IPT Schedule 2010

San Diego IPT, JAN 13-17, 2010

5 Full Days: $2395, slide program on the evening of TUES JAN 12.

The gate at the Cave Store Cliffs has been unlocked for many, many months and my understanding is that the fence has now been removed as well. (Though I am not quite positive on the cause and effect here I do know that Scott Bourne had a show-cause order filed with regards to public access at this location.)

We will get to photograph killer breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with the red bill pouches at close range and in flight. Santee Lakes will yield close-up Wood Ducks and lots more; White Pelicans are likely there. LaJolla Shores Beach will yield Marbled Godwits in beautiful buff reflections and this spot and Coronado will give us chances on a variety of gorgeous gulls and several shorebird species as well. I selected dates that feature perfect tides for both our morning and afternoon coastal locations. And we will have extensive time for image review and Photoshop techniques.

100 Reasons to Register for the San Diego IPT You can view a gallery with my 100 favorite San Diego images here: www.birdsasart.com/sandiego800. Click on the first image to see and then click on next to view the images as a slide show. Scroll down to see the EXIF data for each image.

SW FLA PRESIDENT’S WEEK IPT, FEB 10-15, 2010.

Slide program on the evening of FEB 9. 6-FULL DAYS: $2799. Co-leaders: Tim Grey and Alfred and Fabiola Forns. Limit: Limit 10. Escape winter’s icy grip and join me in Florida in the land of ridiculously tame birds. This IPT will visit Little Estero Lagoon which has been fantastic for the past three years (and been getting better each year), the Venice Rookery, several killer Burrowing Owl nests on Cape Coral, and several spots on Sanibel including Blind Pass, the Sanibel Fishing Pier, and the East Gulf beaches (for Snowy Plover). If we have a foggy drizzly morning we may visit Corkscrew Swamp and Sanctuary. We have arranged for morning low tides at Little Estero and a setting full moon for our Saturday visit to the Venice Rookery 🙂

MIDWAY ATOLL IPT, March, 2010

Two trips, early (from Oahu, HI) 7-FULL DAYS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: $6395 ALL INCLUSIVE FROM OAHU.
There may be a single opening on either or both of these trips. Please e-mail at birdsasart@att.net or to see the complete information including registration information click here: http://www.photosafaris.com/photography-trips-2010/midway-photo-tour.

GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise IPT, July 2010 TWO-WEEK TRIP

The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience: 13 1/2 days of photography plus the last morning panga ride: $10,999.

Fly to Quito: July 4, 2010. Travel insurance and rest day: July 5 (optional hummingbird day trip). Fly to Galapagos, board boat: July 6. Fly back to Quito: July 20. Fly home: July 21.

Cost: $10,999 includes three nights in the luxury hotel–the Hilton Quito Colon, round trip airfare to and from Baltra, all meals on the boat, killer buffet lunch with the tortoises!, all park fees and related costs, all transfers, and a five star thank you dinner on the evening of July 13th.

Includes 13 full and one half day of photography plus a 90 minute early am panga ride on the last morning. In-the-field photo instruction and guidance. The greatest ever itinerary. By far. We visit every great spot on a single trip. I have been to most but there are several new exciting stops that I am thrilled about, most with nesting frigatebirds. The great spots that I have visited on various trips will include: Tower Island (including Prince Phillips Steps and Darwin Bay), Hood Island (including Punta Suarez, the world’s only nesting site of the Waved Albatross, and Gardner Bay)—each of the preceding are world class wildlife photography designations that rank right up there with Antarctica, Africa, and Midway), Fernandina, Peurto Ayora for the tortoises, Puerto Egas—James Bay, North Seymour, South Plaza, Black Turtle Cove, Floreana, Urbina Bay, China Hat, and I believe Rabida. Plus tons more.

And the world’s greatest Galapagos guide. By far. We will be the first boat on each island in the morning and the last boat to leave each island every afternoon. If we are blessed with overcast weather, we often spend as long as 6 ½ hours on our morning sessions. Midday snorkeling will be an option on most sunny days depending on location.

Note: some of the walks are strenuous. Great images are possible on all landings with a hand held 70-200mm lens (but I will have my 800 with me :)).

Not included: Your round-trip airfare from your home to and from Quito, beverages, phone calls, and the $500/person tip for the guide and the crew.

Strictly limited to 12 photographers plus the leader.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, August 22-24, 2010

Nickerson Beach/Shorebird/Nesting Skimmer Photography-Tour (JBWR/NB IPT): Slide program on the evening of August 21. 3-DAY: $1399.

For eight years in the late 70s/early 80s I conducted the International Shorebird Survey at JBWR for the then Manomet Bird Observatory. And it was there on the East Pond, in the summer of 1983, that I began to learn my trade with the old 400mm f/4.5 FD manual focus lens…. I remember the first roll of film that I got back; those dots on the slides, were they the birds? In a short time I was on my belly getting within 12 feet of my subjects, often even closer so that I needed an extension tube to focus. And I have been getting down on my belly in the mud for the past 25 years. And loving it. And I know the East Pond better than anyone living.

This trip is timed to coincide with the peak of the juvenile shorebird migration and with three perfect morning high tides. We will likely get to photograph the following shorebird species in fresh juvenal plumage: Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Stilt Sandpiper. Juvenile Pectoral and Western Sandpipers and several other species are possible. We should also get to photograph worn, molting adult White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Short-billed Dowitchers. Not only will you get to photograph these species, you will learn to age and identify them. Getting a copy of my “Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers” and studying it in advance would give you a huge head start. You can order a signed copy here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32. On some mornings we may spend a bit of time on the back porch of my friend Denis Macrae’s home where we will get to photograph Laughing Gulls in both worn breeding and fresh juvenal plumage. Snowy and Great Egrets and both night-herons are possible there as well.

Afternoons will be spent at Nickerson Beach just west of Point Lookout, Long Island, NY. For many years running there has been a large successful colony of Black Skimmers at this location. I have gotten reports of lots of skimmer chicks and lots of action both mornings and afternoons so we should have lots of fledged young, lots of large chicks, and possibly a smattering of small chicks still in the nest scrapes in August. The existence of beach nesting birds is of course extremely fragile and in a given year the success of even a dependable colony like Nickerson may vary. There will be lots of adults both in flight and on the ground with fish for their young. American Oystercatcher and a variety of gulls are also possible at Nickerson. Two years ago we were blessed late one afternoon as several thousand Common Terns flew in to roost for the night, the nervous flock taking flight time and time again in front of a lovely setting sun. I will of course adapt to local conditions in an effort to always have the group in the right place at the right time.

I will not have a slide projector or a projection screen on this photography tour. The introductory slide program will be done on the laptop. As we will be getting up very early (sunrise averages about 6:10am), and be staying in the field very late (sunset averages about 7:45 pm), our evenings will be free after dinner. Breakfasts will be on the run and the cost of lunch is included. We will of course have a midday break of three to four hours that will include instructor nap time. That will still leave us at least an hour or two for image review and some Photoshop lessons. To get the most out of this trip, experienced photographers should have at least a 500mm f/4 lens and be comfortable using at least their 1.4 teleconverter. The very best images will be created by those who are willing and physically able to either get down on the ground and photograph while prone or while seated behind their lowered tripods. The latter approach is especially effective when the birds are actively feeding as it is easier to follow birds in motion while you are sitting than while you are prone. Added plusses at JBWR include jet fuel and Canada Goose dung 🙂

There will be tons of in-the-field instruction that will include stalking techniques and getting the right exposure via histogram review. You will learn to see and think like a pro. The closer you stay to me and the more questions you ask, the more you will learn. With the extremely small group–six as I type–the opportunities for learning from a top pro will be unparalleled. Questions are limited to 500 per person per day. We will also get to do some fill flash work. As always, BAA reserves the right to exceed the noted limit (6) by no more than one.

BOSQUE del APACHE 2010 IPT, NOV 20-26, 2010

“The Complete Bosque Experience.”, slide program on the evening of Friday, NOV 19. 7-FULL DAYS: $3199. (Non-refundable deposit: $500; see details below.) Limit: 10/Openings; 7). Co-leaders: Robert O’Toole, Jim Heupel, and multiple BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year honoree Chris Van Rooyen of South Africa (http://www.wildlifephotography.co.za). Live, eat, and breathe photography with one of (if not the) world’s premier photographic educators at one of his very favorite locations on the planet. Plus great co-leaders and top-notch Photoshop instruction.

A BLURRY DAY in BOSQUE del APACHE 2010 IPT: NOV 27, 2010

Slide program on the evening of Friday, NOV 26. 1-FULL DAY: $399. Limit: 15. Leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris.

Join Denise and Artie for a day of learning about and creating pleasingly blurred images. They are nearly finished completing their Guide to Pleasing Blurs; it should be available before the end of September. Denise is the very creative moderator of the Out of the Box Forum on BPN (BirdPhotographers.Net) and Artie as you all know very well is Mr. Famous Bird Photographer

There will be an introductory slide program on the evening of Friday, November 26 at 7pm sharp; meet at K-Bob’s. artie and denise will go over the basic principles that separate pleasing blurs from lousy, out-of-focus images and will instruct you on a wide variety of techniques that you can use to create pleasingly blurred images. You will learn to create motion blurs (including slow shutter speed blurs, extreme slow shutter speed blurs, pan blurs and subject-movement- only blurs), zoom blurs (in the field and in Photoshop), camera shake blurs, camera movement blurs, wind blurs, flash blurs and even blurs in bright sun–a polarizer or an ND filter is usually required for the latter. Heck, we may even do some Fractalius blurs!

There will be two guided in-the-field sessions on Saturday: 6am till 10:30 am & 3:00 pm till after sunset. And there will be a break after lunch.

Contact Me

If you would like your name placed on the seriously interested list for any trip, please e-mail me at birdsasart@att.net.