Tom and Cree just finished their Texas Birds in Spring Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with their group to the South Texas Plains of the Rio Grand Valley. They spent 4 days photographing songbirds and raptors from bird blinds. The group was delighted to photograph abundant Painted Buntings, several types or warblers and several types of orioles.
To see photos from our Texas Birds in Spring Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s new:
Tom and Cree sold their house in Colorado and will be moving back to Palmer, Alaska during the first week of June. They are driving all the way up the Alcan over a period of 6 days. Expect us to have more limited communication during that time. Our new address will be:
Tom Bol Photo Workshops
6342 N Mountain Meadow Trail
Palmer, Alaska. 99645
Any upcoming openings?
Yes! Our schedule was full before but due to a few cancellations, we have 4 workshops with space available this year. Check out our Upcoming Openings Page
We also added some new workshops for 2026 including:
Tom and Cree are headed to Badlands National Park in South Dakota for landscape and wildlife photography. They are hoping for stormy skies in order to photograph lightning using the new Pre-Release technology.
Tom and Cree just finished their Louisiana BayousPhoto Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with their group to the swamps around Lafayette, Louisiana to photograph the reptiles, trees and birds in the Bald Cypress bayous. Our group were delighted to photograph Barred owls, nesting egrets and Roseate Spoonbills in flight.
To see photos from our Louisiana Bayous Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s next:
Tom and Cree are headed to Badlands National Park in South Dakota for landscape and wildlife photography. They are hoping for stormy skies in order to photograph lightning using the new Pre-Release technology.
What’s new:
Cree just had a two page spread of her Bohemian Waxwing image published in the Spring 2024 Living Bird Magazine. It was the background for a Nikon ad promoting the Z8 camera.
Any upcoming openings? Yes! Our schedule was full before but due to a few cancellations, we have 4 workshops with space available this year:
Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For April we chose an image taken on our Costa Rica Rainforest Workshop. The image was taken by Jason Fox during our macro photo shoot near Corcovado National Park. Jason is a wildlife and travel photographer from Ontario, Canada.
Congratulations to April 2024 ‘s featured photographer – Jason Fox
Photographer Jason Fox
The Story…
I was looking for an angle with the right light. I remember Cree was right next to me. I was also looking for just the right angle for the background. The frog wasn’t going anywhere. So I was looking for the right expression as well.
I chose the Nikon Plena lens because I don’t really have a macro lens. I do not photograph macro that often. The minimum focus distance is quite short on the Plena. I figured this lens would give me good separation form the background. It also has legendary bokeh. Everyone goes on and on about the bokeh with this lens. I’m not quite sure why it is so unique, but it seems to do quite well.
My daughter absolutely loves frogs. This one of the reasons I chose to go to Costa Rica. I took the photo for her. I want to make a print of this one for her wall. This frog is a bit on the plain side. I thought it worked well with the muted background.
The editing for this image was pretty light. I wanted to leave some of the natural gunk on the plant because I didn’t want it to look too staged. I wanted the image to look natural. I did very little to the frog because it was so sharp, right out of the camera. I increased the vibrance on the frog just a bit and desaturated the background about 10%.
Photo of the Month – Gladiator Tree Frog
EXIF Data:
Camera: Nikon Z9
Lens: Nikon Plena 135 mm
Aperture: f2
Shutter: 1/160th seconds
ISO: 180
Exposure Comp +.7
About Photographing in Costa Rica
The critters and the locations are fantastic. I have shot in a lot of jungles. I was just in Borneo with Tom and Cree the month before. I found the lighting in Costa Rica to be challenging. The light seemed to change more frequently then in other places I’ve photographed. It was an exposure compensation workout.
I really enjoyed the macro subjects.. The Yellow Eyelash Viper was really striking. The anteater was also very cool. It is a rare critter and I felt very fortunate to be able to photograph it. I was next to Tom in the right place at the right time.
I have been to Costa Rica a few times before. This particular part (the Osa Penninsula) feels more wild and less developed. It was wilder than I would have expected for Costa Rica.
The sloth shoot was pretty phenomenal. I love sloths. We were much closer than I expected. In the past they always seemed to be way up a tree and hard to photograph. Usually they are just furry lumps in trees. But not on this shoot.
Three-toed Sloth in Costa Rica
Jason’s Tips for Wildlife Photography
Tip 1
Patience. It all comes down to finding different angles than everyone else. For the sloth image above, everyone was trying to get the clear shot from straight on. I looked at the direction that it was headed and moved over to the side. I like that he is partly covered by the leaves. This is a critter that is designed to hide and the image shows that.
Tip 2
Generally I like slower shutter speeds. Digital cameras are almost too sharp. I like to shoot slow and have the image be a little softer in the background or in the foreground.
Baby sloth in Costa Rica
On Jason’s Horizon:
Everywhere is on my bucket list
Canary Islands
South Africa and Madagascar
Bhutan
Antarctica
Indonesia
Jason getting to know his macro subject
Interested in joining us in Costa Rica next year?We have space from March 22-29, 2025 Learn more
Tom and Cree just finished their Costa Rica RainforestPhoto Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with their groups to the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica to photograph the animals, flowers and birds in the lowland rainforest. Our groups were delighted with the baby monkeys and abundance of Scarlet Macaws this year.
To see photos from our Costa Rica Rainforest Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s next:
Tom and Cree are headed to the Bayous of Louisiana for their next workshop. They will be gliding through the bayous on pontoon boats in search of alligators and birds and then visiting a rookery with nesting Great Egrets and Roseate Spoonbills.
Tom and Cree just finished their Iditarod and Northern LightsPhoto Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with their group to Alaska to photograph the action and pageantry of the Iditarod and then on to Fairbanks for Northern Lights. Our group was surprised how caught up they became in the ongoing race standings. It was also a great year for aurora, with the lights showing up 4 times on the workshop.
To see photos from our Iditarod and Northern Lights Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s next:
Tom and Cree are headed to Central America for their Costa Rica Rainforest Workshop. We will be photographing tree frogs, macaws and 4 species of monkeys in Osa Peninsula.
What’s New:
It’s official! Tom and Cree just bought a house in Palmer, Alaska and will be moving in June. They will continue to offer workshops in the Lower 48 and abroad, just from a different home base. New address coming soon.
Want to join us in Alaska this summer? We have a few openings:
Nome: Arctic Birds and Musk Ox: June 17-22, 2024 – 2 spaces available Click here
Brown Bear Safari: August 13-19, 2024 – 2 spaces available Click here
Tom and Cree just finished their Indonesia Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with their group to Borneo and East Java in Indonesia to photograph the colorful people, places and animals of the area. Our group enjoyed the interactions among orangutans and were astonished at how human-like they were.
To see photos from our 2024 Indonesia: Orangutans and Volcanos, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s next:
Tom and Cree are headed to Alaska for Northern Lights and the Iditarod. We will be photographing the “Last Great Race” in three different locations and then searching for aurora in Talkeetna, Healy and Fairbanks, Alaska. As part of our route, we drive right by the entrance to Denali National Park.
Tom and Cree just finished their Oaxaca Mexico Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with their group to Oaxaca de Juarez in the mountains of Mexico to photograph the colorful people, places and food of the area. They loved the photo opportunities there so much that they decided to return for another workshop in Oaxaca in January 2025. We hope you will consider joining us.
To see photos from our 2024 Oaxaca Mexico Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
Note about covid on this workshop:
On the fourth day of the workshop Cree tested positive for covid. We want to share this experience to help you understand what that looks like on a workshop. As soon as Cree felt a sore throat she used a rapid test and it was positive. She immediately isolated from the group and spent the next 3 days in her room watching Netflix and learning online Spanish. Because she isolated so quickly, no one else on the group came down with covid. Tom tested negative and was able to continue teaching. He decided to wear a mask for the remainder of the workshop to protect others.
A few take aways from this experience:
Realize that covid is still going around and as a traveler you could catch it. If you have any syptoms that could be covid, notify the trip leaders immediately.
Always travel with several rapid tests, masks and extra medication in case you need to stay longer. We recommend talking to your doctor about bringing covid medications.
Realize that if you test positive you cannot travel with the group and will need to isolate yourself. You will need to pay for any extra rooms, meals or transportation required for your isolation. We strongly recommend travel insurance for all of our workshops for that reason.
Fortunately, the recent strains have been fairly mild and most people recover quickly. Preparation and early detection are key to keep the group protected. Keeping everyone healthy is a top priority at TBPW.
What’s next:
Tom and Cree will be heading to the jungles of Borneo and the volcanos of Java for the Indonesia Workshop. Then it is off to Alaska for Northern Lights and the Iditarod. Very different packing for those two workshops!
Tom and Cree just finished their Bosque and White Sands Workshop and want to share the highlights with you. They traveled with their group to two locations in New Mexico to photograph thousands of birds in flight and capture dazzling pink skies on white gypsum sand dunes. The photos were so good this year, we decided to add another workshop there in 2024..
To see photos from our 2023 Bosque and White Sands Workshop, check out our trip report, click here
What’s New:
This year is the peak of the 11 year cycle for Northern Lights Photography. That means the displays promise to be dazzling for night photographers. Three spaces available on our Northern Lights and Iditarod Workshop in March 2024. Learn more
What’s next:
Tom and Cree will be taking a break for a few days in the jungles of Mexico. They will be at home for the holidays and then working on a few Online Classes for January.
Tom and Cree just finished their Chilkat Eagle Photography Workshop and want to share the highlights with you. They traveled with their group to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Haines, Alaska to photograph more than 3000 eagles. Expect to see this trip again in 2026.
To see photos from our 2023 Chilkat Eagle Workshop, check out our trip report, click here
What’s New:
Tom’s recent portrait with the new Nikon Plena Lens from our Route 66 Workshop will be published in the next few weeks. Our two models from the photo shoot should be happy to hear this.
Interested in joining us in Alaska to photograph northern lights? Three spaces on our Northern Lights and Iditarod Workshop in March 2024 are open. Photograph Northern Lights from Talkeetna, Fairbanks and right outside the boundary of Denali National Park. We follow the Iditarod for three days and learn all about photographing sled dogs in action. We even fly out to one of the Iditarod checkpoints to get closer to the action. Learn more
If you are interested in travel and wildlife photography, we have just one space open up for our Orangutan and Volcanos in Indonesia Photo Tour. Learn more
What’s next:
We will be in Monument Valley scouting for future trips for the next week. We already have a record 35 people on the Interest List for this workshop. We are glad so many of you want to join us.
We hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Tom and Cree just finished their Route 66 East Photo Workshop and want to share the highlights with you. They traveled with their group from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas photographing people and places from a time gone by. Speedlights, strobe lights and neon lights were all part of the trip instruction. Expect to see this trip again in 2026.
To see photos from our 2023 Route 66 East Workshop, check out our trip report, click here
What’s New:
Tom published another new article for Nikon called Tips for Photographing Fall Color: Click here to read the article. You will see photos from several past workshops like Ouray and Acadia.
Interested in joining us in Alaska to photograph northern lights? Three spaces on our Northern Lights and Iditarod Workshop in March 2024 just opened. This workshop will take you to three different Alaskan towns to photograph aurora as well as to the heart of the Iditarod. We even fly out to one of the Iditarod checkpoints to get closer to the action. Learn more
We will be in Haines,Alaska for the next two weeks to photograph eagles on the Chilkat River. If you are interested in travel and wildlife photography, we have just one space open up for our Orangutan and Volcanos in Indonesia Photo Tour. Learn more
