Tour Times
Session 1 - Friday afternoon June 28 - Sunday morning June 30
Peak time for Common Terns babies, as well as American Oystercatchers
Session 2 - Wednesday afternoon July 17 - Friday morning July 19
Peak time for Least Terns babies
Session 3 - Sunday August 10 - Monday August 11
Peak time for Black Skimmer babies
Location
Nickerson Beach, Long Island, New York
Species
Common Tern
Black Skimmer
Least Tern
American Oystercatchers
Piping Plovers
Likely Species
Laughing Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Sanderling
Black-bellied Plover
Willet
Cost
$750 (non-refundable) per session, paid in full upon registration. Food, travel and lodging not included.
Free 1 Hour Image Review and Processing Bonus Session after the tour to help with processing questions
Tour Objective
To come home with photographs of tender moments, fierce moments, magical light moments and moments with peak action.
Description
Nickerson Beach on Long Island, New York is an extraordinary place that is filled with thousands of nesting birds. During the 3 separate workshops we will target those magical moments of interactions between parents and babies, interactions between multiple birds and interactions between predators and prey. In addition we will concentrate our efforts on shooting backlit shots at sunrise and sunset. Our goal will be quality over quantity. There are so many birds at Nickerson that there is always something to shoot but that can also be a curse as it is easy to get distracted by the non-stop action on the beach and to come home with a whole bunch of forgettable photos. Let me help you focus your efforts to come home with photos of the truly memorable tender moments, fierce moments, magical light moments and moments with peak action. These are the photos that are the most impactful and most memorable as well. The three workshops are timed to be on the beach during the peak hatching of Common Terns, Least Terns and Black Skimmers. The other resident nesting birds which are American Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers tend to have their young throughout the nesting season which means that there will very likely always be babies of different ages around the beach throughout the nesting season.
Each of the three sessions will have a main target but there will be multiple opportunities to photograph all of the other nesting species on the beach as well. In addition to the nesting species there are always large numbers of roosting gulls and an assortment of migrant shorebirds.
Travel
TBD
Hotel
TBD
Meals
Each participant will be responsible for their own meals and snacks.
Schedule
Day 1: Full Afternoon
Day 2: Full Day
Day 3: Full Morning
What to Bring
Photography Gear
I recommend bringing at least 2 cameras, minimum focal length of at least a 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
I recommend bringing a backup 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.
Groundpod or Tripod
Clothes and Other Gear
All sessions are spent in the sand and on the beach. There may be opportunities to photograph at the water’s edge so please be prepared to potentially get wet:
Bathing suit or light fast drying pants and shirt
Tight fitting surf shoes
Hat
Elbow and knee pads should you choose to lay down in the sand
Sunblock
Bottled Water
Weather
Please come prepared to photograph in all weather conditions. Bring protection for your camera and lens.
Physical Activity
There is a short walk of about 5 minutes to get from the parking lot to the breeding colonies. Most of the walking is in the sand.
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. 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.