Newfoundland 2026

Cost

• $3,645 (Price if you choose to drive on your own and arrange your own lodging for puffins. Airfare, meals, 1st night lodging in St. John’s , lodging for puffins and transportation are not included).

• $4,600 (Price includes transportation and lodging throughout the whole trip. Airfare, meals and 1st night lodging in St. John’s are not included.

• $1,200 non-refundable deposit due on signup. Balance of $2,445 or $3,400, depending on which option you choose for lodging and transportation is due by April 1, 2026.

• Free 2 Hour Image Review and Processing Bonus Session after the tour to help with processing questions.

Tour Objective

To come home with high-quality and memorable images of the seabirds of Newfoundland.

Description

Over the course of seven days, we will dedicate 11 photography sessions to capturing the stunning seabirds of the Atlantic cliffs, including Atlantic Puffins, Northern Gannets, and other seabird species sharing their habitat. The tour begins on Monday at noon, when we will meet and begin our journey to the Atlantic Puffin colonies.

From Monday evening through Thursday morning, we will focus on photographing puffins at their colonies, totaling six sessions. On Thursday afternoon, we will proceed to the Northern Gannet colony, with our first session there scheduled for Thursday evening. We will spend Friday and Saturday capturing gannets in flight and perched, with five sessions planned across these days.

In addition, we will look for other wildlife, including Willow Ptarmigan and boreal songbirds such as Boreal Chickadees and Canada Jays. On Sunday morning, if time permits, we will enjoy a brief session dedicated to songbird photography before returning to St. John’s airport.

Throughout the trip, you'll have numerous opportunities to photograph birds both perched and in flight. You can choose to focus on classic portraits or opt for capturing birds smaller within the frame. Please note that many of our sessions will take place on high cliffs; if heights make you uncomfortable, this trip may not be suitable.

Travel

Fly into St. John’s, Newfoundland. Part of the tour will be based out of Elliston, Newfoundland. The other part will be based out of St. Bride’s, Newfoundland. Exact locations to be given after deposit. You will be responsible for renting your own vehicle (should you choose not to drive with me, arranging airline travel and making hotel reservations for the puffins (if you choose not to stay with the rest of the group).

Hotel 

TBD

Schedule

Morning Sessions: We will meet at our agreed upon locations at sunrise, so expect to be up early enough to be ready to shoot at sunrise. Morning locations are all close to our hotels and most mornings will be less than a 20 minute drive to get to our shooting locations. If we have full sun then we will stop after the light gets harsh and go back to the hotel. T

Lunch Time: Optional image review session where we will review the images from the morning. We will work on things like processing and composition and I will make suggestions or answer any questions.

After Lunch: we will have some personal time before our evening sessions.

Evening sessions: we will arrive to our evening locations leaving time for some scouting and preparing for the best light of the day. On cloudy days we will limit our lunch and image review time to shoot as long as possible.

In order to make the most of our time and come home with as many high quality images as possible, expect to leave each day early and come back late.

Meals

Lunch and dinner is with the group, if you desire.

What to Bring 

Photography Gear

• Many of the birds can be very close. I bring my 600 F4, my 300mm F2.8 and my 24-70, F2.8. Depending on the type of photos that you want to take you can also bring an even wider lens like a 14mm or even a 10mm.

• 1.4 teleconverter is optional but highly recommended ( I use this for some Gannet and Kittiwake photos)

• I recommend bringing a back up camera.

• Bring lots of extra batteries and a rapid charger.

• Bring as many  memory cards with as much storage as you can as it is not uncommon to take an immense amount of photos in a single session.

• I also highly recommend bringing a laptop or other external storage to transfer your images from your memory cards.

Other Gear

• Ground pod, monopod or tripod - whatever you prefer to shoot with

• Walking Stick should you need it for support or to keep your balance

• Head lamp if you wish to have one for the walk to the gannet colony

Clothes

• Rain gear

• Waterproof boots

Weather

We will be out in all weather conditions and will shoot in the sun or rain. Temperatures in July typically range from the 50’s to low 70’s. Mornings and evenings can be quite cool. I recommend layers so that you can shed them as the temperature warms up.

Physical Activity

The walk to the Puffin colonies is fairly short and easy but uphill. It does not take more than about 10 minutes at a slow pace. For the gannets we have to walk about a mile (25-30 minutes at a slow pace) in some rocky and up and down terrain. If it is wet it could be slippery. In the mornings we will be walking there before the sun comes up so the light can be quite dim.

My Responsibilities

I will get you in front of the birds and assist in creating the highest quality photos as possible with each opportunity we have. I will help with obtaining the most pleasing backgrounds and compositions. I will help with field craft techniques and with attracting the birds when needed. I will also put us in the most productive spots to be able to produce high quality photographs of the highest species diversity possible. I will be there to answer all questions and to help facilitate any other needs you may have.

My Ask

Enjoy yourself as much as possible and get cards full of beautiful photos.  I love to talk birds, cameras and gear. I am here to help so anything that you need, please just ask.

Cancellation Policy

Participants will receive a full refund, minus $500, if I am able to fill the canceled spot. If I am unable to fill the canceled spot, I will not be able to refund any of the money.

Insurance

Travel insurance is strongly encouraged. Things can and do happen and travel insurance is the best way to protect your investment.