Best Bang For Buck Wildlife/Bird Destinations

[R.Philip]

No offense to all the tour/workshop guides and those that have the funds to pay them, but part of the fun is doing research and finding the wildlife (or any subject for that matter) yourself. Plus, I for one do not have 5-10k plus to pay someone to take me to the animals (or any subject). To me, that is no different than just going to zoo. Where is the adventure in paying someone that takes you to the animals and you photograph them? There is no research, no preparation, no planning, and no hunt for the animal you wish to photograph. That scenario does not make for a very satisfying story; probably makes for quick short story when someone asks, "Hey, that is a fantastic image. I would love to hear the story behind it." I paid this guy, he drove me to where the animals were, and I photographed them. That sure isn't a satisfying scenario to me. The journey is the reward and a middleman takes the journey out of the picture, pun intended. Again no offense intended to anyone.

 

[ajrmd]

$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

Rene, do you live in Spain or have some reliable recommendations? I've tried several times in the past and the arrangements have always fallen through.

 

[ajrmd]

No offense to all the tour/workshop guides and those that have the funds to pay them, but part of the fun is doing research and finding the wildlife (or any subject for that matter) yourself. Plus, I for one do not have 5-10k plus to pay someone to take me to the animals (or any subject). To me, that is no different than just going to zoo. Where is the adventure in paying someone that takes you to the animals and you photograph them? There is no research, no preparation, no planning, and no hunt for the animal you wish to photograph. That scenario does not make for a very satisfying story; probably makes for quick short story when someone asks, "Hey, that is a fantastic image. I would love to hear the story behind it." I paid this guy, he drove me to where the animals were, and I photographed them. That sure isn't a satisfying scenario to me. The journey is the reward and a middleman takes the journey out of the picture, pun intended. Again no offense intended to anyone.

I don't think there is any offense in what you're saying and for many destinations in the US, where the information is readily available, it's generally easy to navigate, and the animals are relatively accessible, then it's pretty reasonable advice. Now, pick a remote destination, in a foreign country, and the situation may change somewhat.

 

[Rene]

Rene, do you live in Spain or have some reliable recommendations? I've tried several times in the past and the arrangements have always fallen through.

Hi yes I do have reliable recommendations. . I live partly in Spain, partly in U.K. Have a look at my website and drop me an email. I started these affordable non profit tours (I don’t earn a penny, I don’t run tours, although I go to these locations and people can join me if they want to , I’m a facilitator ) to make trips more affordable for those with no deep pockets or a lot of disposable incone and equally want others to get to locations where you have a good possibility of getting great Images . . My personal opinion is that there is very little added value if a commercial tour operator takes you to a hide that’s run by others…... All the work is done by the people who run and manage the hides not by the tour operator. You can see current images I took in various locations on Instagram

 

[apb80]

I just started traveling last year for photography trips and didn't want to break the bank either, here are some I took with costs. I loved every trip, got tons of photos, and would do any of them again.

Yellowstone & GTNP -- 8 days in September. $3500 for flight, rental car and lodging.
Sax Zim Bog -- 5 days in January. $1100 for flight, rental car and lodging.
Central Florida (east of Orlando & St. Petersburg) -- 8 days in March. $1900 for flight, rental car and lodging.

 

[Jojo]

I live in St. Pete and can confirm Fort Desoto is an excellent location. There’s actually a lot of parks around the area you can visit. Tampa/St.Pete is an ideal from a proximity standpoint as you can easily visit a lot of different locations within 1-2 hour drive, including Orlando to the east and as far south as Fort Myers.

 

[R.Philip]

For birds, especially waders, check out Florida in the Spring when wading birds are breeding and nesting. There are tons of places to photograph them. Here’s a few:

Alligator Farm - St Augustine. Don’t judge this book by its cover - This unassuming little zoo on the outskirts of St Augustine’s city center encompasses a fantastic wading bird rookery. Best shooting is early and late in the day. Get an extended photographer pass.

Fort Desoto Park near St. Petersburg. Large county park with multiple habitats for shooting waders, pelicans, skimmers and a host of other birds. Also enjoy the beaches and watch/photograph the kite surfers. There’s also a fine art museum and botanical garden in nearby Sarasota.
And check various locations both North and South from here along the Gulf coast for viewing manatees.

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge near Sanibel Island. Excellent wetlands and coastal bird photography along with shell collecting beaches and nice vacation accommodations. Just be wary of rush our traffic at the main bridge to the island!

Everglades City. Great place to get airboat rides and lots of nearby places to shoot birds, gators, manatees and other wildlife. A couple local favorite places for driving and shooting near the car are Turner Road (especially early and late in day) and Loop Rd Scenic Drive. The Shark Valley portion of Everglades National Park is also nearby.

There are loads of other places in Florida to visit and photograph birds, wildlife, gardens and landscapes.

Everyone should pay you $1500.00 for this post. Thanks for the information; it is invaluable to the budget minded.

 

[JAJohnson]

Everyone should pay you $1500.00 for this post. Thanks for the information; it is invaluable to the budget minded.

I recall there have been a couple threads about Florida locations for wildlife photography. This topic seems to come up from time to time.

Florida Suggestions January or February Trip

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have only visited Florida a few times and those were for work conferences in a hotel. I plan to have several days available this winter (January and February) and would appreciate some suggestions on where I should visit for bird photography. I can visit...

bcgforums.com

Orlando area Wildlife locations?

Greetings, I'll be staying in the Winter Park/Orlando, Florida area in Jan & Feb, and would like to visit favorable locations for wildlife photography within approximately 1 hour of where I'll be staying. What are your favorite spots, and what might I be able to find there during these winter...

bcgforums.com

 

[Anjin San]

Open to all locations. Say 6,000 for 10 days

For birds…FL but come in Early Marchmfor best breeding plumage. Wildlife…depends on what you want to see but for me it’s out west someplace but where depends on what.

 

[Nextlife1]

For birds I'd say Central or South America arranging things yourself with lodges and local guides. Way less money than paying a US based photographer. But there is value if you don't want to do all the research and bookings yourself to just pay for a US based photographer run trip and not have to worry about anything other than making the flights.

In the US, I'd say Florida is the best that I've been for a good variety and many different locations to explore.

If one picks a good local guide/photographer their research and bookings are as good or better than that of US-based photographers, and they run the trip just as well as US photographers. After all, as I said earlier in this thread, most US-based photographers get their ideas from the local guides they enlist. In addition, in my experience when something goes wrong, the US group leaders depend on the local guide to deal with/fix it.