ORCAS AND EAGLE PHOTO TOUR
- Photo Tour
- June 14-21, 2024
- June 17-24, 2025
This workshop includes three 5 hour afternoon private Orca and seabird boat trips on a 30 foot boat. Our main targets on these trips will be Orcas and Tufted Puffins but also other birds and wildlife. Each morning we will photograph Bald Eagles and a variety of other subjects including Red Foxes and other bird species. We spend 3 nights on San Juan Island where the boat trips leave from and 3 nights in Silverdale near to the location where we have historically led our Bald Eagle workshops. There are a total of 6 sessions during which we will be photographing Bald Eagles.
Maximum Participants: 5 including photographers and nonphotographer spouses/companions.
Cost and Logistics
Cost is $4,950 per photographer with a $700 single supplement. Cost for a nonphotographer spouse/companion is $3,950. The arrival and departure city if you are flying in is Seattle. The cost includes all lodging, local transportation, boat trips, guiding and instruction. It does not include meals, tips or items of a personal nature. If you live in the area and don’t need all the hotels and/or transportation let us know and the cost will be reduced. 2025 Cost: $5,450 per photographer, $4,950 per nonphotographer, $900 single supplement, $1,600 deposit.
Itinerary
June 14th – Arrival to Seatac International Airport, Seattle, WA. Transfer to a nice hotel near the airport. Evening presentation on bird and wildlife photography.
June 15th – Morning presentation on wildlife photography with Ken. Then we will drive to Anacortes, WA and take the ferry across to San Juan Island. At 4pm we will have our first 5 hour Orca and Seabird trip. We will be photographing during the golden hours all the way up to sunset. Discovery Inn, San Juan Island.
June 16th and 17th – Each morning we will have an outing to a local park, our main targets there are Bald Eagles and Red Foxes. The eagles often perch on rocks and driftwood in this area and there are 2 families of Red Fox in the area, with the black phase being common here. We will also photograph other birds such as Black Oystercatcher. Each afternoon we will have our 5 hour boat trip where we will photograph Orcas, Puffins, Seals and other seabirds. We depart at 4pm each afternoon and return around 9:30 to take advantage of the best light, then we return to our hotel in Friday Harbor.
June 18th – One more morning with the eagles and foxes on San Juan Island followed by check out. We will have 2 ferry rides to get to our next photography location on the north end of Hood Canal. Here we will visit a Pigeon Guillemot colony. We will then continue to our next hotel, the Best Western in Silverdale, Washington.
June 19th and 20th – Each morning we will head out to Hood Canal to photograph Bald Eagles feasting on spawning fish. They compete with each other, Great Blue Herons and Glaucous-winged Gulls over the food source. It makes for excellent action and flight photography. On sunny days the backdrop is the Olympic Mountains which makes for stunning backgrounds. This is the only spot we know of where battles between herons and eagles are common. One afternoon we will visit a local feeding station to photograph songbirds and woodpeckers.
June 21st – One more morning of eagle photography out at Hood Canal, then return to the hotel check and transfer to the airport for your flight home. Your return flight should be in the afternoon or we can book you one more night in Silverdale or near the airport. You will head home with a lot of great images and memories.
Ken Archer
Ken will give classroom presentations for those who are interested and he will help you with in field instruction. Ken is an award winning wildlife photographer.
