Thursday 23 February 2023

Lakenheath Reserve (RSPB) - Wednesday 22nd February 2023

 On a very misty morning just 5 of us made it to Lakenheath Nature Reserve.  With visibility limited by the mist wildlife sightings were pretty thin on the ground but, on the plus side, rain was less than had been forecast.

Most of us walked the 3mile circuit of the reserve stopping at the various hides and viewpoints but even when the mist had lifted there were very few subjects to photograph.  We spotted very distant marsh harriers and could hear cranes in the far distance.  A few ducks, coots and geese were seen and a lone muntjac deer on the bank of the Little Ouse.

We stopped at the Photographer's hide on our way back and were able to see a selection of smaller birds at the feeding stations including great, blue, coal and long-tailed tits, male and female reed bunting and green and gold finch.

In spite of a disappointing lack of wildlife it was great to be out in the fresh air and enjoy meeting up with a few friends.

A few of our images can be seen below:


Lakenheath in the Mist by Steve Gregory


Coot at Mere Hide by Tim Leonard




Greylag Geese in the Mist by Andy Caws


Muntjac by Di Jackson


Fenland Landscape by Steve Gregory


Greylags on the River Ouse by Tim Leonard


Long-tailed Tit by Di Jackson



Female Reed Bunting by Andy Caws



Male Reed Bunting by Di Jackson





                                       
 

Thursday 16 February 2023

Tuesday 14th February - Still Life - Table top workshop

A practical session taking photographs in the hall always goes down well and this evening's meeting was no exception.  There were seven table top arrangements provided by Francesca, Jan, Liz and Andy which gave a wide variety of subjects from traditional still life through to amazing 'tricks'.  Also, Jack was on hand with a demo showing a basic Lightroom and Photoshop workflow for getting images from the camera to competition-ready.

There was plenty of time for each person to take a series of shots, adjust their settings and learn through trial and error.  We were aiming for shots like these:


Coffee and Orange by Graham Jackson

Coffee time - Francesca

Nuts and Bolts Skyline - Jan

Sparkler and Lightbulb - Jan

Still Life Old Master - Andy

Water Refraction - Jan


And here we are trying to capture the shot:

Water Refraction

Nuts and Bolts

Still Life Old Master

Still Life

Tangerine Reflection

Coffee Time

IT helpdesk

Wednesday 8 February 2023

Tuesday 7th February - 'Photographing Landscape whatever the weather' with Tony Worobiec

This was Tony's third visit to Wayland and this time he was encouraging us to embrace all weather conditions. More than 30 club members joined in this Zoom meeting from the warm, dry comfort of home to see Tony's examples of cold, wet, windy, grey weather and how these conditions can be used to our advantage in landscape photography.  Through a range of examples featuring many different types of landscape, we saw how Tony had 'matched' the weather conditions to locations or subjects often with dramatic results.

By the end of the meeting, Tony left us checking our weather apps and getting excited at the prospect of frost and fog in our area the next morning.  I wonder how many went out early with their cameras to take advantage of these conditions?

You can find out more about Tony's photographs and books on his website here.