Florida’s Birding & Photo Fest returns to the St. Augustine area April 24-28 for its 22nd year with nearly 100 photography and birding events. This immersive event combines interactive field workshops, dynamic photography sessions and classroom seminars with some of the world’s best nature photography professionals.
There’s a reason Florida’s Birding & Photo Festival is the best around. The natural settings found in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and The Beaches are the perfect places for new and experienced photographers to hone their craft. The sun-drenched beaches, delicate dunes, winding Intracoastal Waterway and cool maritime hammocks are home to an endless array of avian species, including word storks, vibrant link roseate spoonbills, Monk’s parrots, herons, egrets, terns, pipers, osprey, American bald eagle, anhinga, pelicans and more.
This year’s Florida’s Birding & Photo Fest is headquartered at the new St. Jude Celebration Hall at St. Anastasia, located on St. Augustine Beach. This spacious venue can comfortably seat up to 300 people and is just minutes’ away from the festival's various field locations. Workshops are held throughout Florida’s Historic Coast, offering a sumptuous backdrop for photographers.
Shooting locations include St. Johns County Beaches, the incredible bird rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, Flagler College, Washington Oaks Garden State Park, Anastasia State Park, the GTM Research Reserve, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and historic downtown St. Augustine.
The festival’s educational workshops and classroom sessions include hands-on practice photographing birds, horses, historic architecture and portraits, techniques like flash and macro photography, working through the creative process, editing programs, composition, printing and more. There are courses appropriate for beginners, experts and everything in between.
This year’s keynote speakers are Jennifer Leigh Warner and Emilie Talpin.
Warner will present “Putting Your Images to Work,” a conversation about how photographs have the power to promote positive change and create policies that make real impacts on wildlife conservation. Warner is a fine-art conservation wildlife photographer, writer, public speaker and workshop leader for Wildside Nature Tours.
OM SYSTEM Ambassador Emilie Talpin will deliver a keynote address focused on “Telling Better Stories.” In this lecture, Talpin will talk about her adventures in bird photography from the shores of Northeast America to the riverbanks of her homeland in France. A late-in-life photographer, Talpin focuses on birds, wildlife and macro photography.
Field workshops and classroom seminars are facilitated by the best international nature and wildlife photographers, artists and local naturalists.
The caliber of talent at Florida’s Birding & Photography Festival makes it one of North America’s premiere events. This year’s presenters include David Akoubian, Diane Bollen, Joe Brady, Linda Burek, David Crooks, Milo Davis, Ayolane Halusky, Caleb Hoover, Kevin Loughlin, Todd Nettelhorst, Jack Rogers, Emilie Talpin, Keith Wallach, Dan Walters, Jennifer Leigh Warner and Brett Wells.
In addition to crowd-favorite topics, this year’s festival welcomes a host of new seminars and workshops. New workshops this year include horse action photography, shorebird photography, drone photography, bird language, invisibility tactics, sunrise chorus, owl prowl, off-camera flash for still life, food and portrait photography, AI and identifying birds found near water in St. Augustine.
