Finnish Bears Special, Finland workshop

PLEASE NOTE this trip is cancelled due to Coronavirus and social distancing.

In conjunction with Natures Images, join us in one of Europes most desolate and wild areas, along the Finnish and Russian border. Where, within the forests, lives the Brown Bear. A species that is as much impressive as it is threatened. During the summer nights, when darkness barely falls, the silence is broken only by the snapping of twigs as these beautiful animals come within feet of your hide. Photos courtesy of Natures Images.

One of the most incredible sights on this trip is the large, dominant, males. It is, however, the females with young cubs that provide one of the most beautiful sights, especially the playful antics of the cubs. During our search for Brown Bears on this trip, we have increased the duration by using two different locations, each offering different opportunities to provide a more varied collection of images of this magnificent predator. With both locations offering different perspectives, your week working with the forest bears of Finland is going to be one to remember.

Group size
This photography workshop holds a maximum group size of 7.

Fitness level
The 30 minute forest walk to the hides can be tough going over uneven terrain. We will spend long hours in the hides, from 5pm until 730am the following morning. As it is midge season, repellent will be necessary.

Accomodation
Our guest house is very comfortable for the remote location, set amongst the forest and is based on twin rooms with en-suite bathrooms.

One of the most incredible sights on this trip is the large, dominant, males. It is, however, the females with young cubs that provide one of the most beautiful sights, especially the playful antics of the cubs. During our search for Brown Bears on this trip, we have increased the duration by using two different locations, each offering different opportunities to provide a more varied collection of images of this magnificent predator. With both locations offering different perspectives, your week working with the forest bears of Finland is going to be one to remember.

Group size
This photography workshop holds a maximum group size of 7.

Fitness level
The 30 minute forest walk to the hides can be tough going over uneven terrain. We will spend long hours in the hides, from 5pm until 730am the following morning. As it is midge season, repellent will be necessary.

Accomodation
Our guest house is very comfortable for the remote location, set amongst the forest and is based on twin rooms with en-suite bathrooms.

As a fan of Richard Peters’ work I was delighted when my wife booked a 6 hour one-to-one workshop for my birthday. I have enjoyed taking wildlife photographs for a long time, gradually improving but realised I was taking the same old photographs. It was time for a new approach, good advice and a fresh pair of eyes. Upon arrival to our workshop, Richard bought me a coffee and we sat down to a short portfolio review. Richard looked at how I had composed, cropped and processed my images using Lightroom and suggested options and alternatives. It was a fantastic eye opener to have professional opinion and critique and Richard shared his technical skills and passion for photography, along with some methods of using light creatively. This Lightroom overview helped me learn some great shortcuts, which have since made a big improvement to my workflow. A run through of important camera settings, lots of questions from me and lots of great answers from Richard and we set off with our cameras to put the theory into practice. We soon spotted a very co-operative heron in some great light, I snapped away listening to Richards tips and it was great to see my shot then the next shot with Richards suggestions incorporated (you could really see the difference). The afternoon ended with an amazing sunset and, taking Richards advice, I waited until the sun had dropped low enough to experiment with backlighting. The 6 hours flew by and it was a fantastic day, with advice and encouragement from Richard throughout, and some great shots on the camera. Richard’s knowledge, and ability to pass it on in easy to understand ways, made this a valuable experience for me to push my photograph forward and help turn the same old photos into something new. Thank you!

As a relative newcomer to the world of photography, I booked a one-to-one with Richard with only 4 months experience of using a DSLR camera.

My aim was to improve my overall understanding of the different settings, including manual, with an overall objective to improve my wildlife photography (off the auto setting!) prior to my impending holiday to Africa. One of the specific issues I had been finding tricky was focusing on moving subjects, Richard soon put me on the right track and resolved this.

Richard also provided me with lots of well explained advice around different camera settings and image composition, which we put into practice throughout the day. I opted for the image review at the start of the session, I found this particularly useful as it helped highlight any areas that needed development during the session and also increased my confidence through the constructive feedback. Overall the workshop was really beneficial in terms of improving my knowledge and understanding, but it was also a really enjoyable day.

I would highly recommend a one-to-one to anyone wishing to develop their skills.

Having seen Richard’s incredible work I was naturally a little intimidated when I initially booked my one-to-one with him. However he immediately made me feel at ease with his humour and friendly nature and our workshop had a great flow and was well thought out.

What I loved the most is that it was informative yet open and relaxed. Richard is a humble and passionate photographer who was very willing to share his tips and tricks and as a result of only a few hours together, I now have a much better understanding of where I am as a photographer and the areas I need to concentrate on to improve my photographic skills.

I wasn't sure going in how much benefit I would get from my workshop but it exceeded my expectations, everything was explained with great clarity and it inspired me to be more creative and confident.

Richard's knowledge and demeanour left me eager to push my photography further and once I’ve hit my next set of challenges, I’ll look forward to booking in again to learn more! Richard, thank you for such a wonderful experience.

Day 1: We all travel to Kajaani airport in Finland via Helsinki to be met by our Finnish hosts. From there we have a transfer of 2-3 hours to Martinselkosen, our base for the first four nights. We’ll arrive late and over dinner discuss the trip and the photography that lies ahead.

Days 2: It will take some adjusting for ourr body clocks as it will be light for 24 hours a day. After the long day travelling the day before we will use the day to relax, ahead of our first nights encounter with the bears. Breakfast and lunch will be served at set times. Dinner will be around 3.30pm, then we have our short journey to the bear hides where we have exclusive use of 4, 2 man hides. Each offers completely different images, ensuring a good mix. The walk to the hides can see be a few mosquitoes if it is warm, so make sure you have some repellent for this and also in the hides themselves.

Day 3/4: Each day follows the same, we will be escorted from the hides at 730am, back to our base for breakfast, image backing up and some rest. Evenings follow the same routine, dinner and transfer to our chosen hide for 5.00pm. You will spend 1 night in each of the 3 different hide locations.

Days 5: After our third night in the hides we’ll have breakfast and shower before a 2-3 hour transfer to Viksimo, our next base. This location is owned by the same family and run to the same high standard. We'll have dinner that evening before transfer to the hides for our first night.

Day 6/7: Once again we will have three different hides to choose from, so each night you will use a different one. Alongside the large male bears that visit Viksimo, there is also chance of photographing Wolverine here too.

Days 8: After our final night in the hides, we head back for a well earned breakfast and then transfer back to Kajaani Airport for our return flights back home.

Finnish Bears Special, Finland workshop

N Kingston

K Bangs

T Gehlot