loveseeingtheworld19
Nov 2019
I took this tour with Jody in February. The first thing that I really liked is that upon booking, you don't pay. It is just a reservation. If the weather is looking good, you go ahead and pay and reserve your spot on the day. I got picked up with some other customers from the hotel. Jody introduced herself but didn't ask us our individual names. We drove to the location and got out of the van to view the beautiful lights over the mountains in the distance.
The non-photographers almost outnumbered the photographers on this particular date. This proved to be rather annoying to me and the other photographers as every time they wanted to warm up in the van, the van light would come on when the door was opened. So the non-photographers were in and out of the van most of the night, creating light pollution for the photographers. Also, when the van was moved around, the van's headlights were left on for some time. I think Jody said it was not the regular van she used. Jody eventually was able to turn out the lights. But there were missed opportunities to capture the lights, which at that time had 3 colours in them. Having a van parked in the direction of the Northern Lights and not knowing how to turn out its lights for some time was really unfortunate becasue the aurora was amazing and the photographers wanted to capture them! Also, if I had a question about my camera, I had to ask. Jody didn't seem to go around to the photographers and see how they were going, whether they were beginners, intermediate or experts.
At the beginning of the night, Jody walked off into the distance with her own camera and left the guests at the arrival spot. I feel as though this was too early in the tour as I'm sure the guests had questions about a lot of things, whether just viewing the lights or taking pictures of them.
I'm almost positive that this was just an average night for this company and I was unlucky that it happened. Would I go again? On this particular tour, probably not. But I would definitely give one of their other tours a go. There was just too much light pollution from the van that could have been avoided. Many of the guests, including myself, had travelled from afar to view and photograph the lights. So myself and some other guests were disappointed with the tour.
Réponse de l'hôte
Nov 2019
Thank you so much for the great detail in the response; I really appreciate it!
Yes, you are correct; this was not the company's normal van (which can easily control the headlights being off while the van is running, and can run without interior lights on). This will not be a problem in the future. Sensitivity to light pollution is a very important part of the aurora viewing and photography experience.
You bring up some great points about balancing the needs of the guests and making sure that everyone is getting what they hope for out of the tour. We are primarily a photo tour company, so making sure that guests are taking photos they can be happy with is a priority. I certainly make it a point to make sure that everyone is taken care of, no matter what their objectives (photos or just watching) are for the tour. And this is a value I plan to ensure all of my guides follow when they are out with our guests. I took over ownership of the company from Jody, who is no longer with the company.
If you are back in Anchorage, and would give us another shot at the tour, I will make sure it is the type of experience that you expect - as far as the photography goes. We can't promise the aurora will appear, though!