January 13th-14th 2024 | February 10th-11th 2024 | March 23rd-24th 2024 – 5 people – $1,590
This bird photography tour will take you to the absolute best location to photograph Roseate Spoonbills with breeding colors in the state of Florida. You will have the very best chances to create images of beautiful Spoonbills flying, landing, preening and more. The workshop consists of three boat rides (Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning) to the Spoonbill rookery and two working lunches.
The Tampa Bay Spoonbill rookery
The Tampa Bay Spoonbill rookery, located at the mouth of the Alafia river, is the biggest rookery in the state of Florida overall. Among the numerous other species represented, the Roseate Spoonbills come breed at this location in great numbers. There is no other place where you can predictably observe and photograph those beautiful pink feather birds with breeding colors. It will also be a fantastic opportunity to create stunning flight images as I will point out to you some likely flight trajectories. I have created some of my highest awarded images at the Tampa Bay Spoonbill rookery, including one nominee at the BBC Wildlife Photographer Of The Year.
Spoonbills with breeding colors and more
The rookery is a seasonal breeding ground for many other species. You will be very likely to photograph Double-crested Cormorants, White Ibises, Reddish Egrets, Great Blue Herons, American White Pelicans, American Oystercatchers, Long-billed Curlews. There is potential to see just about any species common to Florida as well as a very numerous Brown Pelican population in breeding colors.
Spoonbill photography guidelines
The boat will take us to the Spoonbill rookery, where we will shoot in the water with water level around mid-thighs. Chest waders will be provided to you and we will remain at least 50 feet away from the point of highest tide to follow the Audubon guidelines and make sure we do not cause any stress on the breeding birds.
What you will learn
This photography tour is for all levels, from beginners to semi-professionals. However, you will want to have at least an effective reach of 600mm to make the most of this workshop. I shoot most of the time at an effective range of 840mm-1200mm at this rookery.
You will learn how to nail down exposure, compose and position yourself in the best way possible each time. I will show you how to respectfully approach Spoonbills so that you understand bird behavior and are able to predict action sequences. 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.
Most importantly, I will explain the rational behind my positioning and will call the shots so that you may anticipate the fast action. Very few tour leaders have the confidence to take the risk of doing the latter…
The cost
$1590 for the best Spoonbill with breeding colors photography tour! You need to make a $250 deposit to hold your spot.
What is included:
- 3 boat rides
- boat Captain tips
- 1 lunch
- image critique and Photoshop image optimization tutorials during lunch break with interactive help on whichever need you have
- in-the-field photography instruction from your favorite award-winning bird photographer
What is not included:
- airfare
- hotel
- meals other than lunches
Other Birds At The Spoonbill Rookery
As previously mentioned, the photo shoot location is no other than the biggest rookery in the state of Florida. As such, you will see great quantities of nesting Brown Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants. Depending on the month, there will be White Ibises, Glossy Ibises, Whistling Ducks. In lesser quantity, other bird species commonly seen are Great Blue Herons, Reddish Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Ospreys, Oystercatchers, Long-billed Curlews and more. All the images below were created on site.
