Birds of Prey visitor centre photography. Advice needed !

coddy72

coddy72

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Paul
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Hi, I'm just after a bit of advice.

I've been given a wonderful birthday present from my wife and daughters, a day with a professional photographer at Gauntlet Birds of Prey centre on the outskirts of Manchester.
I'm very new to DSLR photography after having a superzoom bridge camera for approx 10 years.

I only have a kit lens for my camera (18-140) and was wondering if this would be enough for the day?
I am considering renting a lens for the day, possibly the Nikon 70-300 or 200-500.

Apparently we have the opportunity to photograph the birds indoors (portrait?) and then outside where the handlers will get the birds to fly about.
Has anyone been on such a day? and if so, could you offer any advice on what to expect.

Also, any other advice in regards to settings, clothing, accessories to take and the such would be much appreciated, thanks.
 
I have no doubt you will enjoy it.

In regard to what you ideally need I would think as this is an organised day there is likely a contact number or email for you to get information about this from the photographer for any site and/or 'day' specific kit & clothing guidance.

Edit - I found this on the site. "Our vouchers are sent by post and are presented in an A5 folder, including all the information you will need on the day". So maybe wait and see what they say in the voucher pack.
 
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Agree with BB the pro photographer arranging the day should be able to give you advice on what do bring :)
 
l wouldn't hire a lens just for the day, it takes practice to get used to it and you could lose shots especially in flight.
The pro will give you advice on settings so listen to them.
If you want to practice a bit find somewhere with gulls and try on them
 
Gremlin said:
l wouldn't hire a lens just for the day, it takes practice to get used to it and you could lose shots especially in flight.
The pro will give you advice on settings so listen to them.
If you want to practice a bit find somewhere with gulls and try on them
Click to expand...

Is there anywhere WITHOUT Gulls Ingrid :p:p:p:p
 
Your 18-140 should ok inside do you have an external flash. Out side then you will need something in the 400 range Maybe hire one for the day
 
I would think a 70-200 will cover most stuff in a centre
 
I went on one of their days some years ago. Very good it was. The itinerary then started off with different birds on perches, branches and tree stumps. The birds were quite used to this and we could get quite close to them. I'm not sure what body you are using but if you have a cropper then your existing lens will be quite adequate.

Then we did some relatively close range flying. Short flights that were little more than glides. Again your lens is probably long enough.

After lunch we went indoors into a studio type set up. They brought birds into pre built sets. They said the birds used in this set up hadn't been fed but knew they would be fed in front of us. This kept them docile while eating. There were studio lights and suitable backgrounds.

Then we finished off with the big birds flying across a field from one handler to another.

With a bit of ingenuity you could probably get by with your kit especially if you have a cropper. Remember..whatever gear you take you will want something different!

We came away with over 800 shots.
 
I have done quite a few photo days with birds of prey and as the conditioned are controlled, even the flying, I have found that a 300mm lens is more than sufficient - I either use a 300 f4 or a 70-200 f2.8 either with or without a 1.4x

Stan
 
I used a crop body and an 80-200 2.8 ImageUploadedByTalk Photography Forums1454346532.092256.jpg
 
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