While you can learn a lot from reading Traveler's twice-monthly photography columns by Deby Dixon and Rebecca Latson, sometimes you just need to get out into the field to hone your skills. And you'll have that chance this fall in Mesa Verde National Park.

Every year thousands of visitors snap photos of the spectacular, world-famous Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. To help you capture the best light and perspective of these remarkable structures in either digital or film cameras, the nonprofit Mesa Verde Museum Association is offering a special fall three-day photography workshop led by well known photographer and Northern Arizona University Professor Emeritus Dr. Gene Balzer.

The workshop is scheduled for October 11-13, and is limited to 13 participants to ensure plenty of personalized coaching. It begins at noon on Friday and ends on Sunday afternoon. Tuition includes three days of instruction, two nights in-park motel lodging at the Far View Lodge, and all meals including two dinners at the famed Metate Room Restaurant.

For further information and registration, visit the Mesa Verde Museum Association website and click on “Institute,” or call 800-305-6053.

Workshop participants will come away with once-in-a-lifetime images of several of Mesa Verde’s stunning cliff dwellings. Participants will visit sites around the park at times designed to capture ideal lighting conditions, and will work on compositional skills for compelling images.

The group will visit some archeological sites at hours when they’re closed to the general public, and will also visit Mug House, a beautiful cliff dwelling that is not normally open for visitors. Pacing will be leisurely so everyone gains as much as possible from their experience.

Since 2006, the non-profit Mesa Verde Museum Association has offered visitors a variety of in-depth learning experiences in Mesa Verde National Park. Through free or low-cost seminars, workshops, lectures, and special programs, visitors of all ages gain a new, behind-the-scenes understanding of Mesa Verde and the Four Corners. Proceeds from all association programs support Mesa Verde National Park.

For further information including photographic equipment needs and rates, or to register, visit the Mesa Verde Museum Association website and click on “Institute,” e-mail the Association at [email protected] or call 800-305-6053.