To ensure receipt of our emails, please add info@northshots.com to your address book. Pic of the month: Feb '10 Winter freeze, Loch Insh, Cairngorms National Park, Scotland. The other day I received an e-mail from an aspiring photographer asking after the best place in the world for nature photography.  What a question!  I started to think.  Part of my living comes from taking tour guests to many different places and to that end, I'm hard-wired to recommending extensive travel.  But in reality there is only one honest answer to the question: your own backyard.  It's not just the local thing, it's the context of photographing in an area you know - physically and culturally.  The theory of working close to home is something that I'm familiar with; this year I want to put it much more into practice. Best regards Peter Cairns New Frontiers We're taking the New Frontiers AV show back on the road - a pretentious term if ever I heard one - at the end of the year.  Updated and sprinkled with a few twists, New Frontiers is a visual journey of music, imagery, anecdotes and a few thought-provoking musings!  It's not that pretentious - really! To find out more, click here.  To book, contact Emma. Goodbye to Wild Wonders. After four years of working with Wild Wonders of Europe, it is with some sadness that I've resigned from the Directors team to focus on projects closer to home - you just can't do everything. My colleagues Staffan Widstrand, Florian Moellers and Bridget Wijnberg have done, and continue to do, a fantastic job and I wish them continued success in the future. First major 2020VISION assignment Although I've been working away for several months on images for 2020VISION, I recently joined colleagues Mark Hamblin, Niall Benvie and Joe Cornish for my first major 2020V assignment - documenting upland regeneration in northern Scotland.  Our chosen locations - Assynt, Glenfeshie and Creag Meagaidh are all examples of ambitious landscape-scale restoration projects - Assynt alone covers around 600 sq km!  The 2020V blog will shortly carry the story behind this assignment, but meantime, you can click here to download the official press release. PHOTO-TOUR NEWS On the eve of our series of Winter Wildlife photo-tours, I'm watching the forecast and praying for a bit more of the white stuff. OK I know it's a hassle for most people but personally I'm not convinced there is such a thing as 'too much' snow.  We'll see. Presently we're developing an  expanded range of tours for 2012 and these will all be on site by March.  We're looking at some exciting new destinations as well as the odd twist on established favourites.  So why should you come on a Northshots photo-tour?  Good question - here are some possible answers: 13 years experience in delivering wildlife and landscape tours in Scotland and beyond. 82% average repeat bookings. Experienced and knowledgeable guides who are deadly serious about photography but who won't forget the fun bit too! Amazing home base in the wilds of the Cairngorms National Park. No classroom stuff - it's all done out in the field in some fantastic locations. We're hot on being in the right place at the right time - meals have to wait (but won't be forgotten!) Here's a few of our tours on the go just now: PREDATORS OF THE NORTH Bears and wolves against the backdrop of the Finnish taiga forest - surely the most adrenaline-fuelled photographic experience in Europe!  From the comfort of specially designed hides, we can photograph these normally elusive species at close quarters.  There is only one location in Europe where this is possible - and this is it.  Click here for more details. WILD ON WHITE Looking for a new challenge?  Join Niall Benvie on his July weekend workshop where he will guide you through his innovative technique for capturing amazing nature imagery against pure white backgrounds.  Absorbing and inspiring, it's a fresh approach and all against the wonderful backdrop of the Cairngorms National Park.  Click here for more details. ULTIMATE AUTUMN GOLD Skye: it's just one of those words; it conjures up images of jagged mountains, rambling rivers and quiet coastal inlets.  And it rarely disappoints.  Combined with several days on our home patch in the Cairngorms, this dual-centre tour combines two very different but equally inspiring locations.  Click here for more details. WILD WEST COAST Harris and Lewis are the two most northerly isles in the Outer Hebrides chain which fringes the Atlantic coast of west Scotland. Endless white beaches, pounding surf and the most exquisite autumn light are the ingredients for this inaugural landscape tour to Scotland's rugged Wild West. If you don't like coastal photography, this tour is not for you.  But if you do...this is the one.  Click here for more details. This mail is sent to Northshots subscribers, picture editors and natural history enthusiasts. Please respect the time and effort invested in this type of photography by not using these images without prior permission.