DigitalPro Shooter

DPS 5-03: South Texas Birds Trip Report and 2008 Texas Safari Announcement

Greater Roadrunner, South Texas Safari
Nikon D2X, 200-400mm lens

Our Spring South Texas Photo Safari was a great success. The trip was sold out well in advance with a mix of familiar and new faces with the result of a great and energetic group of participants. Everyone had something to offer and we all learned a lot from each other. Best of all, the weather and birds cooperated so we each captured high quality images of literally dozens of species.

A key ingredient of the trip is the use of private ranches. Much like the private concessions we use on safari in Africa, the ranches guarantee that we'll have quality shooting situations and plenty of privacy to ensure that we make the most of our opportunities.

Lens and Land Ranches--A premium photo experience

We visited three different ranch properties over the course of the week, all of which featured state of the art blinds at watering and feeding stations. Even since I was there last year the ranch owners have made noticeable improvements in the variety and quality of their shooting setups. Participants usually had a choice of a couple different blinds for both the morning and afternoon shoots. We spent two days on Steve Bentsen's wonderful Dos Venadas property to make sure everyone had a chance at his great afternoon raptor setup. We weren't disappointed as all of us came back with images of both Harris Hawks and Crested Caracara. That also gave us a chance to explore more of his numerous and varied water hole blinds. With the warm weather snakes were out and we got images of several different species including a Diamondback Rattler. In addition to Painted and Indigo Buntings other specialty birds including the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher came into his ponds.

A Variety of Ranches and a Variety of Subjects

The Weaver and Martin properties were also excellent for general bird photography, with plenty of the colorful Green Jays, along with several species of Dove, both Bobwhite and Scaled Quail, several species of raptor and even a Coyote and lots of Javelina.

Because we had a high overcast we were able to shoot almost continuously at all the properties, producing a tired group with plenty of great experiences and images to show for the trip.

Exciting Upgrade for 2008 trip!

The most grueling part of bird photography in South Texas is the driving (Special thanks to Jim Boyd for driving a second vehicle for the whole week!). The ranches are far out of town and with the light being good from sunrise to sunset it makes for long days.

So we're incredibly excited that a brand new deluxe game lodge has just opened right out near the premier ranch properties. I got a tour from the owners and am looking forward to having our 2008 group stay there. We'll be close enough to the ranches that we can head back for a rest and some workshop instruction mid-day. And we'll get our breakfast and dinner right there, ensuring not just great home-cooked food but a lot more effective use of our time. All of our participants love the authentic "safari" experience we provide when we stay at a lodge in Alaska to photograph the Grizzy Bears or in safari camps in Botswana, and now we can offer that same high-quality experience on our South Texas Bird Photo Safari.

Information for 2008

Your workshop fee of $1950 includes all of the private ranch rentals, along with photo instruction (in the field and workshop sessions), local transportation including airport transfers on the 13th and 19th. We're also offering full room and board at a luxury game lodge near the Lens and Land ranches for $1400 per person double occupancy all inclusive for the 7 days (6 nights) of the trip. For more information see our Texas Bird Photo Safari page or sign up now.

Mockingbird, South Texas Safari Nikon D2X with 200-400mm lens

Scaled Quail, South Texas Safari Nikon D2X with 200-400mm lens

We're pleased to announce that we'll be leading another trip to Burma and Cambodia this December, from December 1 to 15, with an optional extension to Western Burma. Learn more or Sign Up.

DigitalPro for Windows Product Updates

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