I was recently interviewed by StudioVox on my photography, thought process and background and the contents of the interview are now online. You can download a PDF of the complete interview HERE.
I am now in Iceland and enjoying a couple of days of R&R before Daniel Bergmann and I kick off our 2015 Highlands Workshop. Looking forward to getting off the tourist route and photographing in the highlands of Landmannalaugar and Veiðivötn in the heart of Iceland with a fantastic group of people. The 2015 Highlands Workshop has long been sold out – but there are still a few places on the 2016 Highlands expeditions. Don’t miss this workshop into the very best parts of Iceland.
I also have a single female twin-share place that has become available this year on my expedition to South Georgia in November. If you are interested in travelling and photographing in South Georgia please just drop me an email for further details. This expedition has an extended permit for South Georgia and due to ship logistics it will likely be the last expedition I lead to South Georgia on a small ship. If you want to get an idea what it is like to travel and photograph in South Georgia be sure to watch the short video.
BBC News Features Travel Photographer of the Year Images
I just wrapped up my 2015 Wild Polar Bears expedition in and around the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic and was very pleased to learn on my return to Longyearbyen yesterday that BBC News had just featured the best images from the 2014 Travel Photographer of the Year Awards including one of my own from Svalbard.
I will have a full travel report later in September when I return to Australia on the Wild Polar Bear expedition. In brief: During the ten day expedition we encountered numerous Polar Bears on the pack ice around the archipelago including three individual bears on separate seal kills which resulted in some really incredible images from all participants. We also saw and photographed Walrus, Reindeer, Arctic Fox, numerous sea birds including the rare and angelic Ivory Gull as well as dramatic arctic landscapes. I am really looking forward to editing and processing some of the photographs from this expedition when I return to Australia as well as seeing some of the finished images from all aboard the expedition.
I am now headed to Iceland for my 2015 Highlands Expedition before I return to Svalbard for one more Polar Bear expedition (The Kingdom of the Ice Bear) this year. See you in Iceland.
August Photo of the Month Winner: Linda Herd
Congratulations to the eighth print winner ‘Linda Herd’ for the photograph of the month for August 2015: ‘Landmannalaugar Super Moon’.
What Linda said: “A stunning photograph of an amazing landscape! I love the light and texture on the rocks. I would be proud to add a Joshua Holko print to my collection of fine art photographic prints.”
Congratulations Linda (and thank you for the wonderful comment!), your print will be sent to you in September when I am back in the studio in Australia. Keep an eye out on my blog for the next print giveaway with the September photograph of the month. Remember the best way to get instant updates is to subscribe via email.
Photo of the Month August – Super Moon in Iceland – Win a Fine Art Print!
I am currently somewhere off the coast of Svalbard leading my Wild Polar Bears expedition so have scheduled in my photograph of the month post to keep the Fine Art Print competition running whilst I am away.
In honour of the upcoming Highlands expedition, the photograph of the month for August 2015 is of a Super Moon rising over the Highlands in Landmannalaugar in Iceland under the Midnight Sun. Photographed last year, during a two week camping expedition with my good friend Antony we were fortunate to experience some truly superb light late one evening just as the super moon was rising above the mountains in the distance. We had hiked up to the summit of one of the taller peaks and spent a couple of hours photographing the wonderful mountains in extraordinary light.Don’t forget! You can win a free 13″ x 19″ Fine Art Print of this photograph including shipping anywhere in the world. All you need do is to be the first to comment on this post on the home page with your thoughts on why you like this photograph or why you would like to own a print of the image and then share the post with your preferred social media outlet.
Please just keep in mind, if you are the lucky winner for August you will just need to exercise a little patience until I get back to my studio in Australia and can make and send you the print. Good luck!
Departing for Wild Polar Bears and the Iceland Highlands 2015
I am not exactly sure where the time has gone since I returned home to Australia from New Zealand a month or so ago, but tomorrow I will make the long journey back to Svalbard in the Arctic for my 2015 Wild Polar Bear expedition. I have been looking forward to this expedition for quite some time now and have been eager to get back to Svalbard and the land of the Polar Bear since my winter expedition earlier this year. Svalbard is an incredible place and one of the best places in the world to see and photograph wild Polar Bears living and hunting at the edge of the permanent pack ice. On this expedition we are using a small ice hardened vessel that will enable us to get in nice and close to drift ice around Svalbard. Importantly, it has nice low decks so we can get down to eye level with our subjects. With this expedition being limited to just twelve participants we will have plenty of room for everyone to photograph at once from both ship and zodiac and I am super excited to share this experience with all aboard. As well as Polar Bears, we will also likely photograph Walrus, Arctic Fox and a great many Arctic sea birds during our expedition.
After we finish up our Polar Bear Expedition I am heading to Iceland for my 2015 Highlands workshop. The Highlands of Iceland are the heart of the country and the jewel in the crown of Iceland’s landscapes. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to photograph in the highlands again with a passionate group of photographers and to be able to put the new Canon EOS 5DSR 50 mega pixel camera through its paces in this active landscape of colour and light. It has been just over a year since I was last in the Highlands and although I have visited this area many times it remains my absolute favourite place in Iceland to Photograph. The only thing better than actually photographing in this incredible location is getting to share it with other passionate photographers! The 2015 Highlands workshop has long been sold out – but if you are interested in photographing in this incredible part of Iceland I will be leading two workshops to the Highlands next year in late August and September with Daniel Bergmann and there are still a few places available. Just drop me an email to register your interest.Once we finish up our Highlands workshop I am heading back to Svalbard with Daniel Bergmann for our Kingdom of the Ice Bear expedition. Also accompanying us on this expedition will be a two person film crew from Untitled Film Works and we hope to produce a short film of our experiences during the expedition similar to what we produced in Greenland and Svalbard two years ago – Watch the previous video HERE. Both the Polar Bear expeditions have been sold out for many months, but there is a single place remaining on the 2016 expedition and details are on my website at www.jholko.com The ice conditions in Svalbard this year have been better than the previous ten years and I am hopeful we will have some really fabulous photographic encounters with Polar Bears during both expeditions.
In terms of equipment for these expeditions I am taking everything from 11mm (Canon’s new 11-24mm) to 600mm lenses as well as two Canon EOS 1DX cameras (specifically for wildlife) and the new EOS 5DSR camera (specifically for landscape).
Just as an aside: Over the last twenty four months of international travel the airlines have managed to destroy two of the expensive North Face Rolling Thunder duffles; which I had been using for my checked luggage. These are some of the toughest and largest rolling bags I have come across and come with a lifetime warranty (and to North Face’s credit they have replaced the bag both times). It amazes me that the airlines can actually be rough enough to destroy these bags (it really would take some pretty serious effort). Rather than risk a third bag I have switched back to the normal North Face Expedition Duffle (lets see how they go with this one). Whilst these duffles don’t have rollers, they are slightly larger and significantly lighter than the rolling version; which is always a bonus. I will carry both a Gura Gear Bataflae 32L and a Gura Gear Chobe for my camera bags as well as a large Ortlieb waterproof duffle for zodiac excursions. See you in Svalbard.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 