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August 11-23, 2025 - Accepting applications
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Join us in Brazil’s Pantanal for an exciting adventure filled with great wildlife photography opportunities, including the Pantanal’s signature jaguars hunting caiman and capybaras.
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2025 Rates
$8,700 pp double occupancy
$9,600 single occupancy
Deposit with Application: $1,000
Second Payment
1 June 24
$2,000 pp double occupancy
$2,500 single occupancy
Final due (including extra nights)
15 May 2025
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Jaguars probably put the Pantanal in your bucket list – and for good reason. In most places, jaguars are elusive – you only know they are there by finding tracks, scat, or a bit of hair now and then. But, in the Pantanal, their primary prey (caimans and capybara) like to come out of the water in the middle of the day to sun. That is such a great opportunity for the hunting jaguar that they frequent river and back channel banks when the sun is high – and some even hunt from within the river!
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In the last decade a group of these Jaguars have become habituated to humans in boats – finally creating the opportunity to pause nearby and photograph them as they hunt or rest in the shade.
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Don’t, for even a second, think our Pantanal Photography Adventure is about jaguars and nothing else! The caimans and capybara that keep the jaguars well-fed are abundant – and fun to photograph!
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The waters of the Pantanal are teeming with fish – and those fish support a healthy population of endangered Giant Otters!
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The shores and nearby branches are alive with birds that want to eat fish! We’ll seek five species of kingfishers and try to capture them making their classic dive/splash/fly, taking back to the air with a fish in their beaks!
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The largest flying bird of the Americas – the jabiru stork – is shy and hard to photograph most places – but can be quite approachable in the Pantanal.
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There are several raptors that dive and grasp fish and snails with their talons! We’ll find them sitting… watching… and maybe even diving!
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The wading birds, here are amazing. The cocoi heron is common, graceful, and beautiful!
The rufescent tiger heron is striking! |
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But the agami heron takes the cake for beauty! And the length of its beak will astound you! |
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Cormorants and anhingas dive beneath the surface where they swim like snakes and catch fish! In fact, the word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi tribal language – meaning snake bird or devil bird (or perhaps both).
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There are bright and colorful birds, too. Toucans and orioles, and yellow-billed cardinals will be easy to photograph from our land lodgings!
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And our guide keeps track of where to find hyacinth macaws, probably guarding nests!
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The Pantanal is a labyrinth of rivers and streams and connecting channels, probably created when the region sank and flowing water slowed and lost its sediment load… slowly filling the depression with layer after layer of flood bourn sediments and nutrients. The result is a vibrant landscape of savannahs and ponds and waterways edged with dense treescapes. And, filled with wildlife!
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Our Pantanal Photography Safari will start and end in Cuiabá, Brazil. We’ll journey from there into the Pantanal where our beginning and ending Pantanal lodging will be based in small nature-focused lodges. One of those lodges will take us on boat outings which will give us great photographic opportunities.
For our jaguar quests (from small boats) we will make our way to a floating hotel (a stationary deluxe houseboat). Daily boat outings, broken by lunch back at the hotel, will feature multiple small craft, where our photographers will be spread out so everyone has a good angle! It will be up to our very talented guide to chart a course that will maximize opportunities to photograph jaguars, while also giving us great windows to photograph otters, capybara, and a wealth of birds. |
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In 2025, we'll have six nights in small lodges, 4 nights on the floating hotel, and first and last nights in Cuiabá near the airport. All meals are included outside Cuiabá and breakfasts are covered in Cuiabá. Alcohol, soft drinks, and bottled water are at your own expense. Purified water for refills into your water bottles is provided. You will also be responsible for taking a taxi from the airport to and from the nearby hotel. And for tipping guides, boatmen and lodge staff.
Our group will be small. We will limit ourselves to 6 rooms – with only two of those rooms for singles – reflecting restrictions from the small lodging operators.
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2024
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Private
Mara River Crossing
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We're off to witness the great migration as it encounters the Mara River. The migration follows the noses of wildebeest which tell them where rains are falling. When they encounter the Mara, they are terrified of the crossing. Crocodiles lurk in the waters. Some wildebeest and zebras fall and get trampled. This is a holy grail of wildlife photography! |
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Journey with us into the wilds of Ethiopia to visit a number of ethnic groups that have clung to the old ways. We'll learn how each group sees the world differently - and how it shapes their personal actions and looks. We'll make amazing artful images of the peoples, their worlds, and the natural world around them. This is a wild adventure - we'll be journeying to where few people go - and tourism infrastructue is available. Check out the itinerary here. |
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Taking Control in the Mirrorless Era
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Three days of classroom and field time with migrating waterfowl, bald eagles, and macro opportunities. You'll learn how to take control of your mirrorless camera - and take advantage of new developments in the digital darkroom - to yield images that closely match your intentions in the field! Embrace manual - it's easier that the auto modes - and easier than ever in the mirrorless era!. |
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2025 |
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Three days of classroom and field time with migrating waterfowl, bald eagles, and macro opportunities. You'll learn how to take control of your mirrorless camera - and take advantage of new developments in the digital darkroom - to yield images that closely match your intentions in the field! Embrace manual - it's easier that the auto modes - and easier than ever in the mirrorless era. |
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Timed to meet the great migration in the Serengeti, our safari takes you to some of the great parks and protected areas in northern Tanzania in search of lions, zebras, giraffes, cheetah, hyenas... Of all our itineraries, anywhere in the world, this one has the best reviews - and is a real life-changing experience! If you'll only be making one photography foray into sub-Saharan Africa in your life - this is the trip! |
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Lions and leopards and cheetahs! Oh my! This two week safari is dedicated to putting us in great positions to photograph cats in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. And, our design lets us "hang out" with the cats until something interesting happens! Timed for when the grasses in the Serengeti are turning green and the game is fat - when cats are in their prime. Read the description and secure your space before its gone. We'll come home with great images and many memories and stories! |
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So many birds! Such good photography opportunities. So little physical effort required. Forty percent of the planet's hummingbirds are found in Ecuador. Thirty-seven percent of the tanagers (which don't show up in the Old World at all). Conservation has teamed up with landowners to protect natural cloudforest habitats - and the result is birds sitting on branches predictably in a way you can photograph them. Did we mention Cock-of-the-rock? Or mountain tourcan? Small group so secure your space before it is gone! |
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Borneo! Rainforests. Orangutans. Gibbons. Pygmy elephants. Proboscis monkeys. 420 species of birds, including amazing hornbills and kingfishers, brightly colored little birds. Carnivorous plants. Sun bears. The list goes on and on. We've built an itinerary that takes you into the canopy, on trails by foot, on rivers by boat, and out on night safari. This is not an adventure you want to miss! |
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Our Drones Photography Group is at it again! Back to Iceland to visit a number of unique sites, looking for great places, away from people, to position our drone cameras to capture unique angles. This time we'll find some great "interior" locations, some thermal features, some wild coastlines, and some exciting rivers. Waterfalls are always part of the game in Iceland - you'll be able to position your drone where no person has ever put a camera before. Bring your drone and come create great art with us! |
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Join us in Brazil's Pantanal for a wild adventure that features both jaguars and an amazing array of birds, reptiles, and mammals. The Pantanal is the only place in the world where one can reliably find and photograph jaguars - as they are nocturnal hunters everywhere else. The birds here are fantastic - this is one of our favorite places to photograph flying birds (we can help you build your skills). Add in close-up encounters with giant river otters and so much more. Join us for this wild adventure! |
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Turkey sits at a geographical crossroads, which means that, over history, many cultures have passed through Turkey, each leaving a distinct imprint on the culture and the archaeological record. Let's explore some of the great archaeological wonders - while putting ourselves in great positions make exciting art with cameras. Mosques, Fairy Chimneys, Ephasus, Istanbul, Aphrodisia, Pergamum, Assos and so much more. |
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2026 |
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To sit quietly in a bamboo thicket with a gorilla family, interacting with eye contact, observing, and making compelling images is truly a life changing experience. Venture out into the wilds of Rwanda with a small group to experience photographic encounters with wild gorillas, chimpanzees, colobus monkeys, golden monkeys, and much, much more. Fitness level is necessary to accomplish this adventure. Dates are tentative until we secure permits. |
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Timed to meet the great migration in the Serengeti, our safari takes you to some of the great parks and protected areas in northern Tanzania in search of lions, zebras, giraffes, cheetah, hyenas... Of all our itineraries, anywhere in the world, this one has the best reviews - and is a real life-changing experience! If you'll only be making one photography foray into sub-Saharan Africa in your life - this is the trip! |
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Join us in 2026 as we'll explore favorite haunts and add new landings and vistas. Giant tortoises, flightless frigates, 3 kinds of boobies, land and marine iguanas, sea lions and fur seals, flamingos, and the northernmost penguin in the world. The list goes on and on! Exciting landscapes. So much to learn about geology, biology, and evolution.Truly an inspiring experience - ties the Serengeti in client feedback as the "most life-changing" experience of their lives. |
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