By Doug Kennedy
Doug Kennedy is a retired teacher from Vermont currently residing in South Florida. Mr. Kennedy has recently taken up photography and plans to do some extensive traveling in pursuit of his new found hobby!
I recently found myself at a plateau as far as my photography skills went, and in need of some professional help! In doing some research and talking to some people in similar situations, I was told Joanne Williams was just the person I needed to talk to. One look at her website told me I had come to the right place, and talking to her
confirmed that. Joanne offers many photographic tours to various places around the world, and offers professional instruction along the way. I also noticed that she is more than willing to offer these services in her home state of Florida. I immediately booked one of her trips to the St. Johns River, and packed my bags.
Upon arrival at base camp, I was delighted to meet Ms. Williams, who was eager to get us out on the river. We loaded our gear into the spacious pontoon & headed out. We were immediately greeted by a multitude of wildlife, and we were positioned for the best shot by Ms. Williams. She gently instructed us on the proper settings & helped insure our questions were answered gracefully, without ever feeling like there was such a thing as a ‘dumb’ question. We were placed perfectly to grab some great shots of nesting Sandhill cranes, some with eggs or newly hatched chicks! Down the river, we came across some Osprey flying in & out of a nest with fish. While shooting a Limpkin pair, we heard the call of a Barred Owl directly behind us! Ms. Williams suggested some flash settings and we got some great shots up close. After a beautifully catered lunch, we ran across some American bitterns hiding in the grass, and some Red-shouldered hawks feeding on lizards & snakes. Up ahead, we noticed some large dark birds with white heads. Upon closer inspection, we realized they were bald eagles! All in all, we also encountered Yellow-crowned night herons, Swallow-tailed kites, all kinds of herons, egrets & ibis, alligators, wild turkeys, deer, kingfishers, pilieated woodpeckers, warblers, cardinals, woodstorks, hummingbirds, and many more.
During the trip, we learned many, many superb tips that made an enormous difference in my shots! I was amazed at how quickly I was able to improve my results using just a few of these tricks. After each day trip, we were treated to a wonderful multi-course dinner brought in from a local restaurant. We were also able to go over some of our shots and get some compositional tips & critiques. We were also invited to learn tricks on handling our shots once we got them into Photoshop. I was blown away at how easy it became to take what I thought was a decent shot and make it exceptional with a few keystrokes!
A trip with Joanne Williams opened my eyes to a whole new world of photography. Every need was met, and the value was a major selling point for me. My pictures are getting better and better thanks to her help. I am eager to book a trip with her to one of her other locations like Madagascar, The Galapagos Islands, Africa, or the Pantanal in Brazil. I would highly recommend her to anyone in need of a little help and looking to take their photography to the next level!
*****
Joanne Williams Photography, Inc. offers photographic tours to various locations around the world such as the Galapagos Islands, Madagascar, the Pantanal in Brazil and Africa.
She is also occasionally available for photographic adventures in various locations throughout Florida. Her tours are well planned after many years in business, with every thought given to detail at an exceptional value. Please visit her website at www.joannewilliamsphoto.com for details on her upcoming tours & adventures, and to sign up for her newsletter.
