6 October 2008
Scott’s 10 Wildlife Photography Hotspots - TWIP
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Scott under:
Articles
Photo by Scott Bourne
#1 Bosque del Apache, New Mexico is my number one wildlife hotspot. 18 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico. More than 300 species of birds migrate to the Bosque each year.
#2 Grand Teton National Park near Jackson, WY is home to bears, buffalo, pronghorn sheep, moose, birds and more. Watch out for overbearing park rangers though.
#3 Northwest Trek Eatonville, Washington is a great place to photograph deer, elk, moose, bear and a number of other birds and animals native to the northwest.
#4 The Alligator Farm St Augustine, FL is an amazing place that offers bird photographers a chance to photograph birds in breeding plumage from as close as four feet.
#5 Arizona Sonora Dessert Museum.
#6 Yellowstone National Park: Avoid in the summer – too crowded.
#7 Baxter State Park Maine
#8 Denali National Park - autumn. caribou, moose, bears.
#9 Piedras Blancas Beach - Near San Simeon, CA best place for elephant seals in the USA – January is the best time to go.
#10 San Diego Wild Animal Park/Zoo.
This post sponsored by Audible. For a free downloadable book, go to Audiblepodcast.com/TWIP.
14 Comments so far...
Bob Gannon Says:
6 October 2008 at 8:59 am.
Scott, thanks for making a list that mentions locations across the entire United States. Everyone should get to their local zoo to practice their wildlife photography skills.
James Says:
6 October 2008 at 10:47 am.
Any chance of a “Top Ten Locations” list to photograph in the whole world from you guys? I’m curious to see if Africa comes out on top now as opposed to Europe or far east or the US for that matter.
James
Freiburg, Germany
Isaiah Kilgore Says:
6 October 2008 at 11:25 am.
Aloha Scott!
Thank you for the list. Bear Country USA in Rapid City, South Dakota is an amazing place. I would recommend it. I was just there in September and it was such a wonderful experience. Thanks again for the show!
Mahalo,
Isaiah
Sarah Says:
6 October 2008 at 11:43 am.
For any western Canadians out there…. Kananaskis in the rockies (near Calgary) is my favourite place to photograph - tons of wildlife, mountains, and less touristy than Banff.
Gregg Says:
6 October 2008 at 11:57 am.
That Alligator Farm in Saint Augustine looks amazing. Looks like it may well be worth the 14 hour drive down there to shoot a few days. Does anybody know if there is a better/best part of the year for that place in terms of the best variety of wading birds ?
dusan maletic Says:
6 October 2008 at 2:40 pm.
As a relatively frequent visitor to the Bosque Del Apache I’ll contribute one helpful hint to the potential visitors. Place is perfectly sized for bicycle (too large for just walking and too disturbed by cars). If possible come by day in advance and do an overview with the car. Than come for sunset or sunrise with the bike and do not be scared to get on unmarked trails (middle of the area is crisscrossed by the service paths formally “not for visitors”), it is next to impossible to get lost and you won’t be doing any damage on the bike or walking… but you’ll get some wildlife. And yes, beware of the dominant wildlife form during the best photography times: Mosquitoes …
Scott Says:
6 October 2008 at 2:43 pm.
A bike is a great idea if you can manage to carry your gear and peddle at the same time.
I think your comment about the place being disturbed by cars isn’t borne out by any facts whatsoever. Since the refuge opened to cars it’s GROWN in popularity with birds. . . not the other way around. I’ve been shooting there yearly for 17 years.
JimB Says:
6 October 2008 at 4:34 pm.
Yes, Baxter State Park is a great place to photograph Moose
JayP Says:
6 October 2008 at 7:33 pm.
@Scott, Here in Florida I personally like the Venice Rookery. Bring your 400mm+ lens. I actually met Art wolf there 13 years ago. Next I like Ding Darling.
Cycomachead Says:
6 October 2008 at 11:10 pm.
Nice list, and this is probably beyond the scope of a blog and could be a book.
But i think it’d be more interesting in there were a few (or many) different categories of top ten places. Wildlife, scenery, people, birds, etc and if there were a book it could even do World, country, state / area (or assuming there’s 50 * 4 lists skip the country list.
I’d certainly give something like that a good look through.
Oh and 11 should be your backyard. It’s not special-so make it special.
Jason Says:
7 October 2008 at 12:00 am.
When I move back to the U.S. I will try to hit as many places on that list as I can.
For international spots, Malaysian Borneo (Sapa and Sarawak) would be my suggestion for great wildlife. I was able to get shots of wild orangutans, proboscis monkeys, hornbills of several variety, plus huge water monitor lizards and a blue tarantula. There are elephants too, but not where I was, and I hear rhinos as well. I didn’t have a DSLR at the time, just a slow bridge Olympus, so most of my shots were blurry or small.
But other serious photographers I met there said it was the greatest place outside of Africa they had been for animals, at least for apes and monkeys.
Cherilyn Williams Says:
7 October 2008 at 9:33 am.
Thanks for the listing! Since we specialize in North American species, it’s easy for them to look natural in our park. I’d also like to let the photographers know that we do offer photo tours in the free roaming area (where the large herd animals are). You can find a schedule on http://www.nwtrek.org/page.php?id=135 After the tour you can spend the rest of your day in the core area “stalking” predators and small forest animals.
