Bulletins and Notes Archive

PLEASE READ OUR NEW DEPOSIT AND CANCELLATION POLICIES CAREFULLY BEFORE SENDING A DEPOSIT.

For years, BIRDS AS ART has had the most liberal deposit/cancellation policies in the field. Unfortunately, due to an unbelievable number of cancellations, many of them just prior to the beginning of IPTs, we have been forced to institute the new terms that follow. Please check your schedule carefully and weigh your decision to join an IPT very seriously before sending a deposit. We regret that we must institute these new policies, but the folks who have frivolously signed up for IPTs only to cancel at the last second have forced us to change our policies by depriving us of income and preventing other photographers from joining the tour because they are unable to re-arrange work schedules or purchase reasonably priced airline tickets. That said, do note--that for good reasons--most BIRDS AS ART IPTs fill many months in advance.

A $200.00 non-refundable deposit is now required for all IPTs. A $500 non-refundable deposit is required for both the Churchill and the Pribilofs IPTs. The balance is due 2 months before the date of the IPT and is then non-refundable unless the tour sells out. You will receive notice of payment due 10 months before the date of the IPT. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date, we will try to fill your spot off the waiting list. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

CRANE CREEK STATE PARK, OHIO On wave days, photograph warblers, vireos, grosbeaks, kinglets, tanagers, nightjars, and sparrows. Note, however, that photographing migrant passerines is strictly weather dependent. Back-up subjects include Canada Geese and their goslings, Tree Swallows, and in some years, Killdeer nests and chicks.

CHURCHILL, MANITOBA, CANADA. Photograph arctic nesting birds, at times on the nest, and almost always in their spectacular breeding plumages. Species should include Semipalmated and American Golden-Plover, Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Arctic Tern, Bonaparte's Gull, Parasitic Jaeger, and Willow Ptarmigan. Other possibilities include Common Eider, Oldsquaw, Greater Scaup, Horned Grebe, Pacific Loon, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Redpoll, Savannah Sparrow, Blackpoll Warbler, and many, many more. On this IPT only, ground transportation and airport pick-up/drop-off is included. No meals are included on this IPT. Most folks will need to stay a night in Winnipeg before and after the tour to facilitate flying to and from Churchill.

ST AUGUSTINE ALLIGATOR FARM (ROOKERY), FLORIDA Photograph dozens of egret and heron chicks at close range, some within arm's length. In all but disastrous nesting years, we will get to photograph the chicks and young of Great, Cattle & Snowy Egrets, and Tricolored Heron. Little Blue Heron chicks are possible in some years. Though we do photograph early and late in the day, it is almost always extremely hot in Florida at this time of year.

ST. PAUL ISLAND, PRIBILOFS, ALASKA/ECONOMY TOUR Photograph dozens of spectacular Horned and Tufted Puffins on this thrilling trip to a quiet outpost in the middle of the Bering Sea. While virtually all the auklets will have departed, Black-legged & Red-legged Kittiwakes, Thick-billed Murre, and Red-faced Cormorant may have fuzzy young in their cliff nests. Rock Sandpiper in both fading adult and fresh juvenal plumage are guaranteed. Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting, Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, and Arctic Fox are possible. We will almost surely get to photograph Gray-tailed Tattlers and possibly, other vagrant Asian species. In addition, there will be a variety of spectacular wildflowers in bloom at Whitney Pond. We will travel by St. Paul Island Tour bus, but this bus will be exclusively for our use. Minimum 500mm lens recommended; 600mm preferred. Flash a must. Flight shooting lens a plus. Costs are as follows: IPT fee: $799, St. Paul Tour fee (includes driver/guide, round trip airfare from Anchorage to St. Paul, and seven nights lodging) ill be approximately $2100.00 (TBA) Please note that airfare from your home to Anchorage, layover motel rooms (about $150/night) in Anchorage (2 nights-one before the tour, one after), and meals-approximately $45/day at the Trident Fish Processing Plant are NOT included. These tours are strictly limited to ten participants each. : A non-refundable $500 deposit is required for this trip. Early registrants will be booked for the first trip but may indicate their desire to switch to the second trip instead in the almost-guaranteed event that the first trip fills. Last year both tours sold out, and many of those photographers will be returning, one for the third consecutive summer. ). Non-photographer spouses/companions may join this IPT with the payment of a nominal $100 fee (plus the S.P.I.T. fees.)

BOSQUE DEL APACHE NWR Tens of thousands of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes; raptors, spectacular sunrises, sunsets, and low mountain scenery make this a wondrous and inspiring location and a great place to learn the basics. Each year at Bosque is different, but even in a "bad" year, Bosque provides one amazing photographic opportunity after another. Simply seeing and hearing the fly-ins, lift-offs, and blast-offs is always a huge thrill to anyone who enjoys nature. Photographing them is a guaranteed plus!

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA This, my bread & butter/can't-miss tour features visits to Ding Darling NWR, the Venice rookery, Little Estero Lagoon, and other photo hotspots. Spoonbills, White Ibis, Wood Stork, both pelicans, Burrowing Owl, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, eight heron and egret species, and numerous terns, gulls, sandpipers, and plovers, most of them ridiculously tame, are among the likely subjects.

GENERAL INFORMATION: BIRDS AS ART/INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTO-TOURS

All IPTs (unless indicated) include morning and afternoon field shoots totaling six hours or more (weather permitting), in-the-field instruction, an introductory slide program on the evening before the tour begins, a critiquing session , and, for the 3-DAY IPTs, slide programs on all but the last night of the tour, a midday break (also know as INT--instructor nap time), and all breakfasts and lunches (except as noted). Please note that breakfasts will feature on-the-run/fast food or convenience store dining. IPTs do not include lodging or air or ground transportation (except as noted). Ground transportation with the leader is available on some tours on an extremely limited, first-requested, first-served, pay-in-advance, $20/day, space-available basis. Email to check availability.

Non-photographer spouses/companions may join most IPTs for $40/day (except as noted). Extensions and individual or group tours can be arranged on request. Individual instruction on location is available for $500.00 per day, $800 per day for two photographers. A variety of Canon EF telephoto lenses and bodies are available for rent on some IPTs on a per day or per trip basis. Please inquire as to rates and availability.

WHY JOIN A BIRDS AS ART/IPT?

1- I taught elementary school for 23 years. I know how to teach. I can teach you the techniques needed to produce technically perfect images on a consistent basis. 2-My work is known for its artistic design; I can show you and teach you how to design artistically pleasing images. 3-I have a type-A personality. I am energetic, enthusiastic, and driven. 4-I specialize in bird photography. I know where the birds are, how to identify them, and how to approach them closely while minimizing disturbance. 5-All tours will run with only a single registrant. 6. I'm good, and I'll work hard to find the magic for you. 7. This is my business, and mine alone; I do care. 8: I know where to be in varying weather and lighting conditions. Why spend money on airfares, rental cars, equipment, and film and wind up being in the wrong spot? 9: While in Bosque this year, we ran across a tour group with top professional leaders and approximately 20 participants stuffed into two vans. The tour was very expensive (as the tour company has a big shiny catalogue and a large office staff to pay for). All in my group were amazed at the lack of instruction offered by the leaders, the total lack of communication between the leaders and the participants, and one seemingly inexplicable decision to leave an area just before the sun broke through and created a dramatic sunset. Go figure.....

Please e-mail birdsasart@verizon.net with any questions regarding BIRDS AS ART/

INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTO-TOURS. I would be glad to guide anyone considering the purchase of equipment.

Best and great picture making to all,