Discovering Nature Photography

Cupar Camera Club welcomed Alan and Julie Walker to the meeting on 5th December to give a presentation on their nature photography.  They showed members photos of birds and animals they had seen on travels round the globe - Macaques (snow monkeys) taking a sauna in thermal pools, huge Stella Sea Eagles bullying other birds of prey to steal their meal and Crowned cranes performing there elegant dances in the snow of the cold winter in the Japanese island of Hokkaido. We were shown the images Alan and Julie had taken of polar bears and foxes in Churchill, Canada, mountain hares in Scotland,  giraffes and other creatures in the Kalahari desert, and many other wonderful photographs.   Alan told the stories behind how he and Julie had taken the photos. They shared with members the camera settings thay had used and gave tips on how they set about getting their images.  Julie had spent hours lying in the snow to get close up photos of the Mountain Hares, They had waited with the Snow Monkeys until all the crowds of tourist had left on their buses so they could get the shots they wanted.

The three stand out tips they gave were :-

One. When photographing animals in the snow ‘over expose by one, two even three stops to make sure the snow in the photo is shown as white not grey.

Two.  Try to get a ‘different shot’ by getting low down to be at eye level with the subject or perhaps using a shallow depth of field to make the foreground and background out of focus.

Three.  Most importantly, be patient and wait for the posture, behaviour or action that will make your photo stand out from all the others.

Alan and Julie Walker with club programme secretary Frank Andrew