PHOTO TOUR OF THE CAIRNGORMS

Photography tour to the Cairngorms

7 days | 26 October 2025 – 1 November 2025 (3 places left with a launch offer discount of £500 on your invoice)
7 days | 25 October 2026 – 31 October 2026 (4 places left with a launch offer discount of £500 on your invoice. Book before 1st Nov 2025.)

Cairngorms National Park in Scotland is a relatively unknown photography destination. That’s why international award winning fine art and conservation photographer Garth Lenz is organizing a photo tour here for Nature Talks. The park is the largest in the United Kingdom and is only an hour’s drive from Inverness. And it’s not only big, but also high! Five of the six highest mountains in Scotland are located in this park and it hosts a beautiful collection of different landforms: from granite rocks and remnants of volcanic eruptions to remnants of glaciers from the ice age. Perhaps most importantly of all, it holds the largest remaining intact tracts of the Caledonian Forest. It is therefore no coincidence that, according to National Geographic, Cairngorms National Park is one of the top 20 places in the world to visit.

Do you want to photograph under the guidance of top fine art photographer and environmental photojournalist Garth Lenz in one of the most beautiful and extensive nature reserves in Scotland and also enjoy beautiful fall colour and solitude? Then let Nature Talks and Garth take you to this photographer’s Mecca in the Cairngorms.

Cairngorms: intimate wild native forest landscapes, lochs and lochans reflecting peak autumn colour, and home to diverse species and landforms

Found only in Scotland, the Caledonian forest once covered a large portion of the country. These native pinewoods are made up of a mixture of Scots pine, juniper, birch, willow, yew, rowan and aspen. They are characterized by huge and gnarled “granny” pines that can grow to be very old and large. The mixture of deciduous and coniferous species, highlighted by autumn colour , and set amongst the many lochs and lochans makes for a spectacular subject which offers endless possibilities for personal expression.

These forests are home to red squirrels and Scottish wildcats, golden eagles, red deer and pine martens together with more elusive creatures such as capercaillie and Scottish crossbill. Reindeer, which went extinct in the UK 8000 years ago were re-introduced in the Cairngorms in the early 1950’s and are the U.K’s only free ranging herd and we will have an opportunity to visit and photograph these iconic animals.

On the road with fine art and conservation photographer Garth Lenz

This is your chance if you want to go on the road with an internationally acclaimed award winning conservation photographer who can guide you during the photo trip, help you with your questions and with whom you can speak about your photography and receive personal guidance. An absolute added value to this trip. Garth Lenz is a top nature photographer and has earned his spurs on a global level. He makes fine art photos and publishes articles and photos about nature conservation in the most prestigious magazines and he is an expert in narrative photography and storytelling. He will guide you to the most beautiful locations and help you expand your creative abilities to produce beautiful images of this unique landscape. Garth has a great passion for helping photographers reach new creative heights in their photography.

This photo trip is especially suitable for nature and landscape photographers who are already a bit further in their photography.

Transformation into a warmly coloured world

We are in the Cairngorms at the peak of Autumn when golden colour transforms the forest landscape. Time seems to pass more slowly at this time of year. Every moment demands attention, every change a painting in the making. As the birch forests of the Scottish Highlands turn increasingly golden and the high peaks may be covered in the first snows of early autumn, Cairngorms National Park transforms into a nature photographer’s paradise. Finely sculpted mists envelop mirror-smooth lakes. Ancient Scots pines, withered for more than three centuries, stand like a sentinel against fiery sunsets. In this time of year the Scottish Highlands are a landscape of enchanting beauty, enhanced by a clarity and quality of light that is unique in the UK.

Inspiration at every turn

Our primary photographic subject, the Caledonian Forest, is a vast ancient woodland with Scots pines, birches, rowan, yew, willow, aspen, and juniper, and is considered one of the most important habitats for biodiversity conservation in Scotland and one of the largest remaining primeval forests in Europe. When we visit in late October, this forest will be at its most spectacular with Autumn colour and light, and the many beautiful loch and lochans to reflect this stunning forest landscape. Whether you’re passionate about forests, the quiet beauty of a dewdrop on an autumn leaf, or the endless possibilities of intimate and abstract images that one of Europe’s largest and most beautiful remaining native forests offers – in the Cairngorms, you’ll find inspiration at every turn.

Learn more about your accompanying photographer

Garth Lenz is a fine art photographer, environmental photo journalist, public speaker, and workshop leader based on the West Coast of Canada. His assignments and publication credits include some of the most prestigious editorial and art publications, including National Geographic, GEO, Time, Esquire, The Guardian, Canadian Geographic, The Walrus, Natur, The New York Times and many others.
A sought-after speaker and storyteller, Lenz has been invited to speak at The New York Times, the European Parliament, the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, New York and Harvard, the Royal Geographical Society and the Natural History Museum in London, among others. His Ted Talk, the True Cost of Oil, has been translated into 24 languages and received over 900,000 views.

More about Garth

What We Offer You

• The opportunity to photograph for a week in Cairngorms under the guidance of an internationally acclaimed  fine art and environmental photojournalist Garth Lenz.
• The chance to bring connections into your photography and focus on storytelling and narrative photography with support and instruction with Garth.
• Capture the atmosphere and colours at the peak of autumn in the wildest National Park of the United Kingdom.
• We explore mountains, rainforests, glens, lochs, and heaths from sunrise to sunset, always taking into account the sun, rain, light, and wind.
• You will learn to use creative techniques and bring variation to your images.
• Staying in a rural, atmospheric lodge completely tailored to photographers’ schedules.
• In the evening, we will have photo discussions of the images taken, discuss editing and processing techniques and also have a presentation by Peter Cairns: renown photographer, longtime Cairngorms resident, and executive director of conservation organisation Scotland: The Big Picture.
• Participant meeting prior to the trip.

Is This Trip Right for You?

• You see this trip as a unique opportunity to photograph together with acclaimed photographer Garth Lenz in the rugged and colourful highlands of Scotland.
• This trip is extra interesting for you if you want to delve further into creativity and storytelling and narrative photography under the guidance of an expert.
• You have a special interest in native forest landscapes of Cairngorms, the associated wildlife and you enjoy experiencing peak autumn colours for a week in the Scottish highlands.
• You find photographing in rapidly changing conditions of sun, rain and wind a fantastic challenge.
• You find it interesting to learn more about rapidly changing lighting conditions, filter use, and the application of various photographic techniques and their post-processing in direct practice.
• You enjoy photographing in a small group of like-minded people.
• Maximum photography time due to short travel distances and efficient time planning.
• The booking is based on a shared 2-person room, but you can also book a single room for a small additional fee.