Sandestin vacation..Any recommendation?

I learned about this forum from the Artie Morris seminar in Little Rock last weekend. Good stuff!
Anyway I look forward to learning from some of you. I am new to photography but I am a wildlife nutt. After looking at some of yalls(yes I'm from Arkansas) pics, I'm out of my league here but I hope you can put up with a rookie.

Anyway, I am heading to Sandestin, Fl for a week. Are there any places I should visit for good bird opportunities. I'm going on a dolphin cruise so I hope to get some good shots there but I would really like to find some neat birds.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. I've got my new Sigma Bigmos ready but my 7D got delayed so it won't be with me.

Thanks and Artie I've got your disk handy for advice!

i was just checking google earth for that area as i am not familar at all with it. the pics i looked at had more birds at Gulf Islands National Seashore. might want to check that out. check out any pier. usually something close to there. and good luck with the bigma. f/8 to f/11 is the sweet spot with that lens. is it the new model with OS?

Thanks, I'll check it out. The resort I am staying at is supposed to have dozens of ponds and some brackish water areas as well. These could be little honey holes.

My Sigma is the newer OS version but I just got it and haven't had a chance to use it. I am anxious to see what it's got. I've seen mixed results online but that is any lens...depends on who is behind it. Hopefully I'll have some decent pics in the next few days. I'll be there in about 3hrs:)

have a great vacation, bob!!! the beaches are open and things should be good!!!

The beaches were nice while we were there. I didn't get to try out the Bigmos as I would have liked. We did take a dolphin cruise that was fantastic!! We saw a lot of dolphin, sharks, bullnose rays, etc... Unfortunately the dolphins didn't surface near the boat for any good shots. All I got were a bunch of fins. I did manage to capture(barely) a dolphin with a face full of fish. The boat was challenging to shoot from bc it was cruising pretty quickly and was rocking like crazy. This is about the best I could manage.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/...10f337c3_b.jpg
<br><br>Bob,<br>We only allow 1 image per post.
If you would like to post the second image, just post it as a reply to your original post.<br>Thanks!<br>

that is one cool image, bob!! thanks for posting it. glad you had a good vacation!!!!