Birds in the Garden

EVENING TALK BY JULIA AND IAN WAINRIGHT

12TH August, 2024.

PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS IN YOUR GARDEN.

A talk not to be missed. This was an exercise in thinking outside the box, a new approach to an old problem and some superb award-winning photography, all part of the mix in this fascinating talk in which Ian complimented Julia’s presentation with a demonstration of some of the equipment used, taking us from the start of the project through to the current refinements.

It all started in the early stages of the covid lockdowns, Julia and Ian were living in suburban London. With time on their hands and an uncertain future, a project was needed to keep their minds from dwelling on the horrors of the pandemic. At about this time a group of starlings kept visiting the garden and being enthusiastic photographers it was not long before ideas were developed into a mission to photograph the garden birds in flight using close-up wide-angle lenses and not the usual heavy and expensive telephoto lens often use to shoot wildlife from a distance. A bird feeder was used to attract the birds into a specific location where a camera was mounted on a tripod. It was soon realized that the feeder needed to be mounted on a pole and not suspended from above otherwise the wire support often appeared in the shot completely spoiling the effect. The solution was a pole held upright in a Black and Decker Workmate and the support to the feeder was then out of the way of the flying birds. The camera was originally operated remotely by a long cable release going from the camera into a small hide in the garden. This was subsequently replaced by a remote trigger mounted on the hotshoe of the camera. A further refinement was to use an infra-red beam across the target area, when the beam was broken it operated the trigger on the camera and a shot was taken. The distance between the camera and bushes and shrubs in the garden was fairly close and some of the early shots contained too much detail from the background. Sheets were hung from poles to provide a suitable neutral coloured background.

Clearly, attention to detail and hours of diligently checking images on the computer would have been necessary to produce the high standard of the photographs we were privileged to see. Our committee are to be congratulated on getting Julia and Ian to come and give this fascinating talk to us.

Michael