BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY - CAPERTEE VALLEY

Bird Photography is intensely satisfying. First there is the joy of simply being outside, in nature and amongst the birds. Then, there is the satisfaction of viewing your images and creating your own piece of art. 

We are fortunate in Australia, to have so many wonder and colourful species of Birds to photograph. Our 3-Day tour of the Capertee Valley Bird Trail is all about immersing ourselves in Bird Photography.

Although there is no classroom time in this tour, we will provide you with tips and tricks as well as guidance and support in the field in order to capture stunning bird images. 

Capertee Valley Bird Photography Workshop:

Our Capertee Valley Bird Photography Workshop will see us travelling along the Capertee Valley Bird Trail, a roadside journey with 19 designated bird locations. we will also have access to a couple of special private properties that are ideal for our birding adventures. You can download a copy of the Capertee Valley Map & Guide to Bird Watching, which we will be using for our tour by clicking on the link - Download Map 

Our Workshop will begin at our accomodation, the Kandos Fairway Motel on Thursday afternoon. We will spend about three hours going through some fundamentals of Bird Photography and getting our cameras set for the weekend. Once we check into the accomodation and get organised we will venture out to our evening meal at various locations in Rylestone where we will have a chance to all get to know one another. 

On Friday and Saturday we will begin each day by meeting at 6:30 am sharp at the Kandos Fairway Motel. From here we will head out to our birding spots selected for the day, searching for a variety of species including the Rainbow Bee-eater, Jacky Winter, Double-barred Finch, White-browed and Speckled Babblers, Crested Shrike-tit, Diamond Firetail, Peaceful Dove and a variety go Honeyeaters just to name a few of the many birds we may come across. We will continue to shoot until around 3-4 pm when we will make our way back to Kandos. 

From here we will make our way to our accomodation in Kandos where we can enjoy a meal and perhaps a glass of wine. Of course we can also find a bit of time for photo-editing and sharing our images from the day.

On the final day of our tour we will make our way back from Kandos to the Village of Capertee, taking the opportunity to return to any of the destinations we wish to explore further. 

The tour will conclude at approximately 1pm in Capertee. 

ACCOMODATION
Accomodation is not included. Please hold off booking your accomodation until you receive a confirmation that the minimum level of bookings have been met. This will ensure you will not be charged any cancellation fees for your accomodation if the Workshop does not proceed.

FITNESS LEVEL
A basic amount of fitness is required for this workshop. Most of the Bird destinations are roadside and very easy to manage. There may be additional walking in the various National Park stops. 

PREREQUISITES
A basic understanding of your camera and navigating the menus is essential. Having your camera manual on hand will be valuable. I will provide Bird Photography guidelines prior to our departure, it will make your tour more enjoyable if you take the opportunity to learn the information prior to the tour. 

STUDENT LIMIT
Workshop size will be between 4-6 students. We limit our workshop sizes to create a more individual learning environment.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING?

• Your Camera!  The bare minimum is a camera that can has manual and aperture priority exposure settings. 
• Spare camera batteries and SD Cards - We will be in the field all day! 
• Battery Charger
• Lens with the longest focal length you have! Ideally this will be a lens with a focal length of 400mm or above. (also consider extenders and crop sensors) 
• Tripod, in an effort to get the sharpest photos possible and also to help manage the weight of your equipment with long & heavy lenses.
• Gimbal Head for tripod - not essential, but sure makes Bird Photography much easier. 
• Appropriate clothing. We will be near our vehicles for a majority of the tour, so having clothing to address various conditions in the car is recommended.

WHAT’S INCLUDED?
Tea, coffee and snacks

NOT INCLUDED
Meals

As with any workshop, unfortunately we are unable to control the weather or the availability of wildlife. The workshop will proceed in the event of inclement weather and we will endeavour to do our best to locate local wildlife.