DRG777 Loc: Metro Detroit

My wife and I have been fortunate over the last several years to go on some great trips that are largely self-directed photo safaris. Many of these have been in North America (National Parks, etc.) but a few were in Europe, to Italy & Switzerland, France, and Norway. The international trips are usually for about 2 1/2 weeks and run $6000-8000 total including air travel. The domestic trips are less. We have loved them all.

I occasionally see in print or online some of the many offers of professionally guided photo workshops. While we have typically been quite satisfied to arrange trips on our own, there are some destinations that I think would be mush more difficult to do well without experienced help. Two that come to mind are Iceland and Patagonia. I recently reviewed the offerings from IcelandPhotoTours.com and PatagoniaPhoto.com. They look fantastic, but the cost of just the workshop for one is in the range of what we pay for a whole trip for two. After paying for 2 workshops, plus travel and other expenses, the total could be $12,000 -$20,000. That would pay for 2 or 3 of our typical trips.

Has anyone taken a pricey workshop like this? Is is worth it? Does the community have some guidance on making such an expensive decision? Thanks.

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

Check on Tara they offer workshops at those locations. I don't know the cost as I don't do landscape. But I did one with them I'm Prague

Copfer Loc: Gillette, Wyoming

My son and I took the trip to Iceland in October with Iceland photo tours, so worth it! Everything but airfare was included. They kept us going from spot to spot. They know all the spots for the best photographs and the times and place for the best sunrise and sunset. Well planned.
If you've done other tours by yourself Iceland is probably doable, but leaving everything but the picture taking up to the tour people made it so worth it and time saving.
Iceland photo tours were the most reasonably priced, it was an 11 day tour.

cmoroney Loc: Pasadena, California

I went to Morocco on a guided photo tour (with Strabo) and loved it. Photo tours tend to have very small group sizes so it's a very friendly atmosphere and there was plenty of time for as little (or as much) help as you wanted. Since everybody on the tour was there for photography, there weren't any worries about holding everybody else up because you're busy taking pictures, and there's a lot of built-in camaraderie due to shared interests. I personally loathe the idea of being the one solo traveler on a 50-person coach, but this tour was completely different and wonderful. It's a great way to see a part of the world that you wouldn't ordinarily go to and I loved both the places that I saw and the people I got to see them with. And it was a *lot* less than 12K to 20K. I'm not sure what a full blown "workshop" offers that a small group photo tour does not: due to the small size of the group there was plenty of time for individual attention from the professional but you were also free to wander about on your own if you wanted to.

Catherine

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I don't think it is, for $20,000, you could stay a whole year anywhere in Europe. I would always plan a trip like that on my own and save a bundle on the way!