Thankfully my first Bosque workshop in late Nov has sold out so I am happy to announce a second workshop on December 8-11, 2010. Find out more here: New Bosque workshop

If you have ever thought about visiting Bosque you really should consider joining my new workshop. Bosque has to be one of the premier bird photography locations in the SW and for good reason. The opportunities can be amazing and I always look forward to going back year after year. I am also leading a White Sands New Mexico landscape workshop right before this new workshop. There is limited space in both so let me know if you would like to join as soon as possible.

Snow Goose about to touch down at Bosque, NIKON D700 and Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR, 1/1250 sec at F5.6, manual metering, flash off, ISO 400. Image Copyright 2010 Robert OToole / Robert OToole Photography.

New Bald Eagle Workshop

In March of next year and I am co-leading two sold out Robert O’Toole Photography Homer Bald Eagle Instructional Photo-Tour with Arthur Morris. I will be adding another workshop soon so if you are interested please send me an email or call to be placed on the interest list so you will have the first chance to sign up. Act soon so you wont be disappointed. The winter and summer opportunities at our workshop locations were awesome and I am looking forward to the next workshop up there. This image was made during my June eagle workshop. The colors, the tail drag with talons out make it one of my favorites. If you would like to have some opportunities to make images like this why don’t you join me this winter.

Bald Eagle about to strike, NIKON D700 and Sigma 150-500 OS, 1/1250 sec at F8.0, manual metering, flash off, handheld, ISO 1250. Image Copyright 2010 Robert OToole / Robert OToole Photography.

The Sigma 150-500mm lens

For my June Bald Eagle workshop Sigma was nice enough to Fedex me a 150-500 OS lens. This was my first experience using  it in the field. Honestly I a little skeptical about the performance of this lens when I looked at the wide zoom range and the compact size (for a 500mm anyway).  After the first shoot with the lens I has very surprised with the image quality. The image sharpness was great at F8 and the zoom range was fantastic with the eagles.  Sigma should win some kind of award for  producing a lens like this that leads the field with an impressive price vs. performance ratio, actually there isn’t anything else to compare it to in the same price range. The image above was made with the 150-500 handheld this June and is only slightly cropped top and bottom.

Sigma Workshops coming soon

If you would like to try out one of Sigma’s longer lenses at a photogenic location and learn about state of the art techniques I have some interesting news. Right now I am looking at final planning for a Sigma sponsored workshop series late this year and through 2011.  More info will be posted here soon. The workshops will provide loaner equipment and I will be providing the training on how to make better nature photography images. They will include in the field and classroom sessions. These one day workshops will be great for people without the time or the budget for a full multi day workshop.

If you have any ideas for good location ideas for something like this and would like to share,  feel free to send me an email.

European Bee-eater pair, NIKON D700 and Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR,  1/2000 sec at F7.1, manual metering, flash off, ISO 800. Image Copyright 2010 Robert OToole / Robert OToole Photography.

The opportunities during the spring in Europe are amazing and I find myself looking forward to returning each year to lead bird photography workshops. Europe offers quite a number of species that cannot be found in North America. Some of them are my all time favorites and keep me coming back each year. This May we had amazing opportunities for hoopoe, bee-eaters, rollers, raptors and wading birds such as spoonbills.  One of the highlights of the trip for me were the two hoopoe nests with chicks. These birds are amazing and hunt from 5:30 am to dark continuously returning to the nest with prey for their chicks (one nest contained seven chicks). We also had very good bee-eater activity between rain storms. This year as with most places I have visited, the weather was unusual. Rainfall was off the chart, many areas in Eastern Europe were flooding at all time high levels. Next year I will be returning to lead two workshops. For more information or if you would like to join us next year, please email me, see the workshop link at the top of this page or follow this link:

2011 Hungary Workshops

You can see more images from the workshops in the latest image gallery:

Latest image gallery

Hoopoe with prey, NIKON D700 and Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR, 1/3200 sec at F5.6, manual metering, flash off, ISO 1600. Image Copyright 2010 Robert OToole / Robert OToole Photography.

Earlier this month I was invited by Arthur Morris to join him on Midway Atoll as a co-leader of one of his Instructional Photo Tours. Once I arrived I felt lucky to have the opportunity to experience the place. Thanks again Artie!

Midway is like a photographic dream. Most of the three million birds there pay no attention to humans and are not bothered at all being photographed so they go about normal behavior as if you are invisible. I could spend a lot of time there. If you have an opportunity to visit there I would recommend it. The weather was surprisingly pleasant with low humidity, the ocean colors were unreal and the birds were unbelievable.

As usual Artie’s IPT was full interesting and pleasant people so it was a pleasure spend time with everyone and help out teaching and leading when I could. Everyone had a great time and I enjoyed every minute.
Visit my gallery on this site to see more of Midway :
http://www.robertotoole.com/galleries/midway/

Laysan Albatross riding a wave updraft, Sand Island, Midway Atoll, NIKON D700 and Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR with Nikon TC-14E II 1.4x Teleconverter, hand held, 1/1250 sec at F8, manual metering, flash off, ISO 640. Image Copyright 2010 Robert OToole / Robert OToole Photography.

During my time there I spent a few minutes with my Panasonic LX-3 point and shoot recording short clips of some of the most interesting albatross behavior. I have had such good feedback from people about these I will be recording at least some video during all my future trips and workshops.

Here are three clips, hope you enjoy them.

Laysan Courtship from Robert OToole on Vimeo.

Albatross Runway, Midway from Robert OToole on Vimeo.

Black-footed Albatross Midway Atoll from Robert OToole on Vimeo.

The trip went so well that I will be setting up a summer and fall Bald Eagle workshop series and I am finalizing pricing and other details right now. Send me an  email or use the contact info or form on the right side of the page right away to be placed on the interest list to be the first to receive final details.

Hello and welcome to the new site.

This is where you will now be able to find the latest up to date information and news on my workshops, shows, product releases and presentations.  Also I will post new images, tips, techniques, stories, and interviews with friends and participants. I’ll try to make this blog a little more interesting than reading your camera’s user manual!

Please bookmark this blog, email to a friend/colleague, or subscribe to the RSS feed. You can subscribe by using the button in the menu at the top of each page, it is the one on the right labeled subscribe. Once you hover over the button you will see your options including the option to subscribe with email updates.

So, there you have it, the introduction to my new site. If you have questions or comments, please ask. I’m listening, feedback is appreciated and encouraged. Please let me know what you think and be sure to share any ideas or constructive criticism. Also let me know what you want to see posted in the future. You can send me an email or leave a comment below. Thanks.