Oregon Alumni Tour

Activity level - Easy to Moderate

Moderate hiking (usually no more than 2 miles) will be required on sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, and forest trails. Participants should be able to walk unassisted during field sessions, carrying their photography gear.  

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ITINERARY

Please note: This itinerary is subject to changes based on weather conditions, bird activity, and local conditions. We will be out early and late to take advantage of the best light and photographic opportunities.

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Day 1 – Arrival in Bend

Participants can fly into Redmond/Bend Airport (RDM), where our Oregon adventure begins. We’ll meet at our hotel in Bend, get settled, and gather for an informal orientation over dinner. We’ll review the plan for the coming days, discuss photographic opportunities and logistics, and prepare for our first sunrise session in the field.

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Day 2 – Birds Around Bend

We’ll start early with a sunrise visit to a productive wetland area, where spring migration and breeding activity can make for an exceptional morning of bird photography. Depending on conditions, we may encounter 50–100 species here, including a variety of ducks, eared grebes, black-necked stilts, spotted sandpipers, yellow-headed blackbirds, Wilson’s snipe, Wilson’s phalaropes, and many others.

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With many species in breeding plumage, this is an especially exciting time for photography. Among the highlights may be ruddy ducks performing their remarkable courtship displays, including their characteristic bubbling behavior, and marsh wrens singing from the tops of vegetation as they advertise for mates.

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After a midday break to rest and recharge, we’ll head out again in the afternoon to explore a different wetland. While we may encounter some of the same species, changing habitats and light can create completely different photographic opportunities, with additional shorebirds often gathering along the edges of the ponds.

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Day 3 – Bend to Klamath Falls

We’ll return to the wetland in the morning, taking advantage of its many ponds and giving everyone an opportunity to concentrate on species, behaviors, or photographic situations that caught their attention during our first visit. The variety of habitats means there should be plenty of opportunities to refine images or try something new.

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After checking out, we’ll transfer south to Klamath Falls and begin exploring the wildlife refuges of the Klamath Basin. Southern Oregon and northern California are exceptionally rich in bird diversity, and over the next few days we’ll have opportunities to photograph everything from ducks and wading birds to shorebirds and raptors.

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Day 4 – Birds Around Klamath Falls

We’ll head out at sunrise with one particularly exciting goal in mind: photographing western and Clark’s grebes during their spectacular courtship dance. These birds can provide some of the most memorable action photography of the trip when they begin their synchronized displays.

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The morning should also offer opportunities to photograph nesting cliff swallows and white pelicans. After a break during the middle of the day, we’ll head south again, choosing between locations in Southern Oregon or Northern California based on bird density, weather, conditions, and the group’s photographic interests.

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Day 5 – Klamath Falls and Transfer to Brookings

We’ll have another opportunity at sunrise to photograph western and Clark’s grebes and their extraordinary courtship behavior, giving us a second chance at this highly sought-after photographic opportunity.

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After the morning session, we’ll begin our journey toward the Southern Oregon coast, with a brief stop among the magnificent California redwoods along the way. Brookings will be our home base for the next two nights.

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After checking in and taking some time to rest, we’ll head to one of the area’s beaches for sunset. From this point forward, our photography will become a wonderful blend of birds and landscapes, so you’ll want to keep both your bird and landscape setups ready. Coastal light, waves, sea stacks, and seabirds can all become part of the evening’s photographic story.

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Day 6 – Brookings

Today gives us some flexibility to follow the best opportunities. We can either drive south into the California redwoods or explore one of Southern Oregon’s spectacular beaches, with its rugged coastline and dramatic sea stacks.

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The evening will bring another landscape-focused session as we photograph sunset from one of the coastal cliffs, using the sea stacks and Pacific Ocean as a dramatic foreground and backdrop. Of course, we’ll continue watching for birds along the coast as well.

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Day 7 – Brookings to Bandon

We’ll begin the morning with a sunrise beach session, combining landscape photography with coastal bird photography. The sea stacks are not only beautiful photographic subjects; they also provide nesting habitat for seabirds such as pigeon guillemots, which can often be viewed from relatively close range.

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After the morning shoot, we’ll check out and travel north toward Bandon. Once settled into our hotel, we’ll visit the famous Bandon Beach, one of the most photogenic stretches of coastline in Oregon. Its distinctive sea stacks are a landscape photographer’s dream, particularly in beautiful coastal light. While photographing the scenery, we’ll also keep our eyes open for birds such as whimbrels and black oystercatchers, which are often found along the beach.

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Day 8 – Bandon to Bend

Our final morning in Bandon will begin with a visit to Coquille Point, where the sea stacks provide nesting habitat for large numbers of common murres. We’ll also keep watch for surf scoters and other seabirds, and if conditions are favorable, we may even be fortunate enough to see a tufted puffin, as a small number nest in the area.

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There will be plenty of opportunities to photograph waves, tidal pools, sea stacks, and other coastal landscapes. We’ll also look for seals and their pups at a specific area of the beach, adding another memorable wildlife opportunity to our final morning on the coast.

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Afterward, we’ll begin our scenic drive back toward Bend. Along the way, we’ll make a memorable detour to Crater Lake, where we’ll have the opportunity to take in the extraordinary landscape and, weather and time permitting, we can choose to photograph sunset at one of Oregon’s most iconic locations.

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Day 9 – Fly Out

Our final morning will be a relaxed one, giving everyone time to pack, enjoy a final breakfast, and prepare for the journey home. Late-morning to early-afternoon flights from Redmond/Bend Airport are recommended.

Participants have the option to stay an extra day or two and I will be happy to show you around some more; whether it is for photography, general sight seeing or some light hiking. Please check in before making your flight bookings. 

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Itinerary Includes:

• Expert guidance at the best photographic opportunities.

• Personalized In-field instruction covering composition, technical skills, and creative approaches.

• Image reviews as needed.

• Detailed document to help you prepare.