Greenland Grandeur

* NOTE - LISTED PRICE INCLUDES 5% GST * - $6250+tax ($6562.50)

The price includes two meals daily (breakfast and dinner - participants are free to head off on own for lunches), accomodation, in Greenland transportation after official start in Ilulissat on September 12th until the end date in Ilulissat on September 20th, and instruction.

Greenland Grandeur Photography Workshop/Tour

Thank you for your interest in this one-of-a-kind event hosted by Dave Brosha and Paul Zizka in one of the world's most spectacular countries, Greenland. Join us for nine days in September, 2016 while we explore one of the least-photographed but most beautiful countries in the world and let us help you take your landscape, night, and portrait photography skills to the next level! You'll get a chance to work closely with both of us as we tackle a variety of topics (primarily in the field, with some classroom learning and critiques) aimed at expanding your technical photo skills and your creative vision, all while soaking in the Arctic splendour of an incredible, pristine environment.

Dates: Sept 12-20 / Participants would meet at the Icefjord Hotel in Ilulissat, Greenland at 4PM on September 12th as the official starting point.

Max number of participants: 16

Accommodation and Meals: Your time for the duration of the workshop is split between the comfortable Icefjord Hotel in Ilulissat, which offers stunning views of giant icebergs passing through the harbour, and the Panorama Hostel on the remote and rugged Disko Island. Our group will be taking over the hostel while there, which although rustic and will require shared accomodations, is entirely comfortable and is centrally located to take advantage of some incredible short hikes to scenic photography locations. All breakfasts and dinners will be catered (on Disko) and/or served at a restaurant (in Ilulissat).

Important note: this is not a "luxury" tour. While we feel you will find it very comfortable, please note that accommodations will be shared (two participants per room in Ilulissat, up to 8 participants per hostel room on Disko Island). We will do our best, however, to accomodate friends/spouses traveling together to ensure you room in the same cabin.

Itinerary

Here’s a sample schedule of what you can expect (please note that details are very likely to change as we finalize everything between now and September 12th, 2016):

Monday, September 12, 2016

• 4 PM – Arrival and check-in at the Icefjord Hotel in Ilulissat, Greenland. The hotel will provide transportation from the Ilulissat Airport to the hotel.
• 4:30 – 6:00 PM– Presentations/Welcome
  
• 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM - Sunset shooting, Ilulissat Harbour.
  
• 8:30 PM - 10 PM - Welcome dinner.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

• 6:30 AM - 9:00 AM – Morning shoot, field demos around Ilulissat.
• 10 AM - 11AM – Late breakfast
• 11 - 4 PM - Freetime/nap time/lunch/open editing time.
  
• 4 PM - 8 PM – Hike (approx 2KM to afternoon/sunset shooting location, Ilulissat Icejford - UNESCO World Heritage Site)
  
• 8 - 10PM - Dinner

(NOTE: if conditions allow, half group head off on tour of Ilulissat Harbour via water taxi; entire group will have opportunity to do so during our time in Ilulissat, included in your price, but space on the tour is limited so different groups of participants will go at different times).

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

• 6:30 AM - 9:00 AM – Morning shoot, field demos around Ilulissat.
• 10 AM - 11AM – Late breakfast
• 11 - 4 PM - Freetime/nap time/lunch/open editing time.
  
• 4 PM - 8 PM – Hike (approx 2KM to afternoon/sunset shooting location, Ilulissat Icejford - UNESCO World Heritage Site)
  
• 8 - 10PM - Dinner
• 10PM - late - night/aurora shooting, if conditions allow.

(NOTE: if conditions allow, half group head off on tour of Ilulissat Harbour via water taxi; entire group will have opportunity to do so during our time in Ilulissat, included in your price, but space on the tour is limited so different groups of participants will go at different times).

Thursday, September 15, 2016

• 6:00 AM - breakfast/depart to Disko Island. Note: transportation to Disko is via boat. For those prone to sea sickness, be forewarned that journey can occasionally be choppy, so bring medication if you think helpful. The trip across is quite scenic and beautiful, however, and we will be journeying past massive icebergs and potentially whales, so keep your cameras at the ready.
  
• 4 PM - 8:00PM - check in, Disko Island, walking/photo tour of area.
• 8PM - 10:00PM - dinner.

Friday, September 16, 2016

• 6:00 AM - breakfast/sunrise shooting around Qeqertarsuaq.
  
• 11AM - depart for a long day hike to one of the most spectacular areas of Greenland, the Kuannit area of Disko Island. We will pack lunches/dinner and spend the day in this area including afternoon, sunset, and potentially night photography. Expect an approximately a 5KM-7KM round hike on gentle sloping ground (trails) with some uneven rocks to cover.
  

Saturday, September 17, 2016

• 6:00 AM - breakfast/sunrise shooting around Qeqertarsuaq.
  
• 3PM - depart for a day hike to another incredible location just outside Qeqertarsuaq which features multiple waterfalls, impressive hills, and autumn colours. We will pack dinner and spend the day in this area including afternoon, sunset, and potentially night photography. Expect an approximately a 3KM-5KM round hike on gentle sloping ground (trails) with some uneven rocks to cover.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

• 6:00 AM - breakfast/sunrise shooting around Qeqertarsuaq.
  
• Depart via boat back to Ilulissat
  
• Optional night shooting in Ilulissat.

Monday, September 19, 2016

• Sunrise / UNESCO Harbour
• Late Breakfast
• Break during day
• Sunset (leave at 5) (Ilulissat shoreline)
• Big group dinner/ slideshow / Musk Ok beers in bar.
  

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

• Finale breakfast
• Depart Ilulissat
  

NOTE: The itinerary can and will change based on weather conditions, among other factors. Participants are expected to be flexible to the group's needs.

What to expect

The workshop is suitable for participants of all levels of experience in photography. Most locations will be readily accessible with short hikes.

This event focuses 100% on landscape + outdoor + night photography, but participants are free to ask questions about and practice portrait photography as well. It is worth noting that the workshop will be quite intense in order to maximize field time. Participants are not expected to participate in every aspect of the workshop/tour. It’s up to you to get out as much as you like, though of course it is recommended you give it your all.

LEAVE NO TRACE

Both Dave and Paul preach and live the ethics of "leave no trace" photography, which means that the utmost care is given, while hiking and photographing, to leaving zero impact on the natural environment. Participants are expected to approach this tour with the same ethics at all times.

WIFI
Internet access is generally hard to come by in Greenland and you should expect to be largely unplugged during the trip. It’s not impossible to access the internet, it’s just expensive. WIFI at hotels is usually sold by the hour (roughly $10/per hour) or if you prefer to connect via 3G, you can buy a package through your service provider in Canada that will work in many places in Greenland. We were able to connect to Greenland’s network via Bell at the rate of $75/300MB.


Village/Town Transportation

Come expecting to walk through the village of Ilulissat and on Disko Island as opposed to vehicle transportation. The towns are small and it’s a great way to take in the local culture and sights of the town. Taxis can be taken in Ilulissat but we found it easier (not to mention cheaper) to just walk where we needed to go to. For reference we found we walked, on average, about two kilometres per day in and around town (longer hikes, of course, for access to great photo places).

Food

Included in the cost of registration is your daily instruction, guiding, and two meals per day (breakfast, which will sometimes be a packed/deli lunch on the land so that we can take advantage of sunrise shooting hours which generally conflict with restaurant hours, and dinner). For lunch, participants will be free to eat per their choosing. For the budget-conscious the grocery stores are well-stocked and offer quite a bit of variety (including fresh baked goods). While more expensive than most Canadian grocery stores, we still found it much cheaper to buy food in Greenland than in the Canadian Arctic.

For those looking for sit down/restaurant meals, both villages offer a variety of restaurants. In Ilulissat, the hotel offers dining options that are excellent, and there's plenty of choice in and around the town. In Qeqertarsuaq, we will be staying in a hostel environment which allows for full use of cooking facilities. It is recommended that participants bring along 5-8 dehydrated meals (available in most outdoor/sporting good stores) as they are generally tasty, cheap ($6-$9 per), light, and very quick meal options.

Touring together in a remote country with not much in the way of traditional luxury facilities will sometimes require a group effort for meal preparation (including cooking, and dishwashing). Think of it as a fun way to come together as a team and share in the logistics of exploring such a unique country, together.


Terrain/Hiking/Fitness Level

Unlike some tours that Paul and Dave have held in Canada, which largely sees roadside photography locations, Greenland requires light-to-moderate walking/hiking to get to some of the most truly spectacular locations. Participants should come being prepared to hike to locations, sometimes in low light (or, for photographing the aurora borealis, should it emerge, in the dark). Please refer to the gear section for more information on what to bring to make hiking as safe and enjoyable an activity as possible. None of the places we will bring the group require any technical rock or mountaineering skills, but there is uneven terrain and the chance of wet and slippery rocks. Dave and Paul will do their best to assess the groups physical level and structure the daily outings accordingly. There is the possibility of the group splitting up at times where people who are more comfortable doing longer/extended hikes can shoot in one location, while those who aren’t as comfortable can shoot at different (but also spectacular) locations. No participant will be expected to do anything that they feel unsafe or uncomfortable with and we will do our best to make sure you still experience the absolute best that Greenland has to offer!

Ultimately, you don't have to be an extreme outdoorsperson, mountaineer, or hiker to enjoy this trip. Light hiking is required, however, so if you think that hikes over gently sloping/occasionally rocky terrain with distances ranging between 1 KM - 8KM may be problematic, this trip may not be the best fit for you. On the one or two days where we will do longer hikes, the pace will be quite lesiurely with frequent rests/breaks.

What to Bring

As the tour is in Septmber in the Arctic, there is the possibility of some very diverse weather conditions and cool temperatures, especially in the late evening and early mornings. Please come prepared for a variety of weather conditions as the more comfortable you are, the more enjoyable your experience will be. For reference, we experienced temperatures ranging from -10C at night to +8C during the day during our 2015 trip, with weather including beautiful sunshine, fog, light drizzle, and snow.

Please bring:

• suitable and comfortable clothing, which you can layer (including long underwear)
• warm jacket (we brought light down parkas)
• waterproof jacket and pants
• hiking boots (we will be in potentially wet and rocky areas)
• warm hat
• a headlamp or flashlight
• gloves (try to find gloves that still allow you to operate your camera)
• your own camera equipment (preferably DSLR, which allows manual control of shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings and a range of lenses, if you have). Our recommended lenses to bring would be one wide angle lens with a fast aperture (useful for night photography) and a 70-200MM lens (useful for photographing large icebergs that are offshore). Other lenses are useful, of course, but those two lenses were our most frequented "go-to" lenses.
• a sturdy tripod
• a cable (or wireless) shutter release
• a laptop for editing (with editing software, preferably Adobe)

As well, we optionally recommend:

• chemical handwarmers
• hiking poles
• small first aid kit (we will also have)
• blister bandages
• water bottle
  

Transportation To Greenland

The price of the workshop does not include initial transportation to Greenland, or your return flight. Participants will need to book their flights so that they will be in Ilulissat, Greenland on or before 4PM, September 12th.

There are limited options to get to Greenland; after registration opens we will be creating a private Facebook page to recommend flight options once final 2016 flight schedules are known. This year, there were two primary options to arrive in Ilulissat: Air Greenland via Denmark (Copenhagen) or Iceland Air via Iceland (Reykjavik). Costwise, it was approximately $2500 inclusive in 2015 for us to travel from Canada to Denmark to Greenland, return. We also took advantage of the opportunity to travel to Denmark, spending a couple extra days, there, exploring Denmark and Sweden (which is a short drive/ferry away). We recommend if you are traveling via either Denmark or Iceland that you do the same, if time permits.

Payment Schedule and Cancellation Policy

A $1500 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your spot (although full payment may be made, up front), with balance due on a payment schedule over the year leading up to tour. Payments will be made approximately every three months (important: not making a payment means you may forfeit your space and any payments made to date - it is important that you commit to making payments in a timely manner).

Spots are non-refundable but are transferrable (i.e. if the the participant is able to find someone else to take their spot and can sell/transfer the spot to a new participant, this is acceptable).

The total cost of the trip is $6250+tax ($6562.50). After $1500 deposit is made, the remainder payments will be on the following schedule:

Jan 15/2016 - $1687.50

April 15/2016 - $1687.50

July 15/2016 - $1687.50

TOUR CANCELLATION POLICY:

Although extremely unlikely, Brosha Photography Ltd. and Paul Zizka Photography reserve the right to cancel the tour at any time for a variety of reasons (i.e. if a minimum number of participants is not met or if unforeseen circumstances dramatically impacted cost of the tour or global conditions somehow warranted a cancellation). In the very unlikely event of a cancellation, all monies/deposits made to Brosha/Zizka would be refunded to participants however no compensation would be made for participant flight cancellation fees. It is not only advised but required that participants have trip cancellation insurance, including medical/illness insurance and rescue coverage (proof required within 4 months of departure). By purchasing a spot you are acknowledging that you accept these conditions.

For any additional questions, please contact any of the event organizers:

• Paul Zizka - info@zizka.ca
• Dave Brosha - davebrosha@gmail.com