I was very excited waiting for the day I was to head off to on an adventure to see &, hopefully, capture some images of the wild brown bears of Finland for myself. I had previously spent a wonderful weekend with NaturesLens on their “Birds of Prey Workshop” prior to going abroad, this was primarily to help hone my, admittedly, very basic photography skills when it comes to wildlife & the capture of images of nature.
After this taster I was keen to get going on my wild brown bear trip & to try out my newly acquired skills. The time soon came & I was in this wonderful boreal location where wild brown bears were to be found & it was just beautiful; watching the sun rise, set & rise again in a few hours in the land of the “midnight sun”, lakes with mist gathering & the white balls of cotton grass seeds swaying in the breeze.
Accommodation was comfortable & the team I went with were lovely. It’s great spending time with like-minded people from whom you can also learn so much. The sessions were long in the hides but the rewards were breath taking. Being able to get so close to such a wonderful creature as a wild brown bear in its own habitat & watch it was awesome.
My magic moment was going down to one of the lower camera windows & taking a photo of a male brown bear as it came towards me. The feeling was exhilarating & I got my photo. It wasn’t photographically my best, wrestling with low light, shutter speed & the fact I was shaking so much, but every time I see that photo I feel that moment again.
I returned from Finland with many lovely photos & memories.Having only done a limited amount of wildlife photography previously, (mostly I photograph the animals on our hill farm), I was so very pleased with the images I came home with. One of these images I have had put onto an aluminum photo, it hangs as a reminder in the hall, & makes me smile when I come down the stairs in every morning.
There were opportunities to see other wildlife on location & I was blown away by the Wolverine, Red Squirrel & Crested Tit sightings.
Sean & Pui Hang, the NatureLens leaders were so informative & helpful, & offered guidance on how to achieve images & how to compose my captures, & have really succeeded in enthusing me about wildlife photography, to the extent that I have been making used of these skills now I’m back at home.
Alhough I do have to admit I have already booked on the Dalmatian Pelican Photography Holiday for 2018!
This whole experience was enriching, I came back home & felt alive & I would recommend anyone into wildlife or photography to go on a group tour like this where they are mentored & have the best opportunities offered to see some beautiful parts of our world & the animals that live there!
WOULD YOU LIKE TO CAPTURE IMAGES OF THE WILD BROWN BEAR FOR YOURSELF?
For 2018, NaturesLens have already announced a return to photograph the Wild Brown Bears of Finland – the trip has been scheduled to start on June 24 & ending on July 2, 2018.
The Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday costs £1099 each participant, this price excludes air travel to Kajaani itself – all ground transportation from Kajaani & back, food, accommodation & guidance/tuition is included.
To hold a place on the trip, we only require a 20{c9c0a4696b7ac54bf73bcd0427c793d03ee76447581a2309f1c89b3325d12acb} deposit from you, with the balance due 12 weeks prior to the trip taking place.