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The trophy photos can be the highlight of a family foray into nature.
Family Wildlife Photography Tours
With such unique subjects as alligators sunning pond-side, manatees surfacing for air, dolphins frolicking and roseate spoonbills swooning, what child can resist the temptation to capture photos to share with friends? Using the many wildlife attractions and tours of The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel as your backdrop, follow these tips to teach your child how to capture photographs – and lasting memories.
By Chelle Koster Walton, member of the Society of American Travel Writers
With such unique subjects as alligators sunning pond-side, manatees surfacing for air, dolphins frolicking and roseate spoonbills swooning, what child can resist the temptation to capture photos to share with friends? Using the many wildlife attractions and tours of The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel as your backdrop, follow these tips to teach your child how to capture photographs – and lasting memories.
By Chelle Koster Walton, member of the Society of American Travel Writers
  Florida white-tailed deer |
Follow the F-stops along this tour to find the most photogenic wildlife we've got. The F stands for family, fun and memories that last forever.
A teacher friend once told me to set no more than two rules at a time for children, so here they are for this excursion:
1. Look in every corner of your viewfinder before pressing the shutter. (Beginners tend to look only at what's in the center of a frame.) This is the first, easy lesson in picture composition.
2. Follow our wildlife-watching rules. Shoot your animal subject as is. No fair spooking critters with noise, running or thrown objects, which can distress them.
Photo 101: The Captured Audience
Start your beginning wildlife shutterbug out with a point-and-click camera. An inexpensive digital camera works well for beginners because they can see immediate results and you can delete instead of spending money to print the unwanted shots. It's best to initiate the inexperienced at attractions where animals are contained.
Calusa Nature Center
 Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve |
Everglades Wonder Gardens
F-Stop 2: Now it's time to graduate to action shots, and the animal shows at Everglades Wonder Gardens furnish just the opportunity. Practice first with the panthers in their cages and alligators in their ponds. The flamingos are must-snaps. An alligator feeding frenzy (heed signs warning against placing children on ledges) and sliding otter show provide the action.
The Beach
F-Stop 3: The beach is the best place to give little ones a chance to shoot animals in their natural habitat. Should they grow bored with capturing sea gulls, sandpipers and the occasional heron on film, they'll find other subjects – shells, sunsets, sandcastles – and other diversions.
Photo 102: Focused on the Free Range
Older children have more patience for shooting animals in their natural habitats, and Lee County provides endless "on-locations." They can even have fun with lizards, golden orb spiders and frogs right outside. Here, the emphasis is on reflex rather than composition. And so another rule: Snap from far away first to make sure you get at least one shot of the subject. As you quietly approach, snap at intervals. Keep a safe distance, however, for your wellbeing – and the animal's.
Babcock Wilderness Adventures
F-Stop 4: Again, start easy. At Babcock Wilderness Adventures, kids can warm up at the snake display, then hop aboard the swamp buggy tour to shoot Cracker cattle, sandhill cranes, white-tailed deer and alligators in the wilds. A caged Western cougar poses obligingly along the way.
J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
F-Stop 5: For bird shots, head to J.N. “Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge. Go at low tide when roseate spoonbills, herons, egrets, ospreys and white pelicans (in winter) gather to feed. For aerial views, climb the observation tower. Late mornings, alligators lumber out onto the banks to sun themselves – perfect "photo ops," but keep your distance for safety's sake.
Manatee Park
F-Stop 6: Those quick enough on the draw can graduate to our showy marine animals. Head to Manatee Park in winter and spring to catch the bulbous sea cows as they surface for air. Or take the family on a dolphin excursion and see who can capture the graceful acrobats as they leap and frolic in the wake behind the boat. You may want to spring for a waterproof throw-away camera for these attempts.
Taking pictures en famille enhances our many wildlife attractions and tours by involving kids in an interactive experience. They tend to look more closely at the creatures they're shooting, learn more about them for as long as the pictures last, and conjure up memories of their daring days behind the lens.
If you go...
Babcock Wilderness Adventures, 800-500-5583, www.babcockwilderness.com
Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, 239-275-3435, www.calusanature.com
Everglades Wonder Gardens, 239-992-2591
J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, 239-472-1100, www.fws.gov/dingdarling
Manatee Park, 239-694-3537, www.leeparks.org/facility_info.cfm?Project_Num=0088
Chelle Koster Walton, a Sanibel Island resident for 25 years, is author of The Sarasota, Sanibel Island & Naples Book and co-author of Fun With the Family in Florida.
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