Coastal Photography Tour in Pacific Rim National Park 5-days building and honing your photography skills while immersed in pristine coastal wilderness With exploration of island archipelagos and ancient coastal rainforests

Discover Photograph Learn Marine wilderness of Bears, whales, sea otters, Strategies for ’s eagles, tidepools, forests, photographing coastal west coast and seabirds wildlife and environments Coastal Photography Tour 2015 Pacific Rim National Park

During our 2015 Photo Tour in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, living and travelling aboard the schooner Passing Cloud, and isolated from all the distractions of shore-bound life, you’ll have the opportunity to focus on taking your photography to the next level. Accommodations, delicious food, and transportation to stunning photo destinations are all included, leaving you free to concentrate on capturing your vision of this pristine coastal wilderness.

2 Our floating classroom for this photo tour is the schooner Passing Cloud, and our playground is CLAYOQUOT the Broken Group Islands of Pacific Rim National SOUND

Park Reserve. This all-inclusive photography VANCOUVER adventure overlays discussion-based workshops, photo reviews, and one-on-one guidance upon the islands, beaches, old-growth rainforests, rocky intertidal zones, kelp forest communities, estuaries and fiords of this diverse region.

VANCOUVER ISLAND 5-days / 4-nights

2015 departures: April 21

Price per person: $2600 CAD Departs from / Returns to: Ucluelet

BROKEN GROUP ISLANDS UNIT PACIFIC RIM NATIONAL What’s Included? PARK RESERVE

All meals, accommodation, transportation, user fees, use of onboard gear and resources, and rubber boots. What’s not included? 5% GST, travel and accommodation before and after the expedition, gratuities, any personal expenses incurred due to weather, logistical delays, delayed departures of chartered aircraft, taxis, ferries.

3 Sample Itinerary: Coastal Photography Tour 2015

Please note that our goal is to put you in the ideal photographic location for the prevailing light, tide, and wildlife conditions as much as possible and so it’s impossible to provide a fixed itinerary. That being said, the following sample itinerary will give you an idea of our expected daily flow.

Pre- Tour

Participants arrive today in Ucluelet and spend the night at accommodations of your choice. Suggested sights/activities for you here include the Ucluelet Aquarium, a forest walk to Amphitrite Point Lighthouse, or a walk along Long Beach. We’ll have an optional meet and greet with our instructor and the ship’s captain at 7:00 PM at a location to be determined.

I walked away from the tour as a more complete photographer with a much better grasp of camera technology and all the subtle nuances involved in taking more compelling photos. I also have a greater appreciation for the history of the area, and Day the importance of the diverse 1 ecosystem. Our tour officially begins at 10:00 AM when participants board the Passing Cloud. After meeting the crew and a Chris Botting, Outer Shores Traveller safety briefing, our photographic adventures begin as we leave the dock and immediately encounter myriad photographic opportunities: coastal fishing community, all manner of vessels, seals, sea lions, bald eagles, and rugged seascapes. After lunch we’ll have our first discussion-based sessions: Introduction to Coastal Photography and Rainforest Photography. With this information fresh in our minds, we’ll embark upon our first shore excursion via zodiac and put our new skills and strategies to work. Afterwards we’ll enjoy our first fabulous dinner aboardPassing Cloud, finishing in time to enjoy the golden evening light, either back on shore for from the foredeck. We’ll end the day in Passing Cloud’s beautiful main salon, with time to work on images, receive post-processing help, and socialize, perhaps with a glass of wine in hand.

4 Day 2

For those who choose to accept this mission, today starts with James Thompson’s famous “Dawn Patrol”, with a quick snack and fresh coffee in hand. Don’t worry, if you decide in favour of those extra hours of sleep, we’ll all rendezvous for second breakfast, following by our daily planning session and today’s topic: Coastal Wildlife. During this time Passing Cloud will be moving us towards our next photographic destination, Wouwer Island. We’ll go for a zodiac excursion here, on the lookout for the Steller sea lions known to frequent this area, and then back to the ship for lunch. Early afternoon is a good time for fitting in a nap, sorting and processing photos, and/or preparing for our afternoon expedition, during which we’ll sail the waters of Imperial Eagle Channel, on the lookout for whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Our evening sunset session will be shore-based at our overnight anchorage, Effingham Island. Time permitting, we’ll end the day with an optional image critique in which participants submit between one and three images shot during the tour for constructive review by the group.

Day Day 3 4

As with every morning, “Dawn Patrol” today is We have a very good low tide this morning and so available but certainly not mandatory, followed everyone is up for this morning’s photo session by breakfast, our planning session, and today’s at Wouwer Island. After another scrumptious hot discussion topic: Coastal Composition. Our shooting breakfast and coffee on the aft deck, we meet session this morning will take place on Benson Island, for our planning session and today’s discussion or “C’isaa”, birthplace and ancient village site of the topic: Intertidal/Tidepool Techniques. This is a fun Tseshaht First Nation. At this remarkable island, we’ll topic with some tricks for using reflective light and have a wide range of photographic opportunities time-lapse techniques. Because Wouwer offers available to us, including beaches, old-growth everything from sea lions to forests to tidepools, rainforests, tidepools, and wildlife. After lunch and we’ll spend our second morning session here before afternoon free time, we gear up for photographing going sailing during and after lunch. The location black bears in a nearby coastal estuary. Depending and focus of this afternoon’s photography session on tides and wildlife sightings, we may return to the will be up to the group, this being the last full day of estuary after dinner, or set up for another spectacular the tour. We may return to the estuaries for more west coast sunset on a nearby island. Image critique, bear photography, go sailing in search of whales and reviews, or post-processing anyone? Or perhaps just sea otters, or visit an unexplored beach or ancient desert and time for sorting photos. village site. After dinner today, we finish with time for sorting and processing in preparation for our final group photo critique session and our version of the “People’s Choice Awards” (don’t worry, fun and prizes for all!).

Day 5

Looking to squeeze every last drop out of our expedition, at least some of us will be up for Dawn Patrol (right JT?), and others will enjoy a leisurely morning coffee, or perhaps quietly explore our anchorage via sea kayak. As we make our way back to Ucluelet for our 10:00 AM disembarkation, we’ll keep a sharp look out for more marine mammals, seabirds, or coastal scenics for that last perfect shot.

5 FAQ: Coastal Photography Tour 2015

Who should take this tour? Anyone with an interest in improving their technical and artistic photographic skills in a stunning coastal wilderness setting.

What is the nature of this tour? What kind of photo tour is it? This tour has three main components: (1) living and travelling aboard a beautiful wooden schooner, participants are completely immersed in a pristine coastal wilderness environment, providing unlimited photographic opportunities; (2) all logistics are completely taken care of for you, including accommodation, transportation, and wonderful chef-prepared meals…it’s easy! And (3) our instructor and photography expert focuses on helping you build your photographic toolbox by focusing on a range of photographic challenges/opportunities including marine wildlife, coastal rainforests, the intertidal zone, coastal composition, and more. Frequent, shooting sessions, discussion-based workshops, one-on-one help, and group image reviews are hallmarks of this tour. Ultimately, this is your holiday and we want it to be fun and informative for you.

What will I get to photograph? We endeavour to expose participants to all the major features of our wild west coast: the open ocean, the fascinating intertidal zone, unspoiled soaring coastal old growth rainforests, and a wide array of wildlife including bears, eagles, whales, sea lions, seals and a myriad of other birdlife all set against the stunning backdrop of the Vancouver Island Mountain Range. We occasionally also run into orca, sea otters, dolphins, porpoises and wolves.

How physically fit should I be? You should be able to walk short distances over somewhat uneven terrain carrying your camera gear.

What is the Instructor to Participant Ratio? How many crew will be on board? There will be a maximum of 6 participants on the tour, and one instructor. Our ship’s crew will consist of captain (also a PhD in marine biology), mate/deckhand, and chef.

What camera gear should I bring? Short answer? Everything! The wider the range of focal lengths available to you, the more photographic choices you have. Another essential piece of equipment is a tripod sturdy enough to bear the weight of your camera plus largest lens. Other useful items include a polarizing filter, spare batteries, plenty of storage media, and a flash or reflector.

I am a single traveler. Can I have a cabin to myself or do I have to share with someone else? We do encourage spouses or close friends to join this tour together and share a cabin. However, given the arrangement of the cabins and a mixture of friends/couples and single travelers, we typically can accommodate single travellers in a cabin to themselves.

6 FAQ: Coastal Photography Tour 2015 (Continued)

How do I get there? The tour departs aboard the schooner Passing Cloud from the picturesque fishing village of Ucluelet, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. A beautiful 4 hr drive from Victoria, both Tofino and Ucluelet are well served by ground transport from Victoria and Nanaimo (see www. tofinobus.com). Another option is to fly directly to Tofino from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) (visit www.kdair.com or www.flyorcaair.com).

What will the weather be like? Spending a week on the west coast in April you will likely encounter a little bit of everything. Sun, wind, and rain are often encountered even within a single day as weather fronts from the open Pacific Ocean pass by. You can expect daytime temperatures to be between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius.

What clothing should I bring? You will be provided with a detailed packing list well in advance of the tour; however, you’ll need to be prepared for a wide range of weather conditions.

How should I protect my camera gear? While rain can easily be wiped off, and many higher end cameras are well weather sealed, salty sea spray can be very corrosive to sensitive electronics. A simple shower cap will keep the worst of the weather at bay, but you may want to consider purchasing more sophisticated and robust weather protection. See James Thompson’s Outer Shores Blog post “It IS a rainforest after all” for more details (www.outershores.ca/2013/05/it-is-a-rainforest- after-all/).

Will I be able to charge my camera batteries and laptop? Yes, the ship has several AC power outlets with the standard North American type plug sockets.

How much on board storage is available? There are several large drawers and a small hanging locker in each stateroom, perfect for all your clothing, jackets and some gear. A waterproof tote, securely stored outside on deck will be provided for each participant also.

Should I bring my laptop computer? Yes! Although not mandatory, we will be critiquing our work during the trip and providing on-the-fly post-processing tips. There will be downtime each day during which you can work on your images.

How do I book this tour? To reserve you berth on this tour we request that you provide a $1000 CAD deposit that is fully refundable until 90 days prior to your departure date. At this time your balance becomes due in full, and payments becomes non-refundable. If you have to cancel inside of 90 days, we will endeavour to find a replacement participant for you, or you can transfer your payment to one of our other expeditions in the same or following year.

7 If you have any questions about our 360 B Harbour Road expeditions, or a specific detail about the Victoria, British Columbia expedition you have booked, please let V9A 3S1, Canada us know by phone or visit our website for more information. [email protected]

Photo Credits: James Thompson and Chris Botting 1-855-714-7233 (Toll Free in North America) 1-250-220-2311 (Local and International)