Death Valley NP Workshop 2022

Join me for what will be 5 full days of incredible photography at Death Valley National Park in California. The scenery can be almost unbelievable at first. As we will unfold the park's inner beauty we will at the same time be in awe of it's rugged exterior. So many great photographers have walked through this grand scape to develop their own artistic vision. Why not develop your own personal style a bit more as you explore this diverse land with me. Let me gently guide you as you compose these majestic vistas and intimate abstracts. This workshop is open to 10 participants. I will have a driver that will assist me with logistics so that I can focus on the group's needs.

To sign up CLICK HERE.

Lodging: Discounted rooms will be available at The Furnace Creek Ranch.
Included in cost: Guiding & Instruction, Park Permit, One Photoshop/Lightroom/ Image Review session in a private meeting space or via Zoom.
Not included: All transportation, all meals, lodging, park entrance fees.

Itinerary:

Death Valley Photography Workshop- Daily Itinerary January 15-19- Death Valley

Day 1) Meet & Greet at 12:00noon, January 15th in hotel lobby

Late afternoon shoot

Day 2) Early morning shoot

Lunch Break

Afternoon shoot

Day 3) Early morning shoot

Lunch break  

Sunset shoot

Day 4) Early morning shoot

Photoshop/Image Review

Late afternoon shoot

Day 5) Early morning shoot

Break

Afternoon shoot —end of tour

*Our schedule in Death Valley will need to be extremely flexible; we want to capture dramatic skies and a lot will depend on local and weather conditions.

Highlights include: Badwater Basin (salt flats), Zabriskie Point, Mesquite Dunes, Dante's View, Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Panamint Valley mud flats, and much more. *all subject to change due to local conditions and timing.

*A detailed file with gear and clothing suggestions as well as hotel and airport information will be supplied upon registration.
*Non-photographer spouses are welcome, however there is no discount off the regular price due to the group size of the permit, no exceptions.
*All participants must be in good physical shape to participate. and able to walk 1-2 miles over uneven terrain. Covid vaccine or proof of negative test 72 hours prior to workshop required.

Black Skimmers

Black Skimmers are part of the same family of seabirds as terns. Skimmers often nest among tern colonies. They rely on the terns’ aggressive attacks on gulls and mammals. This helps to keep their eggs and young safe from predator---well, fairly safe.

They often battle in the sky over food and territory. I get asked asked all the time if the skimmers actually bite each other. Yes, they certainly do. Can you imagine those large bills chasing you in the sky!!!

Newly paired up skimmers also gracefully fly in unison back and forth over the colony. Young skimmers mimic the behavior of the adults with mock fighting and unison flight. They also practice their “skimming”. They will go back and forth in shallow water searching for fish with their lower mandible not their eyes. Once they feel the fish, they close their bills on it. They can also do this at night since they do not need to see. Lots of times I have shown up at the beach well before sunrise.  I have watched the skimmers skimming along the shoreline in the dark, it is a treat to watch them. I also see them fish during the day which is really cool too.

Below are a few of my battling skimmer images that I have photographed over the years. I was looking through them the other day and they made me smile. I miss seeing the skimmers and hearing their barking calls. Can’t wait to photograph them at the beach. They are one of my favorite birds to photograph.

The American Oystercatcher barely escaped without a bite!

Not So Common...

I found this Common Tern while photographing on a local beach this morning. Or rather, he found me and stuck close by. I suspect with that plastic bag around its neck that it could not fly far and needed to stay close to the shore. I didn’t spend any time trying to get close because I didn’t want to stress the bird, so this is a large crop.

Terns are seabirds, they are in the same family as gulls and skimmers. Many people think that because they feed and breed near the shore that they are shorebirds-they are not. They are also circumpolar. Knowing that they are circumpolar seabirds makes me worry for the survival of this tern.

The plastic bag fell below the bird’s legs and feet and at times. I watched as it tried to walk on the beach with great difficulty. It could fly but only for short periods. I think the bag is new as the bird seemed confused by it.

This is a great reminder of how people and their garbage impact the lives of so many small creatures. If you see a plastic bag, fishing line or any other garbage while you are at the beach—please pick it up, I know that many of you already do that. I called the local police department and they reached out to the SPCA, who will be trying to capture the bird to remove the bag. I hope to be there to assist.

It’s sad to see this bird struggle knowing that it’s next to impossible to capture a bird that can still fly. Years ago at Nickerson Beach my friend Grace Scalzo and I tried to capture an OC that had fishing line tangled around it’s leg. It could still fly and we could not capture it. Someone Grace knew ended up capturing it -bravo! but the bird did not survive despite our efforts.

Nickerson Beach Workshops

I just added a few small group Nickerson Beach (bird photography) workshops to my schedule since many of my June and July trips have been cancelled due to travel restrictions overseas.

Nickerson Beach is a great place to photograph nesting American Oystercatcher, Common Tern and Black Skimmer. We will be shooting at these colonies in the early morning light and again in the late afternoon. During these small group photo sessions, I will be working closely with each of you. I will assist you with your gear, camera settings, shooting angles, exposure, compositions and much more. I will also set you up for flight and action photography as well as silhouettes and pleasing blurs.

These workshops will be limited to (4) participants and will be one-day workshops that can be combined into two-day workshop if wanted. Clients wishing to use credits as payment, please email me directly photographybydenise221@gmail.com

SCHEDULE:

Early morning photo shoot at Nickerson

Afternoon break, lunch on your own.

Evening photo shoot

*A one-hour Photoshop//Lightroom, Image Review Zoom program will be included. All Zoom programs will be held on the Sunday following your photo session-exact times will be given at registration along with a detailed PDF.

FEE: $599.00 per day

DATES: June 30 and July 7th & 8th and July 14 & 15th

All participants must be fully vaccinated against Covid or provide a negative Covid test result to participate.

Rain or shine.

To sign-up CLICK HERE.

This and That..

My collection of flower photos is from my time at Schreiner's Iris Gardens in Oregon. Two images of Iris and the other two are in-camera multiple exposures of Clematis. All shot with my Olympus gear. I adore shades of blue and purple and thought that I would share these flower images with you. Hope they brighten your day.

It has been so hot and rainy in New Jersey; getting out to shoot or planning a photo shoot is next to impossible. Every time I trust the weather report it lets me down. This morning would have been perfect for beach photography, but instead I opted to once again be misinformed by the weather reports…ugh.

I don’t have many options for photography locations other than the few beaches that I am keeping a watch on for oystercatchers, skimmers, and terns. And also, my fox family. I am planning on doing some Milky Way stuff but need a clear sky. Other than that, I haven’t got any good local locations. If you live in the tri-state area and would like to share any good places feel free to shoot me an email or comment below. Thanks.

My front porch birds continue to sit in 90-degree weather guarding their eggs. I truly don’t know how they do it! My air conditioner upstairs broke again so I am really feeling the heat.

I’ll be running another eBook sale for the summer in case you want to pick up one of my books.

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Many of you have been writing in asking for updates on your upcoming trips. Unfortunately, as of now, I really do not have anything concrete to tell you. As soon as I get any news—-good or bad I will relay it to your group. I am in close contact with all my local guides and agents. We all want the trips to be a go. Hopefully by July we will have more news regarding any trips overseas. Circumstances are changing weekly, even daily for some countries so please sit tight and know that I will let you know asap. Promise.

Thank you for your patience and understanding—you have all been terrific during these trying times.

Big hugs,

Denise