Northern Lights Photo Expedition

Our Northern Lights Photo Expedition begins in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba. Once an important fur-trading hub and later a Canadian Pacific Railway boomtown, today Winnipeg is a vibrant cultural and commercial center on the eastern edge of Canada’s vast prairies. On arrival, you are met and transferred to the distinguished Fort Garry Hotel, one of the city’s most prestigious landmarks. Built in 1913 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in the style of a French chateau, it remains the grande dame of Winnipeg hospitality.

This afternoon, head to the "gear room" at our hotel to get equipped with all the cold-weather clothing you'll need for our Arctic Photo Expedition. We provide heavy parkas, insulated snow boots, snow pants, fleece jacket, mittens, fleece hat, fleece neck gaiter, and hand and toe warmers. No need to buy and haul your own! You can also borrow our tripods, to eliminate packing hassles. This evening, enjoy a welcome dinner with your Expedition Leaders and fellow adventurers.

This morning, board a private chartered flight to Churchill, a small northern Manitoba town located on Hudson Bay and accessible only by air or rail. Discover Churchill's colorful history on a tour of this historic hamlet that was originally a Hudson's Bay Company fur-trading post established in the early 1700s. Then transfer to White Whale Lodge, our private base for exploration where we'll spend the next four nights. With our accommodations located well outside town, no glow from artificial light spills over to mar our aurora photography opportunities—you can stay up all night if you wish, capturing every chance to shoot or film the northern lights from the lodge's elevated deck, when they are visible.

After dark, we head outside in hopes of our first view of the northern lights. Also called the aurora borealis, meaning "north wind of the dawn," the display often begins as a pale glow low in the northern sky that slowly begins to shift and undulate. Wavy patterns evolve, and the lights most often emerge as shimmering curtains of green. Sometimes other colors appear, too: pink, red or even purple. For centuries, the phenomenon of the northern lights was a mystery, inspiring a host of mythical explanations. While we know now the aurora is caused by the interaction of the solar wind with Earth’s magnetic field, more poetic stories of their origin linger, including the Hudson Bay Inuit’s belief that the lights are the mystical display of their ancestors’ souls dancing in the sky.

On these dark, icy nights in the Canadian North, we have an unimpeded view of the sky from our exclusive private aurora-viewing locations. Yet you won't stand outside in the cold as we wait for the lights to appear: each vantage point offers a chance to retreat in warmth and comfort when you need a break from cold, with hot drinks and snacks provided. In every case, our viewing sites are well outside town, away from any potential light pollution.

Your itinerary will include a night at each of the following: Our private Aurora Sphere is a large geodesic dome tent with a clear top and sides. The interior, heated with a propane stove, has comfortable furnishings so you can relax when your camera isn't poised for shots. We will also visit a local Metis dog musher’s camp where we sit by a campfire in a traditional tepee as we wait for aurora activity. Once the lights starts to dance, head outside to capture striking images with the illuminated tepee in the foreground. One evening we make an overland journey into the boreal forest by custom snowcoach, traveling atop a frozen creek to reach our isolated Aurora Cabin. Once there, we gather around the wood stove as we anticipate the auroral display above the spruce trees. Outside, there's a roaring fire to keep warm by as we photograph the night sky. In every instance there's a chance to practice our aurora photography skills, guided and inspired by presentations and personalized tips from our Expedition Leaders, who are expert instructor adept at helping you capture this challenging phenomenon.

While our nights are devoted to the northern lights, daytime excursions focus on the beauty of our tundra environs and the traditions of local people whose heritage here goes back for millennia. On a snowshoe outing, we hope to photograph hardy northern wildlife such as Arctic hare and Arctic fox, artfully camouflaged by their winter-white fur coats. The town of Churchill is also full of interesting photography subjects, with historic buildings, hardy people and roving sled dogs. Though the Hudson’s Bay Company established a fort here in 1717 as part of its fur-trading network across the Canadian North, Indigenous cultures had already been flourishing in the harsh climate for thousands of years. We explore their heritage on a dog sled ride through the forest, on a visit to the Itsanitaq Museum, and via cultural programs featuring the arts and traditions of the Inuit, Dene and Metis peoples.

The morning is free to wander Churchill’s main street, where several locally owned shops sell authentic local handicrafts, from traditional mukluks to sculptures made of caribou hair. We then transfer to the airport for our chartered flight back to Winnipeg, gathering at the Fort Garry Hotel for a farewell dinner this evening.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flights home.

Important Note: Scheduling for all activities in Churchill is flexible in order to accommodate varying weather conditions and other contingencies. Your itinerary may vary slightly and activities may happen at different times from what is listed here, but inclusions are the same. Please also be aware that each group will visit a sampler of aurora-viewing sites but not all of them, and we do not know in advance which locations will be included on which departure—but be assured that every spot offers excellent photo opportunities, away from any light pollution from town, and all are enhanced with heat for your comfort. For safety's sake and to ensure your chance to sleep, we return to town after each night’s activities, and we are unable to stay out all night. When conditions allow and energy levels permit, we may extend photography time for particularly enthusiastic groups. However, as our aurora viewing happens in a group context, we strive to balance the needs and energy of all participants across the four-night experience.