YELLOWSTONE: Winter Wildlife Photography – OM System Only

Length of Tour

8-Days/7-Nights

Brief Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival in Bozeman / Transfer to West Yellowstone.

Days 2 and 3 – West Yellowstone / Madison River.

Day 4 – Drive to Gardiner.

Days 5 and 6 – Lamar Valley Area.

Day 7 – Lamar Valley Area and final image sharing.

Day 8 – Return Home.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival in Bozeman and transfer to West Yellowstone

Arrive in Bozeman between 12-4pm if possible. We will provide shuttle service for everyone from the airport to our first night accommodation in West Yellowstone. From here we will check into our hotel rooms and then regroup for a meet and greet / dinner at a local restaurant. Over dinner we will discuss the logistics of the coming days.

Days 2 and 3 –  West Yellowstone / Madison River

We will spend the next two days working the interior of Yellowstone in private snow coaches with plenty of room to pile our gear, stretch out, and be comfortable. These two days will start with a pick-up out front of our hotel at 6:45 am. Each day will be spent entirely in the National Park, for which we will provide box lunches. This portion of the workshop gives us our best opportunity for bison covered in hoarfrost and some truly unique wildlife opportunities such as bobcats and red fox in the snow.

Day 4 – Drive to Gardiner

We will transfer up to Gardiner Montana this day where we will check into the Best Western. This evening Kevin and Don will organize an in depth critique of participants photographs up to this point in the workshop. This mid-trip review will prove to be extremely useful for both participants and your workshop leaders. This not only gives us the opportunity to gage where everyone stands photographically, and therefore allows us to custom tailor the rest of the trip to each participant’s individual needs, but it also allows you the participant the opportunity to get real feedback that you can then build upon over the coming days.

Days 5 and 6 – Lamar Valley Area

The following days will be spent working the Northern Range of Yellowstone National Park. This will provide us with access to the absolute best place on Earth for photographing wolves. Wolves however are just one of the many different opportunities that we will have along the Northern Range. Every species of mammal in Yellowstone National Park, except for the bears, will be concentrated throughout this stretch of the park come this time of year.

Day 7 – Lamar Valley and final evening image sharing

This will be the last morning of photography. We will head out into the park before dawn just as we have the previous days. In the evening, we will once again conduct an in depth critique of everyone’s works from the second half of the workshop. We will provide pizza as well as beer and wine for the session.

Day 8 – Return Home

We will provide shuttle service for everyone back to designated airport from where we all depart our separate ways.

Cost

Cost is $6,850 per person, based upon double occupancy, from Bozeman, Montana (Airport code BZN.
This trip ends in Bozeman, Montana (Airport code BZN).

Although we will eat meals as a group, meal costs are NOT included in this tour to give you more preferred options.

Single Supplement

If a single hotel room is preferred, or we are unable to find a suitable roommate for you, a single supplement fee of $1,000 will be assessed.

NOTE: For boat-based tours, see pricing options for single cabins. Single cabin cost includes the single hotel cost above.

Minimum Number

If fewer than the minimum number of required participants are registered, we may still be able to run the trip by adding a small-group supplement fee, per person, determined by the number of participants registered.

Deposit Requirements

A $1,250 deposit per person is required to hold each space on this tour. Deposit may be made online by clicking the "Book Your Trip Now" button and using any credit card. If you prefer, you may call us at 888-875-9453 to pay by phone. You may also mail us a check, however, remember that all space is held on a first come-first served basis as deposits are received.

How to Book

In order to hold your space, click the "Book Your Trip Now" button above and complete the deposit process, including payment of the deposit through our Paypal portal using ANY CREDIT CARD. Upon completion of deposit, please visit our secure, online CLIENT INFORMATION FORM to complete your registration.

Final Payment

For all land-based tours: full payment by check is due 120 days prior to the departure date.

For all boat-based adventure cruises of 7-days or longer: full payment by check is required 180 days prior to departure.

NOTE: If you prefer to use credit card for final payment, a 3% fee may be added to cover the credit card merchant fees we incur.

This trip includes standard hotels.

Activity Level Rating: 2 (Note: 1 is easy and 5 is difficult)

It will be cold… but otherwise this trip is quite easy. Little walking is needed as we will always be near a warm vehicle. If clients choose to walk into deeper snow then it can be more challenging. But that is up to the client on if they choose to leave the roadside.

Gear for Birding & Wildlife Viewing

• Good quality binoculars
• Spotting scopes are not typically needed as we will be photographing much of the time, unless you plan to do some digiscoping.

Photography Gear Recommendations

The best camera is the one you have with you! That said, we will help you get great photos no matter what camera you use.

This Photo Workshop is geared toward those using DSLR or Mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses, here is what we recommend that you bring:

• Bring at least 2 camera bodies (recommend the OM-1 or the OM-1 Mark II, but any of the OM-D bodies or E-M1x, E-M1 Mark III, or OM-5 will be fine) – to reduce changing lenses and just in case of accidental damage to one

Recommended Lenses for Birds & Wildside

• 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO
• 150-600mm F5.0 – 6.3 IS
• 300mm F4.0 IS PRO
• 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS
• 40-150mm F2.8 IS PRO

Recommended Lenses for Landscape Opportunities

• 7-14mm F2.8 PRO
• 8-25mm F4.0 PRO
• 12-40mm F2.8 IS PRO II
• 12-45mm F4.0 PRO
• other non-pro wide angle lenses

In addition you may also want to have an ultra-wide lens equivalent to about 16-35mm which may be used for fun landscapes and night sky photography.

Filters (Mainly for Landscape Photography)

• Polarizing Filter for removing reflections (screw in for wide-angle lenses)
• Filter Holder for 4×6″ (or similar) filters
• 2-stop Hard and/or Soft Graduated Neutral Density Filter

Other Accessories

• Tripod for long exposures, big lenses and steady video
• Batteries and chargers
• Lots of memory cards!
• Laptop or other downloading device

What You Can Expect

• Personalized 1 on 1 in the field instruction by an OM System Ambassador

• Daily opportunities for personal Lightroom instruction

• Periodic image reviews through the duration of the workshop in order to assess your progress and specific needs

• A head first dive into hardcore wildlife photography and what it takes to get the job done

• The opportunity to work in a 1:6 ratio of instructor to participants. Most other workshops offer a far larger ratio

• And let’s not forget, one heck of a great time!

Purchasing Flights

Do not purchase your flights until the trip has been confirmed to go.

Detailed Trip Information

Upon notification that final payment is due (120 days prior to departure for land based tours / 180 days for boat based tours), you will receive a trip package of detailed information for your tour.

Any additional information about the trip, including lodgings, contacts, participants, meeting locations, etc., will sent about 2 weeks prior to the trip departure, or after final payment is received for late registrants.

Travel Insurance

As with all tours, we recommend purchasing Travel Insurance to help cover your investment, for covered reasons. Please see our section on Travel Insurance.

Passport & Visa

US Citizens may require a visa to enter certain foreign countries. See above for any required visa information.

Participants arriving to the USA from a foreign country may need to get a travel visa to enter the United States. Be sure to check the requirements for your country of origin.

Itinerary Changes

The trip itinerary is developed many months ahead of time. Occasionally, despite our best planning, changes may occur during the trip, or we may be forced to alter our plans. Changes may occur because of weather, road conditions, safety concerns or other circumstances. In these situations, it is the leader(s) responsibility to carefully consider and implement appropriate alternatives. Any additional costs incurred because of changes will be the responsibility of each individual participant. Refunds will not be issued as a result of itinerary changes.

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