2011-13 Expedition Calendar

Hi—I'm Don Lyon, your guide to photography and travel adventures around the world. Close-Up Expeditions are more than photography tours. They are expeditions of understanding. Photography is our means of slowing down the world—taking the time to meet the people and learn their stories and learning about the nature story that is ever present, too. I've lived, traveled and studied in over 130 countries and all of North America. My promise to you is that I’ll put you in the right place and the right time so you can do your best work. The Close-Up style means smallest groups (7 is the usual max), the best time of year, road-tested itineraries, and an all-inclusive price with some great features other companies ignore such as field notes to help you identify your images, one on one instruction and photo help and a no-hassle meal plan. Call or e-mail and start planning your next adventure today!     by Pat Martinson. Don Lyon, Iceland 2008

Oregon Coast & Columbia Gorge May 17-30, 2011   Begins and ends near Portland (PDX) Airport. May is a good time for waterfalls in the Gorge, dramatic skys on the coast, good storm waves at Kiwanda and wild rhododendrons in the redwoods. First night and last two nights on the edge of Columbia Gorge. Day 2-5 in Seaside convenient to Cannon, Ecola and Oswald West Beaches—sea stacks, driftwood and dramatic headlands as well as lush rainforests. Day 5-Pacific City is home to the Dory Fleet and to world-class waves. Day 6-9 in Florence area—Heceta Head is just the most famous of the lighthouses we’ll photograph. Oregon Dunes National Seashore protects many pristine lakes and bogs with unusual and photogenic plants and ecosystems. The sand dunes stretch for miles. Days 9-11 are at Bandon—the best place for sunsets with reflections and rocky sea stacks. We’ll explore the most picturesque coves and beaches from Cape Arago to Brookings—Easter lily capital of the world. We spend a night in Crescent City for both evening and morning light in the redwoods then cruise up the freeway to the Columbia Gorge for two nights of exploring ferny dells and beautiful narrow canyons with spectacular waterfalls. Click on pdf image to view or print

PSA Colorado Rockies September 25-Oct. 2, 2011 After the Photographic Society of America Conference—we begin and end in Colorado Springs. The aspens are turning to gold in the San Juans and around the Maroon Bells. Wildlife is at its prime in preparation for winter. We’ll base ourselves in Ouray, Crested Butte and Aspen for the best picture opportunities. Attendance at the Conference is encouraged but not required. Click on pdf image to view or print

Inside Cambodia November 21-Dec. 3, 2011 Cambodia—Meeting the People, Making a Difference. Cambodia is a beautiful country with a rich history and culture. The gentle lovely people have survived a brutal regime and are building a new nation—it is exciting to watch and to participate! Friendship with Cambodia operates this socially responsible travel experience that gives you the opportunity to visit behind the scenes, as you’ve never done before. It is not specifically a photographic tour, yet photographic opportunities are everywhere and, as the leader, I will be encouraging participants to create meaningful images. We visit the ruins of Angkor, Tonle Sap, hospitals, orphanages, sheltered workshops, students on FWC scholarships and self-help micro-loan groups in the quest to learn about Cambodia and ourselves. Participants are encouraged to undertake a project—perhaps a book or audio visual program to share with their community. Contact CUE about pre or post trip photo adventures. Visit FWC’s website www.friendshipwithcambodia.org Click on pdf images to view or print

2012 Calendar

Yosemite, Gold Rush Country and San Francisco in Winter February. 4-11, 2012 (7 days) Yosemite in Winter is the quintessential Christmas card with dramatic views of glacier carved Half Dome and El Capitan rising from the Valley floor. Stand at the tripod holes of Ansel Adams on this photo tour and capture iconic scenes of the Merced River tumbling over granite boulders. Transportation is provided from San Francisco Airport on Day One back to the airport on Day 7. We spend three nights in El Portal, gateway to Yosemite Valley and just a few minutes from spectacular photography. One night is spent in Sonora, heart of the Gold Rush country. Columbia is a California State Historical Park dedicated to preserving the 49‘er life. Near by communities such as Angel’s Camp (Mark Twain) and Jamestown preserve the gold rush flavor in architecture and life style. To capture the essence of everyone’s favorite City by the Bay, we spend two nights in San Francisco (near the airport). Your guide will help you capture iconic images of the Golden Gate Bridge, surfers at Fort Point and the Painted Ladies Victorian Houses at Alamo Square. Chinatown is best at night. Fly home anytime on Feb. 11. Sign up now for this landscape, travel and photography course in one—limited to seven. Guide Don Lyon. Click on pdf images to view or print

Impressions of Greece

March 28-April 8, 2012 (13 days)

Spring is the best time to photograph Greece—very few tourists, crisp blue sky and fields of red poppies and yellow mustard under the ancient olive trees. CUE’s road-tested adventure tour is more productive and more fun than any other photography tour you will see. We travel in a go-anywhere, stop any-time, Van so we can explore the back lanes where life has not changed much in more than 100 years. Burros still carry the loads, shepherds watch over their flocks and a hearty welcome is offered the stranger in the charming and colorful cafés your guide has discovered over the years. This photo tour is filled with iconic images of a classical land. We’ll be in Delphi to photograph the full moon rising over Athena’s Temple. Zeus’s temple at Sounion is a sunset shot. Sparta is our gateway to half abandoned medieval monasteries where 16th C frescos are illuminated by candlelight. The Acropolis is less crowded in April and the plaka is charming and extremely photogenic before the summer crush. The highlight, as always, will be the medieval monasteries of Meteora perched like golden crowns in giant molars against snow capped mountains. An optional treat is a 3 night extension to Santorini Island—that white-washed gem where you can capture great images just from the hotel’s terrace. Why not travel with a guide who puts you and your images first, who knows and loves Greece! Every moment is rich and colorful as you capture Impressions of Greece. Group limited to seven!>

April in Paris

April 22-28, 2012 (7 days)

The City of Light is the most photogenic city in the world and April is the perfect time to photograph café life along the Boulevard Saint Germain, lovers sitting on benches along the Seine and strolling across the romantic bridges. Your guide has spent many weeks scouting the perfect foregrounds for iconic images of the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre. The days are long at this time of year and latitude—the pinkish hues of sunrise and golden gloaming extend for several critical hours—the magic hours for us. Our charming hotel on the Left Bank near the lively Sorbonne University and tulip favored Luxembourg Gardens is perfect for all our adventures. In Paris, every meal is a photo-op as well as delicious. Visits to the Louvre and D’Orsay are included. A surprise for most will be our visit to Pere Lachaise—more than a cemetery—it is another world. Transportation is by city bus, metro and walking--you’ll really learn your way around the greatest city on earth with Don as your guide. Come early for optional extension to Giverny—Monet’s Garden and source for his inspiration. Paris is great for black and white photography, too. Group limited to five!

PNW--Mount Rainier & Olympic Peninsula

July 14-22, 2012 (9 days)

Mount Rainier is the most beautiful mountain in the world and the Olympic Peninsula shelters some of the most scenic coastline and most photogenic rainforest on the continent. Together it is a perfect 9 days of nature photography at a time when glacier lilies poke through the snow banks and splashing brooks are lined with red, yellow and white wildflowers. Transportation is included from Seattle Airport on Day 1 back to the airport on Day 9. Travel by comfortable go-anywhere, stop-anytime Ford Van driven by your guide—a NW native familiar with the plants, animals and lore of the region. After exploring Seattle’s skyline we’ll take the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula for two nights in Port Angeles, gateway to scenic Hurricane Ridge as well as great tide pools on the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Two nights in Forks gives us ample time to explore both the green on green Hoh Rain Forest and the iconic sea stacks at the coast—like Japanese paintings. Three nights are spent snuggled on the flanks of Mount Rainier. Pristine lakes offer perfect reflections in the still of dawn. Gentle hikes bring us to mountain meadows covered in wildflowers. This group is limited to seven! Add Oregon Cascades for a 16 day adventure.

Oregon Cascades

July 22-29 (7 days)

The Oregon Cascades are cool and green in summer. We stay two nights at the mouth of the Columbia Gorge and photograph iconic two-tiered Multnomah Falls and several others hidden in their narrow slot canyons. Past the volcanic cone of Mt. Hood and through the Warm Springs Indian Reservation to the lively town of Sisters—named for the three volcanic peaks that rise to over 10,000 feet just to the west of us. Our mission is to capture iconic mountain vistas, vast flows of lava, waterfalls and reflections in the mountain lakes. Smith Rocks is a mecca for rock climbers and the photographers who film them. The pioneer spirit is still alive in the ranching scenes we capture. On the west side of the mountains stretches the famed Willamette Valley—destination for the covered wagons that crossed the plains in the 1840’s. We spend the night at Silver Falls State Park where some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world tumble over spectacular cliffs of basalt. Return to Portland Airport for our final night. Combine with Mount Rainier and Olympic Peninsula. Read field notes in CUE’s photography blog. Limit 7—book now!

Yosemite and Lake Tahoe Autumn

September 23-30 (8 days)

Autumn in the Sierras is close to perfect—clear blue sky, oaks and aspens turning to gold and kids all back in school. Day 1 begins after the Photographic Society of America Conference in San Francisco. We’ll spend three nights in El Portal, entrance to Yosemite Valley where granite El Capitan and Half Dome rear up from the golden valley floor. We’ll photograph reflections in the Merced River—iconic scenes made famous by Ansel Adams. Driving over Tuolumne Pass is another celebration of well known photographic images such as the glacier-smoothed rock at Olmstead Point and Tenaya Lake. At the base of the Sierra on the east side sits the community of Lee Vining (2 nights) closeby for our sunrise photography at the tufa formations of Mono Lake and nearby ghost town Bodie —a gold mine for photographers. Some of the best fall color in California is nearby and the drive up Highway 395 is a treat. We’ll be on the shores of Lake Tahoe for the night before the full moon—in position for some great photography. Lake Tahoe is an emerald shinning in the High Sierra—your guide knows where the gems are hidden. The drive via Truckee and Donner Lake is both scenic and rich in California lore. Accommodations tonight are in a comfortable lodge with courtesy transportation to San Francisco International Airport for your flights home anytime on September 30. Limit seven on this special coach tour designed for members and friends of the Photographic Society of America.

Australia’s Wild Places

October 15-31 (17-days)

The essence of Australia is in her wild places. Your guide Don Lyon has made many trips “down under” and shares the best nature photography with you. Cruise to the outer edge of The Great Barrier Reef for nesting birds and snorkel amongst the brilliant corals. Tropical Queensland around Cairns and Kuranda are home to colorful endemic birds and plants. Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory is sure to be a highlight with sunrise and sunset visits to Yellow Waters Billabong--ancient Aboriginal rock art, too. On the south coast, Kangaroo Island’s pristine landscape at Remarkable Rocks and the ordered beauty of Adelaide’s wine country will be photographed. Spectacular Cleland Wildlife Sanctuary where birds and animals from the entire continent wander with you in open natural habitats will complete your Nature Photography portfolio. On the east coast, vibrant Sydney’s iconic Opera House and Coathanger Bridge provide a gateway to the spectacular Blue Mountain waterfalls where you are sure to capture a laughing kookaburra in an old gum tree. The Island Continent is a marvel of unusual birds and animals, spectacular tree ferns and rain forest vegetation. This trip is a repeat, with refinements, of the successful 2010 trip. Read the field notes in CUE’s photography blog. Limit seven.

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Cambodia—Meeting the People, Making a Difference

Dates to be announced

Cambodia is on my short list of favorite countries and peoples hence I am pleased to lead one or two study tours each year for Friendship with Cambodia, a Eugene, Oregon based non-profit that overseas and funds a dozen self-help organizations helping Cambodians to rebuild their country and their lives after the devastation experienced during the Khmer Rouge period. www.friendshipwithcambodia.org has more details. While the study tour offers some great photo-journalism opportunities, it is not primarily a photographic tour. Ask about CUE’s pre-tour photography workshops to create your portfolio of the splendid ruins of Angkor.

Faces of Burma

December 1- 16, 2012 (16 days)

Don Lyon has been leading photography tours to Burma since 1979—he knows the people and the possibilities. Our local guide, Daniel, creates those possibilities, pulling red-robed monks and novices seemingly out of thin air to add life to this timeless land—so rich in a culture that Westerners can barely fathom. We have a road-tested itinerary that is incredibly productive yet relaxed—3 nights each at most places. Accommodations are surprisingly luxurious given the remote areas we visit and the meals are worth a trip, alone. At Lake Inle leg rowers in dugout canoes fish next to our lodge, itself perched on stilts above the lake. Local markets bring mountain tribes down to barter with lake dwellers. Pindaya is a bucolic mountain paradise with a cave full of Buddhas. The road to Mandalay passes through former capitals with crumbling picturesque ruins and is home to some of the most colorful pagodas and wooden monasteries. High above Mandalay is an old British Hill Station—seemingly lost in time since the days of the Raj. We save the best almost for last—Bagan was the medieval capital and now a ghost city of moldering temples and pagodas—timeless and romantic as the sun rises through the mist. Finally—Yangon and the Schwedagon Pagoda at dusk. This would be enough—but there is so much more! Limit ten..

Turkey - in Search of the Ark

Turkey is one of the great
travel destinations of the world. Very few countries are so productive for the photographer. In Turkey you'll experience 5000 years of history laid out against a pastoral landscape of traditional agriculture. Turkey is changing fast but our itinerary combines the best of both East and Western Turkey. The people, proud of their colorful heritage, welcome us among them. At the crossroads of Civilization since Paris wooed Helen, Turkey was center stage for much that was the glory of Greece and the grandeur of Rome!.

Since 1970, when I was a graduate student in Beirut, I have made well over a dozen trips to this fabulous country. Mehmet Ozbalci has been my guide and friend for over 15 years. He will become your friend in Turkey, too, through his untiring efforts to introduce you to his native land. He connects us with the people we meet, making it very easy to create wonderful images of the people and their culture.

We travel from Istanbul to ancient Kars, Mt. Ararat, Lake Van, timeless Mardin and Sanliurfa, giant heads at Nemrut Dagli (above Adiyaman), surprising Cappadocia, traditional Konya and seaside Kusadasi (Ephesus)--then back to Istanbul.

Click on the brochure image to download a PDF copy