I was at Hanningfield today, and asked how the bookings were going for my Macro Workshop on 5th July. Turns out we're already fully booked on that one, so if you want to do a Close-up and Macro Nature Photography Workshop with me at Hanningfield Reservoir any time soon, you need to ring them straight away and book your place on the August 15th one.
We still have spaces on the Photography In The Park workshop at Thorndon Park on Sunday 28th June, but again I expect these to be filled before too long, so book early to avoid disappointment!
Contact details and dates of all my workshops are on my 'Workshops' page.
Archive » May 2009
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Friday, 29 May 2009
Macro photo workshop
Last Saturday saw me at Thorndon Park in Brentwood running one of my 'Close-up and Macro Nature Photography' workshops, and we were blessed with some nice weather and a good number of willing subjects, including Harvestmen, Spiders, Longhorn Beetles, Cardinal Beetles and various flies. The plantlife was good too, and as ever the bracken attracted me.
I try not to take too many photos myself when I'm leading a workshop, but sometimes I just can't help myself...
This longhorn beetle is a Rhagium bifasciatum, apparently.
Some bracken shot from ground level using my Manfrotto 055ProB tripod. Beetle shots taken with my Pentax K10D and Sigma 105mm macro lens, the bracken was with my Pentax DA*300mm lens.
This summer's shaping up to be a great one for insects, and I'm really looking forward to the dragonfly season really kicking off soon.
Have a look at my workshops page if you'd like to join me at Thorndon, Hanningfield or Fingringhoe Wick this summer!
I try not to take too many photos myself when I'm leading a workshop, but sometimes I just can't help myself...
This longhorn beetle is a Rhagium bifasciatum, apparently.
Some bracken shot from ground level using my Manfrotto 055ProB tripod. Beetle shots taken with my Pentax K10D and Sigma 105mm macro lens, the bracken was with my Pentax DA*300mm lens.
This summer's shaping up to be a great one for insects, and I'm really looking forward to the dragonfly season really kicking off soon.
Have a look at my workshops page if you'd like to join me at Thorndon, Hanningfield or Fingringhoe Wick this summer!
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Pentax K-7
Well, Pentax have announced their new DSLR, the Pentax K-7, and rather than just repeat all the specifications that you can easily find all over the internet, I thought I'd point in the direction of this Pentax K-7 video on Youtube.
Note autofocus in video mode (something none of the other DSLRs can do), in-camera HDR (with three exposures), 5.2 frames per second, full weather sealing (again!) and cold-proofed down to -10 degrees celsius. Various other little gems.
I'm really looking forward to trying this camera out, and I think it will be my next upgrade. My K10D has served me well, and I think this new K-7 will be a huge improvement.
Note autofocus in video mode (something none of the other DSLRs can do), in-camera HDR (with three exposures), 5.2 frames per second, full weather sealing (again!) and cold-proofed down to -10 degrees celsius. Various other little gems.
I'm really looking forward to trying this camera out, and I think it will be my next upgrade. My K10D has served me well, and I think this new K-7 will be a huge improvement.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
She Magazine
Back in February I ran a special workshop so that a journalist from She Magazine could attend and write a small feature about it. That has now been published, and you can find it on page 134 of the June 2009 issue of She, as part of the feature entitled 'What A Difference A Day Makes'.
Subtitled "Looking to try something new? The U.K. boasts plenty of fascinating locations, with a range of activities, from horse riding to cookery courses", the feature sent 6 journalists off to attend different days out of their choosing, taking part in activities that interested them. Helen Anderson was so keen to take part in one of my workshops, that I arranged an extra one specially for her, and we managed to get a few more attending at short notice. It was a fun day, if a little cold at that time of year.
The original can be seen here, but the text of the article is as follows...
_____________________
UNDERSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Helen Anderson and her daughter Poppy visited Thorndon Park Nature Reserve in Essex.
Point. Click. Fingers crossed. That's pretty much how I've always taken photographs. Some of them have come out well, but I couldn't say what went right... or wrong. A short photography course sounded ideal, so camera in hand, I took my daughter on a one-day workshop given by wildlife photographer Daniel Bridge at Thorndon Park Nature Reserve, near Brentwood in Essex.
Daniel takes groups of up to 12 people (there were just six of us) of mixed ability. Some were quite adept and wanted to learn new techniques, while others were fairly inexperienced. But we all had one thing in common: none of us were making full use of our cameras.
Daniel promised to help us translate a scene into a great picture by first explaining the technicalities of photography - ensuring we got to grips with apertures and shutter speeds in a way that was straightforward. Next, he explained how to compose a picture and showed us some of his photographs. As well as being stunning, they illustrated the benefits of understanding composition and other hints, such as why blue flowers photograph better in a slightly shadowy light, whereas yellow flowers really sing in full sun.
After lunch, we ventured out into the park in search of gnarled tree trunks, interesting bark and lichens and pattern-forming shadows. As we clicked away, Daniel advised each of us on shutter speeds and apertures.
The course offered the right amount of technical know-how and insight to enable us to feel we had really learned something, with plenty of inspiration thrown in from Daniel. By the end of the day even the most photophobic had produced something to be proud of - and knew how it had been achieved.
HOW TO BOOK
One-day SLR Photography In The Park Workshops (danielbridge.co.uk; 01277 232944) cost £35. See visitessex.com for more days out.
_____________________
I'm obviously very pleased that Helen had a great day out, and it's wonderful to get this sort of publicity in a national magazine. I'd like to confirm that this is not paid advertising, it was just a normal workshop, and normal fees for participants were made.
I'd like to say a big "thank you" to Helen for choosing to come on one of my workshops, and to She Magazine for publishing this article. There's lots more of interest in the magazine, so I urge you all to go out and buy it today!
Subtitled "Looking to try something new? The U.K. boasts plenty of fascinating locations, with a range of activities, from horse riding to cookery courses", the feature sent 6 journalists off to attend different days out of their choosing, taking part in activities that interested them. Helen Anderson was so keen to take part in one of my workshops, that I arranged an extra one specially for her, and we managed to get a few more attending at short notice. It was a fun day, if a little cold at that time of year.
The original can be seen here, but the text of the article is as follows...
_____________________
UNDERSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Helen Anderson and her daughter Poppy visited Thorndon Park Nature Reserve in Essex.
Point. Click. Fingers crossed. That's pretty much how I've always taken photographs. Some of them have come out well, but I couldn't say what went right... or wrong. A short photography course sounded ideal, so camera in hand, I took my daughter on a one-day workshop given by wildlife photographer Daniel Bridge at Thorndon Park Nature Reserve, near Brentwood in Essex.
Daniel takes groups of up to 12 people (there were just six of us) of mixed ability. Some were quite adept and wanted to learn new techniques, while others were fairly inexperienced. But we all had one thing in common: none of us were making full use of our cameras.
Daniel promised to help us translate a scene into a great picture by first explaining the technicalities of photography - ensuring we got to grips with apertures and shutter speeds in a way that was straightforward. Next, he explained how to compose a picture and showed us some of his photographs. As well as being stunning, they illustrated the benefits of understanding composition and other hints, such as why blue flowers photograph better in a slightly shadowy light, whereas yellow flowers really sing in full sun.
After lunch, we ventured out into the park in search of gnarled tree trunks, interesting bark and lichens and pattern-forming shadows. As we clicked away, Daniel advised each of us on shutter speeds and apertures.
The course offered the right amount of technical know-how and insight to enable us to feel we had really learned something, with plenty of inspiration thrown in from Daniel. By the end of the day even the most photophobic had produced something to be proud of - and knew how it had been achieved.
HOW TO BOOK
One-day SLR Photography In The Park Workshops (danielbridge.co.uk; 01277 232944) cost £35. See visitessex.com for more days out.
_____________________
I'm obviously very pleased that Helen had a great day out, and it's wonderful to get this sort of publicity in a national magazine. I'd like to confirm that this is not paid advertising, it was just a normal workshop, and normal fees for participants were made.
I'd like to say a big "thank you" to Helen for choosing to come on one of my workshops, and to She Magazine for publishing this article. There's lots more of interest in the magazine, so I urge you all to go out and buy it today!
Friday, 15 May 2009
Norfolk Broads and Beaches
I thought I'd better start looking into my backlog of blog posts, and so here are some shots from our trip to Norfolk in March/April. We stayed in a lovely cottage in Lessingham, near Stalham, which proved to be an ideal location for the Broads and beaches.
We spent a surprising amount of time on the beaches, especially at Sea Palling, where there were some amazing sand patterns, and miles of beach with few people on. Lovely!
All taken with Pentax K10D and FA50mm f/1.4 lens.
There's some wonderful architecture up there, and of course the windpumps are fairly iconic. Later in the week we had some heavy fog, and a trip to Cromer Pier was a good opportunity to make the most of the atmosphere.
All taken with Pentax K10D and DA16-45mm lens, except St. Benet's Wind Pump, which used a Sigma 105mm lens.
The whole area is very rich in wildlife (we lost count of the Brimstone butterflies we saw), but some highlights for me are shown below.
We hired an electric boat one afternoon, and the Great Crested Grebes were very obliging, fishing very close to us. The electric boat meant that vibrations were kept to a minimum, in 'idle' there's no engine to tick over.
A walk along the shingle bank at Salthouse, near Cley, allowed me to get very near to a pair of Turnstones that were more than happy to do their thing within 6 feet of my lens. One of those times when you can't stop grinning...
But definitely one of the highlights was visiting the Grey Seals at Horsey. It was cold, foggy and windy as we walked out to the beach, but it was well worth it to see hundreds of seals up on the beach. We spent about half an hour there, and the soft lighting really helped bring out all the detail in their fur.
All wildlife shots were with a Pentax K10D and the sublime DA*300mm f/4 lens.
This is the second year running we've been to Norfolk, and I think it will turn out to be a regular journey for us.
We spent a surprising amount of time on the beaches, especially at Sea Palling, where there were some amazing sand patterns, and miles of beach with few people on. Lovely!
All taken with Pentax K10D and FA50mm f/1.4 lens.
There's some wonderful architecture up there, and of course the windpumps are fairly iconic. Later in the week we had some heavy fog, and a trip to Cromer Pier was a good opportunity to make the most of the atmosphere.
All taken with Pentax K10D and DA16-45mm lens, except St. Benet's Wind Pump, which used a Sigma 105mm lens.
The whole area is very rich in wildlife (we lost count of the Brimstone butterflies we saw), but some highlights for me are shown below.
We hired an electric boat one afternoon, and the Great Crested Grebes were very obliging, fishing very close to us. The electric boat meant that vibrations were kept to a minimum, in 'idle' there's no engine to tick over.
A walk along the shingle bank at Salthouse, near Cley, allowed me to get very near to a pair of Turnstones that were more than happy to do their thing within 6 feet of my lens. One of those times when you can't stop grinning...
But definitely one of the highlights was visiting the Grey Seals at Horsey. It was cold, foggy and windy as we walked out to the beach, but it was well worth it to see hundreds of seals up on the beach. We spent about half an hour there, and the soft lighting really helped bring out all the detail in their fur.
All wildlife shots were with a Pentax K10D and the sublime DA*300mm f/4 lens.
This is the second year running we've been to Norfolk, and I think it will turn out to be a regular journey for us.
Monday, 11 May 2009
New Workshop Dates
Just a quick note to let you know I have put some new workshop dates on the 'Workshops' page.
There are new dates for Photography In The Park (my general 'composition, exposure and equipment' workshop) and Close-up and Macro Nature Photography (does what it says on the tin).
My workshops have been fully booked this year, so if you want to be sure of a place on the date of your choice, book today! Be aware that there should be some extra advertising shortly, which should push demand up even higher. Watch this space...
There are new dates for Photography In The Park (my general 'composition, exposure and equipment' workshop) and Close-up and Macro Nature Photography (does what it says on the tin).
My workshops have been fully booked this year, so if you want to be sure of a place on the date of your choice, book today! Be aware that there should be some extra advertising shortly, which should push demand up even higher. Watch this space...