I invite you to a grand photo tour to Kamchatka. We’ll spend two weeks in the land of volcanoes and geysers and visit the most beautiful places of the wonderful Kamchatka. During the tour, I will consult you in the fine aspects of shooting, hold workshops and discussions about photo shooting and processing. So our schedule will be really packed, no time to get bored at all!
We will move from one location to the other by 6WD hard truck remastered as comfortable bus (you may take a look at backstages from previous journeys down the page). You will be served by a team of professionals: me as english-speaking photo-leader with good knowledge of shooting locations, a professional driver, a chef, local guide and hunter, captain of the luxury boat. We are trying to make the tour as much comfortable as we can.
Main highlights of the tour are:
- Visit famous valley of giants – land of volcanoes
- 6WD off-road with experienced drivers
- Functional volcanoes: Klyuchevskaya, Tolbachik
- Cook toasts on a hot Tolbachik lava
- Meet wildlife with local guides: foxes, bears…
- Take optional hiking trails through former lava fields and high volcanoes
- Enjoy the colors of autumn wild scenery
- Take a full-day luxury boat tour along the shores of Kamchatka to photograph ocean wildlife: whales, seals, numerous birds including puffins
Day 1 – 28 August 2016, Sunday
Arrival to Petropavlovsk and checking in to the Blue Lagoon hotel (hotel with a natural hot springs pool). Rest and relaxation in the hot springs. We’ll have a discussion about the photography in general and the upcoming shootings in particular. Also, we’ll show you the finer points of shooting during the upcoming trip, and give the crash course to the beginners, if some of you is just starting and wants to learn photography in their first adventure. That of course doesn’t mean we’ll ignore the professionals: we’ll give lectures and hints about photo processing and the commercial parts of the job, such as working with magazines and publishers, printing and sponsorship issues.
Day 2 – 29 August
Today we’re starting our adventure. Our first stop is the Leningradskaya station on the southern side of the Ostry and Plosky Tolbachik volcanoes, or shortly, the Tolbachiks. Its a long way up to volcanoes, but you’ll be enchanted by the “martian” land. We will camp here for next couple of days to explore the area. There are numerous volcanic conuses and lava fields. The lava may be still warm after 2013 eruption. Our camp will include a huge kitchen-tent with tables and chairs, tents, water supply etc.
Day 3 – 30 August
Shooting the lava field under Tolbachiks, fumaroles, and open lava flows.
Day 4 – 31 August
Today we ascend to the Tolbachik. The trek itself is fairly easy technically but nonetheless, the 3000-feet ascent may be difficult for unexperienced trekkers. That’s why it’s absolutely optional: if you don’t feel up to it you can remain in the camp. There are many wonderful views to shoot in the vicinity.
Day 5 – 1st September
We relocate to the Dead Forest and have an overnight stop there to shoot the sunset and the sunrise, hoping for the morning fog.
Day 6 – 2nd September
Reserve day to compensate for the possibility of a bad weather. If it’s fair we’ll drive to Kluchevskaya and spend an extra day there.
Day 7 – 3rd September
Relocation to Kluchevskaya, making a camp near “The Hoof” and a radial hike to the Domashnjaya mountain. Sunset and sunrise shooting sessions. At the daytime we will take the optional hiking trail to a beautiful river canyon, 8-hours hike with 200-300 m ascend.
Day 8 – 4th September
Relocation near to the Podkova seismic station, sunset and sunrise shootings. The area has great views to Klyuchevskaya volcano.
Day 9 – 5th September
Another reserve day near the Kluchevskaya. We may take the 6wd drive towards conuses of Kluchevskaya and shoot the sunset from above.
Day 10 – 6th September
Relocation to the cabins, rest, and a photo processing master class. It may take half a day to get back to civilization. We will relax in hot pools after a hard week of non-stop photography.
Day 11 – 7th September
Boat tours in the Avacha Bay. We will start early in the morning from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy and continue North along the shore looking out for whales, seals, birds. We will have a diver on-board to get us fresh fish and crabs. Our chef will cook them for us. We will get back to our hotel just in the evening.
Day 12 – 8th September
Today we are relocating near the Mutnovsky-Gorely volcano, setting a camp and have an evening shooting. The area is situated south from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy.
Day 13 – 9th September
2-hour drive to the Mutnovsky volcano, trekking tour to the volcanic crater, return to the camp. Mutnovsky is functional volcano, thus it has a lot of fantastic geological wonders like acid pools, fumarolas, craters, caves…
Day 14 – 10th September
Morning shooting of the amazing ice caves under the Mutnovskiy volcano. Return to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Day 15 – 11th September, Sunday
Shopping at the city’s fish market and departure.
Included in the price:
Mention that it is a full-board tour. You do not need to pay additional fees – everything except air tickets and souvenirs is included.
- 2-person accommodation in hotels and camp tents during the adventure
- Transportation, all transfers using 6WD truck with comfortable seats
- Fuel
- Meals – Fullboard, all meals including fresh fish and meat, vegetables
- Local guide and hunter services(rifles, emergency fires)
- Driver of 6WD truck wages
- Luxury boat hire for the Kamchatka bays’ one day photo tour, professional captain and diver’s services
- Tent and camping equipment hire
- Chef’s services (full board)
- National park fees
Not included in the price:
- Air fare to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
- Medical insurance
- Visas (but we will prepare all needed documents for your visa – invitations, supporting letters etc)
- Alcoholic beverages
Optionally you can enquire about the tour to Kurilskoye lake (wild bears photography) and heli-hiking tour to Geysir valley.
What to bring
Gear:
– DSLR camera with tripod and remote shutter release
– A wide angle lens. For example, Nikkor 14-24 or Canon 17-40.
– A middle-zoom lens such as a 24-70 mm
– A telephoto zoom lens, such as a 70-200 mm
– A super-telephoto lens like 200-400 Nikkor for wildlife photography (optional)
Wear:
– Waterproof and windproof jacket (consider the average temperature +5 – +10 C at nights and +10 – +20 C during the daytime)
– Waterproof pants
– Warm jacket and thermal pants
– Wellingtons or fishing boots
– Casual clothes for hotel/city
– Your own sleeping bag (you may ask us about it if you haven’t got one)
In-field conditions:
The camp is always near the 6WD truck. You do not need to bring camping gear, just your sleeping bag and your own wear.
I’ve choosen the most dry and sunny season (statistically). That is the end of the summer. It is still very warm and there are no insects in the air. But it may be quite cold at nights and chilly (up to +5). So please prepare your wear. You may take even a suitcase on the tour, but I recommend to take a road pack or simple backpack – its easier to store it. The autumn is in the air already with red tundra carpets.
Please take in consideration that to secure the spot I request a deposit of 500 usd. The policy is simple: if the tour is cancelled due to some disasters like volcanic eruption, I will return the whole deposit. Otherwise it is non-refundable. In any case where tour is cancelled by any unforeseen circumstances, the deposit is refunded. The other part of the sum should be transferred three months before the start of the tour (by 21 May). If you cancel the tour after 21 May, 50% of the sum is refunded. If you refuse of the spot in the tour after 21 july, the whole sum is non-refundable. You can secure your spot by deposit via bank transfer. Please inquire about any questions concerning your investment.
Tour leaders
Daniel Kordan
Daniel was born in Moscow area. In his childhood he graduated the art school. Then he is studied in Moscow institute of Physics and Technology and became an optics physicist. During the study he gain experience not only in physics, but also in mountain climbing and hiking, guiding tourist groups in winter and in summer in mountains. Right after graduation he became a guide of photo-workshops and chief editor of “Continent expedition” magazine. This magazine is about travel and adventures all over the world. He has got several awards in photography: Golden Turtle’ 13 Nature nomination winner, National Geographic Russia contest 2013 and 2014 finalist, Best of Russia’13 and ’14 winner, best photographer’13 finalist, Trierenberg Photo Circuit winner 2015 as best landscape photographer. He is spending most of his time in Norway, Lofoten islands and in Tuscany at villa Gaia, guiding groups of photographers.
