Trogon Photo Tours

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who should attend a Trogon Photo Tours workshop or photo tour?  We welcome photographers of all levels from beginners to professionals.  If you are a beginner and would like advice about which workshops or photo tours would be best to start with contact us - give us a phone call or email us.  Professional photographers have won prestigiuos awards with images taken on our photo tours and workshops.  Anyone who loves nature and wants to learn more about photography is welcome on our tours. 

What kind of photo equipment do I need to go on one of your tours or workshops?  Every workshop is a little bit different in terms of desired equipment. On the workshop or tour page that info will be listed.  Most people who go on our tours own a DSLR and intermediate to long telephoto lens.  But a few people who use point and shoot cameras come on our trips and they are welcome as well.  For all tours where mutli-flash hummingbird photography is done we provide all of the multi-flash equipment except you will need to bring one flash which goes in your camera's hotshoe.  We also have photo equipment that we can rent out to participants at affordable prices (less than the equipment rental companies). 

Are nonphotographers welcome?  Yes nonphotographer spouses, friends, birders and companions are welcome to attend our photo tours and workshops.  Often a spouse will be a birdwatcher and they usually enjoy the trips a lot because Nate Chappell is an excellent bird watcher and we hire excellent local birdwatching guides.  If you are curious about how a specific tour will be for your spouse or friend contact us - send us an email or give us a call. 

What is the difference between a photo tour and a workshop?  In our case there is not much difference between what we call a photo tour and a photo workshop.  We label shorter US based trips workshops and longer overseas trips photo tours.  On any photo tours and workshops led by Nate Chappell, Charles Gangas or Ken Archer a presentation will be given on photographing birds and/or animals in the wild and a presentation on using flash for bird photography.  On overseas photo tours not led by Nate Chappell, Charles Gangas or Ken Archer these presentations are not included.   On any of our photo tours and workshops we often initiate discussion in the field about how to go about gettiing the best image including camera settings etc. and we encourage questions and discussion about the photography.  On any photo tours or workshops led by Ken Archer, Charles Gangas or Nate Chappell we also have a presentation on raw image conversion and processing.  For anyone who is interested in critique and review of images taken on our photo tours it is offered in the evenings.  On some overseas photo tours the leader will be a local photography guide who is a good photographer and knows the locations very well but is not an expert level instructor. 

What if I am interested in photographing a certain species or at a certain location where you are not currently offering a tour?  Please contact us regarding what you are interested in doing.  Nate Chappell has photographed in many different areas on 6 continents (all except Antarctica) so we may well be able to put together a private photo tour or workshop for you.  Also we enjoy hearing input on what photographers would like to do in order to help plan future group photo tours and workshops.  We are always looking to add new tour offerings and workshops.

What if your tour or workshop that I want to attend is full?  Please contact us and let us know.  We will put you on a waiting list and sometimes we will add another workshop. 

Do the instructors and tour leaders photograph on the photo tours and workshops?  Yes we usually do.  Nate, Charles and Ken all find if they are photographing along side their participants it is much easier to give advice to the participants about what camera settings to use, how to compose a photo etc.  But we put the participants first in terms of getting the shot, your experience is our priority, not ours.  With the case of multi-flash photography the instructor will get the multi-flash setup and test it and then the participants will have a schedule for shooting on it. 

What will I gain from going on a Trogon Photo Tours photo tour or workshop?  We as instructors for the participants and most of the participants who go on our tours and workshops have 2 main goals.  One of the goals is to get as many excellent photos as possible of the birds and animals that live in the area we are going to.  The other goal is to improve as photographers. To come away with increased knowledge of nature photography that will continue to help you improve as a photographer.  With these goals in mind we will ask each participant a month or two before each tour or workshop what species they are most interested in photographing and what areas of photography they would most like to work on improving.  This way we can tailor each photo tour or workshop more to individual needs.  While we will get the vast majority of the species advertised on a photo tour and workshop we cannot guarantee any species, it is nature after all.

What is your group size?  For all US based workshops which last more than one day there is a ratio of no more than 4 photography participants to 1 instructor.  For overseas photo tours the ratio is no more than 6 photography participants to each photography instructor/tour leader.  A photographer for group size is considered someone using a DSLR system, in any case when adding in non photographer spouses and companions the maximum size of overseas tours is 10 participants.  These ratios are smaller than almost all other photo tour companies and shows Trogon Photo Tours commitment to leading high quality tours.  After all the less participants per instructor the more personal attention you will get and the better chance for growth as a photographer. 

What is the minimum group size for your tours to run?  Many of our tours and workshops will run with a minimum of 1 person and almost all of them can run with a minimum of 2 participants.  This gives you the confidence to book your trip with almost a certainty that the trip is going to run.  However, we reserve the right to cancel a tour for lack of participation or if there is a natural disaster or something out of our control that occurs.  If this happens we will refund all payments.  However in practice we have only ever canceled one tour where there was someone already signed up and that occured over 6 yeras ago. 

What is included in the price?  Each tour or workshop can be a little bit different so for specifics please refer to the photo tour or workshop page that you are considering.  But in general almost all overseas photo tours include all lodging, meals, guiding, park fees, instruction and transportation within the country except air travel.  Most US workshops include lodging, instruction, park fees but not meals.  Some include local transportation, some do not. Again check the page of the specific tour or workshop that you are interested in. 

What is the activity level for your tours and workshops?  Each workshop is a little bit different.  But in general the vast majority of photo tours and workshops are designed so that just about anyone can participate.  For example on our Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago photo tours the majority of the photography is done right around the lodges.  There are walks to photograph special birds scheduled but if you think the walking will be too strenuous you are welcome to stay at the lodge and photograph what is there or rest.  If you want to take a half day off during the middle of a tour or workshop to rest up there is no problem with that.  If on the other hand you like to hike there are opportunities to do so on almost all of our photo tours and workshops.  When walks are scheduled to photograph a certain species the vast majority of the time the walk is less than one mile each way.  Contact us with any questions. 

Testimonials - Click this link to read testimonials.  If you would like references from participants who have been on a particular tour please contact us.

PAYMENTS/POLICIES

Payments:  To reserve your spot on a photo tour or workshop we need to receive your deposit payment.  You can make your deposit payment through Paypal without a fee on our website or we accept checks and bank transfers.  For most photo tours and workshops the balance of your tour or workshop fee is due 90 days before the tour or workshop begins.  A few photo tours or workshops require final payment more than 90 days before the trip starts due to payments we have to make to secure lodging etc.  Check the specific workshop or tour page for details.  If we do not receive your final payment timely then we will send you a reminder.  For the balance of the workshop or tour fee we accept checks or bank transfers.  If you would like to pay the balance due by Paypal there is a 3% bank charge added to the balance, if this is how you would like to pay please contact us and we will send you a paypal invoice. If you pay your deposit by paypal you will receive an immediate email confirmation regarding the deposit.  If you haven't already contacted us regarding the tour or workshop we will soon after send you an email with the sign up sheet. 

Cancelations:  If the participant cancels please be advised that our workshops have a nonrefundable deposit due to small group size and advanced planning for leaders, guides and accommodation requirements.  Therefore we highly recommend you purchase travel insurance within one week of making your deposit.  In some circumstances we will allow the canceling participant to apply part or all of their deposit to a future tour or workshop.  If Trogon Photo Tours cancels the workshop we refund all payments.  If a participant cancels after the final workshop fee is due (usually 90 days before the start of the workshop or tour) the balance is nonrefundable.  In some circumstances we will allow you to apply part of the workshop/tour fee to a future workshop or tour.  Again, we greatly encourage the use of travel insurance.  

Tour Alterations:  We carefully plan out each tour ahead of time.  However changes in weather, political events, animal migrations etc may cause us to change the itinerary if in our professional opinion it will benefit the workshop and its participants by providing better photographic opportunities. Any major changes (which are rare) to the itinerary will be advised in the final tour details sent on receipt of the final balance.  We will ususally consult the participants prior to making any such major changes.  We also reserve the right to substitute another guide/ workshop leader for the original one (e.g. Nate for Ken and vice versa). Where this is necessary, notification will be given to workshop participants. A change in the order that locations are visited or a change from one lodge to a different lodge in the same region is not deemed to be a major change. 

"My wife and I attended a Trogon Tours Eagle workshop recently and I must admit that we both had an exceptional experience.  I arrived as a nervous "advanced beginner" but left with the knowledge and confidence to capture well composed and properly exposed images.  Nate Chappell and his colleague, Ken Archer, are excellent teachers and very enjoyable and knowledable field guides.  Nate has an uncanny ability to make difficult subjects understandable... Two incredible photographers - excellent attention to everyone's needs, great information and the perfect number of participants!  My wife, who was along as an observer, and I agree that we will eagerly attend more workshops when we can.  Thanks Nate and Ken for a job well done!"

Dr. Robert Penny, Dallas, TX

Washington eagles participant 2011