CMH Heli-Hiking Gallery

I spent August 5th-8th this past summer cruising about at high altitudes in the Bugaboo Mountains of BC (the 'Rockies West' as some people call them) in a helicopter with 7 other eager nature photographers on what is easily one of my most enjoyable photography weekends of the year, the Canadian Mountain Holidays Bugaboo Photography Workshop. How exactly does one NOT rave about cheating all that hard sweat and back-breaking effort to catch sunrise from the top of a glorious ridge or peak by simply pointing at said ridge or peak and then jumping aboard a chopper and flitting up there?

The Howser Towers and Vowell Glacier in the Bugaboos at twilight during my 2011 Nature Photography Workshop

In fact, why let my images do the talking?  If you want to see just how glorious it really is up there in the Bugaboos on this workshop, take a look at this year's winning images from the 2011 Workshop (each year we do a contest to determine the workshop's best overall images and offer up a bunch of prizes, including some of my books and some great hiking clothing and gear)!

And if you really want a taste for the full breadth of images to be had on this amazing workshop, check out the full gallery of images (three pages worth!) on CMH's online photo gallery.  Many thanks to Jennifer Rutledge, Shanna Baker, Joann Kennedy, Paul Gil, and Phil Vecqueray for submitting their wonderful images!

I actually had some serious reservations about continuing my heli-hiking photo workshops with Canadian Mountain Holidays this year because of the helicopters, but after reviewing their corporate sustainability vision last winter and seeing their environmental push for myself, I couldn't help but be impressed at the lengths they've gone to to ensure that their operations are sustainable and very, very green (particularly considering the obvious hole they start in when you factor in the fuel and carbon footprint of those helicopters).

So with the green report and the success of the 2010 and 2011 workshops in mind, I am happy to announce that we're going to do the Bugaboos Nature Photography Workshop in 2012, too!  Check out all the details on CMH's website and be sure to sign up soon, as we do expect the 2012 workshop to sell out.

You can expect some great hospitality in one of the world's premier wilderness lodges, along with three fantastic days in the field with 10-12 helicopter rides to and from some of the Bugaboos' most stunning and photographic locations.  We've even got a sunrise and sunset lined up, where we'll be landing on a ridge or peak to photograph the gorgeous vistas from high above the lodge. And if we're lucky with the weather, we'll also do a sunrise shoot from near the lodge and we may attempt some night photography.

My black-and-white version of an exposed root system high in the alpine in the Bugaboos

Anyways, that's it for my 2011 Bugaboos report, so stay tuned in the next few days for my Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 lens review and some more images from my recent trips to the B.C. West Coast in search of spirit bears and orcas.

Happy shooting!

John

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