SENJA PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

You will require a moderate level of fitness. Some locations require a short hike of up to 45 minutes. You must be able to walk on uneven ground, beaches and sometimes steep steps & slippery surfaces. We will also be walking in deep snow at times.

You will fly to Tromsø (TOS) airport via a transfer at Oslo Gardermoen (OSL) airport. We will transfer all guests to and from the airport for the workshop.

On location tuition

Compositional guidance

Understanding the exposure triangle

Advantages of shooting RAW

Understanding light & reacting to the conditions

Capturing panoramas and focal blending

Using Neutral Density, Graduated Filters and Polariser

Understanding depth of field for maximum sharpness

Choosing the correct shutter speed for various results

The importance of composition, leading lines and texture

Histograms explained

After you complete your booking we’ll email a full packing list. We’ll also set up a workshop WhatsApp group chat where all questions can be answered.

For this workshop we’re staying in a beautiful self catering lodge for 6 nights followed by a final night in a hotel in Tromso (twin room sharing) for easy access to the airport for our early morning flight on the departure day.

Our lodge is located in the beautiful town of Mefjord and contains 5 bedrooms (3 bedrooms with twin beds that can be combined to double, 1 bedroom with single bed and 1 bedroom with bunk bed).

It has 2 large bathrooms, a spacious living room with cable TV and wireless internet and fully equipped kitchen. Because the house is located on a wooden pier, our group can enjoy the huge terrace with seating area and amazing views - perfect for capturing the northern lights.

Cancellations with less than 30 days notice will be refunded their fee minus their booking deposit. If we’re able to fill their place the participant will also be refunded their booking deposit.

"Life-Altering Experience"

If I had to sum up my recent journey to Kyrgyzstan in a few words, I'd go with "life-altering." Before this trip, Kyrgyzstan was just a name I'd never heard before, let alone locate on a map. Yet, I can't express how thrilled I am that I embarked on this adventure with Richard. Planning a trip to a place halfway around the world can be incredibly nerve-wracking, but Richard made it a breeze. All I had to do was get there.

Right from day one, Richard's deep knowledge of the country became evident, and it stayed with us throughout the entire ten-day journey. He had a knack for taking us to the most remote and breathtaking corners of Kyrgyzstan, something that would have been quite challenging to pull off on our own. No need to fret about travel logistics, finding camp spots, or even worrying about our next meal; Richard and the expert guides he had picked had it all covered.

As a professional photographer who usually shies away from photo tours, I can confidently say that I'd jump at the chance to book this tour again without a second thought. It truly was an unforgettable experience that left an indelible mark on my photography journey.

Kyrgyzstan – and Richard Watson’s Kyrgyzstan in particular – is a sight, an experience and an opportunity unlike any this avid traveller and hobbyist photographer has had the pleasure of before.

The country – one only recently opened up with any kind of convenience or real access – still has the remoteness and unfamiliarity that travellers and photographers both crave. “There must be reasons why tourists generally, and particularly those from the West, don’t travel to central Asia, this vast area of the globe”, I remember thinking – in fact it was a main driver of why I wanted to visit. But believe me, I found none. Quite the opposite.

In one day, you can see arid, desert-like canyons and rippled, rocky waves of untouched, folded geometric rock formations that would go on forever were it not for the vast snow-capped mountains that rise to meet the horizon. In the same day, you can be up among those same mountains, with the mood and feeling of the place changing minute by minute as the sun plays with unpredictable beauty on the saw-like edges of the surrounding mountains.

In such a small country and in such a relatively short space of time, experiencing desert, arid rock, alpine, temperate, high mountain and lake-side yurt camps which feel like a brief beach holiday sojourn, is simply remarkable. Some of it is hard work, some of it feels a million miles away from home, and all of it is remarkable.Were it not for Richard’s experience – both as a photographer, his familial connections via his long-term Kyrgyz partner to the country and his many trip there – doing all this in 10 days would be impossible.

Personally, I am not a tour-group kind of traveller. I either go on holidays with friends, with family or ‘travel’ on my own. This has changed my mind. With a group of seven – from six different countries – you expect people pulling in different directions and each with different ideas of what they want. While this inevitably happens, none of it is negative. Each has their own vision, experience and ideas of what they want to see and capture, and Richard was always there – how, I’m still not quite sure – to lend advice and to suggest his idea of the best way of doing things.

The country, tour and set-up is incredible. If you want to see somewhere different, fit in all of the above within 10 days and have the time of your life, I wouldn’t look past this tour. It will change the way you look at photography, central Asia and – quite possibly – the world, and leave you with an insatiable hunger for more. Do it.

I’d highly recommend Richard’s Kyrgyzstan tour. The country itself is epic. White peaks glitter off in the distance as soon as you arrive off the plane. Just emerging onto the Western radar there isn’t really the infrastructure here to facilitate independent travel to remote and spectacular areas. With his knowledge of Kyrgyzstan Richard’s put together a tour that visits some exceptional locations. The organisation of the tour, facilities and food provided when in civilisation and when camping was fantastic. Richard is also great at offering his experience and skills to help participants with composure, conditions, settings etc. I’ll treasure my memory of the sun rising over the mighty peak of Mount Karakol forever.