Florida Birding & Foto Festival - One Week Later...

Well, I had the best of intentions of blogging from the festival with my latest pictures. I should have known that the time I was participating in the events, my driving time, and the time involved in reviewing/editing pictures would prohibit much of anything else. I didn't want to waste a moment of my field time, and the number of images I came back with is staggering. Finally, I have a days worth ready to share.

My second day of the festival was primarily in the field. I started with a morning long visit to the Jacksonville Zoo, featuring their wood stork rookery. What an amazing place for a bird fan. It was fascinating to watch them nesting and caring for the babies. I could have stayed there all day. If I lived in Jacksonville, this would be one of my regular haunts, at least during nesting season.







The woodstorks weren't the only birds to be seen there, of course. These are a few others that I came across that day.







After four hours at the zoo, I drove the hour (plus) down south of St. Augustine for a workshop on some tips for bird photography. The speaker talked about all kinds of gear and how to approach the birds to get a great shot. PATIENCE is the key....it's that simple. I learned that the truly great wildlife photographers are either the most patient people on the planet, or they know all kinds of tricks to stage a shot. Personally, I'm disappointed to think that some of the photos that have wowed me in the past were not a spontaneous capture, but a well thought out staging. I was naive, I guess. One speaker talked about going out into the wild where he knew there were eagles and throwing fish into the lake in front of his camera. They would swoop down and grab the fish right where he wanted them...and that's how he got the shot. It kind of bursts your bubble, doesn't it.

I wrapped up Tuesday with a four hour field shoot at the beach. They drove us out in pickup trucks and when we spotted interesting birds, we'd all pile out and start shooting. I got some decent images, but I felt like a rank amateur. There were at least a dozen guys with HUGE lenses on their cameras. They had them mounted on a dish type support that held the camera low to the ground and could be pushed through the sand. This would allow them to belly crawl slowly toward the birds like GI Joe. It looked kind of hysterical really, and I didn't mind that I wasn't prepared to crawl through the sand. I did fine kneeling behind my tripod with the other less experienced avian paparazzi. It was a beautiful night and we were out until we could see that the tide was about to render the beach impassible. I returned to my sister's that day with three 4 gig cards FULL...and a lot of work to do.






Aren't these terns a riot?!? I think they look like they're both wearing a bad toupee!





I'll be posting more images on my blog 'In My Dreams I Can Fly...,' tonight if I have the time. If not, they'll be there sometime tomorrow.

Adventures In Photography - Florida Birding & Foto Festival

We all catch the bug the same way. We pick up a camera, snap a few photos and low and behold...they're not that bad! I started developing my skill by studying images that appealed to me and trying to emulate what I saw that I liked. It got me a long way, but I've always felt that my technical understanding could use some honing. And like all photography fans, I welcome exploring somewhere new.

Last year, I visited my sister in Florida in mid April, and picked up some materials on the Florida Birding & Foto Festival. I'd missed it by a week....but I made a mental note that THIS was something I wanted to take advantage of. It's been a long year of waiting, but finally...tomorrow...I will get on a plane and head down for a week of family, and long weekend of workshops that will (hopefully) make me a better photographer.

The Festival is anchored in St. Augustine and takes advantage of the birding opportunities in the area. It is sponsored by both Audubon and Outdoor Photographer Magazine. There are four days of workshops and field trips led by some well known names in nature photography. I was able to schedule a nice mix of classroom sessions focusing on technical knowledge along with some field outings that I hope will provide outstanding photo opportunities.

I'm very excited to spend a few days with accomplished photographers and to get some insight into how they create their phenomenal images. It would be very tempting to fill the time with field outings as they are many and varied. But, I know I will benefit from attempting to expand my technical understanding. I joke that I "use the Force" to find my settings. It often works. However, when I consider what I have paid to put the latest high tech equipment in my hands, it seems foolish not to try and learn to use it to its full potential.

I'll be starting my adventure bright and early Thursday morning in a class on "The Power of Raw." I often shoot in raw, but I don't know how to make the very most of those humongous files. I'm looking forward to discovering what can be done with all that data. I'll be following that up with a 2 hour workshop entitled "Light Illuminates, Shadow Defines."

On Friday morning, I'll attend my first field outing. I'll be going to a "before hours" visit to the wood stork rookery at the Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens. I expect to see a wide range of birds at this location and it concerns me that I'll end up with more files than I'll be able to manage. I guess that's the one downside of digital....that you can take more photos than you can look at in a lifetime.
:)

I'll be posting a synopsis of my adventures, along with photos both here and at my own photoblog "In My Dreams I Can Fly..." I look forward to sharing my experiences along with some tips and tidbits that I pick up along the way. In preperation for my trip, I've been spending a lot of time here on Long Island seeking out and photographing birds. I've been concentrating specifically on birds in flight and I've got some practice shots up on my journal. I hope you'll stop by...and please leave me a comment to let me know you've been there.

Now, I've got to finish packing!