Update from Yellowstone February 2015

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We are currently in the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone on day three of our Winter Workshop to this amazing National Park. It has been unseasonably warm here in Yellowstone the past few days (actually, according to the locals it has been unseasonably warm for some time now) with temperatures hovering in the mid to high 40’s (Fahrenheit) during the day and really only dipping below 32 (Fahrenheit) during the night. There isn’t much snow around in the Lamar at present which has made access easy, but has somewhat limited our photographic opportunities to date. My own hopes of heavy snowfall to help isolate and add context to the animals in this area have not yet been realised. The weather is supposed to turn cold in the next two days with forecast snowfall in Yellowstone and we are hopeful this will add that missing magic element that brings photographs from this region to life.

We have had some good wildlife encounters in the first few days with the real highlight for me being a pair of wonderful Bald Eagles that we spent around an hour photographing by the side of the road. We were fortunate to stumble across the two eagles perched in trees deep in a canyon which put us at almost eye level by the roadside. Yellowstone-7710After a sunrise shoot tomorrow in the Lamar Valley we will pack up and head toward Old Faithful and spend several days exploring and photographing in this area. There have been reports of Bobcat activity along the Madison River and I am keen to see if we can find and photograph one of these elusive cats in the wild.

Antarctica The Wild Side – Weddell Sea Expedition

Posted in Antarctica, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Workshops and Expeditions2 Comments

In February 2016 I will be leading a brand new expedition to Antarctica. Unlike previous years this new expedition to Antarctica will depart in February instead of early November and will take us deep into the Weddell Sea – the Wild Side of Antarctica. The expedition dates are February 9th – February 20th 2016. The Weddell sea is an area of Antarctica pretty much inaccessible earlier in the season due to sea ice conditions and our intention is to explore and photograph this rarely visited wild side of Antarctica. We will be using an ice-hardened expedition class ship ‘Polar Pioneer’ so we can push quite a lot of ice safely; which will enable us to get much further south than most vessels.Antarctica-Weddell2015We will sail across the Bransfield Strait to Antarctic Sound on our journey toward the Weddell Sea. Antarctic Sound is home to literally monolothic tabular icebergs that break off the Antarctic ice shelf and float up out of the Weddell Sea. There are incredible photographic opportunities in this area and we will stop to take advantage of spectacular tabular icebergs as we encounter them. We then plan to travel down the east side of the peninsula as deeply as we can penetrate into the sea ice.

Polar Pioneer

The peninsula’s wild side will welcome us with huge icebergs and spectacular scenery. We will likely visit Paulet Island, a conical volcano with a huge Adelie penguin colony that rises several hundred feet from the islands periphery to its lower slopes. Penguin covered icebergs drift in the currents set against towering ice cliffs. We also hope to explore Prince Gustav Channel and Seymour Island. We will also explore the west coast of the peninsula which offers glaciated peaks rising from a maze of islands and waterways alive with seals, penguins and whales. At the conclusion of the expedition we will sail back across the Drake Passage to Ushuaia.An Epic Sense of Scale

This expedition is for a strictly limited number of just 54 photographers. With many of the expedition ships now taking well over 100 passengers this is a unique opportunity to take advantage of a small group on an ice hardened expedition ship in one of the most rarely visited areas in Antarctica. Due to preliminary expressions of interest and bookings there are now only a few places remaining before this expedition will be sold out. If you would like to confirm cabin availability or would like any additional information about this expedition please drop me an email to info@jholko.com. A detailed PDF information flyer and itinerary can be downloaded clicking on weddellsea2016.

Arrived in Yellowstone for 2015 Winter Workshop

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A few hours ago I finally completed the long journey from Australia and arrived in Bozeman for my Yellowstone Winter workshop. It is a very nice feeling to have abandoned the heat of the Australian summer for the snow and ice of a Yellowstone winter. Currently its quite a balmy 14 degrees Celsius outside and the air is dry and crisp. It is an even nicer feeling to have made it through American airport security more or less without hassle.

Tomorrow will be a rest day to recover from travel and jet lag before we commence our workshop into the park proper. I need to go shopping shortly for a new pair of winter boots for both Yellowstone, Iceland and the Arctic and have my eye on a pair of the new Baffin Expedition boots. I had considered using my Arctic Sport Muck Boots for this expedition but was concerned they may not be warm enough in the Yellowstone winter. They definitely would not be warm enough for the expedition I am doing into the Arctic after Iceland, so its time to add yet one more pair of boots to the wardrobe.

We have a pretty solid schedule planed out for the next ten days so I am unsure of how much if any time I may get to post updates to my Blog. We will just have to see what Yellowstone has to offer…

Leaving for Yellowstone 2015 Winter Workshop

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In a few minutes time I am leaving for the airport for my first workshop of 2015 – Yellowstone in Winter. I have been looking forward to returning to the United States for some time now and it is very exciting to be headed to Yellowstone in Winter with a small group of participants and passionate photographers. We are looking forward to beautiful and dramatic snow covered landscapes, geothermal features, Bison, Elk and with a little luck even Wolves. We hope to make some iconic images of some of the more well known features, but also venture further afield. We will be using a large private snow-coach so that we can get off the main road and move around the park to some of the better, but harder to reach areas for photography. During our trip we will be utilising accommodation both in and around Yellowstone National Park. We will also be visiting the Grand Tetons and National Elk Refuge. It is going to be very exciting and I am itching to don my warm clothes and step out into the park with my cameras. You can read my packing list for this expedition HERE and my thoughts on traveling with camera equipment and dealing with customs in my article on Carnets – A Passport for your Camera Equipment.Yellowstone Sold OutYellowstone in Winter is only my first stop during my time away from home and at the conclusion of this trip I will be travelling directly to Iceland for my annual Winter Aurora Workshop with Daniel Bergmann (Sold Out). If you are interested in joining us on our 2016 Iceland Frozen North workshop there are still a few places remaining before it will be sold out. At the conclusion of the 2015 winter workshop I have some time allocated for two personal projects (both in Iceland and Svalbard) of which I will have more to say in future posts. We should have good internet access in Yellowstone and I hope to post some updates and photographs from the trip as we progress. See you in Yellowstone in a couple of days.

Get Ready to Pre-Order the New 50 Mega Pixel Canon 5DS and 5DSR Cameras

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For those of you who have been waiting eagerly for Canon to announce their new high-mega pixel 5DS and 5DS R cameras (offered in two versions with and without “low-pass filter effect cancellation”) you can now sign up to be one of the first to place your order on B&H Photo. The new Canon 11-24mm wide angle zoom is also now available for pre-order. Expected availability for delivery of the new cameras is June 2015 – just in time for my 2015 Iceland Highlands Expedition! Personally, I will be ordering the R version for landscape use. This will strictly be an ISO100 on the tripod landscape camera for me with the Canon EOS 1DX remaining my tool for everything else.

Just a friendly reminder, it helps me pay for the costs associated with running this website and blog when you purchase your camera gear using the above links.