The Living Sea

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The wild sea in this coastal area is frequently referred to as “The Living Sea”, meaning that the ocean here really still is alive and healthy indeed. Fish are still aplenty, there are clouds of sea birds, the waters are clear, porpoises tumble around, otter and seal hunt for fish and seaweed abound. It is a wild coast.

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Golden eagles

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The hides here are up in the mountain zone, just at the tree-line. They are professional, recently updated and with some of the best-performing golden eagles in Europe. With massive rock-walls behind, providing one of the best eagle-photo backdrops in the world. We enter the hides before sunrise and stay until after sunset. However, the days are not that long up here at this time of year… There are frequently several golden eagles around, and sometimes they pick a fight in front of the hides, also with White-tailed eagles that come down to spoil their party and take some food. We plan for minimum two days of hide sessions.

 

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White-tailed sea eagles

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This area, with this local guide and his perfect photo platform of a boat, is probably the best photo opportunity setup for White-tailed eagles in the world. The local “Eagle Man” has built a relation to the 20 or some pairs of eagles in these fiords over the last 30 years, he knows them all by name. And they know his boat from the sound of its engine… They come unbelievingly close and catch fish around the boat. Watching and photographing the eagles that close and with these backgrounds is simply pure joy! We plan for two days of boat trips, weather permitting.

 

Goshawk, squirrels and passerine birds

Also the powerful and charismatic Goshawk comes to a hide in the forest. A hide which is also frequented by a host of passerine birds and Red squirrels. Thera are often two adult goshawks around and one of their youngsters as well. From the hide there is good chance of getting them at less than 10 meters distance!

 

 

Travel Facts

 

Date

January 23-28 JAN 2023

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Price

2,750 euro 

(Registration fee 600 euro) *

 

Tour leaders/masterclass leaders

Martin Steenhaut & Staffan Widstrand

 

Group size

max 10 people with 2 guides. Two groups of 5.

 

Booking deadline

September 30, 2021

 

Included in the price

Transfer from the Trondheim airport to the Masterclass location and back. Full board accommodation and meals from dinner Day 1 to breakfast Day 6, local transports, 2 boat trip days (weather permitting), minimum 2 hide days, and all guiding, Masterclass leaders and workshops. Accommodation in guesthouse or countryside hotel of medium standard (shared double room). 

 

Not included:

Flights to and from Trondheim airport, gratuities, travel insurance, cancellation insurance, visas, drinks, single room supplement, telephone, personal items and anything else not mentioned above as specifically included.

 

Single room supplement

250 euro

 

Airport

The tour begins and ends at the Trondheim Airport, Vaernes (TRD) in Norway.

 

Camera gear

Since we will have opportunities for many different types of motifs, ranging from landscapes, eagles and gulls, to squirrels and big and small forest birds, it is wise to bring everything from wide-angle to telephoto lenses. From the boat, lenses from wide-angle, 70-200 mm up to 500-600 mm can be very useful. To increase the focal length, you can also use a teleconverter. It is important to have protection for the camera equipment as it can be wet from ocean spray & splash, rain or snow. Bring good rain cover for your camera gear and for the camera bag.

If you have two camera bodies, it is good to be prepared by having these fitted with lenses of different focal lengths. This to avoid having to change lenses all the time. Tripods are difficult to use in the hides, where bean bags or the Wimberley type of swivel heads work better. In the boat, hand-held is best. Bring a tripod for possible Northern Lights, should the opportunity arise at night.

 

Clothing

The climate up here in the wintertime is cold. Northern winter is cold and on top of that the ocean air is humid and always a bit colder. You need real thick outdoor gear, like a good parka or downjacket, plus rainjacket + raintrousers, sturdy hiking boots and at least two layers of socks – preferably the wonderfully soft and non-itchy Woolpower, Aklima or similar. Woolen long underpants and long-armed undershirt as well, preferably Woolpower, Aklima or the like. And a woolen sweater. Preferably not synthetics. In the boat, we will be handed survival outfit overalls, which keep us warm and dry, and warm snowmobile boots will be supplied for those who want. Warm hat needed and warm thumb/hand gloves - not finger gloves! Woolen turtleneck or warm scarf. In the hides there are heaters, and sleeping bags to sit in. And a dry toilet/outhouse for the needy. You might want to bring a thermos flask for hot drinks.

 

Accessibility

The accommodations are not specially adapted for people with disabilities. The boat we use may mean a slightly more difficult accessibility if you have reduced mobility. There is a short night-time hike needed to reach up to the eagle hide in the mountains and back, possibly in snow. Not specially adapted for people with disabilities. But we can tailor-make certain arrangements to try to accommodate for you, depending on what your disabilities might be. Please then contact us about it.

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Payment - terms and conditions

The registration fee shall be paid upon registration, against an invoice. Final payment no later than 60 days before departure.

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Passport and visa

Your passport must be valid, and depending on your country of citizenship, please check up that there are no visa requirements or other restrictions in place for entering into Norway.

 

Insurance

Please check your travel insurance and cancellation policies. We always recommend you have insurance cover that also covers emergency transport, both on-site and at home.

 

Health

Contact your physician if you need special health advise.

 

Group and language

This Masterclass is open to all nationalities, which means that the group will be international. The Masterclass sessions will be conducted in English. The leaders also speak Swedish, French, Dutch/Flemish and Spanish.

 

Travellers Rights

Information on key rights according to Directive (EU) 2015/2302

 

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Preliminary day by day program

 

Day 1 (Dinner)

We meet up where the tour begins: at the Trondheim Airport, Vaernes (TRD) in Norway.

Transfer by minibus to our guesthouse/hotel in a village right on the coast. After check-in we will do a tour-briefing and a first camera settings talk. Dinner and overnight.

 

Day 2-5 (Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner)

Four full days of photography, fully adapted to the light, wildlife and weather conditions.

The plan is two boat-trip days (if weather permits) and a minimum of two hide days. Should the weather be foul, then there is space for all of us in the hides. Lunches are packed lunches during the hide sessions. Packed lunches are to be self-prepared at breakfast time.

 

Day 6 (Breakfast)

After breakfast we transfer by minibus to Trondheim, our tour ends at the Trondheim Vaernes (TRD) airport for flights or trains homeward.