Winter In Yellowstone
January 15 – 23, 2024 – Including 4 Day Private Snowcoach Tour
February 8 – 15, 2024 – Including 3 Day Private Snowcoach Tour
Dates:
Jan 15 - 23, 2024 - Sold Out
Feb 8 - 15, 2024 - Sold Out
Your Pros:
Juan Pons and Jaclyn Merica
Juan Pons and Jaclyn Merica
Tuition:
$8,995 USD
$7,495 USD
Location:
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Fitness Level:
Moderate
Availability:
6 Spots per workshop
Dates:
Jan 15 - 23, 2024 - Sold Out
Feb 8 - 15, 2024 - Sold Out
Your Pros:
Juan Pons & Jaclyn Merica
Juan Pons & Jaclyn Merica
Tuition:
$8,995 USD
$7,495 USD
Location:
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Fitness Level:
Moderate
Availability:
6 Spots per workshop
“The Serengeti of North America”
Yellowstone has widely been referred to as the ‘Serengeti of North America’, and with good reason. The expansive landscape contains the largest concentration of free-roaming wildlife in the lower 48 states. These statistics are staggering- sixty-seven different mammals live here, including grizzly bears, black bears, gray wolves, wolverine, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorn, linx, elk, bison, moose, coyotes, foxes, weasels, and other numerous small mammals.
Any description of Yellowstone will be filled with superlatives; some might say “First National Park in the world”, or, perhaps, “greatest concentration of thermal features on the planet”. Up until recently, it was deemed the largest National Park in the lower 48 states. It is home to the largest bison herd in the world, and, of course, it is home to arguably the most famous and most photographed geyser in the world, Old Faithful.
I’ve had the fortune of leading winter photography excursions in Yellowstone National Park for nearly 20 consecutive seasons. In Yellowstone, it is imperative that you have a guide who knows the park very well. The landscape is vast, and a photographer must be familiar with the region and wildlife behaviors to know where to find them and how to photograph from the best possible vantage point.
I believe in order to truly enjoy your experience, and to receive the most out of an adventure photography workshop, we must maintain small group sizes with a very high ratio of instructors to participants. I’ve limited this workshop to a maximum of 6 participants and 2 instructors so everyone has an optimal view from our vehicles, as well as easy loading and unloading when wildlife is spotted from the road.
This is a unique educational excursion, and by capping the group size, despite immense interest, our team ensures everyone gets the attention and one-on-one instruction they need to make once in a lifetime images.
As a photography workshop leader, I take your trust in my expertise very seriously. I work in tandem with the National Park Service, and I always operate under the proper insurance, permits, and certifications. I am an Authorized Permittee of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.
You will be accompanied by Juan Pons and his assistant, Jaclyn Merica, for this excursion. Juan Pons is an accomplished professional wildlife and travel photographer and photographic educator who has a deep passion for the outdoors. Juan will leading you to some of the most iconic and picturesque locations across Yellowstone, thanks to his extensive travels to the area.
Juan and his team believe the best way to teach is by demonstrating, and to this end, they will be shooting alongside you, showing you our technique, and sharing our love and knowledge of the wildlife and environment in this region. However, our priority is always YOU, and assisting you to get the best images YOU can.
The biggest advantage of small groups is the flexibility they provide for customizing and adjusting our schedule to accommodate the particular interests of the group as a whole. This allows us to cover only those topics that you are all interested in, including:
• Techniques for creating exciting and captivating wildlife and landscape images
• Digital darkroom tutorials to enhance the quality of your images
• Instruction on best use of your equipment
• Image reviews
My workshops are fairly intensive experiences, and as such, you should not expect this to be a leisurely vacation. My goal is to capture the best images we can during our window of time in such a remarkable place. This means there will be days we begin very early, typically at dawn, and end after sunset. However, we will always have breaks and lunch rest hours to recuperate. We will also utilize our private Juan Pons adventure vehicle for this trip, and we will use the van as a home base with heat, gear storage, and charging ports for your equipment.
Within 2 working days of placing a deposit for the workshop, you will receive a booking confirmation email from my team. You should expect to receive important details regarding your travel arrangements to Bozeman, Montana via email about 3 months prior to the start date of the workshop.
Around 8 weeks prior to our gathering, you will start hearing from me on a regular basis. I will provide you with a Workshop Participant Information Packet with all relevant trip details, and share relevant resources to get you inspired and visualizing the images you want to capture during our workshop. At this time, you will also receive a tentative itinerary, a list of clothing and equipment recommendations, and even discounts for equipment you may want to acquire for this excursion.
My assistant, Jaclyn, and I are always available to answer any questions you may have leading up to the workshop- simply call or email and we can help you as best we can.
Additionally, we will plan a Zoom meeting 4-6 weeks prior to the start of our workshop. There, you can meet your fellow workshop participants, ask any questions before traveling, receive insights and recommendations for reference books, and much more.
Tuition for Yellowstone- Snowcoach Extension Workshop – January 15 – 23, 2024
Tuition for the workshop is $8,995.00 USD for double occupancy per person. If you would like a single room, you will receive an additional invoice of $1,300. There are a limited number of single occupancy supplements, so please make sure to sign up quickly if you want this option.
If you would like to reserve your spot on this workshop, you can do so with a $3,995.00 USD deposit. The remaining balance of the workshop fee ($5,000) is due 3 months prior to the start of the workshop.
Tuition for Yellowstone Only Workshops – February 8 – 15, 2024
Tuition for the workshop is $7,495.00 USD for double occupancy per person. If you would like a single room, you will receive an additional invoice of $1100. There are a limited number of single occupancy supplements, so please make sure to sign up quickly if you want this option.
If you would like to reserve your spot on this workshop, you can do so with a $2,995.00 USD deposit. The remaining balance of the workshop fee ($4,500) is due 3 months prior to the start of the workshop.
• All Lodging
• All Meals
• Ground transportation including private Snowcoach
• Snacks and water in the vehicles at all times
• All permits & fees
• Instruction
• Inspiration
• Camaraderie
• A great time
• Alcoholic Drinks
• Airfare or ground transportation to and from Bozeman, MT and/or Jackson, WY
You will be picked up at the Bozeman, MT (BZN) airport or at your Bozeman accommodation. Please arrive in Bozeman no later than 2pm on the first day of the workshop. My team will send you instructions on flights to book approximately 3 – 4 months prior to the workshop.
• You are responsible for organizing your own travel arrangements to and from Bozeman, MT and/or Jackson, WY. We are happy to assist you with flight arrival times and departures.
• Deposit is fully refundable up until 3 months prior to the start of the workshop, NO REFUNDS after that point.
• Dates are subject to slight changes as we await final rooms allotments in YNP
• Make sure to check the Terms and Conditions for all my workshops.
I highly recommend Travel Insurance from a reputable insurance company. I have partnered with Squaremouth, a website that allows you to compare multiple travel policies from multiple providers to choose the best one for you based on your needs and costs. Check them out here: https://www.squaremouth.com/
DAY 1
• Arrive at Bozeman, MT (BZN) Airport
• Instructors to pick participants at airport and transfer to Hotel in Gardiner
• Introduction meeting and review of local conditions, wildlife reports, and trip itinerary
• Overnight in Gardiner
DAY 2
• Introduction to Yellowstone
• Brief stop at Mammoth to introduce geological features
• Travel to Lamar Valley stopping at different photo opportunities along the way
• Travel from Cooke City back to Mammoth/Gardiner via Lamar
• Evening photography opportunity at Mammoth thermal features doing light painting and long exposure photography
• Overnight in Gardiner
DAY 3
• Travel to Lamar Valley stopping at different photo opportunities along the way
• Travel from Cooke City back to Mammoth/Gardiner via Lamar
DAY 4
• Travel via private snow coach along the Madison River looking for wildlife opportunities, as well as scenic landscapes
• Many wildlife and scenic opportunities along the way
• Evening photography opportunity at Old Faithful thermal features doing light painting and Long Exposure photography
• Overnight in Old Faithful
DAY 5
• Travel via private snowcoach in the interior of the park looking for wildlife and scenics
• Visit West Thumb Geyser basin and Hayden Valley
• Old Faithful thermal features late afternoon
• Overnight in Old Faithful
DAY 6
• Travel via private snowcoach back to Mammoth
• Visit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
• Many wildlife and scenic opportunities along the way
• Overnight in Gardiner
DAY 7
• Travel to Lamar Valley stopping at different photo opportunities along the way
• Travel from Cooke City back to Mammoth/Gardiner via Lamar
• Evening trip recap and image presentations
• Overnight in Gardiner
DAY 8
• Travel to Bozeman airport for departures
• All airline departures must be after 11am
Snowcoach Extension
On our Snowcoach Extension workshops, we increase our stay by one additional night at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge to enjoy an extra day on the private snowcoach searching for wildlife and making more stunning landscape images together.
