2021 Ospreys Spoonbills Photo Tour Images

Images from the Ospreys / Spoonbills mix tour

The last Ospreys / Spoonbills mix tour was quite a success! And there will be two Ospreys / Spoonbills mix tours in 2022: March 26-27 and April 23-24. Hurry to book your spot 🙂 This photography workshop turned out to be a powerful blend: one full day photographing eye-level Osprey nests in a natural Cypress trees lake and one morning creating images at an excellent Spoonbills rookery. The latter is one of the best spots for land-based shooting for this species with breeding colors.

Osprey A36 - Vero Beach Cypress Lake — Osprey landing on a Cypress Tree branch – Vero Beach Cypress Lake
ISO 1600 | f/5.6 | 1/4000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS II with the 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

The image above is the classic type of environment you will encounter at the Cypress Lake: a green lush natural habitat! Lately, it has become very difficult finding nests that are not built on a metal saucer on top of a human made pole. Not only you get the natural habitat feel, but many of the nests are located at eye-level when shooting from the pontoon boat.

Osprey A37 - Vero Beach Cypress Lake — Osprey taking off from a Cypress Tree – Vero Beach Cypress Lake
ISO 1250 | f/5.6 | 1/4000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS II with the 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

Another Osprey taking off from a Cypress tree branch, with a green backdrop. There are more the 250 Osprey nests at the Vero Beach Cypress lake! You cannot beat that density level for Ospreys. Many of them will fly very close by, allowing for good results even with medium telephoto lenses, a rarity in bird photography.

Roseate Spoonbill D76_Vero Beach Rookery — Osprey landing on a Cypress Tree branch – Vero Beach Cypress Lake
ISO 6400 | f/4 | 1/2500 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS II and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

The local Spoonbills rookery offers many opportunities for dramatic landing for the discerning eye. any of the birds fly from the very close rookery island to the shore to pick nesting material. This behavior creates predictable flying patterns and one of the best situation I know of for landing shots.

Ospreys / Spoonbills mix Photography Tour – $1,390

March 26th-27th 2022 / limit 5 people – 4 open

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

Florida Osprey-Spoonbill Photography Tour - 2022

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 .

One opening left for the Florida Ospreys photography tour

Yes, due to a cancellation there is still one open spot for the very best Ospreys photography workshop! Join me on March 28-29 2020 for a one of a kind tour, where you may photograph Ospreys coming and out of their nests, at eye-level and in a pristine Cypress Trees environment. The natural environment is harder and harder to find nowadays with so many nests being set up on top of poles…

Typically, the Florida Ospreys are in the top two of must photograph list from my clients. Not to disappoint, this is the best location at the best time of the year!

Osprey photography workshop — Osprey viewed from below
ISO 1000 | f/7.1 | 1/3200 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 100-400mm f/5.6 L IS II and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

Ospreys are certainly the most accessible raptors to photograph. And yet, it is not that simple to find a location with the ideal shooting conditions.

Osprey in flight — Osprey hovering before a dive
ISO 1000 | f/8 | 1/3200 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 100-400mm f/5.6 L IS II and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

We will be shooting from a pontoon boat, with plenty of space for everybody, while getting fairly close to our subjects. This is the ideal situation for beginner and mid-level bird photographers.

Florida Ospreys Photography Tour – $1,490

March 28th-29th 2020 / limit 5 people – 1 opening

3 boat rides on a pristine cypress trees lake. Many nests are at eye level, allowing shooting from up close in a natural habitat. No big lens needed! An ideal setup for beginners… 2 working lunch sessions with lunch included. $300 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com to be added to the early contact list for 2021.

Florida Spoonbills Photography Tour – $1,390

February 22nd-23rd 2020 / limit 6 people – Full

May 3rd-4th 2020 / limit 6 people – 1 open

May 30th-31st 2020 / limit 6 people – 5 open

2 working lunches and 3 boat rides to the absolute best rookery to photograph spoonbills with breeding colors. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com to be added to the early contact list for 2021!

2020 Florida Ospreys Photography Tour / Workshop

The dates for the 2020 Florida Ospreys tour are March 28th-29th. Are you ready to photograph Ospreys in their natural habitat from a boat on a pristine lake? The workshop will be located East of Orlando, on a lake with the highest concentration of Osprey nests in Florida. We will shoot from a pontoon boat and will be able to get fairly close to the birds without disturbing them. Not only, there will be many accessible nests, but many of them are not located too high. Also, we will be among cypress trees, which will give a true natural feel to our images. While it is possible to see many Osprey nests across Florida, most are now located on man made poles or are very high in the trees. This is a unique location and there are only four participants! Everybody will have comfortable space to shoot from the pontoon boat.

Being able to approach fairly close to low altitude nests is the best way to capture intimate exchanges between the mating birds. This is a difficult vantage point to achieve.

There will be many landings and take offs, giving great opportunities for first class action shots. If the wind is blowing in the right direction, we might even be able to create face to face landings.

Ospreys exclusively eat live preys from the water. They are prime fishing birds and you will be surprised by some of the feats they may pull off. On top, three fish in the talents!

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 Ospreys Photography Tour – $1,490

March 28th-29th 2020 / limit 4 people – 3 openings

3 boat rides on a pristine cypress trees lake and 2 working lunch sessions with lunch included. $300 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com

Florida Spoonbills Photography Tour – $1,290

February 2nd-3rd 2019 / limit 6 people – Full

March 30th-31st 2019 / limit 6 people – 1 opening

April 27th-28th 2019 / limit 6 people – 2 openings

2 working lunches and 3 boat rides to the absolute best rookery to photograph spoonbills with breeding colors. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com

How To Create Bird Photography Action Series In One Image

Every now and then I enjoy creating action series from my Bird Photography. In one image, I do a collage of several images which shows the subject at different times through the action. The results can be surprisingly good and make for fantastic panoramas printed on a very large format.

Spoonbill banking serie - Bird Photography

Spoonbill banking in flight serie – Tampa Bay Spoonbill rookery, Florida
ISO 200 | f/4 | 1/5000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review), the Canon EOS 7D mark II on tripod with gimbal head.

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, banking shots are created when the bird is turning. The action serie image above is a nice depiction of the wings position during a turn. The Roseate Spoonbill above was coming from the left and decided to turn right in order to land behind the first set of mangrove trees. I typically like to choose the subject at regular physical intervals from the image burst I took. This implies that you might need up to six or ten images from one action in order to have a nicely spaced out action serie of 4 or five different moments in time.

Osprey taking off – Sarasota Bay, Florida
ISO 500 | f/7.1 | 1/5000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 300mm f/4 L IS USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review), the Canon EOS 7D mark II on tripod with gimbal head.

One of the key technical elements is that you must shoot in manual mode. Why? Because, when shooting in Av or Tv mode, your camera recomputes the exposure and white balance at each frame and you might end up having to combine images with different hues of blue for the sky. That would make the collage a lot harder to achieve well. Once in Photoshop, I pick one image from the serie (the earlier in time image of the set) and add enough canvas to be able to bring in a few more images. Simply drag the other images directly on the first one. Then change the layer mode to “Overlay”. From there you can align the background as close as you can, then put a layer mask on the top layer and paint in black to reveal the subject in the layer underneath. Repeat the same process a few times and voila!!

Brown Pelican diving serie – Fort Desoto State Park, Florida
ISO 640 | f/8 | 1/3200 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 300mm f/4 L IS USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review) with 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III on tripod with gimbal head.

Action series can also be vertical!! 🙂

Used Gear for Sale

CANON EOS 5D MARK III => $1,650 in very good condition with battery grip (BG-E11 worth $260 new) included. As you would have noticed, I created some of my very best images with this body!!

CANON EF 300MM F/4 IS USM => $900 in excellent condition. I did a lot of my early bird photography with this undisputed best value for your money in the Canon pro lens lineup.

Florida Spoonbills and Shorebirds photography workshop – $990

Feb 20th-21st 2016 / limit 6 people – FULL

Mar 19th-20th 2016 / limit 6 people – FULL

Apr 16th-17th 2016 / limit 6 people – FULL

Contact me at steven.blandin@gmail.com to be put on the waiting list for possible cancellations or for 2017. Cancellations do happen, so it is not excluded you might still get to join me in 2016.

Support our blog by following our links for your purchases. It comes at no extra cost to you and it helps keeping this photography blog lively!

Steven

3 for the price of 1 & the Canon 7d mark II

The highly anticipated Canon EOS 7d mark II is now available for pre-order!! Read below what my thoughts are on this new crop factor flagship. Make sure to place your order by clicking on your preferred provider link to the right (Adorama or B&H). It does not cost you anything and it helps keeping this blog lively 🙂

I loved the Canon EOS 7d with a high performance AF and 8 frames per second. However, I do prefer the Canon EOS 5d mark III mainly because of its even better autofocus system (the same as the Canon EOS 1dX!) and excellent high ISO/low noise performance. Things are about to change! The new Canon EOS 7d mark II is announced to perform as well as the Canon EOS 5d mark III thanks to the same AF system and equivalent high ISO quality. In other words, with 20.2 megapixels for the new 7d versus 22.3 megapixels for the 5d mark III, you will have the same image quality or very close, with an impressive 10 frames per second and the extra reach of a crop factor (1.6 times longer than a full frame). On top of that, the 7d mark II will be able to autofocus at f/8 with a 2x extender, allowing AF with the central point surround with a combo 600mm f/4 and 2x extender. We will now have a reach of 1920mm!!!!

On my side, I did not hesitate and placed a pre-order in order to be amongst the first ones to enjoy this new crop factor flagship in the Canon EOS camera body lineup.

Osprey with fish – Lakeland, Florida
ISO 500 | f/5.6 | 1/5000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens with 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III on a tripod with gimbal head.

The photograph above is an Osprey flying away with an amazing prize! Look close (click on the image to see it bigger) and your eyes will widen as you count not 1, not 2, but 3 fish!! I was taking around a student who booked a private tour in the Lakeland area about three weeks ago. I know a peer that gives to a lake where one may witness Ospreys and even occasional Bald Eagles fishing nearby. We were in luck that afternoon, and within 30 min we created lots of great fishing action shots of Ospreys. If you pass by the Tampa Bay area do not hesitate to contact me to book a private tour as I will give you top notch instructions and take you to the best local spots!

Bald Eagle in Flight – Lakeland, Florida
ISO 500 | f/6.3 | 1/5000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens with 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III on tripod and gimbal head.

The photograph above is indeed a Bald Eagle in flight in the Lakeland area, Florida. This fellow was fishing a bit further away than the Osprey above and came out empty ended a couple of times. Still, it was a great pleasure creating a photograph of this beautiful creature! Pasco county, close to the Tampa Bay has the highest concentration of Bald Eagles in the state of Florida.

Used Gear for Sale!

Canon EOS 5d mark III with BG-E11 battery grip => Very good student Ejaz Khan is selling his Canon EOS 5d mark III with the BG-E11 battery grip for $2,500. This is an awesome deal, for a camera that has not been used much and Ejaz takes very good care of his equipment. Most of my images were created with this camera and I would not hesitate if I were in a buying position. Contact me at steven.blandin@gmail.com if you are interested!

Canon 400mm f/5.6 => I am personally selling a Canon 400mm f/5.6 in prestine condition at $950. This is a great deal for the lens that I call the lowest budget for professional results!

Note that you are welcome to let me know about your used equipment for sale 🙂

Florida Spoonbills and Shorebirds instructional photography tour / $890 / limit 5 people / March 7th-8th 2015:

Only 4 spots left now! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to create photograph of Spoonbill with breeding feathers in flight.
Bird photography workshop - Florida Spoonbills & Shorebirds

Support our blog by following our links for your purchases. It comes at no extra cost to you and it helps keeping this photography blog lively!

Steven