The dates for the 2019 Florida Spoonbill workshops are February 2nd-3rd and April 27th-28th! Hurry, as after going through my contact list for this tour, they are very quickly filling up. Each photography tour consists in three boat rides to the rookery and two lunch working sessions. Shooting will be from pre-sunrise to mid-morning on Saturday and Sunday mornings, as well as Saturday afternoon from mid-afternoon to sunset. During lunch time, we will do some image critiquing as well as me walking you through my workflow and a couple of image optimizations on Photoshop.
Florida Spoonbill with breeding colors taking off – Tampa Bay, Florida
ISO 2500 | f/5.6 | 1/2000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (review) with a 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 5D mark III.
During the tour, I will place the group for optimum shooting angles and most importantly I will explain everything I do. Every small thing has a rationale! Thanks to a sound experience with the Spoonbills behavior, I will call out when the birds are likely to take off. This will greatly improve your chances of capturing take offs such as above.
Florida Spoonbill with breeding colors taking off – Tampa Bay, Florida
ISO 2500 | f/5.6 | 1/1600 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (review) with a 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 5D mark III.
Besides being at the right place, at the right time, a key component of creating bird photography action shots is to anticipate on the action based on known bird behavior. Few tour leaders will take the risk to calling out actions before they occur for fear of ridicule if nothing happens. While I am not always right, most of you will greatly appreciate the pointers.
Florida Spoonbill taking off – Sarasota Bay, Florida
ISO 2500 | f/5.6 | 1/2000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (review) with a 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 5D mark III.
Note that on take offs, I do my very best not to clip off the bird reflection on the water. The best way to achieve this is to step back a few steps and properly place your autofocus points. Join me to learn more!
You will learn how to nail down exposure, compose and position yourself in the best way possible each time. Understanding the light and making the most of your camera tracking system will be accompanied by taking into consideration wind direction and angling for the most pleasing background.
Florida Spoonbills Photography Tour – $1,290
February 2nd-3rd 2019 / limit 6 people – 1 opening
April 27th-28th 2019 / limit 6 people – Full
3 boat rides to the absolute best rookery to photograph spoonbills with breeding colors. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com
