Alaska Photography Tour

Alaska Photography Tour

PHOTOGRAPHING BALD EAGLES

Our 2022 Alaska Photography Tour on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska will provide incredible opportunities to photograph bald eagles, brown bears, and much more! The whole area is surrounded by stunning, snow-capped mountains (yes, even in the summer).

Soaring bald eagle Kenai Mountains Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Photo was created during our 2021 Alaska Photography Tour.

A soaring bald eagle near the Kenai Mountains in Alaska. This image was created on our July 2021 Alaska Photography Tour!

We will have the opportunity to get fairly close to bald eagles! That’s something that has lured photographers to the Kenai Peninsula for years. Join Michael Anderson, a professional photographer for more than 35 years, for an incredible trip into the heart of bald eagle and brown bear country!

An immature bald eagle takes off near Homer, Alaska.

An immature bald eagle takes flight near Homer, Alaska.

Thanks to a woman named Jean Keane, (she was called “The Eagle Lady”), hundreds of bald eagles became acclimated to humans because she had fed them near her home in Homer, Alaska for many years. This practice was outlawed upon her death in 2009, but some of those same bald eagles are still around the area. If you’re looking to capture frame-filling photographs of bald eagles, this is an excellent opportunity to do just that!

BALD EAGLES IN-FLIGHT SHOTS

The lighting can be anything from sunshine to rain. But with any luck, we’ll be able to use higher shutter speeds that can help to stop the action. As the bald eagles approach, they often ride the wind with minimal effort, providing ample opportunities to capture images that show off their impressive wingspan.

A bald eagle soars over Kachemak Bay Kenai Mountains in Alaska.

Our Alaska Photography Tour will give you the opportunity to photograph soaring bald eagles with the Kenai Mountains in the distance.

BALD EAGLE PORTRAITS

Some of the most famous bald eagle photos have come from the Kenai Peninsula. That’s simply because of the fact that a photographer can get so close. While a high-powered lens always helps, an effective focal length of around 300mm is capable of getting great shots. Michael uses a 100-500mm zoom lens almost exclusively (sometimes with a 1.4 teleconverter).

A bald eagle eating salmon on Kachemak Bay, Alaska.

Salmon for dinner!

Witness what makes Homer one of the best locations in the world for bald eagle photography.

BALD EAGLE CLOSE-UPS

While not all of the inhabitants in the Kenai Peninsula will allow you to photograph them from 20 feet away, but when they do, it’s really cool! Our Alaska Photography Tour should give you the opportunity to get great close-up photos of bald eagles.

Head and shoulder portrait of a bald eagle in Alaska. Photograph was taken on our July 2021 Alaska Photography Tour.

Taking headshots of bald eagles is certainly possible in Alaska.

LANDSCAPE PHOTOS WITH BALD EAGLES

On a clear day, there are snow-capped mountains all along Kachemak Bay, providing some of the most picturesque backgrounds you’ll ever witness. On our Alaska Photography Tour, you’ll have opportunities to make the bald eagle part of the amazing landscapes. Doing so will provide scale and much-added depth to your images. Plus, it’s just plain beautiful!

An immature bald eagle soaring over Alaska.

An immature bald eagle soars in front of a mountain range near Seward, Alaska.

PHOTOGRAPHS of BROWN (GRIZZLY) BEARS

As if photographing lots of bald eagles weren’t enough, wait until you see and photograph a brown bear at close range! Or even better, witness a dozen or more brown bears at one time! That could be the reality on our Alaska Photography Tour!

We’ll be flying with Bald Mountain Air in their “Rolls Royce” of Alaskan bush planes to world-famous Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park! Bald Mountain Air flies DeHavilland Otters that have been converted to the latest Turbine power, the most dependable engines installed in any aircraft.

Bald Mountain Air in Homer, Alaska flies DeHavilland Otter floatplanes.

Michael and Joannie are on the dock at Bald Mountain Air in Homer, Alaska.

The flight takes about an hour and a half to get across Cook Inlet and past McNeil River (another famous place to watch bears). We then fly through the mountains, past all the huge interior lakes. It is very possible to see moose, bears, and caribou from the sky. It will give you a real good idea as to just how big Alaska really is!

The beautiful view from the air on the way to Katmai National Park, Alaska.

The stunning wilderness of Alaska as seen from a floatplane.

Safety First!

Once we land, there’s always the chance that we might have to wait in the floatplane for a few minutes to let bears clear the beach. Then, it’s off to the visitors center for a 20-minute bear safety briefing. This is required by the National Park Service to enter the park.

Brooks Camp sign at Katmai National Park, Alaska.

Michael and Joannie at Brooks Camp.

We suggest you quickly eat your packed lunch here before going to the river. Next to the visitor center are picnic tables and a cache to store your food and belongings. National Park Rangers are positioned at various points on the trail allowing visitors to hike independently without a guide.

Brooks Falls is the most famous place in Katmai to see bears. It is the place you have probably seen on the Discovery Channel with bears lined up to catch fish as they are jumping up the falls. From where we land, the walk to the falls is about a mile and a half. The trail is easy walking and you won’t need to rush.

Eleven brown bears at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska.

11 brown bears at one time!

Many times, there are bears on trails and this can cause a delay. Bears always have the right-of-way in Katmai. Our hike might be a little longer if one of them decides to nap on the trails. We also could depart late should one of these guys decide to take a nap on the beach next to our plane!

Note that if the salmon aren’t running at Brooks Falls, our pilot will take us to an alternate location where they are. Running salmon means bears eating, usually in numbers.

A mother brown bear teaching her cub how to fish at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park in Alaska.

Fresh salmon for lunch!

Seward, and Kenai Fjords National Park

Since no two trips are ever the same, we’ll do three separate private charter 9-hour boat tours* out of Seward (weather permitting) into stunning Resurrection Bay! We will cruise around to locate and photograph whales (humpbacks and orcas), marine wildlife, and glaciers found in spectacular Kenai Fjords National Park.

Our experienced captain will take us to find whatever we want to seek out. Along the way, we’ll see spectacular sights, the area’s wildlife, and geology. Since it’s a private charter, we can go wherever we want to! I’m sure that at least once we’ll spend time in front of a towering tidewater glacier and watch for calving, where giant chunks of glacial ice break off and crash into the water.

*one private charter for each additional photographer I have along, up to three separate trips.

Alaska Photography Tour Basic Information

The dates are July 8th to the 19th in 2022.

The cost of this amazing Alaska Photography Tour is $8950 (per person, double occupancy), or $10,450 for your own room at each location. (Note that this tour requires a minimum of 2 photographers.)

If there are 3 participants, the cost decreases by $500 per person.

With 4 participants, the cost decreases by $1000 per person.

The 5th participant decreases the cost by $1500 per person.

The tour includes all of the following and is based on availability when you reserve your spot. The plane to Katmai will fill up fast, so if there’s no room onboard when you reserve, we cannot take you (you’ll receive an $875 credit/refund if the plane is full when you book):

  1. Transportation from our starting hotel in Anchorage to all locations.
  2. All 11 nights of hotel rooms in Anchorage, Homer, Seward, and Girdwood.
  3. It also includes the floatplane ride to Katmai National Park for brown bear viewing.
  4. Three full days of photographing bald eagles!
  5. In addition, we’ll take a 9-hour private boat charter on three consecutive days** out of Seward, Alaska. Each of those trips will be unique as we’ll photograph everything from humpback whales and orcas to puffins and glaciers!
  6. A 4- 1/2 hour jet ski trip to view glaciers and possibly wildlife too!
  7. A possible light painting project at a gold mine!
  8. Photography and post-production tips and instruction all along the way.

**one private boat charter for each photographer/participant that we have along, up to three separate trips.

Not included is your flight into and out of Anchorage, your food and beverages, trip insurance, camera equipment, tipping (at hotels, restaurants, and guides), and any souvenirs along the way.

View The Whole Alaska Itinerary In More Detail Here

To make this a great learning experience, the maximum number of photographers Michael will take is 5. So don’t wait! Contact Michael to lock in your spot on his Alaska Photography Tour today! (Note that the tour requires a minimum of 2 photographers.)

Feel free to contact Michael with any questions you may have. The studio landline is 763-785-1177 and Michael’s email is: Michael@adesignerportraits.com

“Alaska Photography Tour” © 2021 Michael Anderson Photography.