International Photography Tours & Workshops

I recently completed a Lofoten Islands tour. The weather did not comply at all, but that’s part of the gamble when going to the arctic in the winter. However, I was very impressed with how diligent our guides were in trying to get us the best possible experience no matter what. Local knowledge of the area and weather patterns were very key in being able to get out and take some shots vs. sitting inside a cabin not knowing where to go or what to do with the winter storms. Every time our guides suggested we head somewhere to see if the weather would break–it did, even if the cloud cover didn't fully let up at least the rain/sleet/snow/hail did for awhile. Even so, I was able to get some great moody shots of fantastic locations. There was also an incident with another (unrelated) tour guide leader, who clearly didn't understand night/aurora photography, which also clearly showed that my choice of tours was vastly superior. I’m so pleased with my experience that I’m signing up for another tour already.

When I left for the trip to board the Scooner Donna Wood in Greenland I questioned myself what am I doing traveling to such remote place. I didn’ t realize that ‎the trip changed forever my life! I felt so much at home with being among amazing people, our guides gave me such an incredible insights to find the beauty through the lenses, and amazing landscape to take pictures of, making me burnt more CF than ever. Greenland moved my soul, gave me new direction in life to return to my passion for works on global vhange, toearn more taking amazing landscape pictures, and Greenland is cling me back again…I will return.

I will echo the others’ impressions of the Svalbard Tour. I would rate the trip in the top five and perhaps even the very best trip in my 50 years or so of traveling around the world. Everything was just perfect. The scenery was totally breathtaking, with an incredible mix of mountains, rugged coastlines, flat land, tundra, glaciers, icebergs and packed ice. The weather was fantastic most of the time, including the experience of gale force winds for 24 hours. The wildlife was beyond expectations, with great views of polar bears, seals, walruses, foxes, whales, and of course all the arctic birds I was hoping to spot. The Brigantine Antigua was amazing, oozing with old charm from all angles. The rooms were small but functional, and the food was delicious with every meal. The company was one of the best part, a friendly and tight group of people from different corners of the world and a variety of interests. The expedition guides were outstanding and the briefings and lectures were eagerly awaited with excitement every day. I would like to add a personal note of appreciation for the bird watching skills of Morten the ornithologist who would always be on the look out and point out new arctic birds every day. It was a haunting trip that will stay with me for ever.

In April i embarked on my first photo tour to New Zealand. The tour turned out to be a great experience, our guide has been to new Zealand a number of times and has a extensive knowledge of the area and was able to guide us to many of the iconic NZ views as well as a few not so common and off the beaten track spots. Our guide is an excellent photographer and during the trip we received extensive technical help covering many topics like the use of filters, compositional advise, help with night photography shooting the milky way as well as demonstrations by our guide on many of the post processing techniques that he uses. During the tour we traveled in a large mini van with plenty of room for the luggage and camera gear. During the trip we stayed at a number of nice Hotels many with stunning views straight from the window that were located to give good access to the various areas that we would be visiting. The food during the trip was excellent with a large choice of restaurants in most areas offering a wide range of cuisines to choose from. The trip wasn’t just a photo tour either when we had some down time between shooting and weather permitting we were able to do some shopping in Queenstown along with activities like gondola ride high above Queenstown, bungee jumping, vine yard visit and Milford Sound Boat ride. So if your looking at visiting New Zealand where you don’t have to worry about anything other than taking great photographs then don’t hesitate to contact Iceland Photo Tours for a trip of a lifetime.