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What locations and budgetary constraints do you have in mind?
I would say that Africa has the highest hit rate for wildlife photographers of anywhere I have been. One can do self driving tours in Kruger National Park and stay in relatively low cost hotels nearby. Depending on where you are flying from, not sure how much a flight to JOB would cost you ($1,400 from JFK, $500 for a car rental, leaving several hundred dollars a day for food and lodging), so possibly you could do it for around $6,000- $8,000.
Can you be more specific such as origin and subject matter?
I shoot birds, mammals, macro particularly insects. Not picky about where.
Have a look at my website if you are interested in affordable trips within Europe.I am guessing US only? I would like to have similar experiences for Europe, I am in the UK. whilst a website or testimonial is great, nothing beats first hand experience.May start a similar thread as not to hijack
naturepics.co.uk
.You can with Saker tours. I have written diaries about many trips I did in Europe and further afield.A 2 way flight from JFK(NY) to Bucharest(Romania) seems to be less than 1000 USD.
5000 $ easily buys you 3 weeks of wildlife shooting around here.
Country is part of the EU so it is pretty safe (safer than the UK, Belgium or Germany for example) and most people are fluent in English.
In May there is the bird migration and mating season in the Danube Delta so you got millions of birds descending from everywhere (pelicans, all manners of herons, wading birds, kingfishers, bee-eaters and so on, not to mention otters and wild hogs).
The toughest part is to get a guide for all of it, as I don't think there are local photographers organizing tours for foreigners... hmmm.
Depending on the season, you can go in the span of 24h from shooting brown bears, buffalo and deer to shooting flamingos or vultures.
Beer is cheap (at least compared to the rest of the EU) and wine is decent too
naturepics.co.uk
Yes, I have been thinking about this area. Also, Gerard Gorman leads tours in Vienna and Hungary. He’s a woodpecker guy.A 2 way flight from JFK(NY) to Bucharest(Romania) seems to be less than 1000 USD.
5000 $ easily buys you 3 weeks of wildlife shooting around here.
Country is part of the EU so it is pretty safe (safer than the UK, Belgium or Germany for example) and most people are fluent in English.
In May there is the bird migration and mating season in the Danube Delta so you got millions of birds descending from everywhere (pelicans, all manners of herons, wading birds, kingfishers, bee-eaters and so on, not to mention otters and wild hogs).
The toughest part is to get a guide for all of it, as I don't think there are local photographers organizing tours for foreigners... hmmm.
Depending on the season, you can go in the span of 24h from shooting brown bears, buffalo and deer to shooting flamingos or vultures.
Beer is cheap (at least compared to the rest of the EU) and wine is decent too
$6000 ? You can get a fantastic trip in Europe (Spain) for a fraction of that amount including hotel and access to 20+ photo hides. It has always surprised me the low number of US photographers visiting this part of Europe. Spain is by far the best country in Europe for nature photography
You might be surprised how economically many parts of South and Central America can be done with local guides. And specifically speaking of birds these countries are the definition of a target-rich environment—way more than any of the seven African countries I have been to.
Do you get any other species of Owl on your trips, Saw Whet, Boreal or Screech etc as bonuses? I was looking at Sax Zim bog as a potential (not particularly near future) destination. But I am gathering all information I can on further destinations and guides etc to have to hand when that day comes...
While it is impossible to predict, we have seen Northern Hawk, Great Horned, Screech and Northern Saw-whet on past tours. The most common bonus owl we see is the Northern Hawk Owl. We have also seen wolves, coyotes, red foxes, eagles, fishers, pine martens, and other species that are too numerous to mention.
