Shorewoods Photography-Boarding Group 2 Travel Blog

Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes & ears, as close to us & everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?”

David Attenborough

Art and I enjoy photographing birds; we like the variety and trying to capture them doing bird things like singing, flying, eating, chasing and preening. We thought it might be time for a photography trip to challenge our skills and see some new feathered friends. Loren Fisher‘s Florida Spring Bird Workshop met our criteria, and we were familiar with Loren as we had attended his Vermont Night Skies workshop, so we are flying off on another adventure!

We will be making photos with our Nikon Z8’s, utilizing Bird Detection released in the latest software update. We want our longest lens possible to reach those pesky shy birds who like to be further away. we replaced our old DSLR 150-600mm lenses with the Nikon Z180-600mm. This saved us about 3 pounds in weight, and internal zoom means no change in lens length, making it much easier to hand hold. In addition to our 600’s we are bringing our full range of lenses (14-24; 24-70, 70-200), our travel tripods and our collection of filters. We anticipate doing some sunrise, bright light, and sunset photos on the trip.

We like to arrive early for our workshops to ensure no flight delays or other logistical problems. Today we flew into Jacksonville airport, rented a car, and are visiting some dear friends who have a small farm and live nearby. We will travel for a few days roadtripping around the area before heading to West Palm Beach to begin our Birding Workshop.

We arrived at the farm and were welcomed by Rose, Bonnie, Clyde, and Kitty, the farm manager.

The farm was a wonderful refuge to relax and connect with our friends, old and new. Clyde was a natural posing for the camera, and became quite fond of Art.

Rose also took to the camera, and we captured some glamor shots!

Bonnie and Clyde’s personalities emerged through the camera.

We relaxed into the beauty of the farm and its connection to nature. We wake with the sun in the morning, visit the barn to start everyone’s day, visits throughout the day for treats and snacks. (OK, some of that was for the humans too!) and then in the evening tuck everyone into their stalls and pens to keep them safe from coyotes. All the while surrounded by beautifully mossed trees, sunshine, breezes, rain, night stars and good company.

There is no better way to begin one adventure than with another.