Florida, May 2025 Tour - 4 Spots left

Cost

• $2,750 (Airfare, hotel, meals and transportation are not included.)

• $750 non-refundable deposit due on signup. Balance of $2,000 due by March 1, 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 many of Florida’s most iconic birds.

Description

May is a fantastic and often overlooked time of the year for bird photography in Florida. Shorebirds like Red Knot, Black-bellied Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher, Dunlin and Sanderling are in full breeding plumage. The Burrowing Owls often have newly fledged young that spend time with their parents and offer loads of opportunities for feeding shots, flight shots and also intimate portraits. Royal and Sandwich Terns are in full breeding plumage and can be photographed performing courtship displays. The Reddish Egrets are still around dancing and up to their crazy feeding antics. The rest of the herons and egrets are present in good numbers. The Snail Kites are quite active and the Florida Scrub Jays are also easily accessible. Plus there are opportunities for birds like Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, Gray Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Monk Parakeet and Anhingas.

Travel

Fly into Tampa and we will be based out of St. Petersburg, and Fort Myers/Cape Coral, FL (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. Depending on the weather, there will be 1 or 2 very early departures. If we have full sun then we will stop after the light gets harsh and go back to the hotel.

Lunch Time: we will have an 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. 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

• Elbow and knee pads if you prefer to lay down for ground level work while photographing.

• Portable chair or pad to sit on if you prefer to photograph while seated.

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

• Large soft paint brush to brush the sand off of your gear after sessions as the beach

• Towel to clean the sand or dirt off of yourself or to dry off after a shower on the beach

Clothes

• Multiple changes of clothes for the water. Be prepared to get wet.

• Fast drying long pants and long sleeve shirts.

• Hat or a baseball cap to protect from the sun.

• Light jacket as we may have some cool mornings.

• Tight fitting surf shoes.

• Plenty of sunscreen.

Weather

We will be photographing rain or shine so bring protection for your gear in case of rain. It can be quite hot at this time of year in Florida but there are also unexpectedly cool mornings so be prepared for both. 

Physical Activity

Much of what we are doing will be at water level with the birds so expect to be laying (or going as low as possible depending on your comfort level) down at the water’s edge or even going into the water. Expect to get up and down often as the tides change and the birds move. Expect to get wet and sandy at times. There were will some short walks (none more than a mile). 

My Responsibilities

As a lifelong birder who has been to Florida over 25 times, I have an intimate knowledge of the areas, birds and habitat. 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.