I'm a regular visitor to Peru as a tourist. In fact I'm just back from my 3rd visit in 4 years. This time, I took some lighting gear and some props with me, and made some very fruitful connections with local photographers, models, Hair/MUA people and wardrobe stylists.

I'm going back in November 2013, and am looking at putting together a mini-tour of the country (approx 3 weeks) that will include a mix of tourism and photography/video activities for any who wish to join me.

If I can get some help from illustrators and audiophiles, am keen to do something in those media streams as well.

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Of note:

• whilst we'll be doing some traditional "gringo trail" activities, a large majority will be leveraging local contacts in Peru to do something you won't get to do on a tour.
• participants will be welcome to have family/friends come along (different pricing for this)
• English/Spanish all the way (guides/translators)
• Spots will be limited (not sure yet on numbers - depends on demand).

Flights: You need to get yourself to Lima, but once there everything is taken care of (including transfers from Lima to the starting points of the various stages etc)

Prices: The prices below are likely to be the maximum. I've been getting quotes on various numbers and what's below is based on the minimum viable number ie: as numbers increase, most overheads come down. Prices for stages 2-4 are the closest to final. Costs for Stage 1 and 5 in various stages of evolution).

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Potential stops (for all media types) might include:

Stage 1 - The Capital, Culture and Cuisine

Approximate Cost for this stage

• Photographer/Videographer: US$1800/person + accommodation
• Social/Tourist: US$850 + accommodation

Includes: transport and some meals, entry to locations. Models/MUA/stylist etc for all shoots.

Accommodation ranges between US$50 and US$90/night

Lima (4 days)

• sampling a variety of Peruvian food styles with cameras and stomachs
• fashion shoots in some very distinctive locations
• colonial/period in the historic districts of Barranco and Lima central
• Day in the life of Limean inhabitants (house maids, street beggars and hawkers, labourers etc)
• various tourist activities including day trips to Caral, Lomas de Lachay, Museo de la Nacion
• industry/cultural sessions for local Peruvian artists as well as international visitors to encourage exchange of culture, ideas and knowledge.

Pisco/Ica (4 days)

• vineyards (including sampling the world's best Piscos)
• dune buggy racing
• sand dune taboganning
• wildlife/bird sanctuary in Paracas
• Nazca lines

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Stage 2 - Canyons and moonscapes

Approximate Cost for this stage

• Photographer/Videographer: US$1800/person
• Social/Tourist: US$1100

Includes: Accommodation, transport and some meals, entry to locations. Models/MUA/stylist etc for all shoots.

Arequipa (3 days)

• El Monasterio de Santa Catalina, Arequipa Cathedral and Plaza de Armas
• a shoot including the "7 mountains" that encircle the city to the south, including El Misti
• Colca Canyon (2nd deepest in the world) and Cruz del Condor

Puno (2 days)

• Visit the world's highest freshwater lake, Lake Titicaca, and Taquille Island, where the Incan civilisation originated
• A day long train journey thrugh the Andean highlands from Puno to Cusco, with a photoshoot aboard the Andean Explorer

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Stage 3 - The Sacred Valley

Approximate Cost for this stage

• Photographer/Videographer: US$2300/person
• Social/Tourist: US$1600

Includes: accommodation, transport and some meals, entry to locations. Models/MUA/stylist etc for all shoots.


Cusco (4 days)

• Day shoot at Las Salinas de Maras
• Visit the fortress of Sacsayhuaman
• Day trip through the sacred valley, visiting highland towns and staying overnight in the Incan town of Ollantaytambo before continuing to Machu Picchu
• Machu Picchu (no scheduled shoots, but you can't visit Peru and not come here at least once)

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Stage 4 - The Amazon

Approximate Cost for this stage

• Photographer/Videographer: US$1750/person
• Social/Tourist: US$1200

Includes: accommodation, transport and meals, entry to locations. Models/MUA/stylist etc for all shoots.

Iquitos (4 days)

• river cruise on the Amazon
• stay in a jungle lodge
• visit indigenous tribes
• "Heart of Darkness" shoot aboard a derelict Amazonian ship (TBC)

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Stage 5 - The Cordilleras

Approximate Cost for this stage

• Photographer/Videographer: US$1400/person + accommodation
• Social/Tourist: US$TBC + accommodation

Includes: transport and some meals, entry to locations. Models/MUA/stylist etc for all shoots.

Accommodation ranges between US$TBC and US$TBC/night

Huaraz (3 days)

• Day trip to either highland lakes (Paron or llanganuco), and the Portachuelo (highland pass); or to the Cordillera Negra and the Huinchus, with a full view of the Cordillera Blanca
• Shoots in Ca�on del Pato, a narrow pass riddled with tunnels as the road snakes through the gap between the Nazca and South American plates.

Trujillo (2 days)

• The sprawling complex of Chan Chan
• Huacas del Sol y Luna
• excursion to El Brujo (a recently discovered and highly valued site on the outskirts)

Website:
- itinerary
- registration


I don't know about flights in from the Americas or Europe, but I know the pan-pacific crossings are both gruelling and expensive due to poor competition. Once in Peru however, travel is moderate and everything is dirt cheap.


If you're interested in taking part (or even in helping me organise), please either reply to this post, or send me a site mail.


Ben

It is at that, but given the time and potential cost, people need a while to prepare for it.

I've always wanted to go to Peru, but can you imagine the results if 20 photographers from this forum all went on the same tour? We would all be uploading the same images to the same stock sites. At least if we go separately the light will be different!  

That's certainly a possibility - however with the shoots I've organised here in AU in the past, I've made an effort to ensure there's a good vairety of setups for each shoot, as well as numerous models and looks. This helps to spread the photographers across many possibilities so they never end up shooting content that's the same.

In Peru, shooting groups will be pairs, and the overall shooting group will be small.

Plus in this group, we'll be making use of a lot of local contacts to get into places you won't even know about visiting on your own

i'm definitely interested - we did a month long trip im 2008 [my second trek in Peru] and we arranged everything locally, confirming your comment on low costs.  i'd be interested in assiting with any of the arrangements

http://cascoly.hubpages.com/hub/Tips-for-Travel-in-Peru

this looks like a really great trip, I hope it works out.  If I didn't have family commitments I'd be there in a flash.  Unfortunately I don't think I can get away for that long..

Website is up and registrations are open for those who are interested in getting their names on the list early.


Key changes:

• Event is now being run in stages/segments of 4-8 days to make it possible for people to come for a short period of time
• We have streams in plan for Photography, Video and Illustration with Audio still a possibility, and a tourist stream for those who want to go to see the country
• We'll be running the event during November 2013.

You can join the mailing list to stay up to date on new developments like detailed itinerary, pricing, tickets being on sale etc. (You'll get a confirmation email - click the link in it to confirm subscription)

Registration:
Apologies for that, I did try and create a way for people to register multiple ticket types at once but it's Google Docs - a bit limiting sometimes. Actual ticket purchases will be more specific.


Timing:
November is not as good as June-August, but it's also cheaper and less crowded.
According to a lot of online references, it's the dry season now but I know the Amazon has just had the worst floods on record, so it'll be something of a gamble at any time of year. I've been in the highlands at the start of rainy season and it's generally not too bad most of the time, it just means we have to plan for a bit of wet weather.


Other more general answers have been migrated to the site.

A quick update:

We've engaged local fair trade operators for each of the stages that are helping us put together a locally relevant itinerary, and should enable us to visit some areas that are off the beaten trail.

The Iquitos/Amazon leg of the trip is now well into planning. We'll spend 4 days/3 nights at Tahuayo Lodge, 100 miles upstream from Iquitos on the Tahuayo tributary.

Activities will include treks in pristine jungle, canopy zip line shoots, canoeing and photography/cultural exchanges with indigenous groups. An additional shoot may also be organised for some of the barges/trawlers/more colourful water transport moored along the river

There will also be the option to do jungle flyovers in a seaplane (additional cost - may also be only a 4-6 seater).

The Huaraz/Cordillera Blanca leg is also well in plan.

Current planned activities include:
Day trip to a high altitude glacial lake such as Llanganuco, Par�n or a high altitude pass such as Portachuelo.
Potentially hiring mountain bikes to "roll" back to the lower valley around Yungay, doing photo/video etc along the way.
Visit the debris field and memorial at Yungay
Shoot in the honeycomb-like road tunnels in the remote Ca�on del Pato enroute to Trujillo.

Should have more soon for the Lima/Ica, and Cusco/Sacred Valley stages. Arequipa is also moving along.

Available spaces for photographers are starting to get close to tipping over to a waiting list. Plenty of room left for videographers and illustrators. Registration at least gets you first right of refusal.

On my Galapagos trip a while back I added a 7 day stint in the Amazon to dive with the pink river dolphins.  We stayed on a junky river boat with nothing more than screens to protect us from the bugs, no AC, very third world.  Showers were water being pulled in from the Amazon, over us, and right back into the Amazon. At best the shampoo made us smell better.  Wife came home with malaria.  The jungle trekking was pretty wet and you couldn't see much but could hear a lot.  If you get the chance, fish for some piranha. just put some raw meat on a hook and you will catch one pretty quickly.  While diving in the Amazon we had no issues with them, but if you choose to swim in it don't pee in the water.  They have those parasites that swim up your pee hole.

Lots of locals bathing along the shore as well and their huts/homes are pretty rustic but very interesting.  I arranged to go to a school in the jungle and I brought a couple of book bags full of toys and school supplies. after handing the school supplies over to the head person, my wife and I walked around the area, tossing Frisbees and balls to the kids one at a time.  We had a "chain of children" following us for an hour, like a long tail behind us.  Once the toys were gone, the kids disappeared. 

It was quite expensive for us because we had to fly in scuba gear (tanks) on small planes.  As excited as we were to dive the Amazon, the visibility was zero feet.  All you could feel were "things" crawling on your legs and brushing up against you. Not for the weak hearted for sure.

I'm starting to get a lock on prices now do have updated the OP a bit to reflect this.

Thanks for all the updates here.  I really wish I could join you and hope that some people from here do so.

this is an interesting post by you......well done