PTR Editor’s Note
From time to time the PTR Team becomes aware of unique travel adventures. Recently the workshops offered by the Mt. Rainier Institute of Photography came to our attention. We were very impressed with the offering of a trip to Tanzania where the organization guides participants to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
This workshop is for those of you who are in top physical condition as the high altitude climb is not suited for photographers who aren’t ready for extreme conditions and physical challenges.
Comments from participants who have attended courses offered by this agency have been very positive.
The group also offers travel adventures at Mount Rainier.
For those of you who are looking for the path less traveled, you might check out what the group has to offer. A brief description of the courses offered is provided below.
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International Mountain Guide and Photographer Adam Angel is offering some very unique photography workshops in 2009.
Mt Rainier Institute of Photography.
Join us on Mt. Rainier for fun, excitement, achievement and camaraderie. Containing more glacial mass than the rest of the Cascade Volcanoes combined, there is is no mistaking Rainier as the pinnacle of Cascade grandeur. Get to know Mt. Rainier National Park intimately with experienced instructors who have a deep knowledge of the park. This is our home mountain. Nobody can match our knowledge, access, or facilities of, to, and around Mt. Rainier National Park.
Our workshops originate at the studio of Adam Angel Photography in historic downtown Morton. We provide private van transportation for all shooting excursions, and gourmet fare along the way. For the Master Class (long class), field excursions are followed by image critiques, photoshop instruction, as well as fine art printing techniques at the studio. The Shooterʼs Class (short class) is for the more experienced photographer who is looking for field instruction, logistical support, and more time in the park shooting with good folks. Please visit http://www.MtRainierPhoto.com for more information.
A note from Adam:
Mt. Rainierʼs greatness inspires greatness in us. Ten years ago I came to Mt. Rainier to become a climbing guide. Somehow as a young adult I knew that Mt. Rainier would teach me many lessons and take me further than I could imagine. Climbing Mt. Rainier led to travels around the world, and ultimately to the desire to articulate the “sense of place” that I encountered on the worldʼs great mountains. Photography became my vehicle to show the folks back home what I had seen. Today, my goal for the institute is to foster personal growth in concert with natureʼs grandeur through creativity. The workshops that we offer take advantage of my knowledge of the mountain from itʼs icy top to itʼs lush and ancient bottom. They incorporate a nice blend of shooting time in the field and of classroom and lab instruction. All of this is packaged together in a fun, inspiring, memorable, and educational workshop. I look forward to spending time with you on Mt. Rainier this summer!
~Adam Angel
Adam@MtRainierPhoto.com
Kilimanjaro Photography Workshop: Summit and Safari
Join long time Kilimanjaro guide and photographer Adam Angel for a once in a lifetime expedition in Tanzania. East Africa offers one of the best environments in the world for an enriching cultural and wildlife experience. This is the only photography workshop in Tanzania that features a summit climb of Kilimanjaro with an experienced high altitude climbing guide and professional photographer. Many safari companies offer photographic tours or climbs of Kilimanjaro, but none can offer the expertise and experience that IMG and Adam have on the mountain and on safari.
This unique adventure offering both a climb and photography workshop together provides opportunities and amenities that will be hard if not impossible to find elsewhere. As you investigate the different options on the market, keep the following in mind:
• This is the only trip of this kind that we know of!
• Each climber will have a personal porter on the climb to carry your photo equipment.
• We will enjoy luxurious accommodations on our photographic safari.
• We will stay in some areas that will allow us to shoot very early and very late in the day when the light is just right and the animals are active.
• We limit the number of people in each vehicle to make sure that there is plenty of room for everyone to shoot!
• We will have an opportunity to take Portraits in a Maasai Village near Olduvai or Ngorongoro Conservation area.
• Our safari drivers really know the game habits and where to find the critters, and the safari lodges and deluxe tented camps we use are vintage and luxurious, a great reward after a tough climb.
• We add the benefit of a beautiful one-way Serengeti flight over Africa (easier, faster, more time to see animals, less time wasted on bad, bumpy roads). Our groups either drive out/fly back or fly out/drive back to Serengeti and then stop at Olduvai and Ngorongoro along the way, depending on the time of year (safari plans are subject to change).
• Kilimanjaro, while non-technical, is very high and must be taken seriously. Climbers are at health risk from the altitude. We always have a Gamow (hyperbaric) Bag, pulse oximeter, and supplemental oxygen in case of Altitude Sickness. A couple hours in the bag can turn around Acute Mountain Sickness before it forces you down or becomes life threatening.
• Our climb is led by a top-notch American high-altitude mountain guide. The African “guides” do a great job, but if you have a problem at 18,000 feet, it’s good to know that you have a real pro with you, one well-trained in all elements of climbing as well as wilderness medical procedure.
• We have a first class staff of African guides and porters, all local people from the Chagga tribe who live right at the base of Kili. Many of them have been on dozens of IMG trips over the years. They know we’ll be coming back, they like working with us, and they deliver top service.
• We don’t rush our ascent! Our program gives you a seven-day climb. We have learned that the extra time is well worth it for a successful and fun trip to 19,340 feet, giving climbers a far greater chance of standing on top and far less chance of altitude sickness.
• For comments from past trip participants, please see: http://www.mountainguides.com/comments.shtml
• IMG is proud of the track record we have established over the last 20 years with our
Kilimanjaro trips and we know that we offer a fantastic trip for the money. Our photography workshop, climb and safari is simply a great program! We hope you can join us on one of our future Africa trips.
