Louisiana
Photo Tour

The April Lousiana Bird Photo tours were a great success. We had nesting Roseate Spoonbills at three sites, two of them on land and one accessible only with boats. For one of the tours the water in Cow Island Lake was high enough, so we were able to photograph Osprey in flight going to and frrom their nests in Cypress trees at just above water level. Jefferson Island offered excellent opportunities for nesting wading birds including Roseate Spoonbills.

Unfortunately the May tour had to be cancelled with major flooding in the Atchafalaya Basin due to heavy upstream rainfall. At the same time, we were in drought conditions in Southern Louisiana leading to failures of two of the three Wading Bird Rookeries. This is the first time I've had to cancel a tour in the ten years I've been doing them here in Southern Louisiana. Hopefully I won't need to do this again.

The boats are provided by the Atchafalaya Experience who have recently upgraded to Gatortail "mud boats". These boats are capable of going into areas with little water or even just mud. Offering many of the advantages of air boats without the noise. However, they aren't as large as the outboard "crawfish boats" previously used so it is only practical for three photographers per boat limiting us to 5 participants. Due to this limitation I'm not able to offer free "spouse" participation unless it is understood that the boat trips are on a space available basis only.

For each Photo Tour, time is allocated each day for participant slide shows. A digital projector will be available for the evening shows. I’ve been shooting exclusively digitally for the last ten years and can help with both digital photography and composition.

A long lens (400mm or longer) with either a 35 mm or digital SLR is recommended. A wide angle as well as a standard lens is also recommended for landscapes. Weather in Louisiana is unpredicitable in April, varying from quite warm to quite cool, May is usually quite warm so dress accordingly.

With the ability to shoot mornings and afternoons at the Rookeries, the boat tours may now be either in the morning or the afternoon. Shooting locations are picked on a day to day basis based upon water levels, wind direction, and the quality of light. I cover the decision making process with you at the tour.