Left: Solo brown bear encounter, Katmai Nat’l Park, Alaska Right: 2022 Japanese TV segment featuring Ron at Brooks Falls, Katmai NP
3 Great Questions
1) Why not just take a photo tour geared to the general public?
You won’t get the time you need on “snapshot excursions”. Their agenda typically covers large distances and checklists, rather than giving you time to work a scene. They’ll keep moving on to the next shot regardless of golden light, great animal interactions or photo opps.
2) Does a “photo” trek or safari cost more?
Not with us, Compare apples to apples on all-inclusive tours — transportation, lodging, meals, flights, and, most importantly — the actual time you get with the animals. You’ll pay less with us than other tours or if you tried to book all the activities and transportation yourself.
How can we do that?
• Low overhead / family business. You’re not paying for large, corporate structures, expensive TV ads, marketing departments, inflated salaries, etc. It’s just us — a family company with 40 years of Alaska experience, integrity and community relationships giving you a fantastic, unforgettable tour!
• Bulk discounts from trusted operators we’ve known for years. You can’t get these as a tourist. Alaska Photo Adventures has built up trusted connections for many years.
• No repeated commutes back and forth to Anchorage, giving you more time at the premium wildlife spots to shoot bears with fish, big mammals, aerials, puffins, fjords, etc.
3) Why pay for a guide when I know what I want and how to photograph?
Alaska is a big, wild place. There are a lot more logistics to getting great shots in a short amount of time than just clicking the shutter. The knowledge and connections of a local guide can be more important than photo knowledge. This can make the difference between great shots vs NO shots.
Knowing who to go with, who’s charging more than they should, bear behavior, weather, terrain, alternate routes, Murphy’s Law, first aid — these only come from decades of living here. We’ve fixed broken or drenched cameras, pulled float planes off submerged rocks, and dealth with countless other field issues when the unexpected happens. There’s a lot ” behind the scenes” that you won’t even notice while you’re clicking away.
“The longer I live, the more Earth’s beauty grows on me.
If you foolishly ignore beauty, you’ll find yourself without it…but if you wisely invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life”
Frank Lloyd Wright