There are few places on earth as vast and unspoiled as Alaska. The sheer scale of the landscape, the mountains,  winding rivers and deep forests,  all combine to create a landscape that genuinely inspires awe.  Join us here as we venture into some of the most remote and untouched landscapes on earth. Hidden deep in the wilderness are vast are rarely visited glacial valleys, places where the sense of scale and solitude leaves a deep impression.

On this workshop we want to show you the best of Alaska and so a strong focus of this tour is aerial photography, both in a helicopter and with a drone from which you’ll see the sweeping patterns of rivers and the textures of the land reveal themselves in extraordinary ways.  This tour includes two helicopter flights where you’ll photograph Alaska’s remote backcountry scenery, which few people ever get to see, and we’ll also use drones to capture the incredible aerial perspective these landscapes.  From the ground we’ll immerse ourselves in the rich fall colours, and there’ll even be some time on a jet boar as we access the glacial river deltas, connecting with the landscape on a more intimate level.

We’ll be there at the height of fall, when the forests turn golden and the land glows with colour.  Although wildlife is abundant here, our focus is firmly on the landscape. So think of any encounters with animals along as a bonus on what is first and foremost a journey into one of the most beautiful and dramatic places on earth

Alaska is immense, and in order to show you the absolute best of it there will be several hours traveling between locations, but that time will definitely be rewarded with an adventure you’ll remember long after the trip has ended, and having three professional photography guides on hand to provide as much support, advice or guidance as you want, means we can ensure that each participant gets plenty of one-to-one tuition.

 GETTING THERE

We are running two sets of dates for this tour.

The first starts in ANCHORAGE on 4 SEPTEMBER and finishes in VALDEZ on 11 SEPTEMBER

The second starts in VALDEZ on 13 SEPTEMBER and finishes in ANCHORAGE on 19 SEPTEMBER

The itinerary of the second tour is reversed from the first tour.

Our meeting place is Anchorage for the first tour (4 September) and Valdez for the second tour (13 September) We’ll spend our first night and have our welcome dinner in the respective cities before heading to our first accommodation base the following morning.

If you’re coming from outside the US, the international hubs like New York JFK, Atlanta and Seatac all have direct flights to both Anchorage and Valdez.

Our tour focuses primarily on the less visited parts of Alaska with 3 distinct locations. We’ll mostly be shooting both at sunrise and sunset, and as some of the locations can take awhile to reach, we’ll spend large parts of the day out in the landscape, although we’ll make sure we always get some down time to rest during the day, and that we have time to sit down for at least two meals, although breakfast or lunch may often be eaten in the field.

Alaska’s weather is famously unpredictable. During this time of year it’s common to experience rain, wind, and sudden changes in conditions. Cold mornings and damp sunrises are expected, and we could encounter anything from clear skies to storms which may affect our shooting plans on any given day.

Our local guide has spent a lot of time researching and scouting locations that are off the beaten track, and to try to preserve that feeling of discovery we’re avoiding disclosing many of the actual shooting locations on the webpage. You will however visit all of the locations shown here, and once people have signed up we’re happy to share more specific information on where well we be shooting.

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THE ITINERARY BELOW IS FOR THE FIRST TOUR, WITH THE SECOND TOUR REVERSING THE ORDER

DAY 1 | Arrival in Anchorage

The tour starts at Anchorage where we’ll meet and get to know each other over dinner before heading out for our first shoot. After Not far from the hotel we’ll capture a braided river, channels of water weaving through the landscape which look incredible when captured from the air by drone.

DAY 2 & 3 | PALMER

Our journey begins with sunrise at a quiet lake that, weather permitting. perfectly reflects towering mountains in the early light. After breakfast, we set off into Alaska’s backroads, traveling deep into the wilderness. Along the way, we’ll stop to photograph glacial rivers before arriving at a quaint lodge nestled within the Alaska Range which will be our base for the next 2 nights.

During our time here we’ll hike to an alpine lake, surrounded by peaks, and during these two days we’ll have one of the highlights of the trips when we take to the skies for a doors-off helicopter flight deep into the Chugach Mountains. Glaciers spill through the valleys here in dramatic forms, and we’ll make several landings to explore so we can photograph these wild places from the ground as well as the air. .

DAYS 4 & 5 | INTO THE ALASKA RANGE

Today we journey north into the vast wilderness of the Alaska Range, travelling along the iconic Denali Highway. Autumn colours paint the tundra in rich reds, oranges, and golds, creating a beautiful contrast against distant snow-covered peaks. We’ll take our time along the road, stopping wherever the light and landscape creates interesting compositions, and by evening we’ll arrive at a small, welcoming lodge set deep in this remote landscape.

Our base in the mountains gives us access to an alpine lakes surrounded by rugged peaks for early morning light. If the wind is still, the reflections here can be truly magical. Later, we’ll explore the landscape with a jet boat ride that carries us far into a sprawling river delta. From above, the braided channels reveal wonderful colour and shape, making it perfect for aerial photography with a drone.

Also, with two nights here we’ll try to find time to do an image processing session, looking at everything from working with contrast and colour, to blending multiple exposures together.

DAY 6 & 7 | VALDEZ

We leave the lodge behind and begin the scenic drive south toward the coastal town of Valdez which will be our base for the final two nights. Along the way the landscapes change again with glaciers, waterfalls, and towering peaks rising from the sea become ever more present

While here we’ll explore more this incredible landscape and we’ll take another doors-off helicopter flight, this time above one of the most striking glaciers in the state. With good weather, we’ll land on the ice itself and spend time photographing this remarkable environment up close.

While we’re here we’ll try to find time to work in an image critique session, looking back at some of the images you’ve captured on the trip.

DAY 8 | Farewell Sunrise

On our final morning we’ll have time to shoot sunrise beside a lagoon scattered with icebergs. It’s a peaceful way to close our time together in Alaska and a final opportunity to reflect on the landscapes we’ve explored throughout the week. After breakfast, the workshop concludes and you can catch your flight home out of Valdez

WHAT WE DO (AND WHAT WE WANT YOU TO GET FROM OUR WORKSHOPS)

OUR AIMS

Our aim is to take you to beautiful locations and give you every opportunity to get great images while improving your technique over the course of the workshop.  We limit the number of participants on our workshop which gives us plenty of time with everyone in the field and from the beginning of your time with us we can identify your photographic level and what you’d like to focus on. We can then tailor the sessions to your precise needs and provide each participant with plenty of one-to-one tuition both in the field, and having multiple shooting sessions each day means that participants get into a shooting rhythm and can quickly put into practice new skills as they are learned. 

LOGISTICS & PREPARATION

Alaska’s weather is unpredictable, mornings can be cold and wet, winds can pick up suddenly, and storms can sweep through, but this unpredictability is also what makes the light and the landscapes so spectacular. With the right mindset, every kind of weather brings its own beauty and we’ll be out there to make the most of it. It’s important then to bring good waterproof gear for both yourself and your camera. We will be spending lots of time outdoors and there’s a fair possibilty that we’ll sometimes be out in cold or wet weather, so it’s important that people have the clothing to remain comfortable. We’ll be sending out a thorough packing list to all participants before the beginning of the workshop. Additionally as stated above, it’s important that participants are comfortable walking 2 - 4 miles a day and spending hours carrying their gear. Many of the locations require some effort to reach and cannot be driven to. We’ve timed the trip to coincide with the peak of fall color, but of course the exact timing of the season can vary so we can’t guarantee it.

One of our aim for this workshop is to head to parts of the world which aren’t heavily photographed or visited, but remote places like this do bring their own set of challenges. There is little in the way of sophisticated accommodation or food here, so be prepared for some of our stays to be in lodges that are comfortable, but a little “rustic”, and while we can certainly accommodate different food requirements, choice may sometimes be quite limited.

THE EXPERIENCE

Finally, we want to share with you our passion for nature and landscape photography in this incredible  place. We aim to build a great learning environment where people feel comfortable together and at ease with asking questions, making the absolute most of the trip. We aim to make your experience here in the beautiful landscapes of Alaska a memorable one and a trip from which, as well as getting some great images from amazing locations, you’ll also go home having had a true adventure with great company in a very special place.

 A dSLR or mirrorless camera 

The criteria for the kind of work we’ll be doing is a camera that can be operated completely manually to ensure we get the best exposure with interchangeable lenses allowing us to cover a range of focal lengths

A wide angle lens

For many of the locations a wide angle lens really is essential if you want to get those epic landscapes that have a foreground leading to epic background and skies. 16mm or 17mm on a full frame camera (10mm or 12mm on an APS-C sensor camera) is ideal, but anything below 24mm (16mm on a crop frame sensor) should be OK.  

A mid-range zoom lens

In some of the locations we’ll visit a wide angle zoom will make the landscapes appear smaller, so a mid-range zoom will be great for maintaining the scale while still including foreground.  They’re also great for panoramas.  Something in the range of 24-70mm (18-55mm on a crop sensor) is perfect.

A telephoto lens

We’ll often find ourselves shooting distant views or abstracts, which a telephoto is ideal for.  A telephoto also compresses the landscape and is great for vistas when shooting from elevation.  A range that covers 70-200mm (55-135mm on a crop sensor) is ideal.

Tripod

We’ll often be shooting in low light so a good tripod is an absolutely essential piece of equipment.

A Drone

Many of the locations we visit have an extra dimension when seen from the air, so we strongly recommend people bring a drone. There are many parts of the Alaskan backcountry that can only really be captured with a drone, so this is one trip where we consider it an essential. Anything from a Mini 4 Pro to a Mavic 3 will be great.

L-Bracket

An L-bracket allows you to mount your camera to your tripod head in portrait mode. An invaluable piece of equipment for landscape photography, L-brackets are made specific to each camera model, so make sure you purchase the right one.

Filters

We won’t really be shooting moving water so opportunities for long exposures will be rare, unless you want to blur clouds, and so neutral density filters aren’t a necessity. A polariser will help you cut down haze for telephoto shots, and if you usually use graduated filters, then of course bring them along to help you balance bright skies with the foreground.

Comfortable waterproof walking boots and thick warm socks

We'll be doing quite a bit of walking, and we’ll often find ourselves moving across mud and rocks, so good boots with warm socks are vital.

Insulated jacket, water and windproof shell and warm clothes

We’ll be in Alaska right on the edge of winter so rain and cold is a distinct possibility. We’ll also often be in some exposed places, and before sunrise and after sunset temperatures can be around freezing. Warm clothes will help keep you comfortable while we’re out shooting.  It’s best to layer, with a base layer next to the skin and then a fleece or thicker layer on top.  An insulated down jacket on top of that will keep you warm, and also a waterproof or windproof shell as a final layer because there’ll certainly be times when the wind can be really strong in the mountains.

Camera Backpack

When moving your camera gear for any length of time a backpack can really save your back.  A good backpack, one with sturdy hip straps, can safely distribute the weight of your gear and really save you from aches, pains and potential injury. 

Laptop with Adobe Lightroom or Camera RAW and Photoshop

A good RAW converter like Adobe Lightroom or Camera RAW is essential.  Other converters like Capture One are also fine.  Adobe Photoshop is great for more advanced processing as it allows us to be much more subtle and creative in it’s use of layers.

Closer to the time we’ll put out a tour document with a full packing list on it, but in the meantime if you have any questions about what to bring, don’t hesitate to contact us.

 ANDY MUMFORD is a Lisbon based professional landscape and travel photographer. Andy grew up in the UK loving nature and travel and took up landscape photography over fifteen years ago. Since then he has travelled extensively photographing all over the world and his photography and articles have featured in publications and books worldwide. He is a passionate photographer teacher and has been leading both group and one-to-one workshops for over five years.

He is a Fuji X Photographer and a brand ambassador for Fujifilm in Portugal, as well as F-Stop and KASE filters

Hougaard Malan is an award winning South African photographer who has been guiding and organising photo tours for a decade. His photos of Namibia have won him awards like the 2016 International Landscape Photograph of the Year and his clients have also won numerous awards with the photos captured on his tours. All the images on this page were captured by Hougaard.

Hougaard believes the essence of a landscape photograph is allowing the viewer to experience that place without ever being there. When the light, clouds and land combine to produce scenes so beautiful that they etch a profound place in viewers’ memories, and witnessing such moments unfold over earth’s most beautiful landscapes is, for him, one of the highlights of living.

Hougaard’s work has been published in countless media all over the world, from books and magazines to calendars and coffee table books by the likes of National Geographic. Licensing and commission clients include global and local corporates like Samsung, Toyota, SAB Inbev, FNB, Standard Bank and Europcar.

www.hougaardmalan.com

OUR LOCAL PARTNER AND GUIDE

Nickolas Warner is a landscape and travel photographer who focuses on the extreme.  His  photography emphasizes strange and unearthly nature, geography and scenes. Traveling plays a big part in his photographs with an emphasis on environments and cultures that are anything but ordinary. In an often mundane world, it is his goal to bring the viewer to atypical locations that don’t always resemble earth.

Several of his photos have been awarded in the biggest photography competitions worldwide, and he has had his work shared on magazine covers, travel publications and by major news networks such as CNN, Aljazeera, and The Guardian. In 2023, he was named by Capture the Atlas. In 2024, his photo UpRooted, was given the RAW Planet award by the Epson Panorama Awards.

www.warnerwildernessphotography.com

REGISTRATION 

To register for the workshop we require a $3000 deposit.  Please complete the form below to sign up or for more information, and please read the Terms & Conditions by clicking on the link below.