Waterfowl Workshop

I am running a waterbird workshop on saturday, the 24th November 2012 at Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands centre in Norfolk.

This is a one day event costing only £90

For this workshop we will have exclusive use of a large hide reserved for us for the entire day. This will give all participants plenty of room to set up and still have space for camera bags etc.

Whooper Swans will be the main target of the day, but Mute Swans, Greylag Geese, Pochard and other wildfowl are also photographable. There are no tame birds at Welney, all birds are completely wild. This workshop will cover many aspects of bird photography, but particular attention will be given to how to set up and use your equipment to obtain good images of birds in flight (a speciality of the leader). Swans make relatively easy targets for flight photography so are a good species on which to hone your skills, although you may find the ducks more of a challenge!

Another key skill covered by the workshop will be how to expose for white birds, as your camera’s auto metering system will almost certainly fail to achieve good results on it’s own. With the instant feedback provided by digital photography, exposure is easier to handle, but getting it right still remains one of the essential skills of the photographer.

Our facilities at Welney will provide us with a weather proof environment for the workshop and plenty of birds for us to photograph. Sandwiches and cooked lunches are available at the nearby visitor centre, or you can bring your own. The hide will never be left unattended during the course of the workshop, so your gear can safely be left should you wish to have a break for lunch etc.

Equipment:

You will need a long lens for this workshop – at least 300mm and preferably more. The leader will be using a 500mm lens and sometimes a 1.4x converter. A shorter telephoto lens could be useful for group shots.

The hides have seats, but you may wish to bring a cushion to make yourself more comfortable. The hides can be cold, so dress for a winter’s day.

It is possible to use rest your lens on the open hide ‘windows’, but a tripod is useful, particularly if you are using a heavy lens. The leader will be using an ‘Ergorest’ camera support and a Wimberley head, which is much easier to handle in a hide than a tripod.

 You are welcome to email me at billcoster@hotmail.com to discuss any aspect of these tours. 

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