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Raptor Photography Workshop
For the third year, Denver Audubon, photographer Cheryl Opperman, and HawkQuest are teaming up to provide this one-of-a-kind Raptor Photography Workshop. The workshop is limited to 6 participants and includes photography of live birds and unparalleled instruction. Much of the proceeds go to Denver Audubon and HawkQuest, environmental nonprofits dedicated to protecting birds. Why not improve your photography skills while helping birds?
Monday, October 4 to Friday, October 8
What makes a workshop great? The instructor
Cheryl Opperman is an award-winning nature photographer.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooks Institute of Photography and over 25 years of professional experience photographing nature, wildlife, and indigenous cultures worldwide.

She was featured as a leading female nature photographer by Outdoor Photographer Magazine
and has received numerous awards from organizations including The Earth Day Network, Nature's Best Photography, the International Photography Awards, and the National Wildlife Federation. Her work has also appeared in publications or exhibits for The American Humane Association, the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and many others. Here are a few samples of her work:
Cheryl's photo from last year's workshop on the front cover of a recent issue of Westword
What will you learn?
This workshop is limited to 6 participants, so you'll receive individual instructor attention. During the workshop, participants photograph live raptors, provided and handled by HawkQuest, an environmental nonprofit that educates the public about raptors using live birds they've rescued. In the class you will hone many skills including:

  • Evaluating and modifying light for bird photography, including the use of flash
  • Selecting shutter speeds to stop or intentionally blur action
  • Ensuring adequate depth of field
  • Improving your response time so you are always ready to capture the action
  • Using customizable camera settings for bird photography
  • Choosing effective compositions and eliminating distractions
  • Anticipating bird behavior
  • Finding and photographing birds in the wild
  • Digital processing techniques to optimize your images
  • Selecting exposure, including the exposure triangle, best exposure modes, and evaluating the histogram

Please feel free to call Cheryl with any questions at 303-829-9453
What do previous participants say?
Butch Mazzuca
"Isn’t it great when you engage in an event and it wildly exceeds your expectations? It doesn’t happen often, but the Denver Audubon Raptor Photo Workshop did exactly that. Through the years I’ve been on numerous photo shoots and have taken a variety of workshops with some darn good photographers, but Cheryl’s workshop was special. Cheryl is warm, easy-going, and fun. I’ve been taking pictures for 10 years and can honestly say I learned more doing the Audubon workshop with Cheryl than any other I have taken.”

One success story Butch told us about was that "Cheryl dug deep into the menus and sub-menus of my 1DX and adjusted my settings so I was able to combine Auto ISO with Exposure Compensation – even Canon’s CPS rep and two Nat Geo photographers told me it couldn’t be done with a 1DX. So to me, that alone was worth the price of the workshop. The bottom line—Cheryl KNOWS her subject!"

But let his work speak for itself. Here are a few photos he shared with us from last year's workshop.
Ramona Boone
“The Denver Audubon Raptor Photo Workshop with Cheryl was the BEST workshop ever – not only does Cheryl know photography, she knows how to teach photography. For example, I’ve spent years trying to understand ambient light and flash, with no success. Cheryl had in conveyed in one go. She’s patient and behind our cameras a lot – often using any photos she does take as a teaching tool – all to make sure we’re ‘getting it.’ And she makes it all fun – such a wonderful personality and lots of laughter helps everyone relax yet get the point. Wish I would have found her when I started out. This workshop was well worth the money and I can’t wait for the next workshop opportunity with her!!!”
Current COVID Precautions
Face Mask 1
To Protect Yourself and Others:
-Masks Outdoors: Masks are not required outdoors. However, we encourage unvaccinated people to wear a mask when interacting with people outside their household.

-Masks Indoors: Fully vaccinated people can go without masks in public indoor spaces. Unvaccinated people are encouraged to continue wearing masks in all public indoor spaces.

- We will not be providing local transportation to continue complying with safety recommendations, so please be prepared to drive your own vehicle or rent a car.

- If the county or state changes requirements, we may modify our practices to comply.

- In the event of another government stay-at-home order due to a resurgence of Covid-19, we will issue a full refund including the deposit.
REGISTER NOW
There are 4 spots left, so sign up today!
$2,750 - Without Lodging
$2,995 - With Lodging, double occupancy
$3,245 - With Lodging, single occupancy