Learn More About the Canada Lynx and Photo Workshops Where You Can Photograph Them

Today I wanted to introduce you to a species you can photograph with me on my tours to the yukon. Its one of my personal favourite animals we have in Canada. 

The Canada Lynx resembles a gigantic housecat. It has a very short body, small tail, and long legs. Their fur coat is usually thick, long and grey in the winter and short, thin and light brown in the summer. Year-round they have black tips on the end of their tails and on their triangle-shaped ears. The Canada Lynx has a very wide face that has longer patches of fur on the side of its face – it looks like a beard!

The long, round feet of the Canada Lynx act like snowshoes by distributing their weight to help keep on top of the snow. They also have sharp claws that retract helping them to climb, fight predators and capture prey. Their feet are covered in a thick layer of fur to keep them warm in the winter.

Habitats/Behaviours

Canada Lynxes can be found in forested areas and make their dens underneath fallen trees, tree stumps, rock ledges or thick bushes. Lynxes are very territorial animals – males live alone and are usually only found around other lynxes during breeding season, in winter. Females stay with the baby kittens.

All their hunting is done at night, which they are well adapted with big eyes and superior hearing. Because lynxes are not fast runners, they have to be sneaky to catch their dinner. They usually bound after their prey and pounce on them from a hiding spot – some even sit still for hours to just to catch a bite!

The main source of food for this lynx is snowshoe hares. A hungry lynx will eat a whole hare for one meal, while others usually eat some and hide the rest for later. When hares cannot be found, the lynx will eat small mammals, birds and sometimes even large animals like caribou.

Predators of the lynx include cougars, wolves and coyotes, but humans are the biggest threat of all. Trappers favour lynx for their beautiful, thick fur coat.

Range

The Canada Lynx can be found in boreal forests all across Canada – from Newfoundland to the Yukon. Their range extends into western Montana, Idaho, Washington and Utah.

Copy courtesy of Canadian Geographic

Workshops to Photograph the Canada Lynx

I run a few workshops that will have you in front of the Canada Lynx. To see those workshops, visit my Wildlife Workshop page here, http://www.kevinpepperphotography.com/wildlife-workshops-in-canada

A list of Photography Workshops In Mongolia

If you could take a martini shaker and add a dash of vast landscapes of the Gobi, sprinkle in a twist of the snow capped mountains of Bayan-Ölgi and the dramatic gorges and lakes of Khovsgol and then add in the Ger tents of the nomad and the cry of a soaring golden eagle… Shake it all up and top it off with some of the oldest Buddhist temples and ruins, abundant wildlife and legendary hospitality you will find anywhere, and you come up with a recipe for one of the most inviting and beautiful countries in the world.

Since the fall of communism, Mongolia has done just about everything in its power to open itself up to the world. While the old traditions survive and the wild nature is still mostly intact for the adventurous traveler, Mongolia has also reached out to the West for economic and cultural ties.

One of the highest countries in the world, Mongolia is a land of harsh extremes—snowy mountains, wide expanses of grassy steppe, and windswept desert with a people that are inviting and virtually still untouched by major tourism.

I have been travelling here since 2013 and continue to lead workshops in Mongolia. I have listed all my workshops in one location for you to look at. Please see that page here, http://www.kevinpepperphotography.com/mongolia-photography-workshops

Wildlife and Aurora Photo workshop in the Yukon

Yukon Wildlife and Aurora Photography Workshop

After week one sold out in less than two weeks, We have decided to add a second week of this popular workshop.

Calling all photographers that have always wanted to photograph Canadian wildlife and the northern lights in one of the best locations in the world to capture the Aurora. 

I am referring to the Yukon. It is here where you will close your eyes and breathe in crisp Yukon air. Smell spruce sap and the earthy scent of tundra, and listen for the excited howls of husky sled dogs. But the real magic happens when you open your eyes and drink in Yukon landscapes under dancing aurora borealis.

Come with me on a vacation in Canada's Yukon, it is a larger than life experience.

Now after five years of running workshops in Northern Canada, I’ve decided to take a small group of photographers to focus on the wildlife. Our target species are Canada Lynx, Red Fox, Silver Fox, Artic Fox, Muskox, Dall Sheep, Mountain Goats, Caribou, Woodland Bison, Elk, Moose, Mule Deer.  

This is the perfect trip for someone that wants to focus on capturing once in a lifetime aurora images over some of the most majestic landscapes Canada has to offer. And, photograph some of the most exotic animals Canada has to offer.

Our animal photo shoots are custom tailored private photo shoots up close and personal with some of the most desirable animal species in Canada at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.

Because this group is small it will also allow us to be flexible and photograph these animals in an intimate setting with backdrops of mountains and forests. The size of the group will also allow us the flexibility to get to the locations I know produce the best aurora I have seen in Canada.

Dates of Workshop: January 21, 2018 to January 26, 2018

Maximum number of attendees: 8 attendees only

Price of Workshop: $3495USD

Deposit to Secure your spot: Your deposit of $2,000 USD will hold your space. Balance of $1,495 USD is due not later than October 1, 2017.

Single Supplement: $500

Instructor: Kevin A. Pepper

Included: All Park entrance fees, Yukon Wildlife Preserve Fees and guides, lunches while at the Wildlife preserve, guiding services by an insured and legally registered guide in the Yukon, professional photography mentorship, shared accommodation, transportation via an 8 seater SUV with sufficient luggage space for all our clothing and gear.

Not Included: Items of personal nature, your flights to get you to the workshop, laundry and telephone services, anything not listed as included. 

Weather in Whitehorse: The month of January is characterized by gradually rising daily high temperatures, with daily highs ranging from a dry -13°C to -11°C over the course of the month, exceeding 1°C or dropping below -29°C only one day in ten.

Suggested Gear List: A wide angle lens with an aperture of 2.8 or faster. A medium telephoto in the range of 70-200mm with a suggested aperture of 2.8. A 100-400mm. Sturdy tripod and sturdy ball head. A remote shutter release. Polarizer and ND filters. A minimum of four batteries and battery chargers. A flashlight.

A word from someone that attended last year

Best trip ever Kevin Allen Pepper had a blast!!! Wish to do it again!  You are awesome at your "job" !!!! Wish I had that job. Seriously Kevin, the trip last month was more than I could if wished for and you were so accommodating with the agenda all based in weather! Saw tons and had a amazing time with all of you! New friends and a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you

- Anita King, Yukon '17

Here is the itinerary. 

Day One – Sunday, January, 21, 2018 – You arrive in Whitehorse during the day and we will meet for a group dinner at 6pm on the Sunday to go over the weeks itinerary. 

After dinner, if the skies co-operate and the aurora forecast is active we will head out to one of many locations I have scouted in the last five years so you can go photograph the aurora with me in the Yukon. 

Hotel is the Westmark Inn

Day Two – Monday, January 22, 2018 – This morning we will have breakfast before we head to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve for your first private photo session with the animals of the Yukon. 

Your morning starts at 10:00am. For the next three hours we will be guided by a staff member and myself in behind the fence lines for very intimate photographic sessions with animals native to the Yukon. 

At noon I have secured the board room at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and will bring in lunch while you look at photos and we discuss your photos and how to improve in the afternoon. 

From 1pm till 4:00pm we will go back out and you will be once again be guided by a staff member and myself in behind the fence lines for very intimate photographic sessions with animals native to the Yukon. 

After dinner, if the skies co-operate and the aurora forecast is active we will head out to one of many locations I have scouted in the last five years so you can go photograph the aurora with me in the Yukon. 

Hotel is the Westmark Inn

Day Three – Tuesday, January 23, 2018 – This morning we will have breakfast before we head to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve for your first private photo session with the animals of the Yukon. 

Your morning starts at 10:00am. For the next three hours we will be guided by a staff member and myself in behind the fence lines for very intimate photographic sessions with animals native to the Yukon. 

At noon I have secured the board room at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and will bring in lunch while you look at photos and we discuss your photos and how to improve in the afternoon. 

From 1pm till 4:00pm we will go back out and you will be once again be guided by a staff member and myself in behind the fence lines for very intimate photographic sessions with animals native to the Yukon. 

After dinner, if the skies co-operate and the aurora forecast is active we will head out to one of many locations I have scouted in the last five years so you can go photograph the aurora with me in the Yukon. 

Hotel is the Westmark Inn

Day Four – Wednesday, January 24, 2018 – This morning we will have breakfast before we head to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve for your first private photo session with the animals of the Yukon. 

Your morning starts at 10:00am. For the next three hours we will be guided by a staff member and myself in behind the fence lines for very intimate photographic sessions with animals native to the Yukon. 

At noon I have secured the board room at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and will bring in lunch while you look at photos and we discuss your photos and how to improve in the afternoon. 

From 1pm till 4:00pm we will go back out and you will be once again be guided by a staff member and myself in behind the fence lines for very intimate photographic sessions with animals native to the Yukon. 

After dinner, if the skies co-operate and the aurora forecast is active we will head out to one of many locations I have scouted in the last five years so you can go photograph the aurora with me in the Yukon. 

Hotel is the Westmark Inn

Day Five – Thursday, January 25, 2018 – Today I want to give you a chance to see some of Canada’s northern landscapes just a few degrees south of the arctic circle. Today we will visit Fish Lake and some private land that I have access to in the area. We will also drive west towards Kluane National Park, a World Heritage Site. 

We may even see wild herds of Dall Sheep and Elk that are in the area. 

If the skies co-operate and the aurora forecast is active we will head out to one of many locations I have scouted in the last five years in that area so you can go photograph the aurora with in South Western Yukon. 

Hotel is the Westmark Inn

Day Six - Friday, January 26, 2018 - Departure day. You can schedule your departures from Whitehorse any time on the last day. 

Are you ready for Canada's north and some of the best aurora and exotic wildlife you will photograph? Click on the following link to get your questions answered, or to register, http://www.kevinpepperphotography.com/2018-northern-lights-in-the-yukon-1-1