Tom and Cree just returned from their Texas Birds in Spring Workshop and are sharing the highlights with you. Two sessions of photographers joined us in the tip of Texas to photograph vibrant songbirds from photo blinds. Highlights of the workshop were photographing the Painted Bunting and Greater Roadrunner.
To see photos from our Texas Birds in Spring Workshop, check out our trip report by clicking here
What’s Next: Cree and Tom are in Lafayette, Louisiana this week with a group of photographers. They will finish their streak of bird photography workshops with a stop in Ohio for Spring Warblers.
Any upcoming openings?
We have 2 spaces available on our Texas Birds in Spring Workshop next year May 11-16, 2026. This workshop requires minimal walking and is the perfect way to become a better bird photographer.
Ouray Fall Colors : September 28-August 2, 2025 2 Spaces Available. The best of Colorado’s aspen forests just in time for brilliant yellow foliage.
Tom and I celebrate great photos from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For April we chose an image taken on our Texas Birds Workshop. The image was taken by Ed Miron at the Laguna Seca Ranch in Texas. Ed is a wildlife and landscape photographer from Fort Collins, Colorado.
Congratulations to April 2025 ‘s featured photographer – Ed Miron
Ed in the bird blinds at Laguna Seca Ranch
The Story…
Well, the story was you told us we might see a Scissor tailed Flycatcher. I looked on the map and saw the very limited range where you could see these things. So I knew it was pretty special.
I was concentrating on photographing a cardinal that was out to the left. Cree pointed out a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on the right. It was just on a branch as I recall. I just wasn’t quick enough and then it flew away. But then it, it did a loop and came back and I had a second chance. And this time I was more prepared and I got the shot.
Prepared for me was changing the camera to pro capture mode. I also had to switch on the tele-converter. I increased the shutter speed to 1/4000th of a second. Someone who’s very skilled could do it very quickly but it probably took me a little longer.
The flycatcher looped around and came back a third time and that’s when I really nailed the shot. So I had a wonderful lens and I had a very cooperative flycatcher.
When I got the camera, I saw a YouTube video on the Pro-capture feature and it was interesting. I played with it just a little with our bird feeder like a year ago in our yard at home. After that, I never had a reason to use it. I knew before this trip I would use it. And I revisited and I saw that the Olympus has three different Pro captures, a dizzying array of settings. And then at the Texas Birds Workshop it was pro capture Boot Camp.
We spent half a day devoted to capturing birds in flight. I was so fortunate that the flycatcher came in the day after we had so much practice with Pro-capture. I felt like I was up to speed.
Pro-capture is a game changer for birds in flight.
April 2025 Photo of the Month by Ed Miron
EXIF Data:
Camera: OM System 1 Mark ii
Lens: 180-300mm with 1.2 built in teleconverter
Aperture: f5.6
Shutter: 1/4000
ISO: 4000
Manual Priority with Auto ISO
About Photographing from the Bird Blinds in Texas
The bird blinds were just unbelievable. I mean, the birds come to you and they come in a flurry. And it’s so well thought out. The placement of the bird blinds. The fact that you have some blinds just for morning use because the sun’s behind you. Then other bird blinds you just go to in the afternoon. The blinds are really thought out with photographers in mind.
I loved the fact that they have this wide area of a hundred yards of a cleared field behind the perches. You could get great bokeh. I think it took more skill designing the bird blinds and setting them up then to take good photos in them . I mean in a way, it’s a little bit like cheating because it just seems too easy.
Before the workshop I spent a morning photographing a Marsh Wren in Fort Collins. They’re hard to photograph. They like to stay hidden in bushes . They’re very skittish when they come out. It took a lot of time and I got one great photo. In the bird blinds you really get a lot of good photos quickly.
So I think a birder would be in heaven there. Somebody who’s not a birder would also really like the trip because they would get a lot of fantastic photos of birds that would emotionally resonate with anybody, even if you know nothing about birds.
I walked away knowing a lot more about birds.
Green Jay on a perch with Blue Plumbago
Ed’ s Tips for Photographing Birds
Tip 1
You really want to have the best longest lens you can get, even if you have to rent a lens. It was much more important to have a longer lens for birds then it was for bears.
Tip 2
Patience. Sometimes the blinds were insanely busy and some times they were slower. You don’t control the birds so flexibility and patience is important.
Northern Cardinal courtship behavior
Tip 3
Having a knowledgeable birder with you will help you get better photographs. Having you and Tom call out the names of birds when they entered the area kept us alert. We learned what behavior to look for like the mockingbirds attacking the raptors. And then, the cardinal behavior between the male and female giving it food. Also the puffing up of the Bronzed Cowbird.
Tip 4
When you are in a bird bling you are alert, you’re in the moment. You have to pay attention. It is exciting. You may just have seconds. Your adrenaline is really up. It is incredibly fun!
On Ed’s Horizon:
Ohio Warblers
Greenland
Nome, Alaska
Lofoten Islands in Norway
Where are Tom and Cree? We will be traveling to several locations for workshops in May: Louisiana, Ohio and Monument Valley. We will do our best to return your messages as soon as possible!
Workshop Openings?
Join us for the 2026 Iditarod! We have space available. Photograph the Last Great Race and fly into the remote Iditarod Checkpoint of Rainy Pass. We’ll photograph aurora at night if it is out! Read more
We have two last minute openings for our popular Ouray Fall Color Workshop Sept 28-Oct 2, 2025. Photograph dazzling yellow aspen leaves in the Colorado High Country. Read more
We just returned from South Texas after two successful bird photography workshops. We photographed songbirds and raptors from two of the best bird blind ranches in the country.
Click on this link to see the trip report images and read about our adventures in Texas.
Interested in joining this summer for one of our favorite bear photography workshops? Two spaces are available on Brown Bears and Glaciers on July 11-16, 2022. Read more
We also have space on our photo tour to the Lofoten islands in Norway, September 11-18, 2022. Read more
