Kuril lake – photo by Marco Urso
Welcome to Kamchatka Photo Tours!
Hello dear photo enthusiasts ,
my name is Marco Urso, I am Italian and I am one of you: a photo enthusiast, a wildlife photographer, a nature lover. I have a background in Medicine and I have managed for almost 30 years an international tour operator.
I discovered Kamchatka in 2012 and since then I have brought here 12 groups of photographers. They all loved the place, many came back a second and a third time. I have gained a good experience of the place. I simply think that the photo opportunities offered are fantastic. I have been awarded at several international photo contests with images taken here.
One sentence from a participant may be explains everything: “ I did not think it could be so intense!!!”
Attention to details, focus on photography, on light, on the right background. Patience to get the right moment. Good images and success are no coincidence. I teach photography and I will share my experience with you, as much as fun and good moments.
Kamchatka is one of the few last frontier of modern world. It’s a region of real wilderness with well preserved nature.
Volcanos and tundra, forests, rivers, lakes and the Pacific Ocean. Anywhere you go the landscape is amazing. It is also the place where every year, between July and the beginning of August, a place like lake Kuril hosts the largest salmon spawning event on Earth: 2,5 million salmon every season.This fact is creating one of the largest aggregation of fishing bears. A mecca for the brown bears and an unbelievable opportunity for photographers.
You should discover this place before it changes. Let’s do it together!
Marco Urso
Wildlife and Travel photographer – Kamchatka Photo Tours founder
Marco’s Bio
Marco began to photograph when he was a teenager. His first camera was a a basic rangefinder. That time he used to develop and print on his own. He won his first photo contest at the age of nineteen, with a reportage on Venice. Deeply convinced that traveling influences our lives in a positive way, after his studies in Medicine he won a scholarship at the National Institute of Cardiology of Mexico City, where he stayed for nine months. When he came back he accepted a job in a completely different field, becoming the general manager of an important international tour operator.
Consequently his working life changed completely. He studied new subjects, instead of Physiology he had to deal with Macroeconomics, and his knowledge of Pharmacology and Clinics had to leave room to budgets and human resources challenges. He also felt the pressure of commercial goals. In those years he founded two magazines, a cultural association for travelers, and for a period he was the president of the Italian Youth Travel Association. It was a period of some 30 years of opportunities, success and challenges which brought him around the world , but with the wrong “pace” to get the real meaning of life. He realized that life gives us a book and it is up to us to take the opportunity to read more than a page. He therefore changed his life , leaving a career at the top with a lot of privileges and a comfortable style of living and began a much simple life, but richer of emotions and with more time for his passion of ever: Photography.
He does prefer wildlife and travel photography, and he believes they have much in common: both require technique, quick feeling for composition, and knowledge of what you are taking picture of. He discovered a new interest for the human being, now seen as citizen of a world to discover, while the past studies of Biology and Physiology suddenly helped in understanding the behavior of an animal species. Curiosity created the will to dig into things with photography, together with the commitment to preserve nature and its beauty.
Light and composition are his main concerns in taking a picture and he devotes just a limited amount of time to post production.
Only in the latest three years he has been awarded in more than one hundred and fifty International Photo Contests, among them National Geographic, Travel Photographer of the Year, Hasselblad Awards, Nature Best ,European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Outdoor Photographer of the Year, Big Print, Glanzlichter.
His pictures have been exhibited in Washington, San Francisco, London, Koln, Singapore, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Dublin, Tokyo and in the major Italian cities. He visited seventy-four countries.
He writes and publishes articles and pictures on Oasis, Natura, Asferico, Image Mag, Go Nordic.
He is member of CFM Milan, FIAF , FIAP and GDT. He has been also responsible for Lombardy for AFNI, Italian Association of Wildlife Photographers. He recently became part of the Italian Wildlife National Team winning the gold medal at the World Championship in 2014. In 2015 he entered the Travel Photography National Team winning as well the gold medal at the World Contest. He has been the author the most awarded author in Italy in 2015.
Wildlife Photography World Champion 2016.
In 2017 he has been appointed ” the best Italian Author” and a book about his works has been published. The title is “Emotions“
In 2016 he has published the book: ” The Lord of the Arctic” about the polar bear and his habitat. the book is supported by the WWF and the Italian Arctic Museum.
He is an official Fujifilm Xphotographer, testimonial and tester for the prestigious brand.
He is the founder and director of the Academy of Photography, offering photo workshops and courses to people fond of photography, photo club, Wildlife Photography of the Year association and Fujifilm.
To know more about his work please visit:
