Hunters, Unleashed

Finnish Summer Predators

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 landscape live brown bear, wolverine and spectacular wolf. We stay at arguably the best locations to offer good opportunities to photograph all 3 of these incredible Finnish predators. Some images courtesy of Natures Images.

Details

Group Size: 6

Our Finnish brown bear workshop accommodates only 6 guests. For the most part we will have access to four 2-person hides during our stay.

Days Shooting: 6

This is a concentrated trip spread across two location. As such you will have six overnight sessions to maximise your time photographing our sought after subjects.

Fitness Level: Low

The hides are all a short walk from the vehicles. We spend upwards of 15 hours in the hides, so a good level of stamina and ability to be stationary is required.

All Experience Levels Welcome

This Finnish predators workshop is suitable for all levels of photographer. Some of the hides involve shooting under the canopy of the forest, so light levels can be low. So a faster aperture lenses would be very useful, though not essential.

Accomodation

Our guest houses are very comfortable for the remote locations, set amongst the forest and lakes.

During Downtime

Due to the logistics of hide based shooting, there will be opportunity during our time back at base to go over images taken. This time can also be used for tips and advice.

This photo safari is fully booked for 2024 and 2025. Please see below for waiting list options and how to be notified of 2026 dates.

Your workshop guide

Richard Peters is an ambassador for Nikon, Swarovski Optik and Datacolor. He has a style that is well known for capturing dramatic light, alongside having a friendly and down to earth manner. His work has been internationally acclaimed, including as a category winner in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and is one of the only British photographers to be named European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Richard has been a judge for many competitions, including the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the British Wildlife Photography Awards plus, been a keynote speaker to many industry events, from close to home in the UK to as far afield as Australia.

Hire a lens for your safari

Richard has partnered with Lenses for Hire, the UK's best known and most reliable lens rental company. We are pleased to offer UK residents a 10% discount on any lenses hired for your Finnish Summer Predators workshop. With light levels in some of the forest hides sometimes being low, this could be the perfect opportunity to try out a faster zoom or prime lens. Feel free to get in touch and find out more.

Your full itinerary

Day 1: We all travel to our local airport in Finland, via Helsinki, before transferring on to our first base, near the Russian border.

Day 2-3: Our body clocks will take some adjusting as it will be light for almost 24 hours. After the previous days long journey, we suggest you use this morning to relax, ahead of our first night’s encounter with the bears. Breakfast and lunch will be served at set times and we will advise once there.

Dinner is around 3pm. Then we prepare ourselves and set off for the hides at 4pm. Sandwiches are provided for you to have in the hide during the night. We have use of four, 2-person hides. We have two nights bear photography here and, if we're lucky, wolverine.

Day 4: After our second night with the bears, we will have breakfast and then pack to leave for our next destination, which is only a couple of hours away. We will be based here for the next 4 nights and it is here that wolves and wolverines are our main target species. During the summer months they can usually be fairly reliable but please remember we are talking about wild wolves, and they can be unpredictable. You may also get the chance to further photograph brown bears at this location too. We will head to the hides at 4pm and stay overnight. Different hides offer different opportunities, so there will be potential for a good variety of images.

Day 5-7: Over the next few days we will rotate around the three different locations on offer, so that everyone will get the chance to spend time at each.

Day 8: After a final night in the hides we will have time to freshen up and eat breakfast, ahead of transferring back to the local airport for the start of our journeys home.