Join Kathleen Reeder for 4 days/4 nights on this adrenaline-filled Coastal Brown Bears (grizzlies) Photography Workshop in beautiful Alaska. One of the few places in the world where you can safely photograph, up-close and at eye level, 1100 pound males and females with their cubs in their natural habitat. Photographing these majestic giant bears at close range makes this workshop a once in a lifetime exhilarating experience.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:  Intermediate Amateurs, Advanced Amateurs, Professionals

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:  You need to be experienced with your camera to make suggested setting changes in the field without hands-on assistance and comprehend the rationale behind the recommended settings (including exposure mode, f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, focus mode, white balance, assessing histogram and highlight information, and making corresponding exposure compensation changes). This is not a workshop to learn how to use your camera.  The action sometimes goes down fast!

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: If you have trouble walking and can’t carry your own gear, this may not be the workshop for you. You will be wearing knee boots or hip waders. This trip is rated MODERATE for physical requirement.

Participants will be required to sign the Kathleen Reeder Wildlife Photography Risk Waiver.

Our Destination: Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Lake Clark has been called “the essence of Alaska”, for it concentrates in a relatively small area of the Alaska Peninsula, Southwest of Anchorage, a variety of features not found together in any of the other Alaska Parks: the junction of three mountain ranges, (the Alaska Range from the North, the Aleutian Range from the South, and the park’s own rugged Chigmit Mountains), two active volcanoes (Iliamna and Redoubt), a coastline with rainforests on the East, a plateau with tundra on the West, and turquoise lakes. Workshop guests will be immersed in the region’s spectacular scenic beauty, photographing coastal brown bears from early to late while enjoying chef-cooked meals and staying in an exclusive and strategically-located luxury lodge, where bears can often be seen just outside the deck and in the garden.

No roads lead to Lake Clark. This park can only be reached by boat and small aircraft. The park, one of the least visited in the National Park System, presents its few visitors a wonderful opportunity to experience true northern wilderness.

Our professionally trained guide will locate and drive us, via ATV and comfortable buggy, to the bears which are usually no further then 10-15 minutes from our lodge or at times, right in our backyards. Photograph from the ground – no viewing platforms are used. The guide and I will work closely together to put you in the best possible position. The Coastal Brown bears in this area have access to large food sources (sedge grasses, razor clams and salmon when in season) and for this reason, don’t see us as part of their diet. Our guide’s primary mission is keeping us safe, bringing us in the best position while not disturbing the bears. It’s a fine balance and these guides are experts in this area. Although coastal brown bears will be our main focus, we will also go visit and photograph, via boat, a puffin and Muir rookery Island for a half day trip (weather permitting). You will be immersed in a true Alaskan wilderness adventure!

Included

1. Round trip airfare, via small plane, from Anchorage, Alaska to our Lodge in Lake Clark National Park.
2. All meals (3/day, prepared fresh by an excellent in-house chef).
3. Accommodations during our stay at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge in multiple cabins. Pricing is based on double occupancy, but a single supplement is available for an additional cost.
4. Expert bear guide and transportation on six wheelers to the bears during our stay (available to us early mornings up to 9-10pm).
5. All photographic field instructions, image reviews with photoshop courses in an informal setting. Projector is available to us.
6. Scenic half day boat trip to the Puffin and Muir rookery Island (weather permitting).

Not Included

1. Your airfare TO and FROM Anchorage, Alaska prior to and after the workshop.
2. Meals and accommodations in Anchorage, Alaska. I recommend arriving 1 day before the workshop (July 3) to avoid possible weather delays. The Holiday Inn Express on Spenard Road in Anchorage is the recommended hotel for its close proximity to the airstrip. We will fly from Anchorage to the lodge at 8 am on July 4; and fly back to Anchorage arriving by 10 am on July 8.
3. Alcoholic beverages.
4. Tips/gratuities.
5. Trip Insurance (recommend Cancel for Any Reason coverage from Allianz or Travel Guard for best protection).