Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Costa Rica) - by Glenn Bartley

"Finding this guy in the low light as the sun went down presented some interesting opportunities to include the movement of the water in the image. I stopped WAY down to f/45 in order to get a 3.2 second exposure. I was very happy with the result!"

Equipment Used: Camera Model: Canon EOS 7D, Shutter speed: 3.2 sec, Aperture: 45, Exposure compensation: +1/3, Flash: On, ISO: 100, Focal length: 500mm + 1.4x.

• Behind the Lens with Glenn Bartley
• Greg Downing's Coastal Brown Bears workshop trip report
• Take $10 off $59 or more in the NSN store with coupon

• Featured workshops including Tanzania, Africa
• New workshops: New Zealand and Ecuador!
• Other NSN certified workshops for 2012

Often times in bird photography the simple beauty of the bird is all you need to create a beautiful image. In order to highlight the spectacular plumage of the Pacific Loon I wanted to make sure to have a pleasing background that had some nice colour and was nicely blurred out of focus. As is often the case when photographing waterfowl this meant getting down as low as was possible (to just a few inches above the surface of the water). The resulting image has such a shallow depth of field that the attention is deservedly focussed squarely on this exquisitely beautiful bird.
Pictured: Pacific Loon / Churchill, Manitoba / June, 2011 / Canon 7D / 500mm f/4 + 1.4x

1. How did you get started in nature photography?
It may have all started in the backyard of my childhood home as I was lying underneath a hummingbird feeder trying to capture an image of one of these amazing birds with a simple point and shoot camera. Continue reading…

One of my favourite places to visit each year is Churchill, Manitoba in June. The reason to visit Churchill at this time is not for Polar Bears as most people initially assume. Instead, we travel north to Churchill for the wonderful photography opportunities for breeding birds on the tundra. During a brief window each June this unique northern landscape erupts into bloom and nesting birds in their finest plumage are all over the place. There is no better place to photograph spectacular birds like Pacific Loons, Long-tailed Ducks, American Golden Plovers, Whimbrels, Common Eiders, Spruce Grouse, Parasitic Jaegers, Red-necked Phalaropes and Willow Ptarmigan. Add in to the mix mammals such as Beluga Whales, Arctic Fox and Arctic Hare and you have one heck of a week of photography!

Churchill is not only a fantastic place to visit, but I have found that it is also a great place to teach and develop the skills of a nature photographer. Churchill presents opportunities to learn techniques for waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds and some of the best opportunities for practicing flight photography that I have encountered anywhere in the world.

With comfortable accommodations, great food, short driving times and long hours of daylight Churchill is a phenomenal photo destination for any bird photographer. It truly is a "must visit" destination for any serious bird photographer or nature enthusiast.

To find out more about joining Glenn on his 2012 Churchill Workshop visit his website.

Our Lake Clark Coastal Brown Bear adventure began with a rainy and foggy morning in Anchorage, Alaska where we took a small plane to Lake Clark National Park landing on the beach at low tide.

We timed this workshop perfectly for fishing bears as we caught them at the peak of the salmon run. We'd wait for low tide and orient ourselves with the light and wait, right along with the bears, for the salmon to appear. And when they did you would see schools of them rising from the surface of the shallow water as the bears sprung into action, often times going after more than one fish at a time, or even chasing one while eating another.

When we weren't searching for and photographing bears, we enjoyed down time at the Silver Salmon Creek Lodge where we were treated to home-cooked meals and the camaraderie of other photographers.

A repeat trip is planned for 2012 at the peak of optimal tide activity. We hope you can join us!

This once-in-a-lifetime workshop is confirmed and booked at some of the most sought after locations in Tanzania. We have a strict cut off date for participant registration of October 31 and have extended the $500 flight credit through that date. Also inquire with Erin Masters about our exclusive pre-trip extension which includes 3 treks into the mountains of Rwanda to spend time with and photograph mountain gorillas.

New Zealand is a nature photographer's dream, with not just a host of spectacular birds and animals, but some of the most incredible scenery in the world. There are not many places where you can find yourself shooting pelagic seabirds from a boat one day, then scenic snow-capped mountains the next. In New Zealand, you can do both at once! Read More »

Join Greg Downing as we explore the cloud forests of Ecuador in search for hummingbirds, tanagers and more! Greg has been a pioneer in multi-flash hummingbird photography and will share the tips and techniques he has learned for capturing these tiny jewels in flight and in action. As a special feature of this workshop Greg will be providing everything you need for multiple flash set ups throughout the trip. Read More »