Photo Tours

The Adirondack Park covers six million acres and offers a mind-boggling diversity of photographic subjects. Our Photo Tours will maximize your image-making opportunities by making sure you are in the right place at the right time. If you have a particular subject, or type of photograph, in mind we can help you discover and access locations at times when your odds of success will be high. If you have a specific place in mind, we can help make sure you are there when conditions are at their best. If your interests are less specific, we can select a destination suitable for the conditions from a long list of our favorites.

After more than 35 years of professional mountain guiding we have an intimate familiarity with the Adirondacks and, more importantly, we know how to connect people with experiences they enjoy. We adjust every itinerary to your preferences. We can arrange long hikes to remote spots, but most people prefer to hike less and spend more time photographing. Accordingly, we have a large, and diverse selection of nearby, easily-accessible destinations to choose from. We'll make sure you and the chosen destination are suitable for one another.

Because we are situated in the midst of the most striking, rugged mountain scenery in the Adirondacks, we rarely need to travel far to get to interesting locations. Within a ten-mile radius we are intimately familiar with hundreds of great locations ranging from waterfalls, streams and ponds, to crags and mountaintops. Depending on the time of day, conditions, and your interests, we can focus on a specific subject, such as close-ups of wildflowers or long exposures of moving water. For the more adventurous, there are short to moderate bushwhacks leading to little-known places.

In addition to mountain landscape subjects we can facilitate technical rock and ice climbing photography. Although a few climbs can be successfully photographed from roadsides or trailside overlooks, most require at least some scrambling to exposed vantage points. The most vertigo-inducing climbing photos usually require the photographer to be hanging from a rope on the cliff. This highly-specialized area of photography is offered only to experienced technical climbers with requisite skills and, for safety and expediency, we accept a maximum of two photographers per booking. Considerable traditional climbing experience, in a multi-pitch setting, and a solid understanding of fixed-rope ascent and descent techniques is essential. Enthusiasm alone is not sufficient.

Most of our Photo Tours can only be booked privately, for you or your group. If you'd prefer to join a group of other photographers, please see our Best of The Adirondacks Tour or our scheduled Workshops.

Half-Day Guided Photo Tours (4 hours)

1 to 3 participants with one guide: $400  (per group)

4 to 6 participants with two guides: $800 (per group)

Our Half-Day Guided Photo Tours typically involve driving 10 to 20 minutes to one of several nearby areas, each of which offers a wide variety of photographic possibilities. From that base, depending on conditions, light and your interests, we'll select from locations within a few minutes', up to a half-hour's, walk from the road. At each location we'll help you explore a variety of compositions and subjects. In spectacular light we might spend an entire session working a single location but usually we visit two or three spots, working each until we run out of ideas or light.

For novice photographers, we'll provide the guidance and assistance required for you to come back with a collection of photos you'll be proud to display. For more experienced photographers, we'll make sure you have inspiring subjects to shoot but we won't get in the way while you create your photographs, especially if your interpretation of the scene is working the way you want it to. Our goal is for you to return with photos that satisfy you and we'll do whatever we can to make that happen.

These tours can be booked for any four-hour period, subject to our availability.  Arrangements can be made for mid-day, or to include the often-remarkable light of dawn, dusk or nighttime. 

Full-Day Guided Photo Tours (8 hours)

1 to 3 participants with one guide: $600 (per group)         

4 to 6 participants with two guides: $1200 (per group)

A full day out in the mountains with a highly-experienced mountain guide and accomplished photographer can open the door to photographic possibilities that would otherwise be impossible. A full day permits considerably more flexibility than a half-day allows. In terms of itineraries, more remote locations and more demanding objectives are possible. We can focus on any aspect of photography you choose, from roadside mountain landscapes to remote waterfalls. We can also help you develop skills that will allow you to realize your photographic aspirations. Most of these tours involve travel on foot but, with a full day, it is possible to travel by boat to some destinations. We welcome the challenge of creating an experience just for you.

These tours can be booked for any eight-hour period, subject to our availability.  Arrangements can be made for mid-day, or to include the often-remarkable light of dawn, dusk or nighttime. 

Multi-Day Guided Photo Tours (multiple days)

These come in three flavors, each designed to accommodate a particular situation:

Best of the Adirondacks: We are based in the heart of the most spectacular terrain in the Adirondacks, allowing us easy access to stunning photography locations, but there's plenty to photograph elsewhere in the Park. This tour was designed to provide enthusiastic photographers an opportunity to photograph a diversity of Adirondack locations, across several regions of the Park. Although it can also be booked privately, we schedule this two-day weekend tour, once each, in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. These are open-enrollment tours. Destinations vary with each season so every trip is different. We travel by carpool, eating in restaurants and staying in affordable lodging. Details & Cost

Remote Adirondack Locations: Although a fast hiker can reach pretty much any place in the Adirondacks in one day, some locations are simply too remote to photograph effectively in a single day. Traveling on foot, or sometimes by boat, we set up a backcountry campsite to serve as a base for photographing nearby locations at optimum times. Depending on the destination, one or two nights camped out will provide ample opportunities for photography. This tour can be booked privately for yourself or your group. Details & Cost

Trips To Exotic Destinations: As career mountain guides, we have travelled the world with our clients. On six continents, we have organized and guided more than 140 privately arranged climbing and skiing trips. We are now concentrating on trips aimed directly at photographers. In keeping with our affinity for "off the beaten path" places, we are most interested in destinations that are not well-known, where new and different image-making opportunities abound.  Details & Cost

Booking Information