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Tom and Cree just finished their Pantanal Photo Workshop for Strabo Tours and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with a group of 14 photographers to remote Brazil to photograph jaguars, birds and exotic mammals. The numerous jaguar sightings were the highlight of the workshop for everyone.

To see photos from our Pantanal Photo Tour, check out our trip report by clicking here

What’s new:

Our address is new! If sending mail, please send it to:

6342 N Mountain Meadow Trail

Palmer, Alaska. 99645

Any upcoming openings?

Yes! We have few spaces open in 2024 and 2025. Check out our Upcoming Openings Page

Thank you for reading our trip reports!

Tom and Cree

Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For March we chose an image taken on our Iditarod and Northern Lights Workshop. The image was taken by Sherry Reese during a spectacular aurora photo shoot near Fairbanks. Sherry is a wildlife and travel photographer from Arcadia, Oklahoma.

Congratulations to March 2024 ‘s featured photographer – Sherry Reese

The Story… 

When we got out of the van, the aurora was already going off. We ran to the edge of the field and I threw my backpack in the snow. We set everything up as quick as we could in the dark and we started taking pictures.

I had never seen the aurora before. I was amazed by all of it. I didn’t realize that it is not as colorful with the naked eye. It takes a longer exposure to bring out all of the colors. This style of shooting was completely new to me.

I listened to Tom and Cree and their setting recommendations to get in the ballpark. I used minor changes to ISO and shutter speed to tweak my settings as the aurora changed.

The aurora never looked the same. Second by second it changed. It went from a roman candle type formation to minimal to the whole sky blowing up. The trick is to take as many pictures as you can and just keep shooting. It changed so fast that you will get a new photo every few seconds.

You don’t really know what you are going to get till you get it out of the camera. When I was reviewing my images, I realized how important it is to keep infinity focus. Some of them were blurry because the camera would get bumped and the focus would shift. Next time I will use a Z lens because it makes infinity focus way easier. I was using manual focus to keep the stars sharp.

I got extra help from Cree to learn how to edit aurora. Enhancing to remove noise is the first step. Then I used a little bit of clarity to bring out the stars and increase definition in the aurora. I opened up shadows in the foreground and color corrected the snow to remove some of the green cast.

It was magical. I think most people say that about the aurora. People come from all over the world to see aurora in Fairbanks. It doesn’t always happen. But when you see it, it is just magical.

EXIF Data:

Camera: Nikon Z9

Lens: DSLR 20mm 1.8

Aperture: f1.8

Shutter: 2.5 seconds

ISO: 3200

Mode: Manual, on a tripod

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About Photographing in Alaska in Winter

The snow is beautiful. It accentuates the terrain. It was not nearly as cold and dark as I expected. In March there is an even split between dark and day light ours. When we were lucky enough to get a snowy day, it made the photos even better.

The beauty of this trip is that it is such a mix of things to see, do and expect. The dogs, the iconic Iditaord, the snow, the aurora. There wasn’t just one thing, there were so many different things to shot.

This trip is going to be amazing even if the aurora never shows up.

Sherry’s Tips for Aurora Photography

Tip 1

Practice using your camera in the dark ahead of time. This will help you to make minor exposure changes quickly when in the field.

Tip 2

Have the right cold weather gear. For me, keeping my hands warm was the hardest. It was a challenge to change my settings with the overmitts on. I ended up using an electric handwarmer in my pocket. I used just my liner gloves when changing settings. When I switched to a cable release, it was easier to use my overmitts.

Tip 3

When the aurora is really strong you need to reduce exposure time and ISO to not blow out the green channel. I had blown out areas on some of my images. It really changes second by second with aurora photography.

Tip 4

Bring your heavy tripod. You will need a stable platform in deep snow with uneven ground.

On Sherry’s Horizon:

South Africa’s Skeleton Coast

Grand Canyon River Rafting

Kenya

Switzerland

Interested in joining us in Alaska? We have space on three Alaska trips:

Musk Ox and Arctic Birds in Nome 2024 Learn more

Northern Lights and Iditarod 2026 Learn more

Chilkat Eagles 2026 Learn more

Happy Spring!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

Tom and I celebrate great participant images by selecting a Photo of the Month. For October we chose an image taken on our Ouray Fall Color Workshop. The image was taken by Mike Iles just outside of Ouray, Colorado. Mike is an avid landscape photographer from Oregon who is now branching out to wildlife and macro photography.

Congratulations to October 2023 ‘s featured photographer – Mike Iles

The Story… 

This is a place off of County Road 5. We walked through the bushes and the scene was right in front of us.

I took a picture where Mt Sneffels was more centered in the frame. I showed it to Tom and he suggested I move the mountain a little bit to the left side of the frame. So I went back down through the bushes and took this shot. As soon as I looked at the back of my screen, I knew I got it right.

The shot is destined to be a metal print, hanging in my house. This photo really represents the mountains and the whole area of the workshop.

The mountains in Oregon are not as knife-like, or sharp as in Colorado. I was in awe of the mountains in Colorado.

I know the 24-105 mm lens shoots well at f8. That’s its sweet spot. I had enough light to shoot at ISO 100. I looked at my histogram to be sure. The sky was to die for. It was gorgeous.

I have learned to always shoot in manual over the last ten years. I like it because I have more control of my settings.

EXIF Data:

Camera: Canon EOS R6m2

Lens: Canon RF f4 24-105 mm at 85 mm

Aperture: f8

Shutter: 1/60 sec

ISO: 100

Mode: Manual

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About Photographing in Ouray, Colroado

Absolutely gorgeous! The mountains feel like they are towering above you. It’s so high that I can hardly breath there. The clouds in the sky were gorgeous almost every day. I like shooting puffy clouds.

If you don’t like yellow, don’t go to Ouray. The color was stupendous. It felt like we were there at peak time. It was just magnificent.

Mike’s Tips for Landscape Photography

Tip 1

Slow down. Make sure you look all the way around, especially behind you. Study the scene and take more photos than you anticipate.

Tip 2

Shoot what you enjoy.

Tip 3

Shoot a variety. I post everything from backyard flowers, old buildings, moutains, rivers. I am least adept at street photography. I shoot anything that catches my eye.

On Mike’s Horizon:

Bosque and White Sands

Louisiana Bayous

San Juan Islands

Iceland

Black Hills of South Dakota

Rocky Mountain National Park

Tom and Cree will be closer to home for their next tours, CHilkat Eagles and Bosque del Apache. They are currently in Slovenia leading a tour for Strabo Tours.

We recently had a few openings become available for our Northern Lights and Iditarod Workshop. This is the perfect trip for anyone who has already done our Fairbanks Northern Lights Workshop and wants more Northern Lights, more sled dogs and more scenic winter Alaska scenes. Click here to learn more

Enjoy your Fall trips!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

At Tom Bol Photo Workshops, we celebrate great participant images by selecting a Photo of the Month. For August we chose an image taken on the Ecuador Cloud Forest Photo Tour created by Elaine Bedard. Elaine photographs pets, birds and nature in rural Connecticut. Ecuador was her first workshop out of the country with us. You can see a portfolio of her images here .

Congratulations to August 2023 ‘s featured photographer – Elaine Bedard

The Story… 

Cree and I were patiently waiting out front of the lodge. I was just sitting quietly and seeing what would come in. He flew in and started eating bananas.

The bottom of the frame is the banana feeder. I used the new remove tool in PhotoShop to take out the banana tray. Then I darkened it using a linear gradient.

I always shoot the 100-500 mm lens at 500 mm. This meant I could focus on getting the exposure right. I start by working the shutter speed in manual mode with auto ISO on. I capped my ISO at 6400 for this trip and use Topaz Denoise afterwards.

II watch what the bird is doing. After I get a baseline photo of the bird, I try to predict interesting behaviour. It’s not Rapid Fire, but Intentional Fire. I look for a head tilt, an interesting walking motion and then I use a short burst when it gets interesting. If the bird does not move, I stop shooting.

EXIF Data:

Camera: Canon R6

Lens: 100-500 mm at 500 mm

ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/1250 sec

Aperture: f/7.1

Shooting Mode: Manual mode with auto ISO

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About Photographing in the Ecuador Cloud Forest

This is a bird photographer’s heaven. It is one of those places you have to experience. It really is so different from New England. The light is different and you have the canopy of the trees. It has a nice diffuse quality to it.

At the reserves, there is often space between the perches and the background canopy. This creates really good bokeh.

The climate is also different. It is very comfortable to be there in the summer, but damp.

The birds come in every color of the rainbow. It is not just little brown birds like where I live. The beauty of Ecuador is that birds are abundant and they come right to you. The lodges and reserves are built around the birds. There are so many species there that you would never see otherwise.

Elaine’s Tips for Photographing Birds

Tip 1

Learn and study bird behaviour as you are taking your shots. This way you will be able to predict where the bird will go and what it will do.

Tip 2

Know how to operate your camera. Know your settings. For fast moving birds you want to have this locked down. I want my settings to be the last thing I think about. My camera should already be ready to go before the bird lands.

Tip 3

Once you get a decent bird photograph, ask yourself, “How can I make this different.” How can I go beyond a bird on a stick.

I try to get the ethereal fell of being there in the image. In Ecuador, the mist, fog and dampness helps create that feel.

Tip 4

I use a radial gradient to create a moveable light” in my images. This creates a highlight in the overall image. I also use a neutral gray filter to accentuate the feathers in the photo.

On Elaine’s Horizon:

Route 66 Albuquerque to Amarillo

The Pantanal in Brazil

Northern Italy

Texas Birds

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons

Costa Rica

Tom and Cree just returned from paddling through the heart of Canyonlands in a canoe . Check out this article that Tom wrote for NBCNews when Skyler was much younger, click here. They are headed to arctic Alaska next to work on a project for Nikon and scout a Fall trip in the arctic.

Enjoy the end of summer!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com