The 2024 date for the Ospreys/Spoonbills photography workshop will be April 20-21. This year, we ended up with nice weather for Ospreys and an overcast finish for Spoonbills.
ISO 1000 | f/5.6 | 1/4000 sec. | Manual mode | AF-C Zone Focus Area
Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS with 1.4x extender and the Sony Alpha 1
While the weather forecast was not very encouraging, the first day turned out as mostly sunny! In the image above, you will see an Osprey bringing nesting material back to the nest. The Cypress lake that hosts those Ospreys during that time of the year counts no less than 500 active nests!! Thus, there is plenty of activity to observe, with a lot of it happening at eye level from the pontoon boat.
ISO 125 | f/5.6 | 1/3200 sec. | Manual mode | AF-C Zone Focus Area
Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS with 1.4x extender and the Sony Alpha 1
During an hour or so, we had a very cloudy sky. The silhouette image above is an attempt at creating something different with a good story behind it. Note that the very well distinguishable shape of the full fish in the bird’s talents. Frankly, I almost did not think anything of the initial situation given that we were positioned against the sun at that time, when a struck of inspiration came to me to flip things around.
ISO 5000 | f/4| 1/2500 sec. | Manual mode | AF-C Zone Focus Area
Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS and the Sony Alpha 1
While the last morning was overcast, there was still plenty of landing action! See for yourself, with this Spoonbill maneuvering to land. A strong North wind pushed the birds to pull out aerial stunts for spectacular landings. Note the high ISO at 5000, with yet a very clean image. This is achieved through my digital workflow, fine tuned across the last ten years. The workshop includes a Photoshop image editing session where I walk the participants through my vanilla techniques.
Ospreys / Spoonbills mix Photography Tour – $1,490
April 20th-21st 2024 / limit 5 people – 3 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 .
Black Skimmers Colony Photography Workshop – $1,190
June 3rd-4th 2023 / limit 6 people – 1 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 .
Tampa Bay Spoonbills Rookery Photography Tour – $1,590
January 21st-22nd 2023 / limit 5 people – Full
February 18th-19th 2023 / limit 5 people – Full
April 15th-16th 2023 / 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 .
