June 22nd -July 2nd, 2012
Max participants 10, (only 3 spaces remain available)
Our previous workshop was extremely productive, with over twenty-six species photographed.
We have custom tailored the 2012 schedule to include additional time with the puffins and red-throated loons with chicks. Additionally, we will photograph Icelandic horses. This promises to be a Spectacular Workshop and one you will not want to miss!
Join Charles Glatzer M.Photog. Co-host Mike Milicia, and photographer/guide Daniel Bergman on a workshop to Iceland, the Land of Fire and Ice. If you are a bird photographer, this workshop will provide very close access to some of the best shorebird and seabird breeding ground and habitat in the world. Areas visited hold around 50 breeding bird species, including European Shag, Glaucous Gull, Common Eider, Black Guillemot, Thick-Billed Murre and Snow Bunting. Breiðafjörður holds important staging areas for both Brent Geese and Red Knots as they pass through Iceland during their migration. Seascape cliffs have enormous seabird colonies with millions of nesting birds, including the world’s largest Razorbill colony. The Puffins are known worldwide for being exceptionally tame and in some cases so tame they can almost be touched with out being flushed. Nesting shorebirds include Black-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Dunlin and Redshank plus Red-necked Phalaropes and Red-throated Loons. A few pairs of Parasitic Jaeger are also in the area. Arctic Terns and Eider Ducks can be photographed among drifting icebergs.
Itinerary for Iceland tour – June 22nd to July 2nd 2012
Day 1. Pickup at Keflavik airport
The first day will be devoted to picking up participants from the airport and the first night will be spent in Reykjavik City. There are many possibilities for bird photography in and around the city and this will be explored in the afternoon. We will visit “The Pond” in downtown Reykjavik, which has a permanent population of Whooper Swans and other waterfowl.
Day 2. Crossing the Breidafjordur bay
There will be an early start from Reykjavik and we’ll drive to the town of Stykkisholmur on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula to catch the ferry across the Breidafjordur bay. Our destination, which we’ll reach in the early afternoon, is Breidavik at the West Fjords. The hotel at Breidavik will be our base for the next three nights and from there we’ll make excursions to Látrabjarg seabird cliff.
Látrabjarg is Iceland’s biggest bird cliff and has enormous seabird colonies with millions of nesting birds. It has undoubtedly the tamest Puffins in the world. They can be photographed very close and seem entirely unaffected by human presence. Other birds that can be photographed at Látrabjarg include Razorbill, Common Murre, Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar and the high-Arctic Thick-billed Murre.
Day 3–4. Látrabjarg and surroundings
During the three days we’ll spend at Breidavik we’ll make 3–4 trips out to Látrabjarg for the Puffins and other seabirds. These will be in the evening plus there will be an optional trip in the early morning (4–5 AM). Around the hotel in Breidavik there are also countless opportunities to photograph common Icelandic breeding birds such as Ringed Plover, Redshank, Northern Wheatear, White Wagtail and Snow Bunting.
Day 5. Flatey Island
As we head back over Breidafjordur bay on our way back from Breidavik we make a few hour stop at the Flatey Island. Flatey offers great photographic opportunities with birds that are used to live closely with humans on this small Island. Species such as Black Guillemot, Arctic Tern and Snow Buntings will be our main target birds on the Island. The bus does not go off the ferry and after a few hours on Flatey Island we continue sailing in the evening to Stykkishólmur where we stay for the night.
Day 6. An afternoon session in the Flói Nature Reserve
On day 5 we’ll drive to the south coast of Iceland where we will have an afternoon photography session at Flói Nature Reserve. The focus there will be on nesting shorebirds like Black-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Dunlin and Redshank plus Red-necked Phalaropes and Red-throated Loons. The Flói Reserve is a wetland area with countless ponds and most of them have a pair of nesting Red-throated Loons. They will have chicks at this time of the year and will be busy flying in and out of the ponds, going out to the ocean to catch fish for the young. This provides an opportunity to photograph them in flight, taking off and landing at ponds of various sizes. The night will be spent at Hotel Eldhestar close by.
Day 7. Vatnajokull glacier and Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon
We’ll depart the south coast and travel further to the east and will eventually reach the Vatnajokull glacier in the southeast, Europe’s largest glacier. On the way we’ll make stops to photograph horses before reaching our hotel at Gerdi, which is just 10 minutes away from one of the most spectacular landmarks in Iceland – the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. The Breidarmerkurjokull glacier calves into the lagoon, leaving it filled with icebergs that strand in the lagoon before having melted enough to wash out the short river channel out to sea. The surf may then throw the ice onto the black glacier beach, providing an incredible opportunity to photograph icebergs on black sand. There is also a large colony of Arctic Terns by the lagoon and the birds can be photograph fishing in the river channel.
Day 8–9. The lagoon and Ingolfshofdi
During the two extra days in the southeast we’ll have opportunities to photograph Parasitic Jeagers that nest in the area and we’ll make a trip out to Cape Ingolfshofdi, which is an isolated headland by the ocean and has a large colony of Puffins. There are also nesting Great Skuas up on Ingolfshofdi that can be photographed against the backdrop of the magnificent Vatnajokull glacier. The journey out to the Cape is in a modified hay cart pulled by a tractor.
Day 10. Journey west and Flói reserve
We’ll drive back to the South the same coastal route we took to get to the east. Stops will be made at good locations en route, all according to the conditions. The evening will provide another session with Red-throated Loons in the Flói reserve. We’ll spend the night again at Hotel Eldhestar.
Day 11. Keflavik airport
The morning can be spent photographing horses at the Eldhestar, which are not only a hotel but also a horse center. Flights out of Iceland are mid-afternoon and we’ll be at the Keflavik airport on July 2nd in time for the outbound flights.
Fee: The cost of this Photographic Instructional Workshop is DBL $6,450. Single accommodation available upon request at additional expense $650. Fee is subject to fluctuation in exchange rate.
Initial deposit $1000, additrional $1000 deposit due 12/15, with balance due 90 days from date of workshop.
Workshop includes: Photographic Instruction, double accommodations, meals (excluding snacks), starting Dinner Day 1 through breakfast on Day 11, transportation and charter cruise.
Not Included: Airfare to/from Keflavik Airport, Alcoholic beverages.
Deposit methods accepted; check made payable to Shoot the Light (address below), Pay Pal to info@shootthelight.com, and credit card via a phone call to our office.
To sign up contact us at;
Charles Glatzer, M.Photog
Shoot the Light
Po Box 987
Horse Shoe, NC 28742
office 828-891-4082
e-mail info@shootthelight.com
url www.shootthelight.com
blog www.shootthelight.com/blog
http://500px.com/Chas