Tag: Photography Workshops

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Photo of the Month July 2024

Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For July we chose an image taken on our Pantanal Workshop for Strabo Tours. The image was taken by Melissa Stanton while photographing jaguars in the wetlands of Brazil. Melissa is a travel and wildlife photographer and has a strong fondness for felines.

Congratulations to July 2024 ‘s featured photographer – Melissa Stanton

Photographer Melissa Stanton

The Story… 

We came around the corner and the jaguar was walking down a log. Tom was yelling and dancing around. He is always so excited about cats. I figured I better get ready to take a photo.

It looked like the cat was thinking about jumping into the water. I turned up the shutter speed a bit so I could get it in focus, Then the cat jumped.

It was fun to watch him swim. Cats do not normally like water. To see cats swimming was really kind of cool. Everyone was so impressed with watching the jaguar jump. The jaguar was pretty close to us when it happened. It was definitely cool to see.

I didn’t know that I had such a good picture until I got home and looked at in on the bigger screen.

Photo of the Month – July 2024

EXIF Data:

Camera: Nikon Z9

Lens: Nikon Z series 600 mm PF

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter: 1/5000 second

ISO: 1600

Mode: Manual with Auto ISO

About Photographing in the Pantanal

It was great. It was relaxing to be in the boats, riding around on little rivers. Everywhere you looked there were capybaras or caimans or something else.

The drivers were very good at getting us close to the wildlife. We were close but we did not disrupt them.

We were ridiculously close to some of the birds and they did not seem to care. They knew they could just fly away. They also knew that we were not going to bother them so they just went about their business.

The birds were easy to capture. Many of them were perched right near the river. There was a lot of variety between the huge storks and the tiny kingfishers.

I was going through my photos and landed on the Road-side Hawk. I thought he looked so cute. He’s on one foot and is looking right at the camera. This created a connection which I really liked.

Roadside Hawk

The Capybaras looked so chill. They sit around on the banks. Lucas, our guide, said they are stressed because of the jaguars but to us they seemed like the Chill Dudes of the river. The caiman would lie right next to them without a worry. They just look like fun animals.

It was a great trip, fun leaders and companions. I was glad I was able to do it!

Melissa’s Tips for Wildlife Photography

Tip 1

Try to be aware of everything. There were so many birds and animals that I needed to watch my shutter speed. I didn’t want to miss the shutter speed and end up with soft photos.

Tip 2

Shoot in manual with auto ISO. The light conditions changed all the time and using these settings made it easier for me to get it right.

Tip 3

The Nikon 600mm pf lens was amazing. It was very sharp and very light. For 70% of the shots on this trip it was the perfect focal length. A few times I was a little too tight and ended up focusing on just a part. of the animal

On Melissa’s Horizon:

Route 66

Greenland

Moving to Spain in 2025

Antarctica

Melissa photographing hummingbirds in Ecuador

Join us on a workshop this fall! Spaces Open in 2024:

Route 66: Albuquerque to Winslow, Arizona from Oct 23-27, 2024 Learn more

Route 66: Oklahoma City to Amarillo from Oct 18-22, 2024 Learn more

Bosque and White Sands National Park Workshop from Dec 8-12, 2024 Learn more

Enjoy the Olympics!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

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Trip Report: Nome Musk Ox and Arctic Birds

Tom and Cree just finished their Nome Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. They traveled with a small group of 5 to remote Nome, Alaska to photograph arctic birds and primitive muskox. Several of the photographers in the group commented on how special it was to photograph animals in the wild that they had never seen before.

To see photos from our Nome Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here

What’s new:

Tom and Cree have settled into their new home in Palmer, Alaska and have their offices up and running. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about workshops.

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

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Photo of the Month – May 2024

Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For May we chose an image taken on our Badlands Workshop. The image was taken by Jim Seward while photographing bison in Badlands National Park. Jim is a travel and landscape photographer from the Chicago area.

Congratulations to May 2024 ‘s featured photographer – Jim Seward

Photographer Jim Seward

The Story… 

I do not have a lot of experience shooting wildlife. First I got some of the iconic shoots of bison but I wanted to get something different as well.

We were on the long road with a fence line. I didn’t like the fence line in the background. On the left side of the road there were a pair of bison standing up but they were not doing much. I saw a little head pop up in the yellow flowers. He was lying down with just his head up. I got down low and shot at eye level.

It was all the things I have learned from taking pictures over the years. I wanted my mid ground to be sharp with interesting bokeh in both the foreground and background. I shot through the flowers to get the effect.

If somebody puts me in the right spot and I have decent equipment, I can take a decent picture.

Photo of the Month – May 2024

EXIF Data:

Camera: Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Lens: Sigma 150-600 mm with 1.4 extender

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter: 1/400 second

ISO: 500

Mode: Manual

About Photographing in the Badlands

I was completely surprised at how much color variation there was. This was especially in the rocks. The yellows and the reds blew me away. Before the trip I had looked at several sites to see what we would be shooting. None of those images did justice to what we actually shot in the park.

It was like shooting sunsets in Patagonia. The colors are so good right out of the camera that you barely need to do anything in post. I just let the colors speak for themselves.

The timing for the green grass in Spring was important. The green grass, yellow rocks and blue sky were tremendous. It is the right time to go to the Badlands if you like color.

These is also a great variety of wildlife. I got a couple shots of the Burrowing Owls. I had never seen them before in my life. I was amazed by their habitat. Just to see it was terrific.

Goin to the abandoned town was as fun as anything in the park. I have used ND filters before in New Zealand, Utah and in North Dakota. The sky was perfect for Cottonwood. With an ND filter I like spending a little more time. It is a more relaxed pace.

With the silo I kept repeating the process over and over to get the right sky. I wanted the clouds moving over my head. I like it when the clouds are moving into the background.

Abandoned Silo in Cottonwood

Jim’s Tips for Landscape Photography

Tip 1

When you are in the field and you think you might be done, wait another five or ten minutes. You might be surprised with a piece of light that breaks through or a change of color. Things can change just when you think it is time to leave.

Tip 2

Don’t be afraid of unusual light situations. On the last morning we had fog roll in. We thought the fog would obliterate everything. However, as the fog moved through the scene it created some interesting photos.

On Jim’s Horizon:

Namibia

Greenland

Oregon Coast and Redwoods

Harris and Skye in the Hebrides

Jim photographing Big Horn Sheep

Interested in joining us in a national park this year? We have space on our Bosque and White Sands National Park Workshop from Dec 8-12, 2024 Learn more

Happy Summer!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

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Texas Birds: Trip Report

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:

Patagonia Photo Tour

Acadia National Park

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.

Thank you for reading our trip reports!

Tom and Cree

Ready to move back up!
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Louisiana Bayous: Trip Report

Tom and Cree just finished their Louisiana Bayous Photo 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:

Nome: Arctic Birds and Musk Ox: June 17-22, 2024 – 2 Spaces available

Lake Clark Bear Workshop July 28-August 2 – 2 Spaces available

Katmai Brown Bear Safari August 13-19, 2024 – 2 Spaces Available

Bosque and White Sands December 8-12 – Space Available

Thank you for reading our trip reports!

Tom and Cree

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Photo of the Month: April 2024

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

Happy Spring!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

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Iditarod and Aurora: Trip Report

Tom and Cree just finished their Iditarod and Northern Lights Photo 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

Thank you for reading our trip reports!

Tom and Cree

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Oaxaca Mexico: Trip Report

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!

Thank you for reading our trip reports!

Tom and Cree

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December 2023 – Photo of the Month

Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For December we chose an image taken on our Bosque and White Sands Workshop. The image was taken by Tim Crull during a stunning sunset at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge. Tim is a wildlife and landscape photographer from Indiana and he loves grizzly bears!

Congratulations to December 2023 ‘s featured photographer – Tim Crull

Tim Crull at White Sands National Park

The Story… 

When we arrived at the Roosting Pond, there were only a few ducks there. We could hear cranes from a distance and we started to see them flying towards us.

We needed the right sky color. Then we needed the cranes to fly right in front of it.

I began tracking multiple groups of cranes. Sometimes the cranes were not close enough. Othertimes they overlapped and did not look as good. I just kept trying until I got what I wanted. Just keep shooting.

Everything has to come together to get the right shot. I waited until I got an odd number of cranes with just the right separation between them.

Photo of the Month – Trio of Sandhill Cranes by Tim Crull

EXIF Data:

Camera: Canon EOS R5

Lens: 600 mm

Aperture: f4

Shutter: 1/1000 sec

ISO: 500

Mode: Manual, auto ISO

About Photographing in White Sands

I had never been there before. I’ve been to other sand dunes like in Death Valley. The white sand makes it really amazing.

I went two days before the workshop but could not get in early. Going with a workshop means you can get in before sunrise. This makes all the difference in the world.

It’s all about the light there. The sand reflects the different colors in the sky like no where else.

Sunset at White Sands National Park

Tim’s Tips for Photographing at Bosque

Tip 1

You need the right weather. Keep going back until you get it. A sunset with red or orange is what you want.

Tip 2

Shoot a lot. You won’t know the position of the birds and groupings until later.

Tip 3

Practice tracking birds with your camera and lens before you go.

Tip 4

The first day the 600mm felt like it was too much. But that was really all I used for the rest of the trip. The 100-500mm Canon lens was what I used in White Sands, in addition to the 24-105mm

Tip 5

Experiment. Try some slow shutter speeds. I shot the Snow Geese at 1/30th of a second and that was new for me.

Snow Geese at 1/30th second

On Tim’s Horizon:

Bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska

Iceland

Chilkat, Alaska for Bald Eagles

Denali National Park

Northern Lights

Tim at Bosque with his Canon 600mm

Tom and Cree just returned from a family vacation in the jungles and beaches of Mexico. Great to relax and enjoy sunsets with Spotted Eagle Rays swimming by us.

We are finishing up a very successful 2023 year. Thank you to all of you who joined us on trips this year. We hope to see you again in 2024: 2024 Schedule and 2025

Enjoy your holidays with friends and family!

Tom and Cree

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

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Bosque & White Sands Trip Report

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.

Happiest of Holidays to you and your loved ones!

Tom and Cree