Photo Safari Cruise

[Bulabula]

Hello Everyone. I have been approached by a local multi-location photo store about coordinating a digital photo-themed cruise event for a 7-day inexpensive cruise on the west coast. There would be a number of seminars to provide instruction on digital camera operation, composition, etc. There would also be smaller workshops that would be provided to smaller groups for personal attention. At the end of the cruise, I was leaning toward a photo slide presentation of the collected works for the week and awarding prizes in various categories. I was curious to know what the level of interest would be in a project like this. Many travelers have cameras and know little about the operation of the equipment and less about framing and editing photos.

 

I won't publish any details here, because I am not selling this per se. I really want to get some good feedback about what you would expect to get out of a cruise like this or if the topic sounds interesting. Please Chime in!

[nickels549]

I'm on the east coast, so that's a big knock because we usually drive to our port. But it definitely sounds interesting and if the price was right, we might consider embarking from the west coast! Please post more details!

[kryos]

I won't publish any details here, because I am not selling this per se. I really want to get some good feedback about what you would expect to get out of a cruise like this or if the topic sounds interesting. Please Chime in!

I would really enjoy such a cruise. On my recent Statendam cruise, I took a photo excursion in Moorea. The purpose of this excursion was to get some photography tips from a professional photographer, as well as be taken to some very photogenic areas on the island. I found the tour highly beneficial for the wonderful photos I got, not to mention the valuable photography tips. I am not a professional photographer, nor do I wish to be. I just wanted to be able to take better photos because, frankly, I suck at it. This photographer earned the somewhat hefty price of the tour on the first stop when he realized that I had the ISO setting on my brand new point and shoot digital camera set way wrong. It explained why a lot of the photos I took up to that point on the cruise looked like crap.

 

If I were to take a cruise totally devoted to photography, what I would look for would be workshops divided by experience level. Have some for experienced or aspiring professional photographers, as well as a track for newbies who just want to take better photos. I would like to see workshops where the participants got to put the things learned into practice, perhaps with assignments given that would encourage participants to get around the ship to take photos of the type covered in class.

 

I would also want to see some interesting photo-related excursions led by the workshop leaders where we got to put the things learned in the workshops into practice, and then got some professional critiques on the results. Of course, I would expect these excursions to be at added, though reasonable, cost.

 

The bottom line, at least for me, would be that I come home from the cruise having had a good time, but also having learned some valuable tips for making my vacation photos far better than what they've been in the past. Perhaps the people participating in the more advanced track would want to have enough knowledge to vastly improve the quality of their work to the point where they could perhaps begin making some money with their hobby.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Bulabula]

Thanks Rita,

 

That is exactly the type of feedback that I am looking for. I have been an avid photographer (self-taught) for over 30 years, and toyed with the idea of making it my profession way back in my college years. I took a wrong turn and ended up in the travel business, but that's another story.

 

Breaking the sessions up by experience level will be added. I think that small-group shore excursions with someone who knows how to operate the camera and compose a good photo is a great idea. I believe this is something people would pay additionally for.

 

I think the first event on this topic will be the Mexican Riviera. Provided this takes off the way I hope, I would like to expand to other destinations. Alaska would lend itself well to natural scenery and wildlife, but I worry the cost of Alaska cruising would be prohibitive for many folks.

 

Your feedback will help greatly in determining how many photo professionals I will have to bring with me. I cannot count on the ship's photo staff for the type of experience needed for this. I am hoping to work on a ratio of 1:25 for the class room sessions so that people can get the personal attention they expect.

 

Thanks again,

 

Brad

[RoofingPrincess]

I'm looking forward to a photo excursion on my Alaska cruise, with a naturalist photographer. This covers two birds with one stone - help in spotting the cool stuff, and help in capturing it on film (or chip!)

The ratio is (according to the individual company's website, not the cruiseline) more like 1:14, which I feel is a much better ratio for individual help - if you have kids or remember your school days, how much personal attention did you get in a class of 25 or so? Especially if there was one person who *really* didn't get it and was quite persistent in capturing the instructor's time!

[Bulabula]

Hello,

 

Yes, I agree that, for more personal attention, 1:15 is a much better ratio. This is the ratio I will use for the shore excursions when they are planned and offered at additional cost. The lectures, to be held in the show lounge, will be general interest and open to the group. The smaller class sessions, included in the cost of the program, will be at a ratio of 1:30. These classes will be more specific in topic and geared to the photographer based on their skill level.

 

I was on a SE Alaska cruise in August with Holland America, my third overall cruise to Alaska. We encountered a large number of whales, more eagles than I can remember, and even got to see a black bear pulling salmon out of a stream during a zipline expedition. I am in the Pacific NW, and we see our fair share of wildlife, but that bear was pretty cool.

 

Brad

[donaldsc]

Hello,

 

Yes, I agree that, for more personal attention, 1:15 is a much better ratio. This is the ratio I will use for the shore excursions when they are planned and offered at additional cost. The lectures, to be held in the show lounge, will be general interest and open to the group. The smaller class sessions, included in the cost of the program, will be at a ratio of 1:30. These classes will be more specific in topic and geared to the photographer based on their skill level.

 

I was on a SE Alaska cruise in August with Holland America, my third overall cruise to Alaska. We encountered a large number of whales, more eagles than I can remember, and even got to see a black bear pulling salmon out of a stream during a zipline expedition. I am in the Pacific NW, and we see our fair share of wildlife, but that bear was pretty cool.

 

Brad

 

I disagree with the 1:15 ratio. If you check out most of the photo trips that are listed in the photo magazines, you will find out that the trip size is usually 8 or 10 people max. I am doing a Winter Yellowstone trip where we have 2 trip leaders and 10 people on the trip.

 

I realize that personal attention will raise the cost significantly but I do not feel that anyone who is really interested in improving their photo skills will object.

 

At 1:15 or higher, what you have is a trip w photo lectures, not a photo trip.

 

DON

[Bulabula]

Hello Don,

 

I have done a bit of searching online and found that photo tour ratios range between 4 on the low end and 12 on the high. I am gearing the numbers down to 10 on the shore excursions, 20-25 for the on-board workshops (2 instructors). The last thing I want is for people to feel that the instruction wasn't up to par, especially if I am going to coordinate more than one event. Thanks for the input.

 

Brad

[donaldsc]

What are you going to do to ensure that the skill level of the group is fairly homgeneous? I see this as a real potential problem.

 

I took a Photoshop Elements course once where the course outline clearly defined the course prerequisits (sp?). It turned out that many of the people in the course barely knew how to open a file. The instructor spent a lot of time with this group which reduced the value of the course to the rest of us.

 

I am not sure what you can do about this problem but you do need to do some real serious thinking.

 

DON