The Autumn is now well upon us and as usual here at Photoventures we have been busy planning our exciting tour programme for the coming year 2014. Instead of waiting until the 2014 interactive CD Rom and associated literature is completed we are taking this opportunity to tell all of our existing customers of the exciting tours we already have planned for 2014. In addition to this we will be including details of our trip to Yellowstone in the winter of 2015 as a number of places have already been reserved and are at a premium. At this stage we have the opportunity to offer two trips in 2015 so please do not delay in contacting us. Here at Photoventures we always listen to what interests our customers want. As a small operator we are able to tailor our programme to the needs of our customers and are always ready to listen to ideas and suggestions concerning destinations you may have in mind. So let us know if you have any particular location in mind and we will give it due consideration.

Proposed tours for 2014

Spring in the Pacific Northwest 2014

The Northwest of the United States and in particular the States of Washington and Oregon offer some amazing and rugged scenery. These states contains a very exciting coastline and an interior that has been formed over millions of years by the earth’s violent forces. The influences of the power of volcanic activity are everywhere with the clearest indication being found at Mount St Helens and Mount Ranier. The former having
erupted in a most devastating manner in 1980. The force of the eruption blowing away half of the cone and spewing out an ash cloud so large that it grounded flights for weeks and its dust covered areas hundreds of miles away. However over years the forces of nature have moulded this part of the USA and left their mark everywhere. Our tour will take in a variety of locations that have been shaped by this activity and which offer a wide variety of exciting photography. We begin our tour in Seattle and head north to the rugged Cascades driving through the wild scenery into the Okanogan and Palouse. In the Palouse we will explore this rolling area of the corn belt taking in the extensive area of beautiful sculpted landscape and farming activity. We then cross in the high desert of Oregon visit the John Day Fossil Beds and Crater Lake before reaching the Pacific Ocean and the rugged Oregon Coast. We will explore this all the way to the estuary of the mighty Columbia River before we turn east into the interior and visit the Mount St Helens Volcano, where we witness the devastation of the 1980 eruption. Then it is on to Mount Ranier National Park. Our visit is timed to coincide with the emergence of spring as Mount Ranier has amazing alpine meadows with a wide array of flowers and wildlife. We conclude our tour with a visit to the vibrant city of Seattle with its bustling port, fish market and of course the amazing Space Needle.

The Appalachians and Amish 2014

We have planned a relaxing tour enjoying the fall colours, the unchanged landscape of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the site of the seat of power Washington DC. We
will travel the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to its completion in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee
before returning north to Pennsylvania. The Blue Ridge Parkway follows the top of the Southern Appalachians as it winds its way south. The road is a designated National Park throughout its whole length and the speed limit is 45mph. The only habitation seen on the route are remote farms and old wooden buildings dating back many years. Any encroachment of modern development is strictly forbidden and the only towns we will visit on our journey will require us to leave the Parkway. At the end of the Parkway sits the Great Smoky Mountain National Park one of the jewels of the eastern USA. With fast flowing rivers and craggy cliffs this park is a delight when covered in the colours of autumn and offers some wild and breath taking terrain. At the completion of our return along the Parkway we will spend a few days in the amazing Amish region of Pennsylvania giving us an opportunity to photograph the farms, villages and Amish people, a largely unchanged community who still travel by horse and buggy and avoid the fripperies of modern life. We complete our tour with a visit to the centre of the US Capitol Washington DC affording us the opportunity to photograph some of wonderful buildings and monuments that are concentrated there.

Celebrating India 2014

We have been visiting India for more than a quarter of a century and rightly regard it as one of the worlds premier photographic destina-tions. For our 2014 tour we have arranged a very special and adven-turous tour with our agentsTrinetra Tours (Delhi).
Our tour begins as we fly to Amritsar the capital of the Sikh Nation with its amazing Golden Temple complex. From here we will also visit the border between India and Pakistan to witness the amazing evening spectacle of the troops from both countries as they lower their respective flags. We fly to Amedabad situated in north west India where we begin our tour of Gujarat. This section of the tour offers us a wide variety of great photography with the bustling towns and cities as well as the classic Indian heritage. During our stay in this region we also visit the Rann of Kutch a salt marsh region that offers a number of tribal areas. We then journey to Bhuj where we have a unique opportunity to photograph in the Jat villages which are little explored and offer unique photography. In all, our visit to this region will be very special and complete a unique look at a little explored part of India. This is one trip not to miss if you love India and the great photography it has to offer. This region is situated around the delta of the Indus River and it also offers the opportunity to see a variety of wildlife. In addition we will offer a short extension to visit the wonderful city of Mum-bai. One of the largest cities in India Mumbai offers bus-tling markets colourful streets and exciting heritage.

Highlights of New Mexico 2014

New Mexico is a state that has many great photographic locations and our tour will offer a selection of the highlights to be found there. We have decided to visit in early winter to coincide with one of the great natural spectacles that the state enjoys during the cold months of the year. Situated alongside the Rio Grande River, Bosque del Apache has been preserved as one of the main wintering sites for tens of thousands of birds that migrate south from the severe winter weather in their summer lands situated in the northern tundra. Bosque is significant because of the many thousands of geese and cranes that winter here. To witness the lift off of thousands of geese as the sun rises or the comical morning departures of hundred of cranes is something never forgotten. Our tour is timed to include this amazing refuge at its best.

In addition to this we will be visit the amazing city of Albuquerque, exploring west along part of Route 66 into Arizona, taking in the amazing Wigwam Motel. Our tour will also include a visit to the sight of the VLA telescopes near Socorro and the fantastic White Sands National Monu-ment with its amazing gypsum dunes. This area of white dunes offers some unique and memora-ble photographic possibilities.

Winter in Yellowstone 2015

We begin 2015 with our regular tours to Yellowstone in the win-ter. As some of the spaces on the 2015 tours are already booked in advance we strongly advise that if you are interested in this special tour then you book early to reserve your place on this tour. If demand is high we may operate two tours.

There can be no doubt that a photographic visit to Yellowstone in the winter must be high on the list of the most exciting loca-tions in the world. Its thousands of thermal features and abundant wildlife added to the extreme temperatures makes this very unique location. Our tour begins in the Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole area before making our way north to West Yellowstone. Here we join our own snow coach and spend five full days exploring many aspects of the park. We will use our years of experience to give everyone the opportunity to see Yellowstone at its finest. We will visit locations made famous by Photoventures such as Tangled Creek and Hayden Valley as well as many other well known areas. We will also visit Mam-moth and the Northern section of the Park along the Lamar Val-ley, where we may see bull elk, bison, red fox and with luck spot grey wolves. We will also in-clude a special visit to a local wildlife photographer with a unique opportunity to photo-graph a range of wildlife at his winter feeders. We complete our tour with a visit to the ghost town of Nevada City.

Projected tour dates and estimated costs
Winter in Yellowstone
24th January—9th February 2014
Fully Booked

Wild Florida
10th —24th February 2014
£1,895 (Plus flights)

The Pacific Northwest
23rd June—10th July 2014
£2,350 (Plus flight)

The Appalachians
2nd—19th October 2014
£2,295 (Plus flight)

Celebrating India
2nd —17th November 2014
£2,695 (Plus flight)

Highlights of New Mexico
1st –14th December 2014
£1,895 (Plus flight)

Winter in Yellowstone 2015
23rd January—8th February 2015
£2,725 (Plus flight)

(Prices subject to change)

Plans for 2015

As always here at Photoventures we will be thinking ahead and planning for the 2015 tour programme. After a very successful spring tour to Yellowstone in 2012 we will once again join up with a top local nature photogra-pher who will show us a range of local wildlife. We will also capture the onset of spring in Yellowstone and the Grand Te-ton area. In addition to this we will be offering an extension to visit Alaska to photograph the Grizzly Bears at Katmai. Our tour will centre on Brooks Lodge where the bears fish for the salmon as they negotiate the rapids in the Brooks river. In addition we will also visit Homer to photograph the bald eagles.

Brooks Lodge is booked up years in advance and in order to take advantage of this opportunity it will be necessary to book no later that January 2014. Each booking will require an upfront fee of 25% of the cost of the stay at Katmai which will be in the re-gion of $450. If for any reason you cancel the trip then that de-posit will be forfeited. Being in the USA already the extra flight cost will be small and it makes sense to take advantage of this and have the opportunity for a once in a lifetime nature spectacu-lar. I would urge anyone interested in this amazing photographic opportunity to contact Photoventures at the earliest opportunity. Direct flights from the UK to Alaska will also be an option.