Photo Tour

Photo tour is more than an opportunity to have a good time and bring back nice pictures from exciting places. First and foremost, it is priceless contacts with like-minded photographers. You will improve on your skills and knowledge, get new friends, and learn more about old friends. Photo tours suit both established photographers and amateurs.

Duration: 14 days / 13 nights
Means of transportation involved: vehicles and hiking
Planned tours for pre-assembled groups of up to ten: Aug 1 to Sep 15
Planned group tour kick-off in 2018: Aug 20
Difficulty level: no above-average level of physical fitness expected

Comfort level: twins and doubles in out-of-city lodging and two-man tents. You will spend most of the time in uninhabited settings, with nights to be spent in two-man tents pitched in base camps at elevations between 1,000 and 1,300m. Night temperatures may hover around zero centigrade. A Ural or KamAZ all-terrain vehicle will be provided for transporting the group and their belongings in comfort.
Catering: breakfasts in café at lodging; three meals cooked on gas stove every day while en route

Price per person: 110 000 RUB

Meet Sergey Krasnoschokov, your guide to Kamchatka and the world of photography.

Tour programme

Day 1: Arrival 
Meet your guide at Yelizovo Airport. Transfer to suburban lodging (40km). Resting time, stress relief in open-air thermal pool.

Day 2:
After breakfast, depart for the Tolbachik volcano (35km away from Kozyrevsk). Expect 14 or 15 hours on the road with stops on demand and an additional dinner stop. Arrive at destination in the evening, set up camp. Photograph the north face of the Tolbachik and other volcanoes such as Klyuchevskaya, Kamen, and Bezymyanny at sunset. Review pictures made, optional discussion. Weather permitting, photograph the night sky.

Days 3 and 4:
Photograph sunrise from camp or hike to the lake 1km away. Breakfast, optionally unencumbered hikes to other sites (10 to 15km away). Dinner out of camp. Return to camp, supper, reviewing of pictures made, optional discussion. Weather permitting, photograph the night sky.

Day 5:
Photograph sunrise from camp or hike to the lake 1km away. After breakfast, pack up and transfer to Tolbachinsky Dol, taking 7 or 8 hours, calling at Kozyrevsk for optional shopping. Dinner at the Studyonaya river. Set up camp in the Dead Forest. Photographing and walking near camp site, supper, photographing sunset and twilight scenes. Reviewing of pictures made, optional discussion. Weather permitting, photograph the night sky.

Days 6 and 7:
Sunrise photography if the Dead Forest is non-typically not foggy. Breakfast. Set out for volcanic cones of the Northern Rupture, forming after 1975-76 eruptions. Optionally, climb the cone and photograph the environs. Dinner. Set out for lava flows and the cone formed after the 2012-13 eruption. Photographing the sheer scale of eruption, hardened lava, recessions, and the like. Sunset. Luck permitting, photograph still-glowing lava in fissures. Return to camp, supper. Reviewing of pictures made, optional discussion. Weather permitting, photograph the night sky.

Day 8:
Sunrise photography, breakfast, transfer to the southern part of the peninsula with a stop for dinner in Milkovo. Check in at suburban lodge with a thermal pool. Expect 14 or 15 hours on the road.

Day 9:
Breakfast, proceed to the base of the Mutnovsky volcano, taking five to six hours. Set up camp at designated site. Take pictures in snow caves and near waterfalls. Sunset photography. Reviewing of pictures made, optional discussion. Weather permitting, photograph the night sky.

Day 10:
Breakfast, proceed to the Mutnovsky volcano. Climb all the way to the crater, taking two or two and a half hours. Take pictures of fumaroles. Walk to the glacial lake, optionally approach the active crater. Return to the vehicle, travel to the Opasny waterfall (height 80m). Return to camp, supper, sunset photography. Reviewing of pictures made, optional discussion. Weather permitting, photograph the night sky.

Day 11:
Breakfast, proceed to the Gorely volcano. Climb all the way to the crater, taking two and a half or three hours. Take pictures of lakes and fumaroles in volcanic craters. Walk down and return to the camp site. Dinner cum supper, photography in the vicinity of base camp. Reviewing of pictures made, optional discussion. Weather permitting, photograph the night sky.

Day 12:
Breakfast. Set out for Petropavlovsk. Optionally, bathe in the Upper Paratunka hot springs and visit the fish market and souvenir stalls. Transfer to lodging. Farewell supper.

Day 13:
Contingency day to compensate for possible bad weather or other emergencies.

Day 14:
Flight back.

What to pack:  
Warm clothes for sleeping, tourist mattress (optionally inflatable), warm sleeping bag, thermals, warm jacket and trousers, down jacket, cap, hiking boots for climbing and trekking, spare footwear, slippers, gloves for walking on lava fields, sunglasses, swimming gear for bathing in pools and springs, bug repellent, sunscreen, toiletries.

Waterproof clothes or cloak, rubber boots for taking pictures in snow caves. A common umbrella can serve as excellent protection for yourself and your equipment.

Hiking poles are desirable for climbs.

Photographic equipment, means of maintenance, two or three spare rechargeable batteries, tripod for night or twilight photography, neutral density gradient gel.

Optionally, laptop or tablet PC for reviewing and backup-copying pictures taken. We provide generators for charging your devices.

During the first three days you will have mobile coverage from two Russian operators, MTS and Beeline. Megafon connections will be less stable. MTS provides 3G Internet.

All ascents as per itinerary can be done by anyone with average level of physical fitness.

For any chronic diseases, you should take care of adequate medication for the case of sudden acute conditions.

Individual first-aid kit.

Torch and spare batteries.

Unpredictable weather means that we may shuffle destinations.

Attention! We reserve the right to alter the sequence of events while providing the entirety of the programme!