Digital Field Workshop

Dates Mar 4–10, 2007
Leader Jeff Vanuga
Fee $2,495 from Orlando, Florida, departing from Tampa
Deposit $300
Limit 10
Terms and Conditions

Herons are among the most glamorous of all birds, giving grace and line to the wetland landscape. This exceptional family of birds is nearly cosmopolitan in nature, absent only from our planet’s extreme north and south, the Sahara and Arabian deserts and a few oceanic islands. Herons are found in all fifty US states, and are particularly concentrated in the southeast. Today, Florida is home to the country’s largest heron populations—the state contains one-fifth of the world’s total
heron species! Yet, in the recent past, some species, especially the egrets, were virtually extirpated from the Florida landscape by the plume trade.

Herons have always enjoyed high PR among wildlife conservationists. It was the desperate plight of the egrets in the southern US that ignited the Audubon movement in the early part of the last century. Elsewhere, some heronries in Japan have been protected since the time of the shoguns, who decreed that they were sacred. And no colonial nesting birds in the world are more inventoried and protected than the Herons of the British Isles.

Visiting a heronry is an impressive spectacle. During the breeding season, the birds come together to produce an amazing repertoire of courtship displays, nest building and chick rearing behaviors. To photograph this rich presentation of extravagant breeding plumage, along with the watchful care of the adults as they rear their chicks, is a peak experience in the life of any nature photographer.

On this tour more than 90 percent of our photographic time will be spent concentrating on creating digital images in two spectacular and incredibly accessible heronries situated in the strangest of locations. Given a chance, most herons can live quite comfortably alongside people, and these
birds prove that theory, as these nest sites are located within a theme park and in the backyard of a police station!

Participants should come away with exciting images of unwary great blue, tri-colored and little blue herons, plus snowy, great and cattle egrets—portraits, flight shots and at the nest! This shoot requires a long telephoto lens (500mm or the equivalent length using a 1.4X converter) for distant subjects, plus some shorter lenses for those nests that are virtually within arm’s reach. Each exceptional photo location provides easy, short-distance walking access over flat terrain and is "user-friendly" with rolling camera backpacks.

Join us in March and experience the spellbinding, charismatic quality of Florida’s incredible herons. This shoot offers abundant photographic subjects, now much easier to shoot with today’s digital technology!



Day 1 (Mar 4)
Participants arrive in Orlando and take a shuttle or taxi to our hotel. (D)

Days 2–3
Arriving ahead of the general public by special arrangement, we take advantage of morning
light on the remarkable heronry located within an alligator theme park. Boardwalks get us within close photographic reach of a multitude of birds, and we’ll also shoot the abundant alligators that help create a “safe” environment for nesting. (Alligators are among Florida’s other remarkable “comeback kids,” having been relentlessly pursued for their hides during those same years as the herons darkest days.) Late afternoon light will hit a different part of the park, and we’ll take advantage of it with our long lenses. A variety of the park’s wildlife displays will also be available for us to shoot. (BLD)

Day 4
After a last morning at the theme park, we drive southwest to Venice and shoot another heronry in a much different setting. We stay in nearby accommodations. (BLD)

Days 5–6
These two days are devoted to our second heronry. Surrounded by a town, this area is particularly interesting because of the heron's suburban nesting adaptation. (BLD)

Day 7 (Mar 10)
After breakfast we drive to the Tampa airport for afternoon departures home. (B)


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