Session 1: April 22-27, 2025 SOLD OUT
Session 2: April 28-May 3, 2025 SOLD OUT
This workshop is limited to to 8 people See 2023 Trip Report
Cost: $3199
Location: McAllen, Texas
Details: If you are looking to take your wildlife photography to the next level, we have the trip for you. Come join us for warm weather bird and wildlife photography from the amazing ranch blinds of South Texas.
Photographing birds from a blind may change the way you plan your future photography trips. By setting up perches and using bird food to lure them in, the birds will come to you. South Texas is a mecca for bird photography blinds. On this trip we will spend several days learning to photography exotic South Texas species from some of the best bird photography ranches in the country. On our last trip there we shot thousands of images in only a few days. We will have exclusive use of the ranches and multiple blinds each day.
We will start our bird photography adventure with three days of photography at the Laguna Seca Ranch. We have planned our trip for this time of year because of the abundance of spring migrant birds. In addition to regulars like Green Jay, Black Crested Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Long Billed Thrasher and Lesser Goldfinch, we hope to see painted buntings, 4 types of orioles and migrating warblers.
For the final day of the workshop we will travel to Santa Clara Ranch to spend a day in different blinds. If we are lucky we may have the chance to photograph animals like Collared Peccary (otherwise known as javelinas), white tailed deer, armadillos and an occasional bobcat (photographed at the blinds once a month). We will end the workshop on Sunday with a session for image sharing and critiques.
Come join us for this fantastic trip. We love photographing birds, and can’t wait to return! We promise you will have a lot of fun, improve your photography, and create images worthy of hanging in your home.
What you will learn:
- Blind photography techniques
- How to photograph birds
- Advanced metering and autofocus strategies for wildlife photography
- Exposure
- Composition
- Editing in Lightroom and Photoshop
A typical day: Our days will be all about photographing birds. Our goal is to help you learn how to take compelling bird photos with hands on instruction. We will cover camera settings, anticipating behavior, and specialty topics like stylizing perches, site prep and using food to lure birds.
Hotel: We will reserve a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Express in Pharr, Texas for the entire workshop. Be sure to book your room at the hotel in Pfarr on Nolana Road as there are several Holiday Inns nearby.
Closest Airport: McAllen, Texas – Our hotel in Pharr is located just 10 minutes from the airport in McAllen. Pharr and McAllen are only ten minutes from each other.
Recommended camera gear:
- 1-2 camera bodies (back up body can be useful)
- Wider telephoto lens for example 70-200mm or 300mm
- Longer telephoto lens –200-500mm, 500mm or 600mm
- Tripod
- Laptop for editing and critique
- Plenty of spare cards – plan to shoot several thousand images
Included in the fee:
- Lunch while photographing at the Santa Clara Ranch
- All fees for private blinds and guides; exclusive use of the ranch blinds
- Breakfast daily at the hotel
- All instruction
- Copy of Tom’s ebook Create Better Photographs
Participants will provide their own:
- Hotel accommodation
- Transportation while in Texas (we recommend a SUV or vehicle with high clearance because of the dirt roads on the ranches.
- Round trip transportation to McAllen, Texas
- All meals except lunch when at the Santa Clara Ranch
Itinerary:
Day 1: Meet in the lobby of the Holiday Inn & Suites in Pharr, Texas at 7 pm.
Day 2: Breakfast at the hotel, then drive to Laguna Seca Ranch for a full day of photographing from blinds. We will photograph exotic songbirds on colorful perches and are sure to capture the Green Jays that frequent the area.
Day 3: On this day we will return to the Laguna Seca Ranch. For the morning session we will photograph raptors including Crested Caracaras, vultures and Harris Hawks. After dinner we will meet in the conference room at the Holiday Inn to work on editing in PhotoShop and Lightroom.
Day 4: We spend our final two sessions at Laguna Seca in the morning. We will also practice photographing birds using slower shutter speeds for a creative effect.
Day 5: We will spend a full day at the Santa Clara Ranch photographing song bird species and possibly some land animals.
Day 6: Final image review – show us your best images from the trip. The workshop ends at 10:00 am
Know Before You Go: Rated Easy: This workshop requires walking up to 1 mile per day mostly on pavement.
Deposit for Session 2 Texas Birds April 28-May 3
$500.00
