Beth Suddaby
I participated in one of the first Photo-Sapiens hummingbird photography tours and had a wonderful time. I found the locations selected were full on birds, many times with rare species. As a birder, I enjoyed having overhead cover and easy access to bathrooms. We stayed at delightful lodges with good food. When at Los Corazones, Karina even cooked especially for my vegetarian diet (NICE!!). The lodge was conveniently located to the nature preserves so there was not an excess of driving (but yes some were classic backroads—I enjoy the scenery on those). Ecuador itself is a beautiful country and that alone was enough, but the hummingbirds were stupendous. Best of all were the people—Daniel and Juan worked hard to be sure I had a good experience and learned how to get the best shots. They even made sure I had the opportunity to feed hummingbirds from my hand (a bucket list item for me). It was a trip I haven’t stopped talking about (or showing off my photos). I highly recommend you go.
Robert Ozibko
I recently returned from a fantastic journey through the highlands of Ecuador with Juan Bahamon and Daniel Zdonczyk photographing hummingbirds with multi-flash, which consists of several high-power light units designed specifically to capture the fast movements of a hummingbird in flight. I use this system in the U. S. but I am reluctant to carry so much equipment when I travel by plane. Juan and Daniel have mastered the art of multi-flash photography and are willing to share their equipment and knowledge with other photographers so when they invited me to join them on this trip I readily accepted. We spent eight busy days photographing more than thirty-five species of hummingbirds in several locations near Quito. Juan has discovered an ingenious way to photograph hummingbird reflections using a mirror and water which presents a unique novel approach to hummingbird photography. Daniel is experimenting with a new lighting system using LED lights which minimizes the bulk of equipment needed for high-speed photograph. High-speed photography offers a distinct way of showing a hummingbird in flight, capturing their lightning-fast movements and freezing them in the air in sometimes incredible positions. This trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity to experiment new approaches to hummingbird photography. The results are staggering.
