Summary
The Sami people are the only semi-nomadic indigenous pastoralists living within the European Union. Twice a year this small group of people take part in a massive trek to move their herds of reindeer, on which their livelihoods and survival depend, between summer and winter pastures. This extraordinary movement of people and animals has been the subject of several high profile television documentaries, but for the most part still remains outside of most people’s worldview, particularly as there are now less than 2800 Sami who continue to live their traditional herding lifestyle.
Nature’s Light have been offered an extraordinary opportunity to create a unique photographic workshop of the annual spring migration of the Sami people and their herds. Thanks to a partner company in Norway we have managed to secure a spot for up to four photographers and an instructor to join the Sami, follow the herds and photograph the experience and the people involved.
Nature’s Light have been offered an extraordinary opportunity to create a unique photographic workshop of the annual spring migration of the Sami people and their herds. Thanks to a partner company in Norway we have managed to secure a spot for up to four photographers and an instructor to join the Sami, follow the herds and photograph the experience and the people involved.
WHEN |
TBC |
PRICE |
Available on Enquiry |
FOCUS |
TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY, LANDSCAPE, PEOPLE, ANIMALS |
GROUP SIZE |
4 Participants only |
INSTRUCTOR GUEST RATIO |
1:4 |
DURATION |
6 DAYS |
ACCOMMODATION TYPE |
Rugged, Traditional lavvu tents |
NUMBER OF DESTINATIONS |
Variable |
In Detail
Chasing Reindeer - Travel Photography at the Extremes
One of the few subjects that is truly elusive to most photographers is the opportunity to test their skills on a documentary project.
The ‘Chasing Reindeers’ photographic workshop is a special opportunity to broaden photographic knowledge while in a true ‘other-world’ experience. There are numerous photographic workshops where photographers are offered a touristic view of people in a carefully crafted environment. Dozens of photographers are then offered a scripted image situation.
This is different.
Unlike the other workshops, participants on the ‘Chasing Reindeer’ workshop will literally live with the herders for 5 nights as they move their herds. The unrivaled access provides an amazing opportunity to learn about another culture and people, be completely absorbed into it, and have the time to be able to craft beautiful imagery. For the photographic aspect, a professional photographic instructor accompanies you on the workshop in order to teach techniques and skills around on-location portraiture and lighting, along with how to craft a story through your images and work through documentary photographic skills. Of course the workshop happens to take place in a beautiful part of the world, where you have isolated access to the phenomenal beauty of the arctic tundra. Apart from the reindeer herds and the Sami themselves, there are opportunities to photograph the snow topped wilderness around you. Extended golden hour times contribute to the otherworldly beauty of the area as we follow the reindeer. The experience is limited to a handful of people every year. Living in a traditional lavvu tent, sleeping around an open fire and experiencing life from the vantage point of a completely different culture is a privilege that few of us get to have. This is such an opportunity!
Read on to see why we are confident that you will want to book this workshop with us!
The ‘Chasing Reindeers’ photographic workshop is a special opportunity to broaden photographic knowledge while in a true ‘other-world’ experience. There are numerous photographic workshops where photographers are offered a touristic view of people in a carefully crafted environment. Dozens of photographers are then offered a scripted image situation.
This is different.
Unlike the other workshops, participants on the ‘Chasing Reindeer’ workshop will literally live with the herders for 5 nights as they move their herds. The unrivaled access provides an amazing opportunity to learn about another culture and people, be completely absorbed into it, and have the time to be able to craft beautiful imagery. For the photographic aspect, a professional photographic instructor accompanies you on the workshop in order to teach techniques and skills around on-location portraiture and lighting, along with how to craft a story through your images and work through documentary photographic skills. Of course the workshop happens to take place in a beautiful part of the world, where you have isolated access to the phenomenal beauty of the arctic tundra. Apart from the reindeer herds and the Sami themselves, there are opportunities to photograph the snow topped wilderness around you. Extended golden hour times contribute to the otherworldly beauty of the area as we follow the reindeer. The experience is limited to a handful of people every year. Living in a traditional lavvu tent, sleeping around an open fire and experiencing life from the vantage point of a completely different culture is a privilege that few of us get to have. This is such an opportunity!
Read on to see why we are confident that you will want to book this workshop with us!
reasons to join us
Apart from the fact that this is a unique experience and true adventure of a lifetime, Nature’s Light Workshops offer one of the best (if not the best) instructor to participant ratios in the world. This workshop is capped at 4 participants so that there is ample opportunity for photographers to capture imagery without having other people in the way. This small number also ensures that the instructor is able to have true one to one photographic teaching with the participants.
Nature’s Light is proud to team up with a unique Norwegian Company that has partnered us with the Sami people themselves. The vast bulk of the fee for the workshop goes directly to the families who host us during the workshop. Allowing us to be their guests contributes directly to the sustainability of their livelihoods and culture.
Of all the workshops we run, this has to be one of the most exciting for it allows participants to literally explore a different culture in an environment that has molded and shaped that culture in a unique way. If you have ever wondered what being a documentary photographer must be like, this offers a real-world glimpse. On top of this it promises a once in a lifetime experience that is different to anything else out there.
Nature’s Light is proud to team up with a unique Norwegian Company that has partnered us with the Sami people themselves. The vast bulk of the fee for the workshop goes directly to the families who host us during the workshop. Allowing us to be their guests contributes directly to the sustainability of their livelihoods and culture.
Of all the workshops we run, this has to be one of the most exciting for it allows participants to literally explore a different culture in an environment that has molded and shaped that culture in a unique way. If you have ever wondered what being a documentary photographer must be like, this offers a real-world glimpse. On top of this it promises a once in a lifetime experience that is different to anything else out there.
Key highlights
Enjoy:
Learn about:
- Experiencing the Arctic Tundra in Spring
- Following the reindeer herds on snowmobiles and sleds
- Sami food and ways of living
- Slowing down and focusing on the moment!
Learn about:
- The Sami People and their traditions
- Photography of people on location
- Advanced portrait techniques in the field
- On location lighting
- Story-telling through imagery
ITINERARY
Day 1:
Photographers are to arrive at Alta Airport in the north of Norway on one of the morning flights. The group are met at the airport by our local guide, one of the herders from the family we will be living with for the next four nights.
From the airport we drive to the current location of the reindeer herds - or the nearest we can get before transferring to snowmobiles. We spend our first night and the following four, sleeping in a traditional lavvu tent by an open fire.
From the airport we drive to the current location of the reindeer herds - or the nearest we can get before transferring to snowmobiles. We spend our first night and the following four, sleeping in a traditional lavvu tent by an open fire.
Day 2 to day 5:
For this adventure, we don’t have an itinerary as everything happens in nature’s speed. The Sami reindeer spring migration is a unique tradition in which reindeer move from winter pastures to summer pastures. The Sami and the guests joining the migration move on snowmobiles while following the reindeer. You sit on a sled pulled by a snowmobile. Be prepaid for the bumpy journey!
This is a slow down experience. There is a saying that the Sami walk with the reindeer. The reindeer are semi-domesticated migratory animals that Sami people follow. Sometimes the reindeer stock can stop in one place for a few days and other times they can move faster. You need to be flexible to take the things as they happen as the reindeer rule the migration. On the migration, you sleep around an open fire with your Sami host family in a tent which is set up in different locations while migrating further taking equipment, tents, and food to the next location. Your Sami host family serve you traditional Sami food. You have reindeer meat in different forms, fish, bread, potatoes, and Arctic berries. You can try traditional Sami-skiing and ice-fishing when the reindeer herding duties allow it. During the day there are reindeer herding chores that have to be completed, and which the group will be able to photograph. Additionally there will be opportunities to photograph the Sami herders through portraiture sessions (guided by the instructor). Due to the fact that we live with the Sami during the workshop there will be opportunity to learn location lighting during some of these sessions, as well as how to control portrait lighting with the use of handheld reflectors. On the side there will also potentially be the opportunity to try your hand at (and photograph) ice-fishing, Sami-skiing, and other activities that the Sami rely on during their treks.
This is a slow down experience. There is a saying that the Sami walk with the reindeer. The reindeer are semi-domesticated migratory animals that Sami people follow. Sometimes the reindeer stock can stop in one place for a few days and other times they can move faster. You need to be flexible to take the things as they happen as the reindeer rule the migration. On the migration, you sleep around an open fire with your Sami host family in a tent which is set up in different locations while migrating further taking equipment, tents, and food to the next location. Your Sami host family serve you traditional Sami food. You have reindeer meat in different forms, fish, bread, potatoes, and Arctic berries. You can try traditional Sami-skiing and ice-fishing when the reindeer herding duties allow it. During the day there are reindeer herding chores that have to be completed, and which the group will be able to photograph. Additionally there will be opportunities to photograph the Sami herders through portraiture sessions (guided by the instructor). Due to the fact that we live with the Sami during the workshop there will be opportunity to learn location lighting during some of these sessions, as well as how to control portrait lighting with the use of handheld reflectors. On the side there will also potentially be the opportunity to try your hand at (and photograph) ice-fishing, Sami-skiing, and other activities that the Sami rely on during their treks.
day 6:
The day will begin much like the other herding days, but the group will split off from the herd in the mid morning to make their way to where they can be picked up for the drive back to Alta Airport.
Flights must be booked for the late afternoon.
Flights must be booked for the late afternoon.
About us, description of Tour leader
Christopher Allan (or just plain Chris) is an experienced photo nut! His passion for photography shines through in every shoot he is involved with (and he is involved with a lot). From shooting for the Survivor TV show, fashion shoots at the foot of a giant waterfall in Lesotho and industrial photographs in Zambia and Equatorial Guinea, he is the consummate photographic raconteur. Chris’s roots are in photo-journalism with a degree from Rhodes University. He spent several as an editor at Gallo Images (a stock imagery subsidiary of Getty Images) and has travelled extensively photographing in far flung parts of Africa and Asia for project work and stock imagery. His experience in on-location shooting will be invaluable on this workshop.
Emil von Maltitz is an internationally recognized South African landscape photographer and member of the International Environmental Photographers Association. He has been involved in photography for the better part of the last two decades. More applicable to this particular workshop is Emil’s past career working as an anthrolpologist - which he pursued basically to exactly what this workshop promises - photographing and understanding other people in their home environments.
For the moment the workshop instructor hasn’t been decided on (due to other workshop commitments), so the group will either be instructed by Chris or Emil.
For the moment the workshop instructor hasn’t been decided on (due to other workshop commitments), so the group will either be instructed by Chris or Emil.
Price & inclusions
Available on enquiry
The group size is exclusively limited to four photographers with one photographic instructor.
What is included:
Extensions: Please talk to us for possible extensions, if you would like to stay an extra day or two in Oslo or Alta.
The Nature's Light Terms and Conditions apply to your booking with us. For more information see:
Nature's Light Terms and Condition
The group size is exclusively limited to four photographers with one photographic instructor.
What is included:
- All accommodation and food while staying with the Sami for the duration of the workshop.
- Transfer from and to Alta Airport and the location of the reindeer herds.
- Photographic tuition and guidance throughout the workshop.
Extensions: Please talk to us for possible extensions, if you would like to stay an extra day or two in Oslo or Alta.
The Nature's Light Terms and Conditions apply to your booking with us. For more information see:
Nature's Light Terms and Condition
DATES
TBC. This workshop is seasonal with extremely limited spaces available.
Services |
Company |
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