Tag: Wildlife

Wild Wolves of the Taiga Forest Workshop Report August 2026

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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.

Australian Photographic Prize – Winner 2026 Australian Photographer of the Year

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Grand Prize Winner: Honestly humbled and feeling quite emotional — and still struggling to quite believe it — to have been named the Overall Winner of the 2026 Australian Photographic Prize. And the title of Australian Professional Photographer of the Year for 2026! I’m genuinely blown away.

With my entries this year, I was incredibly fortunate to receive two category-winning awards — Wildlife Category, with a clean sweep of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, and Birds Category, with 1st and 3rd places. Then winning the Living World Division with my photograph ‘Room with a Storm View’, before being awarded the overall title of Australian Professional Photographer of the Year 2026!

The photograph that ultimately won the overall title was taken in northern Iceland, featuring an Arctic fox in the middle of a winter storm. It is a photograph I had previsualised for a very long time. I knew the image I wanted to make, but it took four years of returning, waiting, searching and being patient before everything finally came together. When you spend so much time chasing a photograph that exists first in your imagination, finally seeing it come to life is incredibly special. Having that image recognised in this way makes it even more meaningful.

A huge thank you to everyone who makes the Australian Photographic Prize possible — the organisers, judges, sponsors and everyone working behind the scenes to create such an incredible platform for Australian and international photographers. It is a genuine privilege to be recognised alongside so many incredibly talented photographers who are producing an extraordinarily high standard of work. Looking through the finalists and winners this year, I was reminded just how much talent there is in Australian photography.

Congratulations to every finalist, category winner and fellow award recipient. There were some truly exceptional photographs. And, most importantly, thank you.

Thank you to everyone who has supported my photography over the years — those who follow my work, collect my images, join me on expeditions and workshops, encourage me, challenge me and continue to share in this incredible journey. After more than three decades of photographing wild places around the world, I’ve learned that the photographs that mean the most are rarely the easy ones. They are the photographs that demand patience, persistence, failure, return visits and sometimes years of waiting. This one certainly did.

To have that journey recognised in this way is something I will never take for granted. Thank you. Truly.

You can watch the full live-stream of the presentation and awards below:

The accumulation of points in this year’s Australian Photographic Prize also had me leapfrog the Affiliate category and jump straight to Laureate. You can read about the Laureate program HERE. I am quite a big fan of these type of programs as they encourage growth and a need to innovate in our photographic journey. I’ve already accumulated enough points for my Laureate accreditation and am well on my way to Laureate II at this point.

What is next for the Australian Photographic Prize and me: Honestly, I am a little unsure at this point. This recognition and these awards are still sinking in and will take me some time to process such a huge result. Winning the overall Grand Prize and being titled Australian Professional Photographer of the Year, as well as the Living World Division Winner, Wildlife category winner and Birds category winner, is already a pretty high bar, and I am not sure I can do better than that.

Reflecting on my entries this year, what keeps me coming back to these competitions is an inner desire to keep improving my photography, tell emotive stories, communicate through my photographs, and continue my artistic journey. I feel I accomplish at least a small part of that by continuing to enter, and I will likely continue to do so.

Pallas Cat of Eastern Mongolia Workshop Primer January 2027

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Since 2019, I have been travelling to Eastern Mongolia to photograph the little-known Pallas Cat. I was the very first photographer to subsequently guide a workshop to this region in Winter to find and photograph this elusive wildcat. Since then, many others have emulated my efforts and travelled to this region to photograph this beautiful cat (both in Summer and Winter). Some have travelled solo, while other industry colleagues have guided their own trips based on my research and local contacts. I have always preferred to look forward and innovate, and let others who wish choose to follow. Nearly seven years on from my first trip to photograph this wonderful cat, I still feel the same way about its wild nature and incredible ability to survive and thrive in the harsh winter of Eastern Mongolia. Every trip to Mongolia has proved not just a photographic adventure, but a growth opportunity to learn more about the Pallas cat.

Next January 2027, I am returning to the Steppe region of Mongolia to guide a small group of photographers to photograph the Pallas Cat. This experience is best undertaken in small groups, so I will be taking just five photographers with me. Several places are already spoken for, and only two remain. If you are considering a trip to Mongolia to photograph this wonderful cat, be sure to check on the maximum group size, as it makes a big difference to the overall experience and opportunities.

Photographing the Pallas’s cat in winter is not just about capturing an image of one of the world’s most elusive wild cats; it is about immersing yourself in the harsh, minimalist landscape of the Steppe region of Mongolia, where patience, fieldcraft, and creative discipline converge. For any serious wildlife photographer, it is an experience that offers an opportunity to refine both your technical ability and your emotional connection to the wild. Your first Pallas cat sighting is an experience that stays with you for life.

The Pallas’s cat, often called the “ghost of the steppe”, is an animal that seems carved from the very rock and snow it inhabits. In winter, its dense coat thickens into an extraordinary halo of fur, giving it that unmistakable, almost mythical and even somewhat comical presence. Frost gathers on its whiskers, and its warm breath hangs in the air. Photographic frames become a study in subtle tonalities of white, greys, and muted browns. The challenge of separating subject from environment becomes a masterclass in composition. This species does not tolerate carelessness on the photographer’s part.

These workshops are intentionally small, creating an environment where individual attention and collaborative learning can thrive. In remote winter environments, this matters. There is space to ask questions, to review images thoughtfully, to refine technique in real time. The experience becomes less about ticking a species off a list and more about crafting meaningful images that stand the test of time. Every sighting becomes a shared moment of quiet intensity, reinforcing the idea that wildlife photography is as much about observation as it is about pressing the shutter.

The camaraderie formed in such conditions should not be underestimated either. Small groups working together in remote winter landscapes create a bond rooted in shared anticipation and respect. There is a quiet understanding among participants that what you are attempting is special. Even silence becomes meaningful — the collective stillness as everyone waits for the cat to reappear from behind a ridge. These shared experiences often become as memorable as the photographs themselves.

The images you return home with will undoubtedly be powerful — the frosted fur, the piercing gaze, the minimalist winter compositions. But more importantly, you will return with a deeper understanding of fieldcraft, a renewed respect for wildlife, and a heightened sensitivity to light and landscape. In a world where wildlife photography can sometimes feel crowded and predictable, the winter Pallas’s cat offers something rare: authenticity.

And authenticity, in the end, is what separates a good photograph from a lasting one.

Author: Joshua Holko

Arctic Wildlife of Svalbard Snow Mobile Expedition Report April 2026

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In April of 2026, I led a private 5-day winter snowmobile expedition to Svalbard for wildlife photography. The purpose of this expedition was to explore, on land, the landscape and wildlife within a day’s scooter drive of Longyearbyen. Svalbard is vast, and there is much to discover on land on a winter trip. Exploring by snowmobile on land meant we could stop wherever we wished to photograph wildlife as we found it. Using snowmobiles also means we can get much closer to wildlife than is usually possible on a ship. Staying in Longyearbyen also meant we had a warm base from which to operate, with hot showers and a choice of restaurants in the evenings.

At this time of year, the days are getting longer in Svalbard, with sunrise around 5:30am, sunset around 9:30pm, and last light around 10pm. This provides a huge amount of time for photography, but also means it is early starts and late finishes to catch the best light. During our five-day trip, we experienced temperatures ranging from -30º Celsius on the sea ice along the east coast to just a few degrees below 0º. Temperatures were generally unseasonably warm for this time of year, with most of our days being around -10º Celsius. Snowfall was also sparse compared with recent years, although the coverage was still good outside Longyearbyen. We also had starts as early as 5am departure and finishes as late as 10pm.

On day one of our expedition, we kitted ourselves out with snow scooters and snow suits, headed toward Svea for a valley (Reindalen) I know is home to a great many Reindeer. Reindalen is situated in Nordenskiöld Land on the main island of Spitsbergen and is roughly a 45-minute scooter ride in good conditions. This is a wide, flat, and open valley that offers excellent opportunities to photograph Reindeer in a clean, white snow environment.

On day two, we left Longyearbyen at 6am for the East Coast in the hopes of finding a polar bear on the sea ice. Although we did not find a bear on this day, we did have some wonderful opportunities with both Ptarmigan and Reindeer en route to Monbukta. This was our biggest day’s drive, covering over 298 kilometres in total and more than fourteen hours in the field. This whole east coast region of Svalbard contains some stunning scenery and is where much of my Ghosts of the Arctic film was shot.

On day three of our expedition, we took a slightly slower morning start and instead had a late afternoon and evening exploration of the Templefjorden area. This proved a boon, giving us our best Reindeer experience during the trip and one of the best I have ever had. With an abundance of fresh, clean snow on the mountains and lower valley in this area and more than a dozen reindeer, the opportunities were ongoing, and we spent several hours photographing them as they curiously approached us and retreated against the mountains.

On day four, we left Longyearbyen super early at 5am and headed for Monbukta on the East coast. On arrival at Monbukta, we headed south and encountered a large male polar bear in superb condition on the sea ice. Photographing a polar bear on the sea ice from a snowmobile is a very special and very different experience from shooting from a ship. On the ice, we are in their environment, with excellent opportunities to photograph the bears at eye level.

On day five, our last day, we departed Longyearbyen at 5am, at first light, and drove to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg. Barentsburg is approximately sixty-five kilometres from Longyearbyen and is a wonderful scenic drive along the coastline, past the abandoned Coles Bay settlement. This is a region I know is inhabited by many Arctic Fox, as well as Reindeer and Ptarmigan.

On the way, we had a superb encounter with Ptarmigan before taking breakfast in town. We then spent over an hour photographing Arctic fox on the town outskirts in superb conditions and soft light. With the town of Barentsburg close by, the foxes in this area are more accustomed to humans and easier to approach, making it an ideal location for fox photography.

Over the course of the five-day expedition, we covered more than 1,000 kilometres of driving, including two visits to Monbukta on the East coast, which provided a wonderful and varied portfolio of arctic wildlife photographs. Private workshops such as this, with my company, Wild Nature Photo Travel, are available by request. Please get in touch to discuss your needs, and we can tailor a trip to suit your requirements.

Arctic Fox Workshop Review April 2026

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A few days ago, I received some absolutely wonderful feedback and a quite extensive review from a participant from a prior year’s Arctic Fox workshop in northern Iceland. They have told me they are more than happy for me to share their review here on my blog (thank you, Andrew).

Hi Josh, what can I say? The trip with you to the Arctic Fox surpassed all my expectations and then some. I didn’t tell you, but I did a lot of research before I chose to join your trip. It was not just your photographs (which are so much better than anyone else’s from this place, and now I understand why), but also the recommendations and word-of-mouth about your professionalism and approach.

For me, spending time in the field with you defined what the workshop experience should be. I have been on over twenty wildlife workshops around the world in the last ten years with nearly as many different workshop leaders, and what immediately sets you apart is your intimate understanding of the wildlife (in this case, the Arctic fox). I don’t mean just where to find them, but how they behave, how they move through the landscape, and how to position everyone to get the best possible photographs. Your professionalism in positioning and ensuring everyone gets the best images is unmatched. Most leaders care only about their own photographs. I watched you stand back many times after positioning everyone to ensure everyone maximised the moment. That is a testament to your professionalism.

From a technical standpoint, your guidance is exceptional. Whether it’s about exposure in the snow or making the most of conditions, you have a way of simplifying complex decisions in the field so that the camera gets out of the way. More importantly, you teach why, giving participants like me the confidence to adapt when conditions inevitably change.

But what truly elevated the experience was your fieldcraft. Every detail, from approach routes to time spent with a subject, was handled with a level of care that prioritises the welfare of the wildlife above all else. It’s a philosophy that not only leads to better images but also leaves all with a deeper appreciation for the environment we were working in.

I also noticed a quiet intensity to your own workflow. You don’t rush, you don’t force situations, and you don’t rely on luck. Instead, you create the conditions in which luck can occur. I can see that this comes through preparation, knowledge, and an extraordinary level of patience. Being around that mindset is as valuable as any photograph you come away with.

In a place as raw and unpredictable as Iceland, your kind of leadership makes all the difference. You didn’t just guide me to a location. You showed me how to truly see it. Thank you. For anyone serious about photographing Arctic fox in Iceland, it’s hard to imagine a better person to learn from. If anyone is on the fence about joining one of your trips, please have them contact me anytime. In the meantime, please sign me up for next year. I can’t wait to go back! Andrew from Australia