The Photographers and Guides

The workshop on Arctic Photography was being given by Dr. Robert Berdan, a Canadian wildlife photographer. if you would like to know more about Robert, you can go to his web site at:    www.canadiannaturephotographer.com
This workshop would prove to be an excellent opportunity to photograph amazing landscapes and wildlife, while having the resource of several excellent photographers in the group. 
Let me introduce you to the photographers and students, and our wonderful guides that were on this adventure……..

This is Robert Berdan…doing what he loves to do…..shoot pictures……

Each day, we would take a hike out across the Barren Lands, and up along a ridge line where we could spot any caribou that might be in the area. We always had to go out with one of the guides…so we would not get lost…and so we would be safe (the guides always carried a hunting rifle, in case of bear, or something).
In this picture…..Egan, our guide,  Robert, and Judy, another photography student.

Judy lives on Vancouver Island, is a retired teacher, and loves photography as a hobby. She has taken a number of these workshops, and shoots with a DSLR camera and a number of ‘serious’ lenses.

This is another student, Roger, from Toronto…..

Roger enjoys learning about still photography, but is really into videos. He showed us a video that he recorded on a white water canoeing adventure. Fantastic!

Rob is an Accountant from Calgary. I don’t have any pictures of Rob shooting, as he always seemed to be off somewhere by himself. I guess that was how he got the shot that was the envy of all, of the white wolf that happened to stroll by while he was sitting quietly.    : )

We were lucky to have Dr. Wayne Lynch  also accompanying us. Dr. Lynch is a renown Wildlife Photographer who was along for the week  to do an article on the Peterson’s Lodge and this photo workshop for an Outdoor Photography magazine. Wayne and his wife have authored over 50 books on wildlife, a number of them for children, featuring amazing photos.  If you want to be just ‘blown away’, take a look at Wayne’s web site at:     www.waynelynch.ca

It was a fascinating experience watching Wayne work……to see how to compose a shot to tell the story that you want to tell…..

Then, of course, there were Fred and I……..

I was shooting with our new camera- the Canon PowerShot SX30IS. It is a very versatile and lightweight camera, a feature that is very important to us when we are hiking, and it did an amazing job of capturing the wildlife and landscapes of this beautiful area.


Fred was shooting some with the new camera, and some with our little Sony CyberShot pocket camera. Also, he did a great job as ‘spotter’ for us, with the awesome REI binoculars.

Here is Fred talking with one of our Guides, Bruce……We did not get to go out with Bruce as much as the other guides…….

Chad Peterson took us out several times. He was fantastic at spotting groups of caribou, and then helping us ‘sneak up’ on them so that we could get a better shot.

Our third guide, Egan, lives in Ft. St. John, BC, and has worked as a guide for the Peterson’s in the Summer for many years. His knowledge of the plants and animals of the area was a valuable resource.


And then, there is George, from El Paso, TX. George had been a guest at the Lodge for many years, and for the last couple of years has decided to spend the season working at the Lodge. George helped out in the kitchen and around the camp doing any number of things. We really appreciated all of George's help as well as his quirky sense of humor.