ebirder Course - review (1 Viewer)

Further to a one day course I attended with Marcus Conway yesterday I just wanted to post a review of the day - which I found invaluable. As a complete novice to proper use of DSLRs and as a relative newcomer to birding I was a challenging subject but Marcus dealt with all the daft questions in his stride.

The day covered all the aspects of digital photography I could cope with as a beginner including: the proper use of Aperture Priority, spot focus and spot metering and after each new topic was introduced there was plenty of opportunity to practice.

The best thing was the amazing subjects Marcus found for me to practice on including Goshawk, Turtle Dove, Nightjar and the full range Bempton has to offer [with additional local expertise provided as well!]

I would have no hesitation in recommending Marcus's courses and will be booking on to another workshop once I've practiced the new skills from yesterday.

Attached is what I'm calling an arty Nightjar shot [well it was dark] and a Whitethroat shot taken after I'd had the benefit of the first few hours of tuition and which is probably my favourite shot I've taken to date.

And no I'm not related and neither am I on commission!

I love the whitethroat shot- its so vibrant.

Excellent shot of a Whitethroat.

Nightjars are very difficult especially with a relatively slow long lens. Personally I find the blue cast on the photo to be too distracting. For a silhouette type shot next time it might be worth upping the iso, increasing the shutter speed and converting to black and white during processing.

Great first efforts. Well done

ikw101 said:

Excellent shot of a Whitethroat.

Nightjars are very difficult especially with a relatively slow long lens. Personally I find the blue cast on the photo to be too distracting. For a silhouette type shot next time it might be worth upping the iso, increasing the shutter speed and converting to black and white during processing.

Great first efforts. Well done

Click to expand...

Thanks ikw101 - to be fair all the hard learned lessons of the day kind of disappeared when I saw the nightjar above my head! I totally agree its not a good photo but I kind of went with any photo of a nightjar will do for now! Now I know some of the basics I can't wait for another chance to practice. Cheers, Pitvar

I love the eye on the whitethroat, nice shot

Wonderful whitethroat.

Phil

Thanks for the comments - it was by the picnic bench at Bempton and is still my best shot - off to Norfolk for a weeks holiday soon so maybe I'll get some more practice in then!