Arizona 2025

Cost

• $3,350 (Airfare, hotel, meals, transportation, and park entrance fees are not included).

• $1,100 non-refundable deposit due on signup. Balance of $2,250 due by January 15, 2025.

• Free 2 Hour Image Review and Processing Bonus Session after the tour to help with processing questions.

Tour Objective

To come home with high-quality and memorable images of the diverse birdlife of Arizona.

Description

We’ll spend 4 days photographing desert and montane species.

Travel

Fly into Tucson and we will be based out of Green Valley, Arizona. Hotel recommendations and exact locations to be given after deposit. You will be responsible for renting your own vehicle, arranging airline travel and making hotel reservations .

Hotel 

TBD

Schedule

Morning Sessions: We will meet at our agreed upon locations at sunrise, so expect to be up early enough to be ready to shoot at sunrise. Morning locations are all close to our hotels and most mornings will be less than a 20 minute drive to get to our shooting locations. If we have full sun then we will stop after the light gets harsh and go back to the hotel. There will be about an hour drive one morning to get to the top of the mountain for montane species.

Lunch Time: Optional image review session where we will review the images from the morning. We will work on things like processing and composition and I will make suggestions or answer any questions.

After Lunch: we will have some personal time before our evening sessions.

Evening sessions: we will arrive to our evening locations leaving time for some scouting and preparing for the best light of the day. On cloudy days we will limit our lunch and image review time to shoot as long as possible.

In order to make the most of our time and come home with as many high quality images as possible, expect to leave each day early and come back late.

Meals

Most hotels offer a continental breakfast that opens at 6:30 a.m., which leaves time to grab some food and be on location for sunrise. Lunch and dinner is with the group, if you desire.

What to Bring 

Photography Gear

• There are a large variety of birds which we will photograph between 400mm-600mm (minimum focal length of at least 400mm lens is required). A prime lens or telephoto zoom would be ideal.

• If you own a telephoto prime and a zoom you may want to bring both

• 1.4 teleconverter is optional but highly recommended

• I recommend bringing a back up camera.

• Bring lots of extra batteries and a rapid charger.

• Bring as many  memory cards with as much storage as you can as it is not uncommon to fill up 320gb or more in a single session.

• I also highly recommend bringing a laptop or other external storage to transfer your images from your memory cards.

Other Gear

• Ground pod, monopod or tripod - whatever you prefer to shoot with.

Clothes

• Protection from the desert sun

Weather

We will be out in all weather conditions and will shoot in the sun or rain. Mornings can be cool and can warm up quickly during the day. I recommend layers so that you can shed them as the temperature warms up.

Physical Activity

We will be photographing most sessions from blinds. Very little walking and and strenuous activity required.

My Responsibilities

I will get you in front of the birds and assist in creating the highest quality photos as possible with each opportunity we have. I will help with obtaining the most pleasing backgrounds and compositions. I will help with field craft techniques and with attracting the birds when needed. I will also put us in the most productive spots to be able to produce high quality photographs of the highest species diversity possible. I will be there to answer all questions and to help facilitate any other needs you may have.

My Ask

Enjoy yourself as much as possible and get cards full of beautiful photos.  I love to talk birds, cameras and gear. I am here to help so anything that you need, please just ask.

Insurance

Travel insurance is strongly encouraged.