Tom just returned from Disko Bay in Greenland after leading two photography workshops and we are sharing the highlights with you. Tom says there was more ice in the water surrounding the town of Ilulissat then he has ever seen. Highlights of the workshop were the abundance of massive icebergs and the variety of moody skies for backgrounds.
To see photos from our Greenland Photography Workshop, check out the trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Tom and Cree will be heading to the Rocky Mountain High Country to photograph yellow aspen trees with a workshop group at the end of September. For the next few weeks Tom and Cree will be exploring the Alaskan wilderness by canoe. Chances are they will be off grid for awhile.
Our Iditarod Workshop for 2026 is starting to fill up. Photograph Northern Lights and the Last Great Race during the best month for winter photography in Alaska. Rental packets available for warm clothing and boots Read more
Our new workshop Alaska Kenai Explorer has space available: July 7-12, 2026 Calving glaciers, whales, snow capped mountains, eagles and more. This is a workshop with easy walking. Read details
Tom and I celebrate great photos from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For July we chose an image from our Iceland: Puffins and Waterfalls Workshop. The image was taken by Stuart Litoff on Grimsey Island. Stuart is a landscape and fine art photographer who also photographs wildlife. You can see his work featured here.
Congratulations to our featured photographer for July 2025 – Stuart Litoff
The Story…
This was the second day of shooting puffins. I knew I had gotten some okay shots the day before. But I hadn’t gotten any good shots with the fish in their beaks. That was my goal for the second day.
Before the shoot Tom had talked about soft backgrounds and soft foregrounds. I had that on my mind. When I saw this cliff area with the cloud behind it, I kept my eye on the bird that was there. At first it was standing with it’s head in profile, then he slowly turned his head towards me. I was shooting at 30 frames per second so I had a lot to choose from. I liked the way this one looked the best.
I also really wanted a flying puffin with fish. I haven’t found one yet that I like in the images I have reviewed so far.
I enjoy wildlife photography. I don’t like doing it for an entire trip. I can be overwhelmed by too many photos to sort through. I took 3000-4000 pictures of puffins. That was a lot for me. But this was one of the latter shots of the day, so maybe I would have missed this if I had quit earlier.
I use Photo Mechanic to sort images. But I want to see them all. I want to see what I shot. I find that there are surprises in all directions. A photo that I did not think would be good, could turn out to be really good. For this photo I was able to go through a range of images with slightly different head positions.
July 2025 Photo of the Month by Stuart Litoff
EXIF Data:
Camera: Fuji X-H2S
Lens: Fuji 100-400mm lens at 400mm
Aperture: f6.4
Shutter: 1/2000
ISO: 3200 (auto)
Shutter Priority
About Photographing in Iceland
I love Iceland. This is my third trip there. I went there for the first time 10 years ago with Tom on a Strabo trip.
I love the landscape. I love that there aren’t a lot of people there. It is different than a lot of other places. The people are also really nice.
It was great to explore the north, the Highlands and the West Fjords on this trip. That was all new to me.
Sun Voyager Statue on the Coastal Walkway
I had a late flight out on the last day and decided to grab my camera and go out for a walk on the Coastal Walkway. I had seen images of the Sun Voyager sculpture before but did not know where to find it. Just as I arrived at the sculpture I was getting some breaks in the cloud layer. I had my super-wide lens on 6-12mm.
I found the composition to be challenging. I couldn’t get the entire sculpture in, so I focused on including more of the sky instead.
I exposed for the sky instead of the sculpture. I was pleased how the sculpture turned out in post processing.
Icelandic Foals
Stuart’ s Tips for Photographing Wildlife
Tip 1
For me, I have to work at being patient and forgiving. If birds are moving a lot or flying it is hard to get a good photo. I have to try not to get frustrated with the results and just keep working at it.
Tip 2
When there are multiple animals close to each other, I really look for interaction between animals. Those are the best shots. This is when you can capture emotion.
When we arrived at the field with the foals in it, there was a group of seven horses, including a stallion. The Icelandic horses are very friendly and came right over to us. I focused on the connection between the two foals.
Tom just returned from the Iceland: Puffins and Waterfalls and we are sharing the highlights with you. Tom led a group of photographers to the coast and the Highlands of Iceland to capture both wildlife and landscape images. Highlights of the workshop were the abundance of puffin on Grimsey Island and the variety of waterfalls all over Iceland.
To see photos from our Iceland: Puffins and Waterfalls Workshop, check out the trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Tom will be heading to Greenland with two groups of photographers to photograph dramatic icebergs and Humpback Whales in the middle of August. Cree will be back home working on the schedule for 2028. Where would you like to go in 2028? Let us know
Our Iditarod Workshop for 2026 is starting to fill up. Photograph Northern Lights and the Last Great Race during the best month for winter photography in Alaska. Rental packets available for warm clothing and boots Read more
Our new workshop Alaska Kenai Explorer has space available: July 7-12, 2026 Calving glaciers, whales, snow capped mountains, eagles and more. This is a workshop with easy walking. Read details
Tom and Cree just returned from their Redwoods and Rocky Coastlines Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. Ten photographers joined us in Redwoods National Park in California to photograph the largest trees on Earth. Highlights of the workshop were photographing beams of light coming through the foggy canopy and sea stars on the coast.
To see photos from our Redwoods & Rocky Coastlines Workshop, check out the trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Tom is currently in Iceland with a group photographing puffin and some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. He says the puffin are everywhere! Cree is back in Alaska planning photo workshops for 2028. Where would you like to go in 2028? Let us know
Our new workshop Alaska Kenai Explorer has space available: July 7-12, 2026 Calving glaciers, whales, snow capped mountains, eagles and more. Read details
Our Iditarod Workshop for 2026 is starting to fill up. Photograph Northern Lights and the Last Great Race during the best month for winter photography in Alaska. Read more
Tom and Cree just returned from their Bears of Lake Clark Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. Nine photographers joined us in Lake Clark National Park in Alaska to photograph Brown Bears in their natural habitat. Highlights of the workshop were photographing bears courting in the meadows and clamming on the tidal flats
To see photos from our Bears of Lake ClarkWorkshop, check out the trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Cree and Tom are traveling with a workshop group to Redwoods National Park in California to photograph their favorite forest in the world. They just returned from the “Top of the World” Utqiavik (or Barrow) where they photographed eiders and other arctic birds in the midnight sun.
Our new workshop Alaska Kenai Explorer has space available: July 7-12, 2026 Calving glaciers, whales, snow capped mountains, eagles and more. Read details
Our Iditarod Workshop for 2026 is starting to fill up. Photograph Northern Lights and the Last Great Race during the best month for winter photography in Alaska. Read more
Tom and Cree just returned from their Tetons Photo Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. Nine photographers joined us in Grand Teton National Park to photograph rugged, snow capped peaks and surrounding fields of flowers. Highlights of the workshop were photographing a mother moose and her calf and going to the Jackson Rodeo.
To see photos from our Tetons PhotoWorkshop, check out the trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Cree and Tom are traveling to Lake Clark National Park to photograph lBrown Bears in Alaska. This continues to be one of our most popular workshops. We hope to find spring cubs this year and watch a rematch of ping pong between Tom and David the lodge owner!
Our new workshop Alaska Kenai Explorer has space available! July 7-12, 2026 Calving glaciers, whales, snow capped mountains, eagles and more. Read details
Our Iditarod Workshop for 2026 is starting to fill up. Photograph Northern Lights and the Last Great Race during the best month for winter photography in Alaska. Read more
Tom and I celebrate great photos from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For May we chose an image from our Monument Valley Workshop. The image was taken by Joan Carroll in Mystery Valley. Joan is a wildlife and landscape photographer from Fort Worth. You can see her work featured on Fine Art America.
Congratulations to May 2025 ‘s featured photographer – Joan Carroll
Joan photographing texture in the sand dunes at the Totem
The Story…
That was one place where everyone was all gathered. You pointed it out to us and said it was perfect for forced perspective.
A forced perspective landscape was something I had not done before or even knew about doing. I moved around to get what I thought was the best composition. When I started to develop it, I cropped off part of the bottom. In the Image Review someone else showed a similar photo with the bottom included. I was glad I had cropped mine.
True confessions: I eliminated a tree up on the right side to the right of the green tree. It was a dead tree. It was nice to have the green tree in the composition, but I did not want to have a dead tree in the scene. I used generative fill to remove it.
During the editing process, I had been working on some other photos and I was becoming overwhelmed with the color of the rocks. I decided to try black and white for this photo. I liked the effect right away. I used the Adobe Camera Raw profiles and chose the one with the most contrast. I wanted the edges of the ripples to stand out.
May 2025 Photo of the Month by Joan Carroll
EXIF Data:
Camera: Nikon Z9
Lens: 14-24 mm Nikkor at 15mm
Aperture: f6.3
Shutter: 1/800
ISO: 400
Aperture Priority
About Photographing in Monument Valley
We can’t talk about Monument Valley without talking about the ride up to Hunt’s Mesa. Despite my back issues and the cushion I brought along….I just love that kind of ride up a very rough road. I thought it was great.
I wouldn’t love it so much if I didn’t trust the driver so much. They have driven the road so many times. I assume they know what they are doing. They know how to get up the rocks, when to speed up, when to slow down. It was fun. I liked it.
I enjoyed Carl Phillips. I enjoyed his willingness to share his culture with us without having to be probed. He had great stories to share with us and added a lot of detail. I found the people that we dealt with in the hotel, in the stores, in the restaurant to be very friendly and hospitable. Much more so then what we see in other places in the United States. I found the hospitality to be quite nice.
The land is just spectacular. You cannot really say too much about how beautiful it is. The sunrise shots, the star shots, they were just spectacular.
It was great to get into Honeymoon Cave and see the ruin. It was cooler there and breezy. It was a very peaceful place. When we went up into the cave I had to carry my entire backpack with me. The (Moki) steps going up into the cave where spaced perfectly. After the first 4 steps it was easy.
We did so much on this workshop that I keep forgetting everything that we did.
Anasazi Ruin in Honeymoon Cave
Joan’ s Tips for Landscape Photographyin Monument Valley
Tip 1
Stand next to Tom or Cree and see what they are photographing. Sometimes we need a little guidance.
Tip 2
Sometimes when I go places I don’t spend enough time looking for alternatives. I take a photograph and just stay there and photograph it over and over. This time I wanted to walk around and look for nearby places. At one point I found a curving pattern of white on a wall in in Mystery Valley. I was glad I had walked around to find it.
The Totem at sunrise
Tip 3
I hear people talking about not starting to photograph right away but to look at the scene and get a feel for what it is all about and how to approach it. Sometimes we get anxious and just run out and start shooting. I wanted to try this in Monument Valley.
Tip 4
Get the postcard shot but then look for other ways to photograph the landscape. Different angles, shoot with a filter. You can always do better. I need to consciously remind myself to do that.
On Joan’s Horizon:
Grand Teton National Park
Iceland in the summer
Greenland
Greece
Antarctica and South Georgia
Workshop Openings:
Join us in Monument Valley in 2027 Aug 30-Sept 3: Space Available More details
We have two last minute openings for our popular Ouray Fall Color Workshop Sept 28-Oct 2, 2025. Photograph dazzling yellow aspen leaves in the Colorado High Country. Read more
Tom and Cree just returned from their Monument Valley Photo Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. Ten photographers joined us in heart of the Navajo Nation to photograph sweeping desert vistas with colorful buttes and spires. Highlights of the workshop were photographing from Hunt’s Mesa and exploring Mystery Valley.
To see photos from our Monument Valley PhotoWorkshop, check out the trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Cree and Tom are traveling to Grand Teton National Park to photograph landscapes, wildlife and the Jackson Rodeo. They will finish the month of June with their very popular Lake Clark Bears Workshop.
Tom and Cree just returned from their Louisiana Bayous Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. Eight photographers joined us in heart of Cajun Country to photograph moody Bald Cypress, alligators and a variety of wading birds. Highlights of the workshop were photographing in fog and seeing so much wildlife.
To see photos from our Louisiana BayousWorkshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Cree and Tom are Ohio with a small group of photographers photographing the spring Warbler Migration. They will finish the month with a landscape workshop in Monument Valley.
Any upcoming openings?
Just Added: Alaska Kenai Explorer July7-12, 2026 Calving glaciers, whales, snow capped mountains, eagles and more. Read details
Also in Alaska: Travel to Alaska next March and photograph the Last Great Race – the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Photographers will learn to mush a sled, photograph dogs in action and wait for aurora to light up the sky at night. A true Alaska Adventure. Read More
Tom and Cree just returned from their Texas Birds in Spring Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. Two sessions of photographers joined us in the tip of Texas to photograph vibrant songbirds from photo blinds. Highlights of the workshop were photographing the Painted Bunting and Greater Roadrunner.
To see photos from our Texas Birds in Spring Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Cree and Tom are in Lafayette, Louisiana this week with a group of photographers. They will finish their streak of bird photography workshops with a stop in Ohio for Spring Warblers.
Any upcoming openings?
We have 2 spaces available on our Texas Birds in Spring Workshop next year May 11-16, 2026. This workshop requires minimal walking and is the perfect way to become a better bird photographer.
Ouray Fall Colors : September 28-August 2, 2025 2 Spaces Available. The best of Colorado’s aspen forests just in time for brilliant yellow foliage.
