A photo journal of a photography workshop I attended in the Florida Everglades this past December, 2015.
This workshop included instruction by a professional photographer plus classroom work on Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop applications. I've enjoyed photography for over fifty years but never took a course or worked around a professional so I enjoyed this experience.
American Purple Gallinule
Never heard of these before? Neither had I but it is a beautifully colored bird of southern and tropical wetlands, the Purple Gallinule can be seen walking on top of floating vegetation or clambering through dense shrubs. Its extremely long toes help it walk on lily pads without sinking.
Click on a picture to enlarge. Scroll through the series with left/right swipes, return by clicking the upper-right hand "X".
I currently use a Nikon d810 camera (36 megapixels). My favorite lens (for wildlife) is a Nikon 500mm but since I had to travel on a regional airline this long lens was a challenge to take along. I purchased a newly released lens by Nikon that has a zoom range of 200-500mm. Its not as sharp as the 500mm but it travels well. The zoom feature was much appreciated for the locations we visited.
Unfortunately the water table was very high for this time of year and the birds were disbursed throughout the area rather than concentrated on the canals and rivers that we had access to. We found birds but the numbers were comparatively small.
Anhinga
A bird of southern swamps, the Anhinga is known as the Water-Turkey for its swimming habits and broad tail, and also as the Snake-Bird for its habit of swimming with just its long head and neck sticking out of the water.
Their main diet are small fish which they will spear with their long beaks. Similar to the Cormorant in diet and habits. The Cormorant has a hook at the end of their beak whereas the Anhinga is more a spear point.
Their feathers lack the oils that other birds have to waterproof them so you can see Anhingas roosting on trees or poles with their wings spread out drying their feathers.
White Ibis
A wading bird, the striking White Ibis is frequently seen along roads looking for large insects as well as probing for prey along the shoreline. Easily recognized with their long, curved beaks.
Some miscellaneous Everglade pictures.
Herons
Tri-Colored, Great Blue and Little Blue
Great Egret and Snowy Egret
They hunt in classic heron fashion, standing immobile or wading through wetlands to capture fish with a deadly jab of their yellow bill. Great Egrets were hunted nearly to extinction for their plumes in the late nineteenth century, sparking conservation movements and some of the first laws to protect birds.
Among the most elegant of the herons, the slender Snowy Egret sets off immaculate white plumage with black legs and brilliant yellow feet.
Osprey
Without a doubt the Ospreys were the highlight of the trip for me. We left the hotel before dawn and traveled for over an hour through the Everglades to the southern tip of the Park. The Ospreys were repairing their nest from previous years in preparation for mating.
There were several pairs visible from where we parked. They were very tolerant of us which allowed for good closeups. Their diet is almost entirely of fish, some refer to them as a Fish Hawk.
Our group consisted of eight participants. It was obvious that one lady did not require instructions on how to use her camera. She concentrated on composition and light. We found out later that she was a professional photographer with some of her work published in "Sports Illustrated" and "Shutterbug" magazines. She was interested in trying my new lens (Nikon 200-500mm) so I was a gentleman and we traded lenses for a while. I used her Nikon 600mm - ohh shucks, what a sacrifice. Several of the Osprey photos were taken with her lens.
This last shot above was chosen by the group and instructor as the best shot of the week (and who am I to argue). It was taken with the borrowed 600mm. I really, really need one of these!
Its difficult for me to pick my favorites of these Ospreys so here are a few more.
Night Photography
The workshop included sunset, star and star trails instruction. I've never tried night photography so I looked forward to this. Unfortunately due to the high water tables the mosquitoes were simply unbearable.
There were so many complaints by the participants that the instructor called it quits and we went back to the hotel before it really got dark. Didn't they know the Everglades is a swamp? One participant was so mad he left for home the next morning without saying a word. Another had so many bites his eyes were nearly swollen shut. I had a head net I paid less than $3.00 for and didn't have any trouble - no, there are no pictures of me with a head net. It would be a fashion statement for sure.
I learned that bug-repellant with Deets is very harmful to plastics (some cameras). Instead of Deets look for repellant with at least 20% Picaridin.
"River of Grass"
Note the streaks at center-right and left. They are not airplanes because they leave dots of light from their strobes. Either satellites or meteors.
The lights of Miami are lower left, about 50 miles away.
Long exposure of ~ 30 seconds, amazing how many stars this exposure will pick up.
All pictures taken in the Everglades with a Nikon d810. Wildlife pictures taken with a Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens or a Nikon 600mm f/4.0 (some of the Osprey).
Night pictures were taken with a Nikon 20mm f/1.8
I spent a day on Sanibel Island before the Workshop started, click the following link to view some of these photographs:
Some of the bird descriptions/facts/commentary I obtained from the following website:
If you want to visit Everglades National Park (and I recommend it) here is a link:
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