Where We Go: For any photographer who enjoys birds, South Florida should be at the top of their “places-to-visit” list. Hundreds of different bird species—some with entertaining names like the Masked Booby, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Antillean Nighthawk—call this area home. Photograph industrious birds building nests at Venice Rookery and visit the 11,000-acre Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where you view birds from a raised boardwalk. While visiting Shark Valley in Everglades National Park, your models include egrets, herons and the occasional alligator. If time permits, you visit the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, a favorite hangout for many birds in the area.

What You Learn: With Don at the helm, you can’t help but learn a lot about both photography and the natural world. You benefit from his years working behind the lens as well as his time spent as an endangered species researcher. During classroom lectures, Don covers wildlife photography techniques, exposure and creative composition methods for photographing wildlife. He offers one-on-one advice and answers questions during early-morning and evening field shoots. Midday critique sessions allow you to view and discuss the group’s images and help to identify ways to improve.

Who Should Attend: You should be comfortable with the manual exposure operation of your camera. Film cameras are welcome, however only digital images can be critiqued.