Today we are starting our Wild Nature Photo Travel winter expedition on boat up here in Svalbard. This is an expedition I have been looking forward to since last year and I am really excited to be getting underway. Incredible snow covered landscapes, arctic wildlife, pack ice and stunning Winter light make this the ideal time of year to be in Svalbard.

Next year, April 2026, I will run a new Winter wildlife and landscape expedition to the archipelago of Svalbard. This expedition is for photographers who want to capture powerful and evocative photographs of Arctic wildlife, including polar bears, Arctic foxes, reindeer and walruses, as well as dramatic snow- and ice-covered landscapes in a winter setting. The expedition will run from April 7th until April 15th 2026, starting and finishing in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The cusp of Winter is a beautiful time to visit and photograph in Svalbard. At this time of the year, the sun will be low in the sky, and the landscape will be wearing its winter armour. We will use the expedition class ship, M.S Freya, enabling us to push north into the permanent pack ice. Full details, are available on my website HERE. This expedition will be limited to a maximum of 12 participants – almost have the places already spoken for. If you would like to join the expedition or would like further information, please drop me an email. To get an idea of the style of photographs you can capture on this expedition please visit the Svalbard portfolio on my website.

A few days ago I received an absolutely wonderful endorsement and testimonial from regular traveller and photographer, Vicki Santello, who I have had the good fortune to travel with on quite a few workshops and expeditions with now (including Antarctica). The endorsement came on the back of the recent PetaPixel article and interview. I just wanted to share this as its not often someone takes time out of their day to write something positive about anything these days and I very much appreciate the kind words and sentiment – thank you Vicki.

I have just published episode 120 of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast. In this episode, I discuss the latest article by Peta Pixel on my Polar photography, and wrap up the snow mobile expedition I just finished up here in Svalbard for Arctic Fox and Reindeer. The conversation also includes the destruction of the 200-800mm lens, also featured on Canon rumours and Peta-Pixel in the last few days.

Petapixel has posted a lengthy Feature Spotlight on my Polar wildlife Photography.

Our Wild Nature Photo Travel 2025 November expedition to photograph Emperor Penguins on the frozen sea ice at Gould Bay in Antarctica is now close to sold out with just two places remaining. (Read the 2024 Trip Report). If you have ever wanted to photograph the world’s largest and most elegant, photogenic penguin, this is the expedition for you. This is an expedition where we live on the sea ice with the penguins for an extended period of time and have literally days of opportunities to photograph these incredible penguins. Please contact me for more details or to reserve your place. Full details are available on our website at www.jholko.com/workshops.