Do you like Black Skimmers?

The Black Skimmers colony tour date for 2022 is June 25th-26th! Would you like a predictable location to photograph Skimmers skimming along the water edge? Or capture fluffy chicks running on the sand? This tour is timed to maximize your chances for both 🙂

While most of us tend to focus on creating images of birds banking in flight with their upper wings in display, capturing a front bank can also be very pleasing. The tricky part with Skimmers and many other shorebirds is that their belly is mostly white, not leaving much leeway for proper exposure. In the image above, I was very happy with having an unfocused bird in the right lower corner. It gives a sense of space and helps anchor the image nicely.

Another interesting flight shot is when the birds fly just above the rest of the colony with a fish to bring back to their chick. The difficulty here is to have a clear separation between the flying subject and the background. By shooting at a low angle, I achieved the separation by having some of the greenery covering the flying bird. Shooting from too high would have resulted in a very cluttered image with the main bird mixing body parts with the crowd below.

Pre-sunrise blurs require good timing and steady panning in cadence with the bird. When properly done, you will end up with blurry wings and a somewhat sharp head. At that time of the day, the background colors can have some nice pastel tones such as the purple above. Join me in 2022 to learn more! 🙂

Ospreys / Spoonbills mix Photography Tour – $1,390

March 26th-27th 2022 / limit 5 people – Full

April 23rd-24th 2022 / limit 5 people – 1 open

3 shoots and 1 over-the-shoulder Photoshop tutoring => 2 boat-based Osprey shoots at the Vero Beach Cypress Lake + 1 land-based Spoonbills shoot at a local rookery. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com .

Tampa Bay Spoonbills Rookery Photography Tour – $1,490

January 29th-30th 2022 / limit 5 people – Full

February 26th-27th 2022 / limit 5 people – 1 open

3 shoots and 1 over-the-shoulder Photoshop tutoring => 3 shoots at the Tampa Bay Spoonbills rookery. We typically shoot while wading in the water in the mornings and from the boat in the afternoon. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com .

Black Skimmers Colony Photography Workshop – $1,090

June 25th-26th 2022 / limit 5 people – 3 open

3 shoots and 1 over-the-shoulder Photoshop tutoring => 3 shoots at the Sarasota Bay Black Skimmers colony. We shoot along the beach, where the nesting colony is easily accessible. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com .