Four decades of small-group photography tours across the Andes, Altiplano, Puna and Amazon.

How Sergio Photo Tours came to be

I’m Sergio Ballivian, a Bolivian-born photographer who has spent more than 40 years exploring and making pictures across South America, from the high peaks of the Andes to the rivers of the Amazon and the lonely deserts of the Altiplano, Atacama and Puna. Sergio Photo Tours grew out of that life: a way to take a few travelers into the remote places I’ve come to know by heart, and get them home with photographs that mean something.

Designed by a photographer, for photographers

This isn’t sightseeing with a camera bolted on. Every tour is built around the three things that separate a snapshot from a photograph: light, access, and timing. I’ve spent decades learning where to stand, when the light breaks, and how to reach the corners most operators never bother with. Whether you shoot a pro mirrorless kit or your phone, my job is simple: put you in the right place, at the right hour, in the best light, then stay out of your way while you work.

The last remote places, before they’re gone

The camera has been with me since I was a boy, first at the neighborhood pond, then across the world’s wild edges. Somewhere along the way the exploring became the point. Today I’m drawn to the places that still feel raw: the Uyuni salt flats at dawn, the red lagoons and flamingos of the Altiplano, the pumice deserts and volcanoes of the Puna, the deep green of the Amazon. Most of this country I learned the hard way, bouncing across it in a 4×4, in wind and dust and cold. I take small groups there on purpose. These are not easy places. They reward patience, and the people willing to make the effort.

Local roots, hard-won trust

I split my time between Colorado and South America, and I work with a trusted team of local guides and drivers who know these landscapes as intimately as I do. Those relationships, built over years, are what let me promise a genuine trip: the right locations, safe and comfortable places to sleep, honest regional food, and the logistics handled so you can concentrate on photographing. One rule I never break: I only take you where I’ve personally been. If I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, I won’t sell it.

Let’s make photographs together

If you’re ready for a photography journey off the tourist track, into the Andes, the Amazon, or the remote Puna, let’s talk. Tell me what you want to shoot and how you like to travel, and we’ll build a small-group or private tour around it. After four decades out there, I know many of these wild corners of South America. Come see them through your own lens.

Send me an email to discuss your dream trip

Tell me your dream shot and I’ll tell you straight whether I can make it happen. Email sergio@sergiophototours.com or WhatsApp +1 303-808-7713.