IainD
Well-known member
Matt Shetzer in Colorado is excellent. I have had three perfect trips with him. Haines for eagles, Lake Clark for bears and Costa Rica for hummingbirds. I recommend him very highly.
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Hey Doug! I live in N TX and hadn't heard of them so thank you for the link. I am curious did you do the Galveston migration? I didn't see any others that are in TX. I just spent a day at Laguna Seca Ranch and was mind blown by the amount of next level images I came back with in just a day. For $280 plus tip it was worth a lot more than that. I was also spoiled that there wasn't supposed to be anyone shooting the ranch this last weekend but with a scheduling issue the owner opened it up for just me and him. It was really awesome!Just finished a trip to the Texas hill country with these folks and I am extremely satisfied with all aspects of the trip:
Bird & Wildlife Photography Tours | Trogon Photo Tours
Join our photography tours and capture stunning images of birds and wildlife. Experience the thrill of small group photography tours in the USA and the world.www.trogontours.net
Are guided photography trips Ike Pangolin more geared towards established professional photographers or any skill level? I am improving but new and still working out things like low light ISO settings to limit noise.What time of year are you thinking? Winter possibilities would be Yellowstone (less crowds and more concentrated wildlife). Mississippi River dams in January for hundreds of eagles. No need for guide.
Internationally Costa Rica and Equador have tons of bird photo guides. Over 100 species of hummingbirds in Ecuador alone.
If you do decide on an African safari, Pangolin is great. Fairly reasonable very professional. We’ve been with them once and friends on that trip have been on several more with Pangolin.
Have fun. As we age we find out that time is our most limiting resource.
Matt Shetzer in Colorado is excellent. I have had three perfect trips with him. Haines for eagles, Lake Clark for bears and Costa Rica for hummingbirds. I recommend him very highly.
I didn’t do the Galveston trip but my friend did and had a great experience. The hill country trip isn’t currently listed on the Trogon site but if you email Nate I’m sure he will give you the info for 2023. Glad to be of help!Hey Doug! I live in N TX and hadn't heard of them so thank you for the link. I am curious did you do the Galveston migration? I didn't see any others that are in TX. I just spent a day at Laguna Seca Ranch and was mind blown by the amount of next level images I came back with in just a day. For $280 plus tip it was worth a lot more than that. I was also spoiled that there wasn't supposed to be anyone shooting the ranch this last weekend but with a scheduling issue the owner opened it up for just me and him. It was really awesome!
I cannot recommend him highly enough. I would be seeing a lot more of him except for a certain nasty virus. He is great.I'm glad to hear this as I've signed on to go to Lake Clark for bears with him in August this year.
What kind of subjects and locations did you shoot in the hill country? Hill country tends to be around Austin but is a rather broad area.I didn’t do the Galveston trip but my friend did and had a great experience. The hill country trip isn’t currently listed on the Trogon site but if you email Nate I’m sure he will give you the info for 2023. Glad to be of help!
Fredericksburg, Bracketville and Uvalde. The Thiele Ranch, Transition Ranch and La Lomita Ranch. Orchard, Bullock’s and Hooded Orioles, Green Jay, Pyrrhuloxia, Scrub Jay, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Hermit Thrush, Long-billed Thrasher, Black Crested Chickadee, Field Sparrow, Painted Bunting, Black-throated Sparrow, Cardinals, Rio Grande Turkey, House Finch, Lazuli Bunting, Spotted Towhee,Summer Tanager, Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Yellow-breasted Chat. I was more than pleased with the variety as my previous hill country trips were pretty uneventful.What kind of subjects and locations did you shoot in the hill country? Hill country tends to be around Austin but is a rather broad area.
WOW that sounds amazing!!!Fredericksburg, Bracketville and Uvalde. The Thiele Ranch, Transition Ranch and La Lomita Ranch. Orchard, Bullock’s and Hooded Orioles, Green Jay, Pyrrhuloxia, Scrub Jay, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Hermit Thrush, Long-billed Thrasher, Black Crested Chickadee, Field Sparrow, Painted Bunting, Black-throated Sparrow, Cardinals, Rio Grande Turkey, House Finch, Lazuli Bunting, Spotted Towhee,Summer Tanager, Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Yellow-breasted Chat. I was more than pleased with the variety as my previous hill country trips were pretty uneventful.
Yes, I highly recommend it. The best part is that the guides are there to help you and not add to their portfolios. Also, Trogon’s prices are about 30-50% less than many other offerings I have seen.WOW that sounds amazing!!!
Most of the Trogon Tours include lodging but not meals.I assume most of these companies doing photography packages do not include daily hotel and food?
Like anything else, there are some excellent workshops, and some not so good. I've been on both kinds. Road Scholar (https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure?query=Photography) used to have several very good photo workshops at very affordable prices (one in particular, in Chincoteague, VA), but the pandemic shut some of those down. If you were to be interested in the one to Costa Rica, make sure your guide is Eric Guzman - a phenomenal naturalist. I've also had good luck with Backcountry Journeys (https://pages.backcountryjourneys.com/home), which has a number of excellent photo workshops to terrific destinations, and their guides are very knowledgeable, and very nice people. Another good organization is Yellowstone Forever, if you're interested in that part of the world - they have a number of "field seminars" that are run by professional wildlife photographers. Josh Merrill and Dusty Doddridge (https://joshmerrillphotography.com/) also work together on mostly landscape workshops, and do a good job. And don't forget our very own Steve Perry - he's an amazing educator and wildlife photographer, although I've not yet had the opportunity to take one of his workshops (I was enrolled to go to Botswana, then the pandemic hit ).I am 58 years old and never been on a “REAL” vacation, do any of you have suggestions for a guided/learning wildlife photography vacation package? I was looking at something like https://www.pangolinphoto.com/ but for now think I should stay in the USA, I do not have a passport yet anyways. But I can dream.
Wow...they are very lucky they are not bear scat!