Inspiration (and locations) required!

desperately seeking · #1 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 01:11 PM

Hey all,

My first post here...

I'm going to the Cairngorms in March (to photograph raptors) and India in November on tiger safari. For these reasons (plus the fact that I want to get into wildlife photography as a serious hobby) I've just put a fair amount of investment into an equipment upgrade for my DSLR kit.

I've got three months until I go to Scotland and I want to get used to the new stuff but my problem is I live in a fairly wildlife scarce area. I have a very small back garden which is visited more frequently by the local cats than anything else. We put nuts and birdfood out but an example of local sparsity is the fact that a seed bell that has been hanging for at least three weeks has been touched by precisely nothing. We're lucky if we get a few blue tits in the garden...

What I need are some ideas of where I can go locally to try and get some snaps. I live in South East London. I have a car but I also have recently had eye surgery which has made me reluctant to drive too far in the dark.

So, does anyone with knowledge of my area of the world have any suggestions? I'm particularly into birds but willing to try anything once...

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks for listening,

DS

Boddie · #2 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 03:26 PM

Hi DS. I cant help much with your locations but John is back on later and he has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to locations for all sorts of birds.

So what sort of equipment did you treat yourself to then?

Boddie · #3 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 03:37 PM

I know its not local, but somewhere to consider later on for in flight practice would have to be Gigrin.

See this thread > http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...ite-shots.html

desperately seeking · #4 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 03:47 PM

Hi Boddie,

I already had a 350D (bought in June just two months before the 400d came out - but that's another story

) and the little bigma (a very old version that needed chipping to work with the 350d). I took them to Scotland in the summer (Mull and the Cairngorms) and realised that the slowness of the lens (AF speed and aperture) made British photography (I've had some success with the lens on a film EOS 30 in Namibia in 2001 but the light there is that much more reliable) very difficult with the ol' little bigma. This, combined with the typical beginners mistake of buying a "cheap" tripod convinced me that I needed to spend some decent cash before I go back in March for the raptors.

So I waited for the bonus to come through (actually the bonus was totally unexpected and couldn't have been better timed) and splashed out on a solid tripod and head combo and a much better zoom. In the end (after much deliberation and browsing of many forums) I plumped for the:
Manfrotto 485B Neotec tripod
Manfrotto 322RC2 ball head
Sigma "Bigma" 50-500mm DX

Now I want to try them out and I need hints as to where to go!

DS

PS - I love Red Kites; I see them quite often on the road between High Wycombe and Banbury when I go up there for work, we also saw them on the Black Isle in Scotland and even one on Mull in the summer. But you're right - definitely not local enough for me this winter...

Gill Catton · #5 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 03:49 PM

what about the London Wetlands centre.........
it's a wildfowl and wetlands trust reserve - I've not been there myself but I hear good things......

desperately seeking · #6 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

what about the London Wetlands centre.........
it's a wildfowl and wetlands trust reserve - I've not been there myself but I hear good things......

That's actually a very good idea - I often think about going there and I wouldn't even have to drive.... Does anyone here know what the people there think of tripods and long lenses in their hides?

Thanks Gill

DS

nightshade · #7 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 04:04 PM

London Wetlands Centre,use a clamp or your tripod as a monopod,don't worry about it just go and enjoy yourself

Boddie · #8 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 04:38 PM

Another Bigma user. Some of the members here take lovely shots with this lens. Look at Barbara's Gallery and that of GLSammy.

Barbara · #9 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boddie

Another Bigma user. Some of the members here take lovely shots with this lens. Look at Barbara's Gallery and that of GLSammy.

Cheers Boddie, very kind of you to say so

Welcome to the site DS, good luck with your new equipment. I don't think you will be disappointed with the Bigma, in fact I think you will love it. Look forward to seeing your shots in the Gallery in the future.
Barbara

Oscar2006 · #10 (**permalink**) 08-12-2006, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desperately seeking

That's actually a very good idea - I often think about going there and I wouldn't even have to drive.... Does anyone here know what the people there think of tripods and long lenses in their hides?

Thanks Gill

DS

Don't worry about what anybody else thinks of your tripod and long lenses in hides.
Us birders always have 10" - 18" of telescope sticking out anyway

Just get the practise in whilst you can.
Photography in the Cairngorms in March eh? Rather you than me!
Still, Wolfhill seems to get some cracking images when it's about 40 degrees below!