explanations on why those images are not real.

The nightly photo sessions were super engaging! the opportunity to be during the whole night at the top of the island is priceless!

Photos ©Pol Rosset

Sophie Smoot-Canty, Virginia (May 2023) This experience consists of learning in the classroom, application in incredible places, and a tight-knit group all passionate about the same thing. I had almost no experience with astrophotography before the workshop, I was just an avid photographer and amateur astronomer. I wanted to try and combine these two loves, and that’s exactly what I learned to do with the Astromaster workshop. I learned more about photography in my week with Babak than I have in years. I still have a long way to go, but I now have all the tools I need to continue with astrophotography.

The daily classroom lectures were very informative. Babak does an amazing job teaching with humor and I found myself constantly laughing. I really enjoyed learning about the effect light pollution has on birds. I found that learning about light pollution was very informative and a nice break from more technical concepts. The greatest technical skill I learned during the program was how to work with photoshop and other applications to bring out the beauty in my photographs. Learning how to get rid of color noise for longer exposures was invaluable, as well as many other techniques like image stacking.

Nightly site visits allowed me to practice what I had learned just a few hours before in the classroom. They say you learn best by doing, and I couldn’t agree more. I loved the peace the night brought me and the friendships I made within the group on these visits. My favorite shooting location during the workshop was on the beach. I saw the most incredible shooting stars, satellite chains, and star clusters. It was nice to be in an area that wasn’t as cold as the top of island, and I really enjoyed having meaningful conversation with the group while lying down on the beach.

I decided to join this workshop because of how kind and informative Babak was in response to my email questions, and because of all the amazing things I had heard about him. I knew this would be my chance to do what I loved, so joining the workshop was the only decision to make. I am so incredibly greatful to Babak, Anna, and Candy for giving me the experience of a lifetime. I never thought I would have the opportunity to do something like this at 18, but I was welcomed despite my age. I will remember this for the rest of my life and I can’t wait until the day I get to join Babak and his team again.

Mike Atherton, Virginia (May 2023) This is a very unique adventure and I consider myself well traveled. The group became very close knit. I am not sure about the normal class size, but our session size was perfect.

The greatest technical skill I learned was timelapse. I had astrophotography experience using a polar aligned tracker and a telescope, but living in a Bortle 8/9 area I do not have many opportunities to practice. There is so much to learn both capturing images and then processing them. I could take the class again and learn just as much as I did the first time.

I really enjoyed the balance between classroom and field work. The daily classroom lessons are critical to a participant’s success as capturing an image is only half of the equation. The nightly site visits and shooting locations were excellent. My favorite shooting location was the observatory (either helipad or the peak) and the lighthouses. Visiting the volcano was also and a nice companion to the other locations.

I should have been better prepared the first night for the cold and should have brought my waterproof pants to keep the wind off my legs. That was my fault. I would suggest setting a proper expectation regarding when the group will arrive at a given site and leave the site. Start on time and leave on time.

Photos ©Mike Atherton

Ed Rojas, UK (May 2022) I decided to join the workshop to not only learn from the best in Babak, but to also visit this mythical island and do some night photography. In the end, I can confirm it is real and an absolute paradise for Astrophotographers! =)

The entire week was fantastic. Trekking around the island with Babak and Ana was a pleasure. Every night was a different location with different challenges. The locations were amazing, I felt as if I got to see a good portion of the island in one week. I also enjoyed the suggested approach to photography of telling a story with your images.

The best night, IMO, was of course the night on top of the mountain at the observatories. Not only did we get a fantastic tour of the telescopes and area during the day, but the night sky was absolutely perfect and breath taking! The vista, landscapes, zodiacal light, clouds below, the milky way and everything during that full on 24 hour day and night workshop made the whole trip 100% worth it. Take me back!

Babak was very helpful and patient with everyone, Anna and her crew were always on their toes and getting us to the best spots depending on the day’s conditions, and none of it was a hassle for them. They were VERY accommodating and I really appreciated that. There was always something to learn – a new technique or approach to this field of photography and I’m grateful for that.

Babak’s advice, tips and strategies that he shared with us everyday were great to learn about. Not only techniques, but history and scientific theory behind it all really tied it all together and gave this hobby even more purpose. Then, putting all of this into practice each night was great fun. It can be a bit exhausting, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Maybe if we could spend a little more time on processing in class that could be good to know and useful.

Babak let me use his diffuser filter, which was eye opening to me and I definitely need to get one now. By the end of the week, I had a good amount of practice with my portable star tracker which I have been itching to use for a long time now.

Keep up the great work and enthusiasm. I look forward to joining you all on another trip soon.

Photos ©Ed Rojas

Bernard Lenssens, Belgium (May 2022) If you want to level up your astro and night sky photography knowledge significantly… nothing comes close to this …. I wanted to attend the workshop again to meet interesting people from different regions of the globe, all sharing the same passion. This was a real opportunity to enhance my level of understanding of the night sky and how to shoot high quality images. The daily classroom lectures and the nightly itinerary were perfected balanced. My expectations were exceeded. I enjoyed the overall ambiance of the team, I enjoyed the group, and the teacher. But above all: the quality of the explanations, and the simplicity and humility of Babak and his team. The important technical skills I learned included mastering deep sky photography with a star tracker, learned about deep sky photography, constellations, and deep sky objects. And I also used longer focal length lenses (instead of using only wide angle lenses).

Photos ©Bernard Lenssens

Brian Fanning, Oregon (May 2022) I really appreciated Babak’s work and wanted to learn from someone who was an expert in the type of photography I enjoy. The workshop exceeded my expectations. I got all of the astrophotography education and opportunities for photography that I expected, but I also really appreciated Babak’s lectures. One of my favorite aspects of the Astromaster workshop was the scientific education that accompanied the photographic instruction. I don’t think I’d ever heard about, let alone seen, zodiacal light before this course. But Babak Tafreshi’s excellent classroom instruction prepared me for this amazing sight. This workshop provided me with a better understanding of time lapse techniques and how to incorporate time lapse photography into my artistic vision. This workshop significantly improved my photography skills by providing me with the information and feedback to refine techniques I’d already started to develop as well as multiple opportunities to practice those techniques.

Photos © Brian Fanning

Amirreza Kamkar, Germany, (May 2022) I wanted to join the Astromaster Workshop to visit the island itself and learn from Babak. The lectures and photography sessions cover all the topics and were complementary. It was an amazing workshop, several photo sessions at great locations at night, and daytime classes about various topics (technical, post-processing, light pollution, storytelling, etc) in daytime. Babak provides insights about storytelling as a photojournalist, in addition to all the great technical lessons. The most important technical skill I learned during this workshop experience was mainly the potential of post-processing in ACR/Lightroom and how to do that correctly.

Marco Ruiz, Costa Rica, (May 2022) Astromaster is a unique opportunity to learn from the pros in theory and in practice in a place with has one the darkest skies in the world. I enjoyed sharing with wonderful people from all over the world with common interests, and the beauty of La Palma and its people very well represented by Ana and Candy, Babak’s local partners.

I wanted to join Astromaster because I attended a night sky workshop in Iceland in 2019 and it was clear to me that I needed better preparation, that’s why I attend the Astromaster in La Palma. I had to wait 2 years because of pandemic restrictions. The workshop met my expectations by providing for better understanding of composing a night sky photo, and I was able to practice different techniques to achieve success. Every night we would go out to shoot and had to prepare for it, the daytime lectures provided the knowledge that you practice during the night. Babak and Ana and the group were always ready to help.

The most important technical skill I learned during this workshop was Time lapse for astrophotography, which was very important to me. I had plenty of opportunities to practice this technique in different scenery around the island. Additionally, I think it is important for participants to arrive at least two days in advance of the start date, especially if you come from another time zone to adjust for time difference.

Vanessa del Campo, Belgium/Spain (May 2022), It was a great experience, it made me feel closer to the night sky. I enjoyed spending time photographing the stars and getting to know the other participants and being in La Palma, which is beautiful. I took the workshop because I wanted to learn how to create time lapses of the starry night for a film project. I think I now have the tools to create what I wanted to learn, but I feel I will still need some advice.
My thoughts on the daily classroom lectures and nightly itinerary: I feel that the moments when Babak was explaining how to edit the pictures, time lapses, etc, were not very useful for me because I had never done it, and therefore, could hardly follow. It would have been easier for me if I was doing the same thing on my computer at the same time he was doing it. Or, alternatively, if I was trying alone with my computer and he would come to solve problems or check how I can improve. During the nights, I felt a bit lost too, especially the first days. It was the first time I was taking photographs at night and I did not know where to start. And the fact that all is dark doesn’t help :D. The most important technical skill I learned during this workshop was how to use my camera to photograph the stars. I would have liked to have the opportunity to practice with a star tracker and some other focal lengths, to see what it is about. I would have liked to practice with a telescope and a phone attached to the telescope (I’ve seen some people use it like this to photograph the moon).

Klahr Thorsen, New York (May 2019) A great way to keep increasing my skills – Astromaster brought me up to the next level.

Alessandro Lavatelli, Italy (May 2019) Physically demanding but definitely worth it. Great to have one of the best skies in the world at night and at the same time nice, sunny days. Here is a timelapse video of our night activity.

Puya Hosseini, California: (May 2018) Wonderful experience. Great lessons. Even better one on one feedback while shooting. Learned so much and it improved my nightscape photography so much, I’m so grateful.

Chirag Upreti, New York (May 2018) This is an intensive and advanced workshop by Babak and his colleague Ana García Suárez. Our group had people with all different skill levels, beginner to advanced and we all learned a lot by the end of the trip. Babak always does a great job of making everyone comfortable with their own skill level. What attracted me most to this workshop was the opportunity to spend a night at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), on the rim of the Taburiente National Park, at 2396 meters above sea level. This is such a terrific location because you float above the clouds and the night sky is the best I have seen in transparency. We got to tour the largest optical telescope in the world, Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) with a staggering 10.4 meter primary mirror. To see the sheer size of the machinery up close is awe-inspiring. From Tajinaste fields, lighthouses, salt pans to these marvels of optical engineering this is an absolutely fantastic workshop to be a part of. There are also special lectures during the day from invited guests that add to the learning element of Astromaster. For our group, Martin Heck came in to teach us details in timelapse photography. If time would permit, I would go to Astromaster every year, it is a GREAT workshop. I was privileged to get two images published in Astronomy magazine that I took on this trip. That itself is the biggest proof of the high quality offered at Astromaster.

Emanuele Balboni, Italy (May 2016) Great. I loved the lectures and the shooting sessions. A full time workshop: very challenging but definitely worth it.