In August 2026, I ran my semi-annual workshop in Finland to photograph wild wolves, brown bears and wolverines in the remote Taiga forests of northern Finland. This is a workshop I have been running for many years now, and is always one I look forward to. Finland remains one of the most underrated destinations for wildlife in my experience and always offers very special encounters. Our workshop ran for 8 days / 7 nights from August 1st until August 8th, with the group spending the week photographing from a series of private wildlife hides. We also had an extensive post-production seminar at the conclusion of the worskhop.
This region of Finland is one of the few places in the world where you can reliably photograph both wild wolves and brown bears in their natural Taiga forest habitat. The setting provides an extraordinary photographic environment, with dense coniferous forest, mist, low evening light and the possibility of unexpected encounters at any time.
At this time of the year, the sun is setting around 10pm, and the wildlife is most active in the evenings. As such, we spent our time in the hides between 4pm and 10pm each evening. We were fortunate this year to have some significant rain during the workshop, which made for really moody, atmospheric photographs.
Over the course of the week, we had photographic encounters with more than half a dozen individual brown bears and at least four different wolves. As always, it is important to emphasise that these are genuinely wild animals. They are completely free to come and go as they please, and there are no guarantees of sightings. The unpredictability of these encounters is an important part of what makes photographing them so rewarding. Every appearance is on the animal’s terms, and patience is essential.
The private hides provided excellent opportunities to work at close range while remaining unobtrusive to the wildlife. This allowed us to concentrate on behaviour, interaction and environmental portraits rather than simply recording sightings. The long hours spent quietly waiting in the hides were repeatedly rewarded with memorable encounters. One such encounter was with a white-tailed eagle that landed in the grass directly in front of my hide position, facilitating the opportunity to capture it as it took off into the wind.
The changing light of the northern summer also provided a wonderful range of photographic conditions. The extended daylight hours allowed us to continue working late into the evening, while the atmospheric conditions of the Taiga created opportunities for images with a strong sense of place. This area of Finland is truly virgin forest that provides for opportunites that extend beyond the wildlife.
For the duration of the workshop, we stayed at a nearby, comfortable hotel with modern amenities. This provided a welcome base between photographic sessions and made it possible to concentrate fully on the wildlife and photography throughout the week. Typically, I recommend longer telephoto lenses for this workshop (500mm and 600mm are ideal), but it is always worth keeping something shorter handy as there are times the wildlife approaches quite close to the hides. My preference is always to photograph with two cameras – one with a 600mm lens and a 2nd with a mid-range to telephoto such as a 100-300mm lens.
Once again, Finland’s Taiga delivered an outstanding week of wild wolf, and bear photography. With multiple wolf encounters and more than half a dozen bears, as well as several eagle encounters, the August 2026 workshop provided an exceptional collection of wildlife encounters and photographic opportunities in one of Europe’s great wilderness environments.
We are returning again next year in both August and November for two more workshops to this wonderful region of Finland. The August trip is set up for optimal fall colour and our November trip is set to coincide with what should be arrival of the first snow. If you have ever wanted to photograph wild wolves and bears in a stunning forest setting, then this is absolutely the workshop for you. Places are already extremely limited on both trips, so please get in touch if you would like to join us.
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