Fieldcraft Intensive: Floating Blinds
Fieldcraft Intensives are designed to help participants master the art of wildlife photography at the highest levels.
Limited to 3 people
Limited to just three photographers, this workshop is a fundamentally different educational experience. The Fieldcraft Intensive represents PhotoWILD’s most advanced instruction for wildlife photographers: reading behavior, predicting how animals will use the landscape, and creating breathtaking images through professional fieldcraft. While all PhotoWILD workshops teach both fieldcraft and the art of wildlife photography, this exclusive format takes instruction to a whole new level.
This workshop takes place in the remote stretch of North Dakota known collectively as the prairie potholes. If you have never heard of this area, you are not alone. Though this location is one of the most extraordinary bird photography hotspots on the continent, it’s completely off the radar for most photographers.
The prairie potholes region is often referred to as the “duck factory” of America, where nearly 80% of North America’s waterfowl are born. We’ll be there in time to capture the mating dances of grebes (eared, western, Clark’s, and red-necked), along with the peak of waterfowl migration returning to the area such as blue-winged teal, redhead, canvasback, ruddy ducks, and more.
Then there’s the floating blinds themselves.
Floating blinds are stable platforms designed to resemble muskrat huts or cattails that float on the water around you. They give us unparalleled access to bird life as we move through the marshes, lenses eye level with our subjects. It’s not uncommon for birds to land on top of you to preen. These personal hides allow us to work intimately with species that would otherwise be impossible to approach.
There is truly no other workshop like this.
Skills You’ll Master
Understanding Animal Behavior – How behavioral cues translate to photographic opportunities and positioning decisions.
Species-Specific Natural History – Learning to see and think like individual species based on their ecology and habitat use.
Motion Camouflage Techniques – Predator-inspired approaches that allow you to work close to wary, heavily-hunted waterfowl.
Matching the Environment – Fieldcraft fundamentals beyond basic camouflage that keep you hidden at close range.
Using Topography to Your Advantage – Identifying funnels and pinch points that bring birds to you instead of chasing them.
Technical Strategies for Low-Angle Photography – Mastering autofocus, exposure, and timing for subjects at water level.
These skills transfer to any wildlife photography situation - from elk in Yellowstone to shorebirds on beaches.
The Basics
Number of Participants: 3
Dates:
May 7 - 14, 2026 - SOLD OUT
Cost: $10,000
Deposit: $2000
Workshop Leader: Jared Lloyd
Lodging: Single occupancy included
Classroom Session: This workshop will begin with half a full day of class. This classroom session is designed to not only help familiarize you with your new floating blind, but also discuss and refine the unique skills and techniques that are crucial for success on this workshop. From behavioral differences in species to autofocus strategies for photographing low angle birds in flight, this first day is an important component in preparing participants for success in the field.
Pre-Workshop Preparation: Prior to the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to attend a private online zoom session to discuss the workshop, have questions answered, and ensure everyone is fully prepared before arriving in North Dakota.
Post-Workshop Image Review and Post-Processing: With our Fieldcraft Intensive Workshops, participants will have the opportunity to schedule a post-workshop image review and post-processing coaching session. This is included with the price of the workshop.
What’s Included:
Pre-workshop Zoom meeting
Classroom Session
5 days of mind-blowing bird photography
Floating blind which is yours to keep after the workshop!
All lodging in single rooms
Post-Workshop Image Review
Not Included
Chest Waders
Meals
Airport: Bismarck Airport, North Dakota (BIS)
Location: Bismarck, North Dakota
Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Physical Difficulty: Moderate
Experience Highlights
The Fieldcraft Intensive isn't a standard workshop scaled down—it's a fundamentally different educational model.
With only three photographers, instruction goes far deeper than traditional workshops. In classroom sessions and on-land coaching, participants learn professional-level fieldcraft: reading topography to predict how animals will move, identifying natural funnels to bring wildlife to you, executing motion camouflage approaches to get close to even the most sensitive species, and interpreting the behavioral cues that separate extraordinary images from missed opportunities.
Once in the field, each photographer works independently, applying these techniques. This builds real mastery that transfers to any wildlife photography situation.
The smaller group size enables intensive daily briefings tailored to individuals, detailed image reviews, and strategic adjustments based on what's working in the field. Pre-workshop consultation customizes instruction to each participant's goals. Enhanced classroom sessions cover advanced behavioral ecology and field technique impossible to teach in larger groups.
This is fieldcraft training at its highest level.
North Dakota Itinerary
Day 1:
Arrive in Bismarck, North Dakota. Check into hotel by 4pm. Official meet and greet and discussion of the coming days.
Day 2:
The first half of the day will be spent in the classroom. Here we discuss the skill sets you will need to take advantage of this workshop. This will be a skills-intensive session and will be a critical part of workshop for a multitude of reasons. That afternoon, we will head out to the water to check gear and get everyone setup and comfortable with using their floating blinds.
Days 3-7:
The next five days will be spent in one of the most unique and memorable wildlife photography experiences of your entire life. The middle of the day, we will problem solve, discuss the morning, have lunch, and a short break so everyone can download cards and recharge batteries from the morning. The afternoons will be much the same as the morning session in the field and will last until sundown.
Day 8:
Say our goodbyes and head home.
Workshop Leader
Jared Lloyd is the founder of PhotoWILD Magazine—the only publication dedicated to fieldcraft in wildlife photography—and PhotoWILD Workshops. With a background in biology and a 20+ year career as a professional wildlife photographer and environmental journalist, he has guided film crews for National Geographic, BBC Natural History Unit, and PBS. His work is widely published and can be found in the likes of National Geographic, New York Times, National Wildlife, and Audubon Magazine. Jared pioneered the integration of ecology and animal behavior into wildlife photography education and has been teaching fieldcraft-based workshops for 17 years.
