Global Arctic Awards 2015 Exhibition in Russia

Arctic, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Wildlife Photographs

An exhibition of the best photographs from the 2015 Global Arctic Photographer of the Year Awards are now on display in Salekhard in Russia. Salekhard is a town located on the Yamal Peninsula. It is the administrative center of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug region in Russia. It is also the closest town to the Polar circle, making it the ideal venue to host the Arctic Awards exhibition. The exhibition includes all five of my photographs that won medals in the 2015 Awards and won me the overall title of 2015 Global Arctic Photographer of the Year. If you happen to be in the area and stop past for a visit please drop me an email and let me know what you think.arcticawards3ArcticAwards1Arcticawards2

Namibia Overland Safari Workshop Complete

Africa, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Workshops and Expeditions

Last night I wrapped up my 2016 Namibia Desert overland Safari and I am now making the long journey back to Australia (currently at the airport lounge in Windhoek). I have been on the road since early February with back-to-back workshops and expeditions to the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, Iceland in Winter, the Iceland Arctic Fox Project, Lofoten in Winter and finally Namibia.  This time away amounted to twenty four flight sections and an awful lot of miles travelled. I am now very much looking forward to a couple of weeks at home before I head to the South Island of New Zealand for my Masterclass workshop.

As is always the case it is going to be many weeks before I can sort through all the photographs I made during these trips, edit and process my selects and share them on my website and social media. My priority is actually to now finish my work on the Arctic Fox Project and have the book ready for release later this year (I will also be formally announcing a new gallery showing of this work). In the meantime I hope you enjoy this image from  the abandoned diamond town at Kolmonskop in Namibia. See you back in Australia.Kolmonskop

Photo of the Month April 2016 – Golden Dune Namibia

Africa, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography

It seems appropriate that the photograph of the month for April 2016 should be one from Africa; as I currently in Namibia leading a small group workshop to photograph the incredible landscapes of this country. This photograph of the golden sand dune was taken near Dedavlei in the late afternoon as we were returning to our camp for dinner. I took a short hike up into the dunes to gain a more top down perspective and then focused on the play of light across the dune. The wind was whipping the sand off the top of the dune and was beautifully illuminated against the dark backdrop. In many ways this is an iconic photograph for me that really captures the feeling of the desert here in Namibia.Namibia

Finalist BBC and ANZANG Wildlife Nature Photographer of the Year

Media, News and Updates

A few days ago I received the exciting news that a number of my photographs have been selected for the final round of judging for both the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and ANZANG Australia and New Zealand Nature Photographer of the Year competitions for 2016. This is the fifth year in a row I have had my photographs selected for the finals in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and the fourth time I have had images in the finals of ANZANG. I hope to share the images here on my blog as soon as the final round of judging is completed.WildlifeTog

Iceland News Features Arctic Fox Project

Iceland, Media, News and Updates, Travel Photography

Yesterday I wrapped up my 2016 winter workshop in Lofoten, Norway (full report to follow) with a fabulous early morning photography session of white-tailed eagles fishing out at sea.

I am now headed to Africa for my Namibia overland Landscape workshop. It has been two years since I was last in Namibia and I am looking forward to returning to the incredible landscapes this country has to offer. After Namibia I will be returning home to Melbourne for a couple of weeks and hope to start processing images to complete my work on the Arctic Fox project.

The Icelandic news website Visir recently featured an interview with me on the Arctic Fox project and on my thoughts on the tourism explosion currently underway in Iceland. You can download a PDF of the interview HERE. I hope you can read Icelandic or have a good translator to hand…Icelandnews

National Geographic Traveller Magazine Features Fortress

Antarctica, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography

The current issue (April 2016) of National Geographic Traveller Magazine features one of my photographs from Antarctica as the leading double page spread to an Antarctic travel article – 7 Trips, 7 Continents. Just click on the image below to download the image and article. The photograph titled ‘Fortress’ was taken back in 2011 in the Gerlache Strait during heavy overcast skies. This particular iceberg remains for me one of the most spectacular I have been fortunate to see and photograph. I will be leading a new expedition to Antarctica in late October next year (2017) that will be dedicated to iceberg photography. If you are keen to travel and photograph in Antarctica with a small group of passionate photographers please drop me an email to register your interest. No obligation at this point.MEDIA2016_NatGeoAntarctica

Arctic Fox Project – Behind the Scenes

Arctic, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife Photographs

A little over two weeks ago I wrapped up my winter photographic project on the Arctic Fox in the remote north east of Iceland. The project has spanned the last three winters with the final intent being a book to be released later this year. A portfolio of prints from the project is available now for purchase on my website. A behind the scenes video snippet from one of the last days on the project is included below. Just click on the image below to play the video. Full behind the scenes footage coming soon.

ArcticFoxVideoDaniel Bergmann and I also wrapped up our 2016 Iceland Winter Workshop a couple of days ago (full report coming soon). We had a mix of dramatic and challenging weather during the trip; as is often the norm for Iceland in winter.

I am now in the Lofoten Islands in Norway where I will be co-leading a nine day workshop for landscape photography with my friend Martyn Lucas. We are kicking off in the next couple of days and are looking forward to dramatic winter landscapes and possibly even some Aurora Borealis if conditions permit.

Participant Trip Report – Kingdom of the Ice Bear Expedition

Arctic, Media, News and Updates, Travel Photography

In August last year Daniel Bergmann and I lead a ten day expedition (Kingdom of the Ice Bear) north of the Svalbard Archipelago in search of Polar Bears, dramatic Arctic landscapes and other Arctic wildlife. One of the photographers who joined us (Harvey Lloyd-Thomas) has just published a report on the expedition with On-Landscape magazine. Excerpt from the report below:

The Voyage of the Malmö

Harvey Lloyd-Thomas writes about his trip to Svalbard

The Svalbard archipelago – formerly known as Spitsbergen – high in the Arctic, is somewhere I’ve long wanted to visit. It is not clear when Svalbard was first discovered, was it the mysterious land of Thule written of by the Greeks? Was it even the cold shores recorded by the Norse from which Svalbard gets its name? What is certain is the sighting in 1596 of pointed mountains which translates as Spitsbergen, by the Dutch sailor Barents.

Historically Svalbard became know as a whaling base, in more recent times for coal mining and today tourism is on the rise. Politically Svalbard has had a unique status since a 1925 treaty ceded the lands to Norway, but retaining a Russian presence (illustrated by Vodafone sending me a welcome to Russia text as we sailed past the mouth of the fjord containing the Russian mining settlement of Barentsburg, then shortly after welcoming me to Norway as we neared Longyearbyen). Today Svalbard mainly makes the news for polar bear attacks (fortunately a rare occurrence) and the Doomsday seed vault buried in the permafrost.

While I must have seen Svalbard on maps before, I first remember reading about the archipelago in the Time-Life Photography Year 1974/75 book, which was in the art rooms during my time in the sixth form back in the 80s. The book included a feature on the then new phenomenon of photo safarisand the first such voyage to Svalbard. Subsequently I heard about and saw photos from a trekking holiday a friend made to the islands back in the 90s. So in 2014 when the opportunity arose to sign-up for a photo safari to Svalbard in the summer of 2015 aboard the MS Malmö, it was an opportunity – despite the expense – I felt I could not pass on. It would round off my exploration of North Atlantic islands and further north into the Arctic Circle, having previously visited the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, east Greenland and northern Norway.

You can read his full trip report and enjoy all his photographs at On Landscape Magazine. Please also consider subscribing to this excellent magazine.

Watch the Expedition Video by clicking on the image below.KingdomoftheiceBear

Iceland Winter 2017 – The Frozen North Expedition Open for Bookings

Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Workshops and Expeditions

Daniel Bergmann and I are pleased to be announcing our 2017 Iceland Winter Workshop. The workshop will run from the 23rd of February 2016 until the 5th of March 2017 and will focus on the incredible northern landscapes of Iceland as well as the Aurora Borealis. We will be travelling in a highly modified Icelandic Super Jeep (very large modified 4-wheel drive) so that we can get off the main bitumen road and into the more interesting areas for photography and experience the true splendour of Iceland in Winter. We will be focusing our efforts in the Northern part of Iceland in some of the less visited and more spectacular winter locations. In winter the northern landscapes are covered in snow and the light is often soft and ethereal. There are fantastic opportunities to create wonderful images of the winter landscape.

Godafoss in Winter from the top of the fallsIn late February the darkness of the Icelandic winter is starting to lift and the days are becoming longer. We will have up to ten hours of good light during the day and with a little bit of luck the spectacular Northern Lights will increase our photographic opportunities well into the night. Winter conditions in Iceland can be stunningly beautiful: the glacial lagoons freeze, some of the waterfalls are partially frozen, the glaciers appear more blue with fresh snow on top, the landscape of the north is covered in fresh snow and with fewer visitors. With true darkness in winter comes the possibility of seeing the awe inspiring Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). We plan to make photographs of them whenever there are clear skies and intense Aurora activity.Aurora over ReykjanestáThis photography workshop will last for 11 days (10 nights). We will be staying in good hotels and guest houses that are functional and clean. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all included and will generally be held at the hotels where we are staying. However, this workshop is all about photography and we will be putting in long hours in the field in order to ensure we get the best possible light for photography. We may take food and drink with us into the field to ensure we are in the right locations get the best possible light. There will be some moderate hiking on uneven ground and a reasonable level of fitness is recommended. There is no obligation to participate in any hikes and every effort will be made to accommodate any requests.
Iceland-7910-EditThis is a unique opportunity to travel and photograph with two experienced professionals who have a combined total of more than 40 years of photographic experience and can take you to the best locations that are off the beaten track, and at the right time – when the light is best. You’ll be spending 10 days with others who are just as passionate about photography as you are, and to ensure everyone gets plenty of individual attention, the maximum number of participants is capped at twelve.Iceland-7629-EditYou can download a complete itinerary and information PDF HERE. The workshop is fully inclusive of all meals, accommodation and ground transportation as well as all tuition and image reviews. Our 2014, 2015 and 2016 workshops sold out in just a few days so if you would like to join us you can register your interest by dropping me an email or by filling in the registration form on my website at www.jholko.com. You can also visit the Iceland Portfolio on my website at www.jholko.com for more images of Iceland in Winter.Iceland-7851-Edit

Photo of the Month March 2016 – Arctic Fox Fight

Iceland, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife Photographs, Workshops and Expeditions

I am currently in Iceland and have just completed another ten days in the remote north of this amazing country gathering images for my project on the Arctic Fox. This was most likely my last visit to this very difficult to reach area of Iceland in winter as I now have all of the photographs I feel I need to complete the project (the project will be released later this year in book form and a portfolio of prints is available to purchase now). I am going to miss spending time in the field with these incredible animals, but am looking forward to completing the book project when I get back to Australia. This particular photograph is of a male and female Arctic Fox pair that were play fighting in fresh snow about fifty metres from my snow blind. This was also one of my winning photographs in the 2015 Global Arctic Photographer of the Year Award. This photograph is also available to purchase as part of the newly released Arctic Fox Portfolio collection. Details are on my website at www.jholko.com.

I will be leaving Reykjavik tomorrow and kicking off my annual winter workshop with Daniel Bergmann. We are looking forward to frozen waterfalls, snow covered landscapes and with a little luck the Aurora Borealis (northern lights).Hornvik-9988-Edit