Search:
Photo Tours
We offer worldwide photo tours to the top destinations for wildlife, landscape and cultural photography. Our trips are designed by photographers, for photographers. All trips are led by experienced, knowledgeable professional photographer guides who will help you get great photos and answer your questions about everything from photo techniques to the wildlife, places and people you encounter along the way. Our trips are designed for all skill levels so, whether you’re a seasoned photographer or just starting out, you’ll feel right at home on any of our photo tours.
Below is a list of our current photo tours. You can also search by Date, Region or Type from the drop-down menus at the top of the page. We’re here to answer your questions about any of the trips that interest you, so don’t hesitate to contact us!
Space Available
Tour Regions
Tour Types
Tour Dates
Dalmatian Pelicans and Meteora Monasteries
Dalmatian pelicans—world’s largest, rarest, and most photogenic—in breeding plumage, and the spectacular Meteora monasteries landscapes are featured in this diverse winter photo tour in Northern Greece.
Japan's Winter Wildlife
Incredible photographic access to snow monkeys, Japanese cranes, whooper swans, white-tailed and Steller's sea eagles in snowy landscapes. One of Earth's finest—yet little-known—winter wildlife shoots. Ranks in Joe Van Os' Top 10 wildlife photo trips in the world!
Yellowstone in Winter
Capture images of the very best of Yellowstone’s snowy interior—unique geothermal features, snow-encrusted landscapes, and iconic wildlife—with an expert leader who knows the park intimately. Flexible itinerary with five snow coach days and short walks to explore geothermal areas and landscapes.
India's Kumbh Mela Festival, Varanasi, and Nomadic Tribes of Gujarat
Experience the Kumbh Mela Festival—one of the largest and most photogenic assemblages of humanity on the planet. Reside in a luxury camp at the Kumbh. Photograph at iconic Varanasi by boat at sunrise. Create images of seldom-photographed ornately colorful tribes people in the Gujarat desert.
Snowy Owls of the Canadian Prairies, Alberta
Photograph snowy owls, the extraordinary “Arctic Ghosts,” in Alberta’s snowy prairie habitats. Three shooting days provide great opportunities to capture portrait images, birds in flight and owls as part of the winter landscape.
Norway's Lofoten Islands
The Lofoten Archipelago is considered by many to be the most beautiful setting in Norway. Jagged mountains rise from the sea as backdrops to cozy fishing villages. Rugged seascapes are seen at every turn. With clear weather this landscape is a spectacular foreground for the aurora borealis!
Bald Eagles, Sea Otters & Coastal Wildlife of Kachemak Bay, Alaska
A spectacular wildlife shoot amidst Alaska’s most photogenic settings. Five full days of photography from a chartered boat along the Kenai Peninsula to capture dynamic in-flight and perched eagle images, endearing close-ups of sea otters, and wildlife in rugged winter landscapes.
Norway’s Senja Island in Winter
Virtually undiscovered by photographers, Senja Island and adjacent Lyngen Alps provide world class winter arctic landscape photography with an outstanding potential for spectacular aurora borealis displays. Reside in comfy hotels in the heart of this accessible, raw, and rugged countryside.
Gray Whales of Mexico's Baja Peninsula
Experience the thrill of photographing at one of Earth's prime locations for marine photography! Photograph Pacific gray whales within touching distance. Capture images of blue and humpback whales, dolphins, Baja's desert landscapes, unique Boojum “trees” and timeless Mexican colonial architecture.
Florida Birds
Florida’s East Coast has become a great new focal point for nature photographers from all over the world. Shoot several exciting wading bird colonies at close range including wood storks, spoonbills, herons and egrets plus the world’s highest density of nesting ospreys—by boat and on shore.
Great Gray Owls of the North Woods, Alberta
Photograph these magnificent birds of prey, the “Phantoms of the Forest,” in the remote forests of central Alberta. Three full shooting days provide many opportunities to capture intimate photos of the great gray owls during the snowiest month of the year.
Ultimate Tigers
Photograph the world’s largest living cats and other Indian wildlife for six shooting days in one of the world’s most impressive tiger reserves. Special government photography permits in Bandhavgarh National Park allow unrestricted daytime entry for three full days. Only two photographers per safari vehicle.
Costa Rica Birds & Wildlife
Costa Rica has extraordinary habitats and ecolodges within them. We visit some of the country's prime bird photography locations to create images of amazingly colorful rain forest and cloud forest birds. The stars of the show are resplendent quetzals—one of the most beautiful birds in the Americas.
Namibia Revealed
From its beautiful quiver tree forest, surreal sand-conquered ghost town of Kolmanskop, and the colossal red sand Sossusvlei Dunes to the superlative Etosha National Park, Namibia provides exciting photo subjects at every turn. Photograph vast numbers of wildlife at Etosha's numerous water holes.
Arctic Birds and Musk Oxen of Nome, Alaska
Photograph the summer arrival of shorebirds, waterfowl and northern songbirds in Alaska’s arctic. Create images of grazing musk oxen, caribou, moose and red foxes on barren tundra hillsides and verdant valleys—all under the summer’s long hours of daylight.
Whales, Wildlife and Wilderness, Alaska
Experience the breathtaking excitement of humpback whale photography in the pristine waters of the Alaska’s Inside Passage during the prime summer season. Whales breach, tail-slap, and bubble-net and lunge feed amidst snowcapped mountain backdrops on this luxurious photo cruise.
Puffins on the Fly, Iceland
Iceland is home to more than half the world’s population of Atlantic puffins—as well as fantastic numbers of other seabirds that nest on its towering cliffs. We photograph at scenic Grimsey Island, one of the country's most amazing puffin colonies, for 5 shooting days.
Jaguars & Wildlife of Brazil's Pantanal
The world's premier wetland with photo access to stunning birds and mammals, with a focus on jaguars. Five full days are dedicated to jaguar photography from small boats—3 photographers per boat. Travel with a local photo guide who intimately knows the wildlife and natural history of the Pantanal.
Brown Bears of Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
A cozy private fly-in lodge is our base for a week of amazing brown bear photography amidst verdant marshes and tidal flats with serrate mountain backdrops. We encounter the bears—close up, on foot and at their eye level—as they forage, often with cubs in tow, in this vast unspoiled wilderness.
Botswana Wildlife
Two incredibly productive wildlife areas—private Mashatu Game Reserve and Chobe National Park. Photograph elephants and other animals up close and below eye level from waterhole photo blinds. Shoot from boats specially designed for photographers for a unique below eye-level perspective.
New Zealand's South Island
New Zealand—a canvas painted by nature’s brushstrokes. This 13-day photo adventure immerses you in sparkling glaciers, ancient forests, mirrored lakes, and rugged fiords. From the snow-capped Southern Alps to the dramatic coast, every frame captures the untouched beauty of Middle Earth.
Colorado Fall Colors
Photograph the blazing yellow aspen forests that punctuate the rugged Colorado Rocky Mountains topography—jagged summits and deep breathtaking valleys under blue sky. Improve your photography skills while learning about light, color and graphic design on location with our leader in his home state.
Acadia National Park and Coastal Maine in Autumn
Rugged, rocky headlands, a lighthouse carved into a granite ledge, a quiet harbor on a dreamy foggy morning, tide pools and crashing waves, or a hillside of flaming maples and birches—all these exciting photographic possibilities describe our classic Acadia National Park photo tour in October.
Caddo Lake and Big Cypress Bayou, Texas in Autumn
Autumn brings a blaze of color to the bald cypress trees of Caddo Lake and the Big Cypress Bayou in Texas. Explore quiet backwaters by boat and photograph the graphic quality of these stately trees as ethereal fog drifts amidst the gnarled trunks as the sun rises and sets.
Women's Series: Caddo Lake and Big Cypress Bayou
The breathtaking Caddo Lake in East Texas serves as an ideal setting for the next addition to our well-received Women in Nature Photography tour series—trips open exclusively to women of all photographic skills. This trip is designed with the same attention to detail found in all other Van Os Photo Safaris but with an added element—it offers a unique opportunity to explore this extraordinary region in the company of other women photographers. Straddling the borders of Texas and Louisiana, Caddo Lake and the Big Cypress Bayou comprise an extensive 26,800-acre maze of channels, meandering bayous, sloughs, and cypress thickets. This misty primordial swampland adds a new wild and haunting dimension to “fall color” photography. Here, in the Deep South, majestic bald cypress trees reflected in tranquil dark tannin-rich waters are transformed with color in autumn, with an exuberant explosion of fiery burnt orange, red, gold and russet. Thick ghostly drapes of Spanish moss hang from every branch as fog drifts amidst gnarled and buttressed cypress trunks. Abstract shapes of cypress knees protrude above mirrored water as herons and egrets use them from which to hunt amidst the giant trees.We are out in the predawn hours making our way to locales of graphic intensity. We visit the most stunning groups of trees and cypress corridors prior to the golden hour, hoping to photograph tree reflections and ethereal mist before sunrise. Then we continue as dappled golden light filters through the canopy above. In the afternoon we return to these backwaters in our flat-bottomed jon boat, hopeful for beautiful colors of the sky and tree silhouettes at sunset. In October 1993, Caddo Lake was designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention—an international treaty which seeks to conserve wetlands throughout the world. The area protects a wealth of wildlife and…
Costa Rica Birds—The Green Season
Costa Rica has extraordinary habitats and ecolodges within them. We visit some of the country's prime bird photography locations to create images of amazingly colorful rain forest and cloud forest birds. The stars of the show are resplendent quetzals—one of the most beautiful birds in the Americas.