Sergio Photo Tours

Cradoc Software – 15% discount on all items

sergio — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:24:10 +0000

Hola,

I wanted to share with you the latest news about a great product by Cradoc Software. I know some of you are making a living with photography, some are thinking about it and some are on the fence. These software titles offer you a great variety of options for any part of your business. I personally use fotoQuote and fotoKeyword Harvester.

Please take a moment to check out what they offer and take advantage of it!

www.cradocfotosoftware.com

Pass this news and discounts to anyone you want. This is for NEW orders – bundles, upgrades and site licenses are excluded, discount cannot be combined with any other offers.

Please note this deal is between you and Cradoc, I am not involved nor do I get any kickbacks. I’m just ‘paying it forward’.

To order online go to the Cradoc fotoSoftware website at http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/store.html and enter the coupon code SPT0311 to receive your discount at check out.

Here is more info about the software…

Cradoc fotoSoftware is pleased to offer a special 15% discount for our workshop and tour participants. Cradoc fotoSoftware develops tools to help the small business photographer succeed in the big business world with simple solutions for your photo keywording, stock and assignment photo pricing and business management needs.

fotoQuote is the industry standard for pricing stock and assignment photography

fotoBiz is a powerful and easy to use business management software designed specifically for photographers

fotoKeyword Harvester is an accelerated image keywording software

ThinkTank Photo gear is on sale!!

sergio — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 05:47:36 +0000

As promised, here is the latest great news from ThinkTank Photo..they are having a special sale on their speed-belt packs. I use the Speed Racer as it holds a great compact kit and is very comfortable. If you want to travel lighter or have limited space the other belt packs are just as impressive. Order now as they have limited quantities. Don’t forget about the FREE GIFT when you order $50.00 or more. I recommend the camera strap or the pixel pocket rocket.

THINKTANK PHOTO GEAR IS HAVING A SALE!!

…..save an additional 20% OFF!

…take advantage of this offer..they have limited quantities…

Speed Demon
http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/speed-demon-belt-pack.aspx?code=WS-395

Speed Freak
http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/speed-freak-belt-pack.aspx?code=WS-395

Speed Racer
http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/speed-racer-belt-pack.aspx?code=WS-395

IF the above links are not working try these…

You can go to this specific page on their site: http://www.thinktankphoto.com//workshop and enter this special code: WS-395 in the box.

Or try this one: http://www.thinktankphoto.com/affiliates.aspx?code=WS-395

Look around, choose any item you wish, get what you need, choose a free gift, place your order. Easy.

First official post…more coming

alexmilesyounger — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:38:07 +0000

Hola amigos,

As you may have seen, there a lot of changes on the site.

I have added some spectacular tours (if I dare say so myself) and defined specific dates so people can plan based on the seasons or dates that suit them best. We defined dates so we can try to fill the tours and in that manner people will get a lower price on a per person basis when more people join. It is to your advantage to get more people on a trip. Please be aware that I can certainly offer these tours for other customizable dates that are not on our ‘official’ schedule. From day one I always wanted to be flexible in what I offered and this is how it will be. Depending on the destination, I can offer the same trip or with some modifications on custom dates that suit your schedule. All I need to know is as far ahead of time as possible. I can also offer “private” tours for one or more people (say a group of friends or a photo club or a VIP group of some sort, etc.) to many different locations. Please inquire and we can talk about and plan a private photo tour for you. As a matter of fact, I have four private tours booked this year so far (3 in Spring and 1 in the Fall) that are set to go. One is already on day # 4 of a 9-day trip to southern Bolivia.

I have detailed itineraries for a series of extended photo tours for 2011 and very soon I will have a series of short trips within the US for shooting and traveling via raft on rivers in the western states of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. I am working with an extremely experienced outfitter based in Colorado whom I am personal friends with and I trained as a raft guide some years ago. Their services are second to none. Stay tuned for that detailed information coming soon.

As always, I am a simple phone call away at 303-808-7713 (mobile) if you have any questions.

Ciao for now

Sergio

Photo Trek in Peru’s Cordillera Huayhuash (16 days) Summer 2011

sergio — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:03:05 +0000

In this world there are a few places that stand head and shoulders above others – even within the many outstanding choices that many people already know about in many ranges around the world. The Cordillera Huayhuash in Central Peru (just south of the Cordillera Blanca) is one of those places that will leave you breathless, not only due to the altitude but because the scenery is so grand, so imposing, so…unbelieveable. If the Lord of the Rings wasn’t filmed in New Zealand (which it rightly deserves), it could have been filmed here. Every day on the trek is another example of nature’s power to create beauty with a rugged exterior and alluring features. The peaks are tall, they are steep, they are covered with a layer of frosting made of hanging glaciers and the alpine lakes at their feet are a rainbow of complimentary puddles of color. Just amazing. This is a high altitude trek and it can be rigorous at times but the effort is worth the grunts and sweat you pay with in order to see what nature has in store for you. Perfect reflections abound in blue and green lakes and clouds know when to reveal the peaks above your head and let the light in so you can make amazing photos. This is the range where Joe Simpson had his epic near-death adventure on Mt. Siula Grande where he barely survived. He wrote the book Touching the Void which was also later made into a movie. The location is intimidating when you get up close and it’s also stunningly beautiful in a very rugged way. The campsites are broad and level and offer easy access to numerous vantage points to get the photo you have been dreaming of since you first laid eyes on the pointy summits that took your breath away. We will get properly acclimatized based out of Huaraz (the Chamonix of Peru) by doing a day hike to Lago Churup and taking advantage of a festival of Senor de la Soledad during the first few days. Once acclimatized, we will head south to the Cordillera Huayhuash and spend our first night in basic accommodations in the town of Queropalca then begin our journey around this most spectacular of ranges for the next ten days. All you need to carry with you are your camera, a few lenses, foul weather clothing, snacks and water as the burros or horses will carry everything else we need to the next camp each day. We usually have lunch en route before arriving to the next camp. As an added bonus we will provide a “tech-tent” so people can have a central place to gather and download their images to their laptops or digital wallets at the end of the day. The trek has been modified to allow for plenty of time to enjoy a stunning location and really get the most out of it, so we often spend a couple days in the same location so that there is time for sunset and sunrise shooting at a place that offers lots of potential for extra special photography. Trust us, you will be shooting a lot, so plan on bringing quite a bit more storage and media cards than you could ever anticipate using! Along the route you will be stunned by the grand vista and hopefully meet some of the locals and share a smile and a photo. There are truly innumerable photographic opportunities each and every day of this journey. This is one life experience that you will not forget.

The Magical Bolivian Altiplano (14 days) Spring 2012

sergio — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:58:23 +0000

This journey is designed to visit some of the most spectacular regions of the Bolivian highlands region with some early acclimatization to the semi-tropical Yungas on the eastern side of the Andes and the jewel of the Andes; mystical Lake Titicaca before heading south to the Sud Lipez region where the highest altitudes will be encountered. The itinerary has been designed to position you at the best locations at the best times for photographing the grand landscape and wild animals of this region. The season we recommend spans from late March to late November (which is our dry season) thus the roads should be in good shape for travel after the rainy season, which tends to be December to March.. The months between May and September are cold as it is the winter but the best climatic conditions are during this time. The Altiplano is a cold region any time of the year so be prepared for fairly cold temperatures at night and comfortable to chilly temperatures during the day. In any case, the landscapes are so spectacular that you will forget about the temperatures and focus on making some amazing photos of an awe-inspiring landscape that promises to deliver beautiful light, convoluted and rugged landforms, glacier-covered peaks and shimmering water spectacles that will not be easily forgotten. The Altiplano is an amazing landscape and offers surprises to new and frequent visitors alike. Make sure you have plenty of film/compact flash cards and a great variety of lenses – from very wide to very long as well as a sturdy tripod so you can make images of anything that may catch your eye. We travel with our laptops and/or a device where you can download your images for immediate back-ups, like the Epson viewers. Please get in touch with us for any equipment suggestions and recommendations before departing as we have decades of experience shooting in Bolivia.

The Magical Bolivian Altiplano (14 days) Fall 2011

sergio — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:55:46 +0000

Bolivia’s Andean & Cordillera Highlands (9 days) Fall 2011

sergio — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:53:30 +0000

This photographic journey is specifically designed to concentrate in the regions that are part of, within or near the western Andes mountains of Bolivia. The extreme variety of terrain, vistas and climates as well as a huge smorgasbord of different people make this photo safari an all-encompassing regional tour-de-force. The trip begins in La Paz (av, height 12,500′/3,810 mts.), a unique city that hides inside a massive bowl at the foot of triple-crowned Mt. Illimani (21,163′/6,452mts.) with a population of close to a million people, all clamoring to extract a place to live as the city crawls up the sides of the bowl and spilling onto the wind-swept Altiplano. There is no other city like this one anywhere in the world. A series of rugged canyons extend from the center of La Paz in all directions while the Altiplano overlooks the spectacle and is where our journey continues as we head to the jewel of the Andes and the birthplace of the Incas – sacred Lake Titicaca. At almost every point along the route the massive Cordillera Real looms above everything else and is part of our route as we photograph it from below, at mid-height and from Lake Titicaca as well as on it’s eastern and semi-tropical flanks when we visit the Yungas region towards the end of the trip. There is plenty of time to visit the canyons that make up the crumbling arms of the arid valleys near La Paz that are mostly made of ancient multi-colored mud that are extremely photogenic. Lake Titicaca, Copacabana and the Island of the Sun (Isla Del Sol) is our base for a few days to experience it’s different moods and faces as it changes from the cool morning blues to the sun-drenched afternoons where sunsets tend to be extremely colorful. The people are always busy tending to their animals or crops so we will have many opportunities to photograph life in a simple and mostly unchanged manner that has been around for centuries. Once acclimatized we will head into the heart of the Cordillera Real so you can get eye-to-eye with a 20,000′/6,000m peak only a couple of hours from downtown La Paz. We will end our journey by visiting the eastern side of the Andes and drop into the semi-tropical and jungle-covered valleys of the Yungas region to experience a completely different world than what we have seen in the cooler highlands – a world full of multi-colored shades of green, whitewater rivers and delicious fruits and vegetables as well as the much maligned coca plant. We will end our photographic journey in La Paz before you head back home with fond memories and great images to share.

Bolivia: Madidi National Park – Amazon Lodges and Wildlife (10 days) Summer 2011

sergio — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:49:45 +0000

This journey to the pampas (natural grass savannas) of the Beni and to Madidi National Park is the perfect introduction to the Upper Amazon Basin of Bolivia. The variety of eco-systems and flora and fauna you will see on this trip is incomparable. You will have never-ending opportunities to photograph birds and mammals on this trip as well as reptiles ad insects. Please keep in mind that shooting in the jungle requires fast lenses, higher ISO’s and tripods to assure keeper photos. The pampas of the Beni and the adjacent wetlands and small rivers have an abundant variety of birds (macaws, hawks, toucans, ibis, herons, etc.), mammals (monkeys, pink river dolphins, ant eater, jaguar, fox, etc. ) and reptiles (lizards, turtles, snakes, caiman, etc.) and countless insects of all shapes and sizes. Observing pink river dolphins, anacondas and caiman in their natural home is an experience that should not be missed and is relatively easy to do here as it is still a wild place with little if any development except cattle ranches that for the most part are just the pampas with occasional fences. After visiting the animal-rich pampas we head to Chalalan Eco-Lodge, which is situated next to Laguna Chalalan – off the Tuichi River in Madidi National Park (as featured in March 2000 issue of National Geographic). Departure begins from Rurrenabaque via a motorized boat on the Beni and Tuichi Rivers for approximately five hours. The lodge is owned and administered by the natives of the village of San Jose de Uchupiamonas (located 8-10 hours via motorized boat up the Tuichi River from Rurrenabaque) but the lodge is at the five-hour mark from Rurrenabaque. Generations of the Quechua-Tacana people living in this region make them the obvious choice as naturalist guides that will take you along trails through the forest to view birds, mammals and reptiles and to share their knowledge of their home with you. Day hikes and possible overnight camping journeys to different regions will introduce you to the abundant variety of animals and plants that make Madidi National Park one of the most diverse in the world – from glaciers to jungle. The animals are protected so they are not super-wary of people and they are abundant in many places we will visit. If you like insects, bring your macro lens as there is an endless variety of insects that will keep you busy. Chalalan is the perfect getaway for those that are in love with the neo-tropics and also for those just venturing into world of the Amazon for the first time. Within just 10 days you will get an in-depth view of the wonders of the Bolivian Upper Amazon Basin that includes the pampas and the rainforest. It’s a magical location – unlike any other in the Bolivian Amazon! The gateway city is La Paz so you will begin and end your trip there, which is a world-away from the Amazon and a unique city in its own right.

New Zealand’s South Island National Parks – from Sea to Glaciers (15 days) Winter 2011

sergio — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:42:40 +0000

The southern Island of New Zealand is like no other place on earth. It is wild, it is rugged, it is convoluted and it’s absolutely spectacular – from the perilous seacoast, through the temperate rainforest to the expansive hinterlands and to the top of the imposing and glacier-covered Southern Alps. There is a very good reason The Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in New Zealand. You really need to experience it first-hand in order to truly appreciate the immense variety and beauty of this land at the southern end of the Pacific Ocean.
The trip begins with an arrival into Queenstown, a small modern city tucked into the elbow of Lake Wakatipu that offers everything a modern city does with quick access to fabulous adventures nearby via a short drive or hike. There is a lot to see and do here and it’s our base of operations to distant regions brimming with rugged beauty. From Queenstown we are a short drive along the breathtaking shores of Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy, a township that is the jumping-off point to a few classic tracks (trekking routes) like the Greenstone, Caples, and Routeburn which is within Mt. Aspiring National Park. The Kiwis (as New Zealanders are called) love the outdoors and have created access to some of the most spectacular regions in order to protect the fragile landscapes yet provide great access to all via world-famous tracks. From this beautiful location we begin an overland journey north towards Lake Wanaka and then over Haast Pass onto the coastal highway on the western edge of the south island to visit the rocky seascape as well as placid lagoons and walk on glaciers that tumble into temperate rainforests in Westland National Park. There will be time to hike and get deep into the mountains including a flight via helicopter to the heart of the Southern Alps to experience this rugged landscape from above. The wrinkled landscape of New Zealand has few straight roads and the helicopter ride will put in perspective how spectacular and remote these regions are, even though they may be a short distance in a straight line from each other. A few days later we head back over the pass and northward to Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park and spend a few days there to photograph colorful Lake Pukaki and the rugged peaks and deep valleys that have been carved by glaciers over eons. We will head back to Queenstown on the last day for our last dinner together before your flight back home the next day.

The Faces and Places of the Bolivian Andes & Salt Flats (16 days) Summer 2011

alexmilesyounger — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:13:14 +0000

This 16-day photographic tour of the Bolivian highlands has been designed to cover a great variety of regions that offer unlimited photographic opportunities of indigenous people and surreal landscapes. In Bolivia, the people are intimately tied to the land. The varied and unique landscapes you will encounter as you travel across many regions are as diverse as the glacier-covered Andes and Altiplano, mystical Lake Titicaca and the jungle-covered Yungas, the otherworldly Salar de Uyuni as well as the colonial cities of La Paz, Potosi and Sucre. Each place is different from the previous one and are full of special moments so you can capture the spirit of the people that live here. If you want a real experience and less crowds, if you want the non-tourist experience and the space needed to make special images then Bolivia is your blank canvass. We will experience the bizarre and colorful Gran Poder festival in La Paz and the Winter Solstice in the Salar de Uyuni! The colors and smells, the wacky and bizarre, the unique and the brazen acts of people living on the edge are all across Bolivia. On this journey, we will concentrate on the western highlands region, which provide never-ending fodder for your mind and your camera. This is the harvest season so there will be a lot of activity going on with people working the land and taking their goods to market – often on donkeys and on their back. You need to be ready and shoot quickly and we will be constantly showing you special moments that may be of interest. We will leave it up to you to decide if you want to make the image but we will put you at the right places so you can concentrate on making images, not thinking about the logistics. The itinerary describes the day-to-day journey but it does not explain the jaw-dropping beauty and authentic feel that Bolivia serves up to each visitor in unexpected and random snippets of life. Whether you are a globe-trotting traveler or a first-timer, we will try our best so that you come back with images that will fill your mind with unforgettable moments and fond memories. This is a complete photographic journey, with adventure, panoramic vistas, history and real people.