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**THIS TOUR HAS NOW SOLD OUT**

Wildlife Photography Workshop Aviemore 2025

Join me for a weekend of wildlife photography in the Scottish Highlands. We will be focussing on some of the most iconic species including red squirrels, red deer, and mountain hares. We’ll also look for crested tits and the other little birds to be found around the park. ​I’ve been photographing the wildlife of the Cairngorms National Park for 10 years and March is a wonderful month to visit.

 

The days are a little bit longer, so we have more light to play with. The squirrels are still sporting their ear tufts, the deer haven’t yet retreated to the hills, and the hares are still white. With Scotland’s weather being so unpredictable, there’s as much chance of a snowy day as there is a warm one. 

Red Deer
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NEW Crestie no WM .jpg
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Mountain Hare
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Dates: Arrival Friday 7th March 2025 - Departure Monday 10th March 2025

 

Group size: 3 + me 

 

Cost: £1099pp

 

Deposit: A non-refundable £250pp deposit to be paid at the time of booking

(unless your place can be filled by someone else)

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Full payment is due 9 weeks prior to departure - Friday 3rd January.

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I’d be happy to accept a payment plan to suit your requirements, please let me know.

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What can you expect from the trip?

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  • Tuition on how to get great images and the best out your camera. 

  • 3 nights in a luxury self catering accommodation, with your own room and bathroom. The lodge has a fully equipped kitchen, plus a games room with pool table, darts board, and table football. It also has a sauna and a wood burning stove, perfect for heating up after a potentially chilly day out. 

  • All meals provided. We love supporting local businesses and where possible will source our evening meals from a local grocer, who makes oven ready meals using local produce. 

    • N.B., two of the evening meals will be vegetarian, with the option to include meat on the other night if required, as well as for lunch.

  • 2 red squirrel sessions with exclusive use of two different hides. 

  • 1 afternoon photographing red deer.

  • A full day looking for mountain hares.

  • Informal (and optional) reviews of images in the evening.

  • Transport once in the area (this will likely be in my campervan, so at least we’ll have a table for lunch!)

  • Fun! I want you to get the best out of this weekend and whilst photography is the aim of the weekend, enjoying spending time in nature is equally important. 

  • Relaxing evenings where we can review images, play games, watch a film or reflect on the day.  

 

Day 1

We’ll meet in the afternoon at the RSPB Loch Garten nature reserve to photograph species such as coal tits, crested tits, chaffinches, and many more. Depending on timing and weather, we may also head in to the hills to look for snow bunting. 

 

Day 2

Spending the full day on a local estate, in the morning we’ll concentrate on red squirrels in their purpose built hide. We’ll break for lunch before being taken in to the hills by the gamekeeper who between December and March, feed the red deer. This gives us the opportunity to get creative and use the wooded hillside to get environmental shots but also real close up portraits.  

 

Day 3

This is a full on day, looking for mountain hares in the hills. It’s an excellent area for seeing birds of prey and we’ve seen feral mountain goats too. It’s important to note that this day requires a reasonable level of fitness. We’re not climbing munro heights but it’s a steep climb on a rocky, uneven track. The hares could be right up the top, depending on the weather. We won’t be running up it, so we can take it slow with plenty opportunities to look for hares. 

N.B., This day is weather dependent. If any inclement weather is forecast i.e., blizzards, high winds, I need to put our safety first and make alternative plans. One option would be to change looking for hares to day 1 if the forecast looks better in the run up to the trip but this would be a last minute change if it were required.

 

Day 4

The last day but that doesn’t mean the trip is over when we check out the lodge. This will be our second squirrel session at one of the most reputable hides in the Cairngorms. There’s an opportunity here for jumping squirrels, and a lovely branch which they use to run directly towards the hide. During winter, there’s also regular visits from crested tits and woodpeckers. After this, we all return home and look forward to the next visit to the Highlands.  

 

What’s excluded:

  • Alcoholic drinks.

  • Travel or content insurance.

  • Local parking charges (RSPB Loch Garten and at Rothiemurchus)

  • Transport to and from Aviemore.

  • Camera equipment.

 

What should you bring?

  • Your camera and lens. I would recommend anything 400mm+ if possible.

  • Tripod/Monopod.

  • Warm clothes (It’s Scotland!) sturdy walking boots and waterproofs. Consider walking poles but a monopod makes an excellent substitute. 

  • Plenty memory cards, batteries, and chargers.

  • A laptop and cable to load your images.

  • I always bring an extension cord because plugs are never where you want them.

Interested...?

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