- Messages
- 1,783
- Name
- John
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Attended the first photography day at the Hawk Conservancy Trust in Andover aimed at beginners to this type of photography.
The day lasted from 10am to 5pm & was led by 2 experienced photograpers who appear to spend half of their lives at the place ( and I can now see why!). All of the attendees had dslrs mostly at entry level & most had lenses upto around 300mm but you would be able to get decent images with any type of camera & all are welcomed
The day was split into a meet & greet session followed by an explanation of the day plus the settings required for this type of photography & an encouragement to go totally manual on the camera settings & to shoot in RAW. The photography was split into static & flying opportunities & really makes you think about how to get the most from your kit. It was interesting to see a wildlife experts take on apeture,iso & shutter speed with the emphasis based on a sharp image is everything. Composition follows after lots of practice
At 11.30am we went to the the first flying display of the day where they had a Secretary Bird on display followded by various burrowing owls, vultures flying, a duck race & a Barn Owl static photographic opportunity. The only problem was the driving rain & hail leading to one of the worst attacks of the shivers that I can ever remember.
Lunch was a hot stew type thing which was filling & good and was then followed by a quick Q&A session.
The second flying event of the day was at 1.30pm where they were flying vultures followed by eagles followed by black kites. The birds flew over the grandstand areas at head height & often would perch within 3-4 feet of the attendees. The rain was present again & meant that the birds were rapidly getting waterlogged & not flying at there best. For the kite display they were catapulting food into the air & the kites were catching it "on the hoof". Whilst it was relatively easy to predict the straight line that the vultures used it was impossible to predict the flight path of the kites & frequently you ended up with shots of the sky or just black blurs on the image.
After another coffee break to try & warm up we had photographers only access to the secretary bird which is an amazing animal. This was followed by up close & personal with 2 vultures who flew so close that one wingtip actuall hit the side of my head! Thes vultures would walk about between your legs when not flying however I would not attempt to stroke one of them! Finally we had the opportunity to photograph a snowy owl both static & flying. This is probably one of the most beautiful animals that I have ever seen. This bird has appeared in films & has its own Facebook page. It also had the most piercing cry.
The day was rounded off looking at images taken that day & talking about basic post processing.
All in all a fab day. I learnt so much about wildlife photography & so much about my camera & lenses. The two guys who ran the course had the amount of input about right & the falconers were really helpful. Initially it is really about grabbing the shot . This place is a hidden gem & I shall certainly return. There are aviaries full of birds that I didn't have time to even look at.
The cost of the course was £60 all in & they are running 4 in total this year. One of the best birthday presents I have had in a long time
The day lasted from 10am to 5pm & was led by 2 experienced photograpers who appear to spend half of their lives at the place ( and I can now see why!). All of the attendees had dslrs mostly at entry level & most had lenses upto around 300mm but you would be able to get decent images with any type of camera & all are welcomed
The day was split into a meet & greet session followed by an explanation of the day plus the settings required for this type of photography & an encouragement to go totally manual on the camera settings & to shoot in RAW. The photography was split into static & flying opportunities & really makes you think about how to get the most from your kit. It was interesting to see a wildlife experts take on apeture,iso & shutter speed with the emphasis based on a sharp image is everything. Composition follows after lots of practice
At 11.30am we went to the the first flying display of the day where they had a Secretary Bird on display followded by various burrowing owls, vultures flying, a duck race & a Barn Owl static photographic opportunity. The only problem was the driving rain & hail leading to one of the worst attacks of the shivers that I can ever remember.
Lunch was a hot stew type thing which was filling & good and was then followed by a quick Q&A session.
The second flying event of the day was at 1.30pm where they were flying vultures followed by eagles followed by black kites. The birds flew over the grandstand areas at head height & often would perch within 3-4 feet of the attendees. The rain was present again & meant that the birds were rapidly getting waterlogged & not flying at there best. For the kite display they were catapulting food into the air & the kites were catching it "on the hoof". Whilst it was relatively easy to predict the straight line that the vultures used it was impossible to predict the flight path of the kites & frequently you ended up with shots of the sky or just black blurs on the image.
After another coffee break to try & warm up we had photographers only access to the secretary bird which is an amazing animal. This was followed by up close & personal with 2 vultures who flew so close that one wingtip actuall hit the side of my head! Thes vultures would walk about between your legs when not flying however I would not attempt to stroke one of them! Finally we had the opportunity to photograph a snowy owl both static & flying. This is probably one of the most beautiful animals that I have ever seen. This bird has appeared in films & has its own Facebook page. It also had the most piercing cry.
The day was rounded off looking at images taken that day & talking about basic post processing.
All in all a fab day. I learnt so much about wildlife photography & so much about my camera & lenses. The two guys who ran the course had the amount of input about right & the falconers were really helpful. Initially it is really about grabbing the shot . This place is a hidden gem & I shall certainly return. There are aviaries full of birds that I didn't have time to even look at.
The cost of the course was £60 all in & they are running 4 in total this year. One of the best birthday presents I have had in a long time
