Articles in the Category: Workshops

Look at This!!!

Submitted by David Middleton on Sun, 02/07/2010 - 10:14pm

This is a picture of a bateleur eagle. Most unfortunately, it is not one of mine. It was taken by my great friend, Jeff Wendorff. I think Jeff is the best bird photographer out there.batewendorff107Yes, I know there are other bird photographers better known but the only thing Jeff lacks is an ego the size of Florida and the arrogance to tell you how good he is.

So you want a picture like this? Do you want this picture? I can do that for you. It turns out that Jeff is leading a Birds of Prey photography trip for my Photographers Alliance Workshops to the World Birds of Prey Center in Boise, Idaho. PAW is the only photography group that has permission to take photographers to Center. We are getting point blank on all the best, most exotic and photogenic birds of prey of the world. Out of their cages, in natural-looking settings with perfect backgrounds-it doesn’t get any better than that!

This is an extraordinary opportunity to get stunning pictures that no one else has. And with Jeff teaching you (PAW leaders don’t photograph on workshops), making sure you are getting the best shot you can’t help to get beautiful photos. Check out the PAW website-paworkshops.net- to get the details on this workshop.

Great Texas Bird Trip – Block Creek Natural Area

Submitted by Jeff Wendorff on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 8:31am

After almost a week of traveling through the arid and hot South Texas, I arrived in Fredericksburg, Texas on my way to Block Creek Natural Area. Wow, what a difference a day makes. No more deserts, no more dust and way more relaxed. One thing that wasn’t missing was the charm and friendly nature of my hosts. As was the norm on my trip, the people were really terrific.

Block Creek Natural Area is about 400 acres of pristine Texas Hill Country that has been in the Langford family for 6 generations now. Their stewardship of the land has kept this area untouched and undeveloped. A remarkable feat considering it is only an hour drive from San Antonio!

David Langford and Larry Jay are photographers and very good ones at that. This made my all too short visit very productive. They know about light and they know about backgrounds and all of the birding setups are perfectly positioned. Not only are they in perfect position, but also they have been used for years and so all of the local birds know they are perfect too!

There is more to Block Creek than just birds. Although I do need to point out that this is one of the few places that can boast a reliable ability to photograph Green Kingfishers!  The landscape is stunning with meandering creeks, waterfalls, massive oaks, giant boulders and rock face. Did I mention the wildflowers? Oh yeah, some of the most famous displays of native wildflowers bloom in the hill country. Imagine acres and acres aglow with a carpet of wildflowers and then imagine them being even better than you can imagine and you might be close.

You can be sure that you will be reading more about the ranch as PAW will be offering a Spring in the Texas Hill Country Workshop in 2010.

Below is a sampling of the birds that I was able to photograph in couple of hours one morning…Imagine your portfolio after 3 or 4 days of Block Creek Natural Area!

Theses images and more from Block Creek Natural Area are available for purchase here.

PAW Prints June 2009

Submitted by Jeff Wendorff on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 1:06pm

PAW Prints

Our semi-regular trip around the blogs and websites of Photographers Alliance Workshop leaders.

Rod Barbee – Rod posted a blog about Photographing Oregon’s wine country using Singh-Ray filters. There are great images and lots of good information in the article. Read the blog post here.

Paul Burwell – Paul wrote another of his gems on professional photography. If you’ve ever thought about being a pro, read this article on Paul’s’ blog and then if you are still in, sign up for PAW’s Getting Seen and Going Pro workshop.

David Muse – David has just published his newsletter for June. You can read about the HonFest and much more on his website.

Brenda Berry and David Middleton – Believe it or not we let these two travel together. They just came from scouting Tofino for a 2010 PAW workshop. You can read about it here and see all the pretty pictures here.

Scott Rouse – If you didn’t sit through the hours-long Apple developers conference, no worries Scott has all of the juicy details on his website.

Gary Stanley -  Gary will be speaking at he New England Camera Club Council. His presentation is Getting the Most out of your Printer.  The date is July 10.

So follow the links and see what my PAW friends are up to!