Wildlife photography workshop: Anglers CP

Today I  ran a wildlife photography workshop at Anglers Country Park near Wakefield. The workshop consisted of a couple of hours of theory looking at gear, exploring advantages of certain types of lenses and cameras as well as looking at the fundamentals of composition and depth of field. Following the classroom session, we went outside to get the delegates in the saddle by taking photographs of common spotted orchids before lunch. Then, after a short break, we had a go at macro photography using moths from last night’s moth trapping which for me was the highlight and I am sure the delegates got some cracking shots of some beautiful moths. The haul from the trap included poplar hawk moth, elephant hawk moth, satin, drinker and peppered moth as well as an amazing large emerald, buff tip, and peach blossom. As course tutor I am there just to facilitate and therefore don’t take many photos other than to show how I would approach the subject. However, I did manage to have a go at the large emerald using the wonderful Nikkor 200mm f/4 micro lens :¬)

wildlife photography workshop: large emerald (Geometra papilionaria)

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Marbled white butterfly in Yorkshire

The marbled whites were at their best today at Brockadale YWT reserve. This is one of the best places to see marbled white butterfly in Yorkshire as it is fairly small and the butterflies are concentrated in a single area. I had a productive couple of hours here today and managed some really nice images of the newly hatched insects and also managed some good stuff of ringlet too. Meadow brown was on the wing there too but eluded me on this trip as did the banded demoiselles. The light was overcast which was perfect for the photos and the temperatures were warm enough for the insects to be on the wing but not too active to be stalked.Marbled white butterfly Yorkshiremarbled white butterflies Yorkshireringlet butterfly

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Lapwings on the North York Moors

I drove up to the North York Moors today to try and photograph ring ouzels at a spot I know well and although I found the birds, they would not reveal the nest location. Both birds were in the area of the nest with food in their beaks but despite my being at least 500yds away and observing with binoculars, they wouldn’t go to the nest. I left them for a while and then went back but by this time, the heavens opened and it was too wet to sit out so I left them alone. When I left the ring ouzels, I spent an hour photographing the lapwings and there were plenty of them about. Some chicks were well grown while others were very small and obviously second brood, It’s good to see these beautiful birds doing so well.

Lapwings on the North York Moors

 

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Mother Shipton moth

I was out with the Wakefield Naturalists’s Society today for the first of the summer field meetings and we had a good trip to Hetchell Woods near Thorner. As a group, we notched up some good sightings including marsh harrier and red kite passing over and also a hornet – not a common species locally. The shot of the day for me though, was this Mother Shipton moth, a fairly common, day flying spring moth but not one I have photographed before. It gets its name from the markings on the wings which have the appearance of a witch with hooked nose and chin. Mother Shipton was a witch in Yorkshire folklore.

mother shipton moth (Callistege mi)

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European cuckoo

Looking through my recent images of European cuckoo, I think that this one is my favourite so far. I’m drawn to the way the line of the cuckoo follows the line of the branch and creates a symmetry and a lead into the image, The cuckoo is a magnificently beautiful bird that seems to be in sharp decline in the UK sadly, so it was a great pleasure to be able to photograph it at close quarters.European cuckooThe shot was taken using one of the hides set up by my friend Alan McFayden over at Scottish Wildlife Photography Hides, check out his site for booking the cuckoo hide and quote ‘Wildscenes’ for your £10 discount.

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