A phototrip to the wilderness in
FINLAND 🐻 🇫🇮
With big bears and their fluffy, little cubs.
A phototrip personally hosted by Stian Norum Herlofsen & Lina Kayser at Martinselkonen in the wilderness forests of Finland.
Join us on magical days and nights in the Finnish wilderness, to see and photograph bears and bear cubs. We are going to visit Europe's best place for photographing bears - Martinselkonen Eräkeskus Widlife Center in Finland. This place is very special, as it is regularly visited by bear with their young cubs. The bears often come relatively close to the hides, usually a couple of metres. If we are extra lucky, we may see the smallest bear cubs, which are only a few months old.
9. - 13. June 2025
Places available: 8
Prices from 1 900 € per person (600€ deposit)
There is no other country in Europe where you can immerse yourself in the wilderness quite like Finland. Particularly in the eastern regions, near the Russian border, nature reigns supreme. You won’t find traffic jams, highways, crowds, or bustling streets here. Instead, this land is home to majestic creatures like bears, wolves, moose, capercaillie, and wolverines.
During hibernation, bears peacefully give birth to their cubs in this serene environment. Come June and July, you can frequently spot these magnificent animals with their playful cubs, as the extended daylight hours keep them active throughout the night. If you dream of capturing enchanting photographs of bears with their adorable young cubs, let Stian and Lina guide you on an unforgettable journey to photograph the king of the taiga, the brown bear.
4 days in photography hides guided by a professional photographers.
Stian Norum Herlofsen
Lina Kayser
Along on this photography workshop are Stian Norum Herlofsen and Lina Kayser, who are both Nikon Creators.
We want to give you the opportunity to see unique nature experiences, get good photos on your memory cards, and advices, tips and knowledge related to photographing wildlife. And also share our own experiences and tips on how we use social media such as Instagram as photographers.
Practical information:
Pick up place for the workshop is Kajaani and you probably need to fly Kajaani on the 8th of June. We will pick you at the hotel (TBA) on the 9th of June at 09:00. Arrival time at Martinselkonen approximately 12:00.
We leave for the photohides right after dinner - approx. at 16:00 in the afternoon. Throughout the night and until 07.00 in the morning, we have the photo hides as a place of residence. This means that we spend a large part of our time in photo hides. The photo hides are located in the forest, on a swamp, and close toa small lake. The bears often appear in the afternoon and tend to be active until midnight. These are wild animals, so of course there are no guarantees if we see bears. The advantage of this trip in June is that it is usually light throughout the night, so visibility is good.
Fantastic close-ups of bears and cubs are possible, as they can often get close to the photohides. Especially during this period, the bear cubs steal the show. When they play, they often stand on their hind legs and appear to be dancing. They also climb trees when they feel threatened or just for fun. The photohides are relatively small, and there is only room for two people per hide. Each photohide gets a small bag with various snacks such as sandwiches, biscuits, water and coffee/tea. There is no toilet, so small buckets/pots/bottles are used if needed.
During the day from approx. 07:00 to 16:00 we stay in basecamp at Martinselkonen, which is actually a former border station. Breakfast is ready around 08:00 and dinner is around 15:00. At the basecamp we have access to our own rooms, beds and shower + real Finnish sauna. Here, it might be smart to get a couple of hours' sleep, or transfer photos from the memory card to the hard drive and edit some photos.
What gear to bring with you:
We primarily recommend bringing a digital mirrorless/SLR/DSLR camera and various lenses. Lenses from 100-400mm are well suited for this trip. A 70-200mm lens is also very useful from the photohides. In the forest hides primes like 35, 50 or 85 can be great choices as well as 24-70 or similar.
It is recommended to bring a ball head/tripod head, that can be screwed onto benches, inside the photohides. From experience, you should bring several memory cards, as there can quickly be a lot of photos. Therefore, bring your Mac/PC and hard drive to transfer photos on the daytime.
As the trip takes place in June and it is summer in Finland, it can often be hot in the hides in the afternoon, and a little colder during the night. It might be smart to bring some warm clothes and a simple sleeping bag etc. If you have a mosquito net, that is smart to bring with you. We go for approx. 15 minutes through forest terrain to reach the photo shelters. In case of rain, it is a good idea to bring rain gear.
What’s included:
4 days/night access to wildlife photography hides.
Breakfast, dinner and food in hides + coffee, tea and some snacks.
Accommodation in rooms (sharing with one or two other persons) for the duration of the phototrip in basecamp Martinselkonen Wildlife Centre.
Transfers from and to Kajaani airport or hotel in Kajaani.
Access to Finnish sauna during daytime.
Two experienced Norwegian photographers as workshop leaders.
Advice and lessons on different aspects of wildlife photography and filming.
Advices on how Stian and Lina use Instagram on a daily basis and how to implement this to your own work.
Not Included:
Flights to and from Kajaani Airport in Finland.
Single room supplement is 160€/person.
Alcoholic and soft drinks
Accommodation before and after the photography workshop. We recommend staying at Hotel Kajanus.
Travel insurance and cancellation insurance.
Who can join this photo tour?
This photo tour is open to anyone who wants to participate, photograph bears and improve their photography skills. You can therefore be a beginner in photography, a professional and everything in between. The experienced photographers Stian Norum Herlofsen and Lina Kayser will be available to help you with your personal questions and photographic development. The goal of the trip is for you to return home with a large number of successful photos and videos.
Conditions:
The phototrip is payable upon registration, through our website. The payment for this trip is from 1900 to 2060 euros and is non-refundable. You can also choose to pay a deposit of 600 euros and it’s non-refundable. The final invoice (1300 to 1460 euros) will be sent 3 months before departure.
