Canon 5D Mark III
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L Tilt-Shift Lens
3.2 sec, f/8
Mode: Manual
Metering: Evaluative
ISO: 200
3 stop ND
2 stop GND

The 2012 Photographer’s Rookery Pass Program was announced early in 2012 allowing me to schedule two workshops; one in March and one in May.

Since February I have visited Gatorland – 30 minutes from my home – 12 times, each time creating some great images. My workshop in March was extremely successful with everyone learning a ton of new techniques and bringing home excellent imagery of the many beautiful birds at Gatorland.

My trip there the past three weekends have been enjoyable and productive photographic-wise. This past Friday (May 11) saw many fledged chicks chasing parents around the rookery. At next weekend’s workshop, we will be keeping a watchful eye for the fledged chicks and their airborne antics.

New to this year’s workshop are demonstration units of Feisol tripods and Jobu Design gimbal heads I received from both manufacturers for my workshop participants to use. These included a Feisol CT-3472 Tripod and the Jobu Designs Jr. 3 Gimbal Kit. I also have the Pro2 Gimbal and Heavy Duty MK III Gimbal Kits demo units available. Sales of both from the workshop are handled through my new sponsor Hunt’s Photo & Video. I highly recommend Hunt’s for all your photographic needs. Gary Farber of Hunt’s has been my source for all things photographic for many years now. Hunt’s offers personalized service, free UPS Ground service and NYC competitive pricing. If you contact Gary be sure to mention my name. A future blog post will talk more about my new relationship with Hunt’s Photo as well as reviews on Feisol and Jobu Design equipment I am using.

I continue to use a Sigma 50-500mm lens Robert O’Toole loaned me at our St. Augustine Alligator Farm workshop in April. Robert is a Sigma-Pro photographer and had Nikon and Canon loaner lenses on hand. He loaned me the Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM SLD Ultra Telephoto Zoom Lens. I am pleased with the IQ of the images I created with the lens, its swift AF response and number of birds-in-flight keeper images I had. More on that in a separate blog post.

A few of the images I created during the workshop can be seen below. This is a slide show, so hit the play button to start it up – a new feature of the blogging software I am using.

A highlight of the workshop was my presentation Successful Strategies in Avian Rookery Photography, a mainstay of my rookery workshops. The Successful Strategies in Avian Rookery Photography presentation includes nearly every technique I use to create artistic imagery of nesting birds in beautiful breeding plumage.

I am working on the eBook of this presentation and will have it available for purchase in advance of the 2013 rookery season.

Though nesting birds are a highlight of these workshops, I am always on the lookout for interesting images of such things as the alligators and the occasional woodpecker.

New to this year’s workshop were demonstration units of Feisol tripods and Jobu Design gimbal heads I received from both manufacturers for my workshop participants to use. The big hits of the workshop were the Feisol CT-3472 Tripod and the Jobu Designs Jr. 3 Gimbal Kit with sales of both handled through my new sponsor Hunt’s Photo & Video. I highly recommend Hunt’s for all your photographic needs. Gary Farber of Hunt’s has been my source for all things photographic for many years now. Hunt’s offers personalized service, free UPS Ground service and NYC competitive pricing. If you contact Gary be sure to mention my name. A future blog post will talk more about my new relationship with Hunt’s Photo as well as reviews on Feisol and Jobu Design equipment I am using.

A big thank you to all our participants at this year’s workshop. A great group that helped to make it a successful workshop. A special thank you to my friend and co-leader Robert O’Toole. Robert is a Sigma-Pro photographer and had Nikon and Canon loaner lenses on hand. He loaned me the Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM SLD Ultra Telephoto Zoom Lens. I am pleased with the IQ of the images I created with the lens, its swift AF response and number of birds-in-flight keeper images I had. More on that in a separate blog post.

A few of the images I created during the workshop can be seen below. This is a slide show, so hit the play button to start it up – a new feature of the blogging software I am using.

During the workshop we covered:

• The importance of backgrounds as related to esthetics and its effect on exposure.
• Exposure and what affects it most. Using Aperture and Manual Modes.
• Histograms and Highlight Alert
• RAW vs. JPG and Expose to the Right
• Creative Decision Making Process / Camera Settings
• Depth of Field (DOF)
• The importance of Head Angle and Critical Focus
• Birds in Flight technique
• Compositional Details: Virtual Feet, Edge Distractions and other things you might have considered.
• Intentional Blurs
• Flash usage – SAAF is the premiere location for teaching flash usage due to the close proximity of the birds.
• Special Affects: Focus Stacking, Post- Processing, Stitching

Shuttle Discovery in early morning sunlight after its turn north and over land for a few brief minutes here in Brevard County.

Shuttle Discovery heading south and before its turn north out over the Atlantic Ocean.

From the feedback at the workshops, all participants were pleased and had a great time. As always, I met a lot of great people and had a splendid time teaching them all.

Some of the image I created during the workshop can be seen below. As is usual for me, I do little photographing; preferring to concentrate on teaching.

If you attended and took a workshop with me, I would love to hear from you.

The Pan Blurs below were made at MINWR at sunset. We could no longer make sharp images so I got everyone set up for sunset using wide-angle lenses and tripods. I had my 7D with a 100-400mm lens (the second image below) and my 5DII with 17-40mm lens (the first image below) but no tripod. So I did pan blurs and showed those participants remaining. Well everyone was making pan blurs in short order, including my newest friend Lana Duncan.  Great having you along Lana.

Contact:

Robert Amoruso

407-808-7417

wildscapeimages@att.net

Pricing:

Two-day workshops are $450 per person. One-day will be $250 per person.

The three-day workshop is $675. One-day will be $250 and two-days will be $500 per person.

Details:

Two morning and two afternoon outdoor shooting sessions at Gatorland’s native bird rookery. UP CLOSE access to nesting birds from the rookery’s boardwalk. The rookery evolved around the alligator breeding marsh. Perfect safety for us and the birds allows them to nest in close proximety to the gators – the boardwalk around the marsh allows us to be within feet of the nests.

200-400mm lenses are a perfect choice for shooting. Longer lenses allow you up-close portraits of beautiful breeding plumage birds.

Besides our outdoor sessions, I have on-site classroom access where I will present my highly acclaimed “Successful Strategies for Avain Rookery Photography”. Presentation also include “Using Manual Mode with your DSLR” and “The importance of Backgrounds”.

Attendees will also receive a gratuitous copy of my upcoming ebook/site guide “Successful Strategies for Avain Rookery Photography – Gatorland/SAAF SIte Guide”.

All workshop sessions are taught by Robert Amoruso. Workshops limited to 6 persons to allow me to concentrate on everyone personally.

Workshop Dates:

February

• 25^th and 26^th

March

• 24^th and 25^th

April

• 28^th and 29^th

May

• 18^th, 19^th and 20^th

June

• 16^th and 17^th

July

• 14^th and 15^th

Roseate Spoonbill, St. Augustine Alligator Farm – St. Augustine, FL, 4-17-11
Canon 7D with Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS + 1.4x TCII (98-280mm @ 169mm)
1/1600 sec, f/5.6
Mode: Manual
Metering: Evaluative
ISO: 400
Flash: On, Manual 1:1

Though I got some good spoonbill images, this was my favorite. On the way back to the dock, the terns were following the boat going after fish coming up in the prop wash. All you had to do was sit with a medium tele and snap away. Though I got many flight shots I really wanted a dive or the beginning of a dive. This one, the only one I got of a front facing dive is just perfect for my tastes. My rear facing dive got the top of our boat’s Bimini top in it so delete key for that one.

Canon 7D
100-400mm @ 330mm
1/2500 sec, f/5.6
Mode: Manual
Metering: Evaluative
ISO: 400

Another thing about this image of the Spoonbill; on the workshop I created this most of the participants that I helped create the same image where thrilled to have gotten it saying in the past the images they created looked dark and dingy. They were not adjusting for the fact the camera wants to make this a middle gray image.

Canon 1D Mark III with Canon 600mm f/4 IS + 1.4x TC II
1/80 sec, f/5.6, Mode: Av, Metering: Evaluative, Exp comp: +3
ISO: 800, Flash: Off

We all hope that the nesting birds are not adversely affected and that access to the rookery for early arrival and late departure will be restored in 2012.

See the official posting on Gatorland’s website here: http://www.gatorland.com/blogs/rookery.

November 11th, 2010

The 2011 Photographers Pass Program is being canceled for the upcoming birding season.  This will include early and late entry into the Alligator Breeding Marsh and Bird Rookery outside of normal park hours. All individuals interested in continuing to take photos at Gatorland should consider purchasing an Annual Pass as the Annual Photo Pass will no longer be available.  Special events or groups of ten (10) or more should contact our Sales Department for a group rate at (407) 855-5496 extension 243. Thank you again for continuing to explore Gatorland and we encourage you to check back with us later in the year for more information on the 2012 Birding Season.