Florida Bird Photography Workshop
Dates: March 30 - April 6, 2025
Fee: $1,495 ($500 deposit, balance due January 2025)
Limit: 6 participants - Only 1 space available!
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Location
Central Florida
Fee
$1,495
Dates
March 30 - April 6, 2025
Activity Level
Easy to Moderate
Florida is a haven for bird photographers, offering a diverse array of species and habitats that provide endless opportunities to enhance your skills. In this workshop, you'll explore some of the best birding locations in Central Florida, from wetlands to coastal areas where you will see around 40-50 different bird species. With expert guidance from Nikhil, you'll learn how to ethically approach, photograph, and identify various bird species, all while improving your photographic skills.
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Whether you're a beginner or an experienced photographer, this workshop emphasizes hands-on learning, with multiple chances to capture Florida’s stunning birdlife. Through personalized instruction and on-location feedback, you’ll master essential skills such as understanding bird behavior, utilizing lighting conditions, and refining your composition to create powerful wildlife images.
Join us for an unforgettable experience in one of the most biodiverse birding areas in the country!
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What you will learn:
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Bird Behavior - Understanding behavior patterns, flight, and feeding habits to anticipate movement for better shots.
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Camera Settings - Optimal settings for bird photography, including shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to capture the action. Techniques for photographing birds in flight, including focus tracking, controlling backgrounds and motion blur for dynamic images.
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Mastering your gear - How to select and use the right camera and lenses for bird photography, tripods/monopods, and effective stabilization techniques.
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Lighting Techniques - Learn how to use light to make the most of the situation. Use natural light to highlight the beauty of birds and their environment.
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Composition and Framing - Creating dynamic and captivating compositions. Including emphasizing birds in their habitat and visual storytelling.
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​Post-Processing Tips - While this subject can be very involved, we will discuss and demonstrate some photo editing techniques to bring your photos to their full potential using Adobe Lightroom.
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Bird Identification - Tips on identifying common Florida bird species and their distinguishing features for better targeting of photo opportunities.
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Wildlife Approach, Safety, and Etiquette - Learn techniques for ethically approaching birds without disturbing their natural behavior, ensuring candid shots while respecting their environment. You'll also gain an understanding of field safety and best practices for wildlife photography, ensuring a responsible and respectful experience in nature.
By the end of the workshop, participants will gain a comprehensive set of photographic skills and capture a collection of stunning images of the incredible birdlife Florida has to offer!
Activity level - Easy to Moderate
Participants should be able to walk 1-2 miles unassisted during field sessions, carrying their photography gear. While some birding locations may be close to the vehicle, although it's common to walk on various terrains such as sand, berms, and boardwalks to reach more rewarding photo opportunities. If you're able to get low, that's a bonus!
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ITINERARY
This itinerary is subject to changes based on weather conditions. We will be out early and late to take advantage of the best light and bird activity.
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March 30
For our first evening together we will meet for an orientation and bird photography presentation at 5pm, which will prepare you for the upcoming opportunities. This will be followed by a group dinner at 7pm near the hotel in St. Petersburg. During dinner we will discuss our plans for the next day and answer any questions participants may have about the workshop.
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March 31-April 1
Our focus in St. Petersburg will be on shore birds and we should have a variety of species to photograph. We will be hoping to find a reddish egret feeding and will get to photograph royal terns, least terns, black skimmers, roseate spoonbills, great egrets, snowy egrets, black-bellied plovers, piping plovers, wilson's plover and more! A feedback session will be held one afternoon. Overnight in St. Petersburg.
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April 2
We will make one last trip out to the beach to photograph shore birds. We will return to the hotel, check out and drive to Boynton Beach. After settling into the hotel, we will have a feedback session that evening followed by dinner. Overnight in Boynton Beach.​
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April 3-5
We will visit different wetland areas to photograph a variety of wading birds. Species will include great blue heron, tricolored heron, green heron, whistling duck, mottled duck, pied-billed grebe, glossy ibis, limpkin, purple gallinule, common gallinule, anhinga, wood stork and more! They will be at least one session dedicated to photographing burrowing owls. Depending on local reports we might try and find barred owls as well. We will plan for a feedback session one afternoon. Overnight at Boynton Beach.
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April 6
On our last morning we will head to a wetland (close to the hotel) for the sunrise shoot. The workshop ends after the morning session and we return to the hotel to check out.
Itinerary Includes:
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Personalized field instruction and guiding
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Image reviews during workshop
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Detailed document to help you prepare for the workshop
Itinerary Does Not Include:
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Lodging
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Meals and drinks
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Transportation throughout; we encourage carpooling
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Incidentals