A NOTE ABOUT U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW: Copyright protection exists from the moment an original work is “fixed” in a tangible medium. For photographers fixation occurs when you take a picture. You don’t need to do anything else at all for your work to be protected by copyright. The images of workshop participants are protected by copyright law, whether they have the copyright symbol before their name or not.
2024 Testimonials:
-Norman Kikuchi: “Having participated in 2 of Paul Rossi’ s UP Michigan warbler workshops I can highly recommend him to other bird photographers. Especially those who share my passion/addiction for warbler photography. Needless to say, I was very impressed at his skill in finding the perfect photo opportunities based on his countless hours of research and scouting over the years, leading to his intimate knowledge of the natural history of the Upper Peninsula. He has a remarkable ear for birdsong and most importantly knows when “not to take the picture” thus maximizing the time for his clients in finding a more cooperative subject. He was able to set up attractive natural perches avoiding those “bird on a stick type” shots as well as providing clean pleasing backgrounds. I have already recommended him to some of my photographer friends and I look forward to attending more of his workshops in the future.”
-Monica Miley: “Paul Rossi is a person who knows his birds, knows how to photograph them, and is generous in sharing his long-sought knowledge with his students. He is intimately familiar with the birds, their habitats, and their behaviors. He understands the characteristics of a species and even gets to know particular individuals and their personalities. His instincts to recognize good photographic opportunities and when they have passed are honed by years of practice and observation. Paul structured the days of my workshop so there was a myriad of opportunities to shoot a variety of birds and capture different behaviors. Photographing loons on a lake at dawn, surrounded by their eerie calls, is a privilege I will never forget! Paul provided invaluable advice on settings and positioning so that my pictures were sharp and showed the birds to excellent effect. His thoughtfully designed blinds made it possible for me to capture incredible action shots! I’m thrilled with my photos and have enlarged many to decorate my home and share with others. Paul is an excellent teacher whose explanations are clear and concise. I learned so much from evaluating weather conditions to processing photos and everything in between. I have a much deeper appreciation of what’s needed to create stunning pictures of birds in action. This workshop was a once-in-a-lifetime experience: observing and photographing beautiful birds with a guide whose passion for sharing them is truly inspiring!”
-Cathy Jackson: “My name is Cathy Jackson and I took the Common Loons And More Workshop with Paul Rossi during the summer of 2024. He made sure I had the correct camera gear before I arrived, and also sent great educational videos before and after the workshop. Photographing loons was not possible while I was there, but he made sure I went home with excellent photos of Kingfishers, Kestrels, Bluebirds, Woodpeckers and various Warblers. He is very conscientious and because I learned so much while I was there, I’ve already signed up for additional workshops for 2025. Thanks Paul!”
2023 Testimonials:
-Wally Taubenslag: “Photographing warblers is difficult and I never had much success until I met Paul Rossi. He taught me a great deal about how to photograph small birds both in flight and on a perch. I cannot imagine how many hours he spent before the workshop to find the best places to photograph the different warbler species. We photographed many warbler species including Kirkland, Golden-winged, Cape May, Blackburnian, Mourning warbler, and Magnolia. He was adept at calling the birds and arranging for the best possible photographic situation. He worked tirelessly for us. When the luggage of one of the participants was lost, he lent her his tripod. He had extra netting and equipment for anyone who was in need. He was focused on helping us. The workshop was fun and rewarding and the photos greatly exceeded my expectations, despite three nights of frost and five cloudless days. I have already sent him my deposit for next year and am looking forward to more time with the warblers. If you would like to talk to me about the workshop, please get my email address or phone number from Mr. Rossi. I would love to talk to you about the workshop.”
2022 Testimonials:
-Betty Thompson: “I wasn’t sure what to expect initially but it became very clear that Paul took his job seriously and wanted me to have the best experience possible. He did not disappoint! His combined experience and knowledge as a photographer and birder allowed for endless opportunities to photograph many species of warblers that I had never seen much less photographed. I can’t say enough about my experience with Paul except it exceeded my expectations and I hope to do it again!”
-Dave Zuhlke: “Thank you for a great experience yesterday. I appreciate all your hard work and pre-planning for the field experience, patience with my photography questions and needs, and for sharing your bird and photography experiences with me! I am reviewing nearly 1800 photos taken yesterday and can see a definite improvement in the exposure and focus of these versus many of my previous photos! Your guidance on exposure technique has made a real difference for me! I look forward to working with you to continue to improve my photography and birding skills! Thanks again!”
-Rob Parker: “I was truly amazed at how Paul could identify so many birds by their song and his ability to bring them in to attractive perches. Paul’s attention to detail and paying attention to the backgrounds was impressive, even for me, which is a prerequisite for my bird photography. I was able to photograph all of the hardest nesting warblers with the exception of Connecticut: Wilsons, Black Throated Blue, Mourning, Golden Winged and the one of the rarest songsters in North America, the Kirtland’s Warbler.”
-Don Lee: “Paul has an incredible ability to locate and identify warblers by ear and to quicky assess whether the birds are willing to pose for the camera. Paul is completely passionate about birds and obtaining the most possible species for his clients during each day. He provided a diversity of excellent perches and backgrounds for both cloudy and sunny weather, allowing me to obtain many hundreds of excellent shots and a total 26 different birds – this despite my missing a morning session due to illness. I also had the unfortunate luck of having my lens die on the second day, but I didn’t miss a beat because Paul selflessly allowed me to use his lens throughout the remainder of the workshop. If your goal is to obtain many quality warbler photos you can’t do better…I have gone through your corrections one by one and I can’t tell you how much this has helped me not only in improving skills of processing, but just in general awareness of subtle hue and tone variations and their impact on the bird’s appearance. I would say that reducing the blue cast has had the biggest impact on my photos. Interestingly, once you pointed out these casts, they became very obvious, whereas beforehand I never noticed them. The addition of adding selective black to colors was another big help as I have often felt that colors on certain photos looked washed out and was unclear on how to best correct this. The subtle contrast changes with “curves” was also great for the whites. Now I have this enhanced awareness and respect for correct colors.”
2022 Gallery of workshop participant Betty Thompson: B Thompson 2022
2022 Gallery of workshop participant Rob Parker: R Parker 2022
2022 Gallery of workshop participant Don Lee: D Lee 2022
2021 Testimonials:
-Jan Lewis: “Paul knows his subjects intimately – from their behaviors, to their habitats, to their calls. He scouts his locations thoroughly to ensure that his clients can maximize their time and works with his clients to ensure that they get the best out of their gear. In the field he has a vision for the images of each species and is tireless and dedicated in his quest for his clients to get that image. When Paul provides perches (very photographically interesting perches!) he strives to position them with backgrounds that are thoroughly natural, thus creating beautiful images of the bird in its environment… Sometimes the birds are responsive and sometimes they aren’t and Paul is able to assess rather quickly whether the subject is going to be cooperative or not… We experienced overly sunny days the entire workshop, creating harsher light than desired. Regardless, Paul was able to adjust, often finding shady places to photograph a wide variety of birds. I came away with thousands of images of 28 species of birds, 19 of which were wood warblers, during the 5 days of shooting.”
2021 Gallery of workshop participant Jan Lewis: J Lewis 2021
2021 Gallery of workshop participant Stan Cunningham: S Cunningham 2021
2020 Testimonials:
-David Slikkers: “Paul, thank you kindly for a great and highly productive photography workshop. It was was better than anticipated. Your band width of wild bird knowledge, vocals, behavior, and habitat is second to none. I have never encountered anyone that can ID that many birds without seeing a single feather. Your passion for photography excellence is only equaled by your work ethic. We (workshop participants) get to reap the benefits of all your hard work and scouting…I am thrilled with the number of different species of warblers that we had a chance to photograph, and then you add the females to that; that is nearly 30 warblers…It was fun, exciting, and very rewarding to review the images. I got some really incredible images with your guidance and help. I am already counting the weeks before next year’s workshop.”
John Higgins: “Paul’s workshop provided an opportunity to experience and photograph an amazing variety of spring migrants in an uncrowded and stunningly beautiful setting. Although the workshop focus was still photography, there was ample opportunity to obtain video footage. The small size of these workshops allows Paul to provide hands on mentoring to each participant, and he gladly shares his extensive knowledge of photography, the birds, and the natural history of the Upper Peninsula. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula provides diverse natural habitats including the Lake Huron shoreline, Boreal forests, marshes, meadows and farm lands. I photographed 22 Warbler species and 19 other species at the over fifty locations we visited. Compared to previous experiences photographing Warblers and other spring migrants at Magee Marsh, Cape May, Hawk Mountain, and many Eastern Pennsylvania locations, Paul’s workshop wins hands down. Paul’s knowledge and experience combined with this unique location made this a one-of-a kind workshop that is highly recommended.”
2020 Gallery of workshop participant David Slikkers: D Slikkers 2020
2020 Gallery of workshop participant John Higgins: J Higgins 2020
-Mark Halonen: “I can’t believe the beauty of these images. I mean they are amazingly beautiful. Our 2 day class went far beyond my expectations, Paul; thanks for creating a great learning experience. You did a great job.”
2020 Gallery of 2 day workshop participant Mark Halonen: M Halonen 2020
2019 Gallery of workshop participant B Chan: B Chan 2019
2018 Testimonials:
-Dennis Malueg: “Birder, photographer and teacher, Paul Rossi brought all of those talents together as he led his Michigan Upper Peninsula spring 2018 warbler workshop. Having birded together in the Midwest for many years, I jumped at the chance to attend
his inaugural warbler workshop. For the photography instruction side, the
workshop began with a thorough walk-through of proper camera exposure
settings which was much appreciated as we shot in both sun and shade every
day. As for the birding aspect, Paul surely spent days scouting out the
perfect locations with beautiful backgrounds, allowing me to get many
perfect shots.”
Dennis Maleug 2018 workshop gallery: D Maleug 2018
-Mark Stahl: “Having birded with Paul a few times and seen his photography for years, I knew he could put us in front of many great subjects. The migrant warbler flocks were incredible, and every location throughout the workshop had beautiful habitat. Learning the proper camera and lens settings before starting was very helpful, and he reviewed images often to make sure I was getting excellent results. His patience and tips before we started to photograph subjects were very helpful.”
Mark Stahl 2018 workshop gallery: Mark Stahl 2018
