Join myself and Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove on a boat based expedition in this stunning remote landscape where towering mountains are cut through with glaciers calving icebergs into the deep fjords.  This is landscape at it’s purest and most raw, where whales swim in the deep waters and where with the exception of some isolated communities, nature has been left alone.

There are no roads here and the only way to access and experience these places is via boat, so we’ve teamed up with Tilvera and North Sailing to bring a small group into the Scoresby Sund glacier system.  We’ll spend seven days exploring these fjords on a private 22 meter sailing ketch with an experienced crew who’ve been navigating these waters for many years.  We’ll be completely off-grid sailing through fjords with sheer cliff walls plunging into the water beneath stunning mountain peaks and have the freedom to sail up to glaciers, around huge floating icebergs, and to drop anchor wherever we like and explore these breathtaking landscapes.  At this time of year we’ll see whales in the fjords and have long golden sunsets, and there’s also a possibility of seeing the aurora at night.

Our expedition takes place totally within the fjord system so we won’t be sailing on the open ocean. We’ll drop anchor each night and eat food cooked for us by the ship’s captain and chef together in the comfortable saloon.

For this trip we wanted to create something unique in some of the most incredible landscapes on the planet. We’ll travel to Greenland by special chartered flight where we’ll meet the boat, and then go on to explore places that very few people ever get to see. Every day we’ll be discovering new scenes, new places and sharing new experiences. But of course this is also a photography workshop and we’ll be on hand to provide as much support, advice or guidance as you want both on your photography technique and your post processing skills.  We’ve created this expedition to maximize your opportunities to get great images and improve your skills as a photographer whist providing a unique experience in an unforgettable place. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a trip that you’ll never forget.

 PRICE

1,270,000 ISK

As of May 2024 ISK 1,270,000 = €8450 or $9100US (approximately). We ask that people make the payment in Krona as it protects us from potential variations in exchange rates.

Prices are per person in cabin shared with one other person (one single cabin available)

Price includes chartered return flights from Reykjavik to Constable Point (Greenland)

GROUP SIZE

9

EXPERIENCE

Beginner, amateur, enthusiast and semi-pro photographers.  

PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY

EASY - Some moderate hiking.

WORKSHOP INCLUDES

Landscape photography and shooting in unforgettable remote locations

Guided photography sessions with two professional photographers

Accommodation in a shared cabin on a polar equipped sailing boat exploring beautiful fjords, glaciers and icebergs

Guided trips ashore on the boat’s zodiac

Hiking on a glacier

Use of zodiac to explore the icebergs up close

Post-processing sessions in Lightroom and Photoshop

All meals

Chartered return flights from Reykjavik to Constable Point (Greenland)

NOT INCLUDED

Flights to/from Iceland

Insurance. All participants are required to have their own insurance.

Snacks and alcohol

Visas

The TILVERA is a fully equipped Dutch-built steel hulled sailing ketch certified to circumnavigate the globe with up to 12 guests. She’s a 22 meter boat that’s been sailing for more than 20 years around the world including both polar regions and eight visits to Antarctica. The boat is captained and crewed by a crew who have 20 yeas experience in the area. We’ll meet the boat at Constable Point, a small town with an airport, and we’ll be sailing completely within the fjord system, not the open sea.

There’s ample space on-board with a spacious saloon where we’ll eat and a deckhouse where we can plan our days activities. There’s also plenty of space outside the main cabin on deck from where we’ll be able to shoot, and gather for a drink. There 6 double cabins to sleep in, each with bunk beds, two with private shower and toilet. There are two other bathrooms right next to the other four cabins. The cabins are cozy and comfortable with two people, but it should be noted that as we are on a boat, space is considerably more limited than it is in a hotel room. The boat has central heating, hot and cold water, and 220V electricity capable of charging batteries and other electronic devices.

There’s also a zodiac that we can use to get to shore and explore the icebergs even more closely.

Please note, the images to the right and at the top of the page are all of Tilvera, the two-masted boat we’ll use. There are a couple of images on the page of a single masted yacht, which isn’t our boat but the images are included to show the scenery we’ll sail through

For this workshop we have a completely flexible itinerary which depends very much on the conditions. This isn’t a place of fixed shooting locations, but rather we’ll explore the fjords and discover photography locations as we go. The weather in Greenland in August is usually pretty stable, but of course we won’t take anything for granted. The captain will study the weather conditions each day and decide which part of the fjord system we should explore, and together we’ll examine the map and find possible photography spots to explore. However, everything here is beautiful and remote, and pretty much wherever we go we’ll want to shoot.

In late August, the sunrise is approximately at 5h with sunset around 19h30, with a blue hour that lasts for a while after. At this time of year we’re quite close to the beginning of northern lights season when the aurora might be seen. If we are lucky enough to see it, it will be when the night is at it’s darkest between 23h and 2h

Day 1 | Arrival day 

We’ll meet you in Reykjavik for our chartered flight to Constable Point where we’ll join the boat, settle into our cabins before getting together get to know the crew and each other.

DayS 2 - 6

Scoresby Sund is the biggest fjord system in the world and in one of the most remote places on Earth. It’s an arctic heaven with outstanding nature located in the outer limits of the world’s largest national park. An extraordinary journey of erosion, huge volcanoes, and glacial activity have created a dramatic landscape full of valleys, colorful mountains and steep cliffs that reveal more than 2 billion years of geological history.

During this tour we venture into the mouth of the North West fjord (the longest fjord in Scoresby Sound) where the biggest icebergs outside of Antarctica are born. We’ll venture intp the stunning Gosefjord where impressive basalt mountains and amazing glaciers can be seen. We take the zodiac to go cruising around icebergs and visit Denmark and Bear Islands. Sunsets here re magestic with the light reflecting off of the icebergs, glaciers and the calm ocean, creating incredibly photogenic scenes.

Heimir, the captain of Tilvera, has been sailing in this area since 2010 and will take us to the most outstanding anchor places, secret spots and close to wildlife. Although wildlife is scarce in these isolated places, it’s still possible to find arctic animals such as musk ox, little auks, and polar bears.

Day 7 | Departure Day

On the final day we’ll head back to the airport at Constable Point in time to catch our chartered flight back to Reykjavik together.

Our aim is to take you to beautiful locations and give you every opportunity to get great images while improving your technique over the course of the workshop.  From the beginning of your time with us we’ll aim to identify your photographic level and what you’d like to focus on, and attempt to tailor the workshop to your precise needs and provide each participant with plenty of one-to-one tuition both in the field and in the post processing sessions.  

We’ve carefully planned this workshop to ensure that while you get to experience some the most beautiful landscapes Greenland has to offer in this stunning and remote part of the world. I know from experience that it’s wonderful to go home from any trip with a varied portfolio of images that really capture the range of scenes we’ll be seeing and tell the story of our time in Greenland, so we’ll be shooting a wide range of scenes from icebergs in the fjords to mountain scapes, all of which will give you the opportunity to improve and broaden your skills and vision. We’ll have the whole day shooting, so you’ll quickly get into a rhythm where you can put into practice new skills as they are learned.  Late August is a great time to visit Greenland as the weather is pretty dependable and the waters will be calm. The days are long which allows us to shoot most of the day, and being on a boat means we’ll have freedom to stop and explore different places, and really feel the magnificent isolation that you can only get this deep into the wild.

Our timetable is completely flexible and we’ll be adapting and discovering locations almost constantly. We’ll also be flexible in our editing sessions.  We believe that editing is an integral part of getting the absolute best out of an image but we understand that the range of participant’s skill levels and familiarity with post processing techniques varies greatly.  Because of this we make the most of having small groups to provide 1-to-1 editing sessions that are tailored to each participant's skill levels, and which can potentially range from the basics of editing a RAW file in programs like Lightroom to more complex techniques like using layers and luminosity masks in Photoshop. 

Finally, we want to share with you our passion for nature and landscape photography in this incredible  place. Travelling in such small groups means we can quickly build a great learning environment where people feel comfortable together and at ease with asking questions and making the absolute most of the trip.  We aim to make your experience here in the beautiful landscape of Greenland a memorable one and a trip from which, as well as getting some great images from amazing locations, you’ll also go home having had a true adventure with great company in a very special place.

TECHNIQUES COVERED IN THE WORKSHOP

IN THE FIELD

• Understanding the light and choosing the best exposure

• Composition. Balance and harmony, leading lines and creating depth.

• Lens choice. From the wide-angle vista to shooting landscape abstracts with a telephoto lens

• Shooting icebergs and scenics from a boat

• Capturing wildlife images of whales and birds

• Shooting multiple image panoramas

• Controlling light in scenes with a wide dynamic range using graduated filters and/or multiple exposures

• Photographing local communities

• Shooting in the blue hour and overcast weather

• Drone photography

PROCESSING

• Deciding which direction to take post processing according to the mood of an image

• Using Lightroom to apply contrast locally

• “Shaping” the light using contrast tools in Photoshop and Lightroom

• Different techniques for blending multiple exposures of the same image

• Stitching multiple panoramas together

• Finishing touches for processing to give images dramatic punch

• Sharpening images

 A dSLR or mirrorless camera 

The criteria for the kind of work we’ll be doing is a camera that can be operated completely manually to ensure we get the best exposure with interchangeable lenses allowing us to cover a range of focal lengths

A wide angle lens

For many of the locations a wide angle lens really is essential if you want to get those epic icebergs and their reflection in the water. 16mm or 17mm on a full frame camera (10mm or 12mm on an APS-C sensor camera) is ideal, but anything below 24mm (16mm on a crop frame sensor) should be OK.  

A mid-range zoom lens

Sometimes using a wide angle lens will make the icebergs seem smaller, so a mid-range zoom will be great for maintaining the scale while still including some foreground. A mid range is also great for shooting the local communities or environmental portraits, as well as being great for multiple image panoramas.  Something in the range of 24-70mm (18-55mm on a crop sensor) is perfect.

A telephoto lens

We’ll often find ourselves shooting distant icebergs or ice abstracts, which a telephoto is ideal for.  A telephoto will pull distant scene closer whilst also compressing the landscape.  A range that covers 70-200mm (55-135mm on a crop sensor) is ideal.

Tripod

While we won’t be using tripods on the boat, we’ll occasionally be shooting in low light from land and it can also get pretty windy, so a good tripod is an absolutely essential piece of equipment.  

Drone

OK, so it’s not essential to bring a drone if you don’t have one, and we understand that not everyone enjoys using them. However, it’s worth pointing out that Greenland offers some absolutely incredible opportunities for drone photography, so if you have one, or if you’re thinking of getting one, then you should definitely bring it

Camera Backpack

When moving your camera gear for any length of time a backpack can really save your back.  A good backpack, one with sturdy hip straps, can safely distribute the weight of your gear and really save you from aches, pains and potential injury.  Bear in mind that you’ll often be putting it down in the snow as well so it should be water resistant.

Comfortable waterproof walking boots and shoes for the boat

We'll be doings some hiking in the area, as well as on a glacier, and it’s very easy for cold and wet feet to completely ruin your day, so good boots with thick warm socks are vital. Additionally, when we’re on the boat you’ll need shoes with good grip for moving around the deck.

Insulated jacket, water and windproof shell and warm clothes

Even though it’s summer it we are still in the Arctic Circle so warm clothes will help keep you comfortable while we’re out on the boat. It’s best to layer, with a base layer next to the skin and then a fleece or thicker layer on top. An insulated jacket on top of that will keep you warm, and also a waterproof or windproof shell as a final layer in case the weather turns bad. Finally a warm hat and gloves will help keep you comfortable.

Hat and gloves

It can get quite chilly so a wooly hat and gloves are essential for when the temperatures drop, but a sunhat will also come in useful as well for when we’re out on deck on sunny days. On reserving your spot on the trip I can provide you with a discount code for gloves made by The Heat Company, who make excellent winter photography gloves as well as heat packs that you can out inside your gloves or the soles of your shoes.

Laptop with Adobe Lightroom or Camera RAW and Photoshop

We’ll be shooting RAW, and as part of each day will be dedicated to post processing images a good RAW converter like Adobe Lightroom or Camera RAW is essential.  Other converters like Capture One are also fine.  Adobe Photoshop is great for more advanced processing as it allows us to be much more subtle and creative in it’s use of layers.

We’ll provide a detailed packing list when you sign up for the workshop, but if you have any questions about what to bring, don’t hesitate to contact us.

 ANDY MUMFORD is a Lisbon based professional landscape and travel photographer. Andy grew up in the UK loving nature and travel and took up landscape photography over fifteen years ago. Since then he has travelled extensively photographing all over the world and his photography and articles have featured in publications and books worldwide. He is a passionate photographer teacher and has been leading both group and one-to-one workshops for over five years.

He is a Fuji X Photographer and a brand ambassador for Fujifilm in Portugal, although he also has extensive experience with Nikon and Canon cameras.

Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove is a Belgian nature photographer who specialises in photographing wildlife and landscapes with great passion. He has been living in Reykjavík, Iceland, for several years, using it as his base to explore and capture the raw beauty of the land of fire and ice and the Arctic region in its entirety.

Jeroen found his passion for photography very early on when he found an analog Canon SLR in his parents’ attic at the age of 10. Learning how to use it, caused him to be immediately fascinated by photography. Being fortunate enough to travel with his parents to distant countries in his childhood, it developed his respect and admiration for nature tremendously. Years later, after discovering the raw and unspoilt beauty of the Icelandic nature, it reinvigorated his passion for nature photography. He kept travelling to Iceland in search of the next captivating moment he could capture with his camera. After a few years, he decided he had enough of travelling back and forth several times every year and started preparing the next chapter in his life: migrating to Iceland. He sold all his belongings, jumped into a plane with a few suitcases and started a new life in Iceland. There he continued to explore the many hidden corners and secrets the island has to offer.

Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove Website