Organised Photo Tours - has the market peaked?

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CoyoteCreationsNW said:
I loved the landscape photography opportuinities in Glacier NP. Avalanche Lake was well worth the hike. We drove to the top of the pass via Going to the Sun Road. Hiking in a ways we found the trail blocked by rangers due to grizzly activity further on. About that time we were surrounded by moutain goats as close as 30 feet. Ranger told us that when the park was new, you couldn't get within a hundred yards of them. Now they seem to gravitate toward groups of humans when brown bears are in the area. Don't know if that is just being habituated to people or if they are smarter than I expected. Your point on matching your tour guide to your standards and expectations is well taken. When my photo tour ended, Brad Hill asked us not to tip him but if we wanted to say thank you to donate to a selected Wildlife Conservation group. A touch of class in my book. Yes we left animals when we felt we were intruding but I never felt the slightest lack of opportunities to get images of truly wild, unhabituated animals. There is a place for everything from roadside zoos to Game Farms to true wilderness, just choose wisely.
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I'm looking forward to getting back there…very nice landscapes. We were…on the other hand…somewhat spoiled for landscapes after spending 4 of our 8 summers out west and in Canada and Alaska though. The first time we went out we went to Glacier first and Banff/Jasper afterwards and were glad we did Glacier first as it is somewhat underwhelming compared to the other two from a glaciers standpoint…but mountains and wildlife and all that are very similar. We did meet a black bear on a trail just behind downtown Jasper once…the backs of the condos were probably 50 yards away to the side as we hiked up the ridge and met the bear going down the ridge. We decided he had the right of way and got off the trail but he just passed us 40 or so feet away. Up in Katmai I flew down to the coast and landed on the beach and had a brown bear wander past us about 10 feet away and he just ignored us because he was fishing.
 
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Viathelens said:
Karen, on the tour leader spending their time getting their own shots...this does seem to be a problem with some tour leaders. I recently was on a tour to the Antarctic with a well-known group who advertised that their leaders spend their time with the people who sign up, not getting their own shots and that proved to be very untrue. The leaders were the first ones on a boat to the islands to get their shots and spent their time on the islands getting their shots, offering very little to the people who had signed up. In fact, this group turned out to be the worst of the bunch that I have traveled with who did this. On my feedback form I noted this to the company and never heard a word back from them. It is good to do the required research prior to signing up.
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After I graduated high school, I took a photography class, taught by one of the senior photographers on the staff of the company I worked for. I don't believe that the man ever had his own camera in his hand other than in the classroom for demonstrations of how to use equipment. Every time we went out to practice, he was constantly observing and instructing his students. A lot of people could have learned a valuable lesson by observing his methods.
 
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Just wanted to follow up since I posted about Santa Clara Ranch. I talked to Hector on the phone today and everything is awesome. He seems very easy to talk to and answered all my questions. :) Two months and a few days till I’m there :)
 
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I’ve done 4 tours over the years, 2 with the same guide. Very happy with 3 of the tours and left with more knowledge. Witnessed a very well known guide/author yelling at an individual in is group. Some time later was having a photograph conversation with another photographer he was telling me about the time that he witnessed the same guide/ author yelling at an individual (different times). Suggest checking your guide(s) out unless they come highly recommended by someone you trust.
 
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I suppose there is a difference between photo 'tours' and photo 'workshops', or at least it should be explicit. I think you need to ask yourself what your benefit would be from an organized trip. As I see it, there are several categories: 1) the logistics are complex and it's a lot easier to let someone else sort them out, 2) you know little or nothing about the location(s) and the leaders have do the scouting and legwork to find good opportunities (trust me on this, even professionals hire guides for locations they don't know), or 3) there are techniques or styles of photography you wish to learn from a leader with experience in those things. All of these can be good reasons to chose a tour/workshop.

The major downside is that the trip can be expensive. But whether you could have a successful trip on your own depends a lot on the location. For example, I'd rarely do a tour to Yosemite, but then I virtually grew up there. That said, I've done Michael's Frye's workshop on Lightroom in the Valley and thought it worth the money. But I recently took advantage of Jeff Sullivan and Lori Hibbet's deep knowledge of Death Valley for an excellent trip, and Barbara Eddy's knowledge of Yellowstone in winter for the same reason, despite having been to both locations several times on my own. Your tradeoffs will certainly be different than mine, but those are some of the issues to consider.

-eric
 
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Anjin San said:
I briefly looked into his trips but his 'ethical photography' policy turned me off. I don't want to start a whole debate about ethical photography and it's pros and cons…so let's not go there…but his rule is that if *he* decides the animal is stressed (and his definition of stressed is pretty broad IMO) by either his group's presence or the presence of another photographer or group…then he will leave the area. That's all well and good and I'm happy if he wants to run his tours that way…but at the price he's charging…leaving because he decides the animal is stressed essentially wastes the money paid to go there with him. The real point is that you need to know and trust your tour leader and to choose one whose personality, way of teaching, ethos or whatever one wants to call it matches yours and your expectations. Connie and I have considered doing the 'get a guide for one day and then roll your own the rest of the trip' idea…but to be honest at our age and financial situation level were more than willing to pay somebody else to do a lot of the heavy lifting for us with lodging/meal research and reservations, arranging the jeep or off road vehicle or whatever, getting permits and all that jazz. I am doing a trip with Hudson Henry in the summer to Glacier NP…we've been there 4 or 5 times in the 8 years we lived full time in the RV and traveled…and tried going to Going to the Sun Road every time…and we never made it for snow or road construction or fire or smoke or whatever…and now there's a permit system there for that part of the drive. In the great scheme of things we didn't really miss much because glaciers in Glacier NP are few and far between and are much more common and able to be reached in Jasper and Banff NPs across the border in Canada anyway…but I still want to go anyway so off I'm going…even through it's just a week after the Steve sponsored tour (for lack of a better word) to Costa Rica with Dennis.
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I’ve done three of Brad’s trips and have a fourth one scheduled this fall. I’ve not found his policy or approach to be an issue. The trips are in remote areas. Lots of interesting wildlife and beautiful landscapes. I can only recall seeing another photographer or group two times over many days.
 
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