Join me in Africa -September 2023

June 21, 2023

Your private charter just landed at a small airstrip in the middle of the Maasai Mara. There is a slight smell of burning brush and sun-kissed grass in the air. Your hair is blowing in the warm breeze and your imagination is on overload. As you step into your safari vehicle you know that this is where your journey begins. You know that at any minute something magical can happen, you also know that the circle of life is ever present and can be seen at any moment. You keep an eye on your surroundings as you adjust your hat. There is a unique sense of mystique and drama as you make your way to camp…

If reading this is stirring something inside of you, then maybe it’s time to join me on a safari. I have two trips to the Maasai Mara this year in September and would love to have you along for the adventure. Donna Bourdon will be joining me on my first trip - Mara/Samburu- September 9-19th. Paul McKenzie will be joining me on my second trip - Mara/Amboseli trip -September 21- Oct 1st. Both will be fantastic adventures and both will offer first class photography. The adventures are just waiting for you…

My Svalbard Journal

June 13, 2023

“On Top of the World”

June 1, 2023

My friend Jim Fennessy picked me up at my home and we drove together to the Newark airport. There we met up with Donna Bourdon, Beverly Still, Kitty Kono and Kristen Eder as we are on the same flight. After spending some time together in the lounge, I sat down with Donna and Bev and had a really nice arugula salad for dinner.

Our long awaited adventure was really starting to happen! Our first flight will take 7 hours to get from the the East Coast to Oslo. From there we have another flight to Longyearbyen. I’ve heard a lot of different stories from others that have been to Svalbard recently. Some had great polar bear sightings and others didn’t. You just never know when you head out to photograph wildlife. Part of the fun is the journey, being out in nature, the time spent with friends, exploring new places, and just being open to whatever comes your way.

June 3, The day before our trip…

The town of Longyearbyen is not exactly as I pictured it. It’s more than what I thought it would be. There are several shops, and restaurants. I found a great little cafe with fresh sandwiches, goodies and cappuccino. The town has a trendy vibe to it and I enjoyed exploring the area a bit. I wouldn’t call it a destination but it far exceeds the secluded, tired, town that I thought it was.

Tomorrow our scheduled trip starts as we board our ship and head out on our Polar Bear adventure, I can’t wait. But today our group decided to do a 7 hour boat tour for wildlife and glaciers. I’d rate the tour a 5 on a scale of 1-10.

The boat was nice, it wasn’t too crowded, the crew was knowledgeable, kind and offered a lot of information through their slide program throughout the trip. Our ticket price of $240pp was to include lunch, but it should have said it included a bowl of soup, no bread, no salad. The soup was tasty but it wasn’t chunky and it wasn’t filling. I left the boat starving.

Our wildlife sightings were 2 walruses basking in the sun on the shoreline, a couple of minke whales ( the most numerous of the rorqual whales in Norwegian waters), a handful of reindeer and assorted birds. Most of which were not good photo opps. The glacier was nice but we didn’t get too close to it because there was a sheet of ice in front of it. I did learn a lot about the geology of the area and I found that interesting. Still, a ho-hum tour that I would not do again. Sorry Kitty, I know you really liked it .

June 4

We boarded our ship and set sail on a hot pursuit for polar bears. Everyone on the trip was anxious to see a polar bear. Our hot pursuit soon became a warm pursuit after scouring many fjords and channels.

June 5 -6

So far we’ve spent our time on the boat bird-watching and capturing landscapes. No sign of any bears. Still the group remains optimistic.

We’ve had internet service off and on. I didn’t expect to have any service so this is a bonus.

June 7

Our guides spotted a walrus haul out with about 30 or so male walrus on the shore. We did a zodiac landing and got to a respectable distance on foot. There was one walrus in the water and he seemed a bit curious and decided to come check us out. Then another followed him. They got to about 6 feet from us at times, yet both remained doscile and curious.

Our group had a front row seat to watch as these two interacted with each other all while checking to see if we were still watching. They seemed so sweet and innocent but I know if they felt threatened they would use their large tusks and weight against us. But that was not the case. Soon a third one joined them as they played together and bathed in a very calm and peaceful manner. It was a wildlife encounter that I won’t soon forget.

The meals onboard have all been delicious. Chef prepares homemade loaves of bread daily along with freshly baked cookies. A variety of traditional Swedish fare as well as some vegetarian dishes rounded out most meals. Each cabin has a private bathroom so there haven’t been any issues with guests waiting for the toilets or showers. Speaking of showers, they are excellent as ship showers go, plenty of hot flowing water! My room has a desk and chair but I haven’t been able to use it since sitting below deck often gets me queasy. I’m happy to report we’ve had calm seas so I haven’t needed a seasickness patch.

June 8

Still no polar bear sightings but we have seen a few arctic fox and polar bear tracks, the polar bear prints are enormous. So at least we know they are in the area— we just haven’t seen them. The mood onboard remains positive with a semi-sad overtone. However, we are all experienced wildlife photographers and understand that patience, perseverance and luck will decide our fate. And we all came on the trip knowing that we may not even see one bear — yet we hope.

Sony a1 and Sony 200-600mm lens using the in-camera ASPC crop.

June 8- Update

After writing above about the morning, our luck changed in the late afternoon as we found ourselves following a young female bear. She was strolling along the hillside near the coast. We continued to photograph her from the boat until we lost sight of her as she made her way to a small abandoned mining village known as Pyramiden.

We were a fair distance from her and our images were dots in the frame but still it was a polar bear and we did get to photograph her as she stopped to roll in the snow. Her coat was almost pristine white with some cream tones. She was a beautiful, beautiful bear and I only wished that we were able to get closer.

Our ship anchored a few hours after that encounter, in hopes that the bear would come to the fast ice to feed in the morning. Fast ice is sea ice that is "fastened" to the coastline. Fingers crossed we see her again.

June 9

So far we’ve had no luck finding the bear again after our last encounter. We spent almost 16 hours waiting for her to come to the fast ice. It was a test of patience and our group passed with flying colors. Hopefully we will be rewarded by morning with another sighting. There is a 24 hour polar bear watch from the bridge at night.

June 10

The morning came and still no sign of our bear or any other bears. I’m still hopeful that the day becomes epic. Time will tell and it is not on our side at this point. Still we remain hopeful.

June 11

It’s about 4pm now and still no sign of a polar bear. We will do a bit of back tracking to the fast ice in hopes of spotting a bear. We only have the boat for about 15 more hours… it’s beginning to look grim for us as we search each fjord.

June 12

We never did see any other polar bears on the trip. Still, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to travel to a remote part of the world that many will never see. At one point we were at 79.57 degrees north, just short of 80. That in itself, is pretty remarkable, especially when you take the time to really think about where you are on the globe.

Safe travels home to all my shipmates that shared this special journey with me. We had a lot of fun times together and we laughed, oh how we laughed!

Above photo, left to right:

Donna Bourdon, Mansoor Assadi, Paul McKenzie, Beverly Still, Kitty Kono, Jim Fennessy, Janice Rosner, me, Craig Elson and Kristen Eder.

*Photo was captured by our guide Eva using Craig’s iPhone fisheye lens from the bow of our boat as we entered Isfjorden.

Heading to Svalbard

May 31, 2023

I am heading to Svalbard to join a small group of friends on a private charter to hopefully see and photograph Polar bears. This will be my first trip to Svalbard for Polar bears and I am very happy to be sharing this experience with good friends.

Joining the group are Paul McKenzie, Donna Bourdon, Beverly Still, Craig Elson, Mansoor Assadi, Kitty Kono, Kristen Eder, Janice Rosner and Jim Fennessy. Two of our scheduled shipmates had to cancel for personal reasons, and they will be missed.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for this trip to see Polar bears! It has been on my radar for years and it is finally come to fruition. Wish us luck!

I will be off line for about a week or so, if you have a question regarding a workshop or eBook, know that I will answer it as soon as possible.

Thanks, Denise

Palouse Trip Report

May 29, 2023

I thought it might be fun to have Dave Klein who attended my recent Palouse trip as a helper. write the trip report. Dave was not only fun and kind as usual, but his driving assistance to me was invaluable. He also assisted guests and offered many helpful tips to the participants. I know everyone benefitted from him joining the group—so thank you, thank you Dave.

Palouse Trip Report by Dave Klein…

The Palouse region of southeastern Washington state is a photographer’s paradise, with rolling hills of rich, textured greens and tans interspersed with old barns, grain elevators, homesteads and vehicles, all succumbing to age, rust and dilapidation. The colors of this region emanate from the vast amount of wheat production for which this area is important and famous. Whitman county alone produces the most wheat of any county in the US and the broader region, according to a local farmer, accounts for 1/3 of the world’s wheat production! The locals are hardworking and dedicated, and generally quite helpful and supportive of photographers as long as you ask nicely, respect their property and crops, and say thank you.

Our workshop group assembled on Tuesday, with introductions and a review of Denise’s plans for our shoots. Like many workshop locations, sunrises/sunsets and weather played a deciding factor on where and when to shoot. Some days we were on the road at 4:00 a.m. and others afforded a bit of extra sleep. We were fortunate to miss the heat wave of the preceding week and the smoke from Canadian wildfires. Early afternoon downtimes were either spent on image processing, group image review and/or Photoshop/Lightroom technique demonstrations by Denise. Ok, I may have taken a nap once or twice!

We visited many known locations as well as new ones Denise more recently learned about. Though I was here 5 years ago on a Denise Ippolito workshop and visited many of these areas, it is still a thrill to hear someone new to the region shout on location when seeing the rolling fields of wheat for the first time, “This is soooo beautiful - I love it!!” This was said many times at many of our locations. I would like to thank Denise for bringing me along and to all on the workshop who attended: Kathy, Mandy, Rachel, Mai, Noreen, Sonia, Ann, Frances and Louise. Denise’s good friend Muriel made a cameo appearance toward the end. You were all wonderful, helpful, great listeners and learners. I really enjoyed meeting each of you and you all came away with fantastic images of the Palouse.

Here are a few of mine from the trip. I also brought along an IR setup, which is ideal for the Palouse. I hope you enjoy them!

All images in this blog post are the property of Dave Klein with the exception of the group shot below taken by good friend Muriel McClellan.

Photo credit -Muriel McClellan, we are missing Sonia, who had to return home unexpectedly. You were missed Sonia. There may be a 2025 Palouse trip in the works.

Olympic Peninsula Trip Report

May 23, 2023

My Olympic Peninsula trip was a huge success, and I just made my way to my next workshop, also in and around Washington State—the Palouse. I am here with friends and new faces; we are all in for a treat as the Palouse never disappoints.

Before getting here I heard about Canadian wildfire smoke filling the sky in the Palouse region. I also was told by park officials that the DOT was closing Steptoe Butte for repairs during my visit. Another thing I heard was that the temperatures were in the 90’s last week…ugh. I feel sorry for those people. I am so glad I didn’t decide to cancel this workshop. Conditions that we are now experiencing are…

· Steptoe is open with no signs of DOT work.

· There is no sign or smell of smoke anywhere.

· And the temperatures range from 50-70.

I would consider all of these combined as hitting the jackpot! I think it is very similar to going out for a sunrise shoot. You just never know what will happen. But sometimes you may get a spectacular sky or not, but either way the morning I still beautiful to enjoy.

Back to the Olympic Peninsula workshop. We had very nice weather, but no misty morning fog or sunrays through the trees. However, we did not experience any heavy downpours or super-hot days. It was lovely hiking and photographing, forest bathing and beach walking. My two local guides were on point. They started us off with a well thought out Power Point program. They each shared some of their amazing images. During our time in the rainforest Roy shared his knowledge of the flora and fauna. Jim’s endless energy and compositional help was invaluable.

Some of my favorite shots from my Olympic Peninsula trip are below. I still have loads to go through. Some more traditional photos of cascades and beach scenes still to come. I will be conducting a Zoom Photoshop/Lightroom demo along with an image review/sharing for the group after the workshop since we spent most of our time in the field.

What was challenging about the above image was that the water was moving fast in one direction and the leaves were blowing in all different directions. I had to chose a shutter speed that would make the most out of both elements. I settled on a 6 second exposure handheld to give it a bit more movement.