Technical Wildlife Photography Workshop, with Mark Carwardine

This Saturday I attended a Technical Wildlife Photography Workshop, at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Barnes, with Mark Carwardine. Having had an interest in wildlife photography for some time and nature documentaries pretty much since the advent of the Discovery Channel on Sky, I was very aware of Mark's work. The opportunity to meet and learn directly from him was an incredible. His photos are amazing and that level of photography is very much where I aspire to.



The aim of the course, as the course suggests, was aimed at the more technical aspects of wildlife photography once you have taken the shot. This includes how to choose your best shots and the work-flow necessary to touch up and make the very best out of the images you have captured.



To start, Mark walked us through his standard work-flow, giving us practical advice on what software he used and how he used it. Although I already had a work-flow for my images in place, I have to admit that it has changed slightly and I'm very pleased with the results so far from doing so.

Mark continued, explaining his standard camera set-up and why he set it up this way. I was pleased to hear that this is very much the same as I set up mine. Once you have the set up, you just need to practice with your camera so that changing functions and settings becomes second nature, meaning you won't miss that once in a lifetime shot because you're busy changing the focussing point.



Following lunch, it was time for a practical session. It was great to go out in a group and have the advice of Mark as we were snapping away in the sun, although I must admit I did feel slightly pressurised to take a good shot.



While outside, we were able to meet up with Laurence Arnold, one of the reserves volunteers and, as we were told, a self confessed reptile addict. He was able to take us to a few places in the reserve not usually seen by the visitors and he was able to show us Slow Worms...



... and a Grass Snake.



Once back in the classroom, the subjects covered were entering a competition and giving yourself the best chance of doing well in it, and signing up to and selling your images through a stock agency. These were of great interest to me as I would sincerely love to be able to make a living from my nature photography. There's lots to look at but with Mark's advice I am at least on the right track.

Barnes Common - A different location and 2 nice discoveries

This weekend I decided I'd try somewhere new to take some photos. I was aware of where Barnes common is, I'd walked past it, been in taxis and buses which went past it, but never actually had a walk through it. So that's what I did. In the process, I made a couple of nice little discoveries.

Discovery 1: the stream that runs through Barnes common is the same stream that runs under Priest's Bridge (when I think about it, where it's located and the direction it runs, it's kinda obvious). I'd crossed this stream at Priest's Bridge many times before, as I was walking to Barnes station, and have been intrigued by this clear running stream, where it went and what delights it had to offer.



I started to explore the stream and saw a few damselflies busy going from one plant to the next. As I got closer to the group of plants they seemed to like, a female Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx Virgo) landed right next to me, giving me a beautiful shot.



Unfortunately, at this point, the damselflies were about as much as I could see on the stream, so I moved on.

As I moved away from the stream I began to notice all of the wild flowers there were in the semi-cut grass. Barnes common seems to be fairly managed whilst being given the freedom to grow slightly wild, allowing lots of beautiful flowers and grasses to call it home.



As I continued my walk I, somehow, managed to spot 2 mating Squash Bugs (Coreus Marginatus) on a dock leaf.



As I continued with my walk I heard a Wren flying about, chirping, but couldn't quite see where it was. I then heard a young wren's call in a nearby tree, so I went to see if I could spot them. That's where I made discovery no. 2.

Discovery 2: 3 beautiful baby Wren's, perched in the tree, doing their best to hide until Mum/Dad came back.





In the second photo, there are 3 babies. The middle one is slightly hidden, looking up, hence why you can't see its face like you can with the outer 2.

I finished my walk via Barnes pond. My aim was to see if there were any other damselflies and also to see if the heron I'd seen hanging out there so regularly wanted to have a photo taken. It would appear not, on both counts.

However, there were a few Mallards to be seen and a group of ducklings as well. Not a bad pay off I suppose.





I also spotted a caterpillar, which I believe is a Buff Ermine Moth (Spilosoma Luteum) basking in the sun on the fence around the pond.



And the final photo from my walk, a nice shot of an Egyptian Goose having a little swim.

Introduction to Wildlife Photography, with Iain Green

I decided that, if I actually want to take decent photos, it probably wouldn't do any harm taking a course to get some tips and tricks. My knowledge of the fundamentals of taking a photo are pretty good (i.e. I know how to put the camera on to automatic and which button you press to take a photo! Only joking) but as I am, admittedly, very much an amateur when it comes to nature and animal photography, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some advice from a professional. Fortunately for me, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Barnes was able to help out, offering a days introduction to wildlife photography with photographer, Iain Green.

Iain has been a professional wildlife photographer for the past 14 years, with his subject focus being very much on wild tigers in India.  As there is a distinct lack of tigers in Barnes, fortunately, it was good to know that he was adept at a wide range of subject matter, with his attention turning more recently to the wildlife that is all around us, the wildlife of London, in all its shapes and sizes. Please do have a look at his website. There are some gorgeous photos to see there.



The day started off, at the wetlands centre, with a brief introduction from Iain, covering his experiences and some of the fundamentals of wildlife photography including researching your subjects, composition and, perhaps most importantly, respecting the animals and habitat you're working in.

Then it was out to take some photos. We started over at the Wildside of the wetlands centre, admittedly my favourite part of the site. Iain was able to remind me that I needed to think about shooting from different angles and not to be solely reliant on my zoom lens.

Here, for me, it was all about Tufted duck babies...



And flying bugs. In this case, an Ichneumon Wasp.



After a bite to eat, it was over to the other side of the site, to have a look in the hides and to take a look at the, very much in bloom, RBC rain garden. Iain gave some invaluable tips for the set-up of your camera and here, to put those tips into practice, it was all about the flowers on offer, taking photos from angles different than the usual.



It was a warm day and it looked like this starling had taken full use of the plentiful water to cool down.

I had taken a few photos from below, looking to the sky, in the past and like the results I had achieved. The plane flying through the frame helps to place the photo in a specific location, another of Iain's tips, directly under the Heathrow flight path.

Small skipper butterfly



Iain also offered a first for the wetlands trust, an introduction for me to the resident lizard population, basking on some logs in the sun.



Overall, a fantastic day spent in the sun, taking photos, getting great advice and tips from Iain.  Is Iain in any danger of me stealing his job yet?  Erm, probably not.  Has this made me want to practice and improve?  Absolutely.  Watch out Iain!