You Can Have Photos Like Ours!

May 05, 2019

At Arctic Kingdom, one thing we’re very proud of is the fact that we don’t use any stock photos. All of our photos are provided by our expedition leaders and guests.

What does that mean? You can have incredible photos too!

Our Guides and the Photos They Take

Have you seen our photos on social media? Maybe you’ve enjoyed photos from a previous blog or on our website. Well, they are all really taken on Arctic Kingdom trips!

Many companies rely on stock photography to demonstrate what you will see or the experience you can have on their trips. But at Arctic Kingdom, we use our photos to showcase the actual experience you’ll witness.

We are so fortunate to have such skilled expedition leaders to provide breathtaking photos of the spectacular wildlife as well as some of the most unique landscape images. Their knowledge of wildlife behaviour and the Arctic terrain has led to some unbelievable photos.

With their keen eye for framing their subject to highlight the expanse of the Arctic while capturing the essence of the wildlife provides inspiring glimpses of life in the Arctic. And we’re proud that our guests get these unparalleled opportunities too.

You Can Have Incredible Photos Too

Any photo of the Arctic is unique. It’s a destination that few people have had the chance to experience and any of our safaris will bring you to locations worth photographing.

Our safaris are designed to maximize your wildlife viewing and photography opportunities. Through years of experience and studying wildlife behavior, combined with the remarkable knowledge of our local Inuit guides who have been stewards of the land for countless generations our trips help provide the perfect ingredients for photography.

With the help of our local guides and the passion of our expedition leaders, our guests are brought to the same location as professional wildlife photographers and film crews. Imagine being taken to the same locations that BBC filmed their Frozen Planet series!

Some of our expedition leaders may also help you maximize your photos with advice and techniques they’ve learned over their years in the Arctic. There are new factors that come into play when you shoot in the Arctic but luckily some of our expedition leaders have their experience to provide helpful advice.

We also offer a flexible daily schedule of tour departures to maximize your opportunities. That means some days, you can spend the whole day at the floe edge filming migrating narwhal and beluga. When the whales appear, you may get hours to photograph these amazing whales and get multiple opportunities.

Or maybe you wanted to spend the morning looking to photograph polar bear from sleds pulled by knowledgeable guides on snowmobiles before spending the afternoon at the floe edge. With 24 hours of sunlight, any time of day is both great and offers different lighting for your photos.

Photographing a polar bear family from snow sleds

What Kind of Photos Can You Get?

With safaris happening at almost all times of the year, and in such incredible locations, it helps to know what you’re hoping to photograph. You’ll have to decide what adventure you want to showcase.

Whale or Polar Bear?

Firstly, it’s important to decide on what subject is your primary goal. Do you want to capture the annual phenomena of migrating Arctic whales? Maybe you want to photograph the intimacy of a polar bear mother and her cub.

The Arctic or Hudson Bay?

Once you know your subject, you’ll have to decide on the backdrop you want for your photo. You may really want a photo of a polar bear in its Arctic domain. It could be a male polar bear walking across the frozen sea-ice demonstrating its sheer size in comparison to the enormous expanse of the Arctic.

Or maybe you want to see a mother and her cubs playing on an iceberg. Capturing cubs as they frolic behind their mother or begin to mimic her hunting techniques will leave anyone in awe.

Then again, you may want to capture a polar bear family as it migrates north along the shoreline of Hudson’s Bay. The rocky landscape offers a unique look at the King of the North. You may even see an Arctic fox following behind a polar bear as it tags along hoping for leftovers.

Up close or At a Distance?

Since it is our goal to offer the best wildlife encounters possible, we aim to get you as close as safety and wildlife protection regulations permit. We don’t want to scare any animal, that is why we have such experienced local guides and expedition leaders. But we do want you to get amazing photos. That is why our trips are land-based and small group sizes.

Our land-based floe edge safaris get guests right to the water’s edge to take photos but don’t create the noise pollution of boat tours. We find holes and cracks that we know from experience whales may come to and when they do, guests can take incredible photos without disturbing the whale’s behavior.

Imagine seeing a narwhal come to the surface right in front of you as it swims next to the edge of the ice or filming the fluke of a beluga before it dives under the very ice you’re standing on.

Similarly, our Polar Bear Migration Fly-In Safari cabins are located next to the Hudson Bay shoreline. That means migrating polar bears can pass quite close to you as you photograph them from behind an unobtrusive polar bear safety fence. Cubs are particularly curious at their age, so they make incredible subjects with their curious and inquisitive behavior.

Our Baffin Island trips, like Spring Polar Bears & Icebergs of Baffin Safari and Narwhal & Polar Bear Safari, offer fantastic polar bear photo opportunities too. Since you’ll be traveling by snowmobile and sled you will be looking to find polar bears, but you are more likely to catch them displaying unique and interesting behaviours. You might catch a polar bear snoozing on top of an iceberg or cubs playing in the snow.

How Will You Use Your Photos?

An Arctic safari is an experience you will never forget, and you’ll likely come home with enough photos to help capture your memories and share with your friends.

We are proud to use photos from the actual trip to promote our safaris because they truly capture the experience that guests can have with us. But how will you use your photos? Maybe you want to photograph your family in this spectacular place, or maybe you want to transition from an amateur wildlife photographer to a professional or maybe you just want to showcase the beauty of the Arctic to friends. What’s certain is that you will get unbelievable photography opportunities on an Arctic Safari.