Held at Scottish Natural Heritage’s prestigious Battleby Centre just outside of Perth, the Scottish Nature Photography Festival is an event for nature enthusiasts; whatever level you may be at! Featuring inspiring speakers, amazing imagery, informative workshops and trade stands, as well as the chance to mingle with like-minded photography enthusiasts, it is an event that I have not been to before and was excited to be part of this year. Bringing together a selection of inspirational speakers, the event aims to excite and inspire and it certainly did that!
This is the first time I have attended the event and I went along with two hats on really; my WildlifeKate one and my Bushnell one! As an exhibitor for Bushnell, I took a range of trail cams and night vision units, as well as examples of footage I have captured using these units. During the breaks between talks, guests were able to come and look around the range of exhibitor stalls and learn more about products and purchase kit.
The impressive range of speakers was what first attracted me to this event. Most of them I know and I am familiar with and admire their work. It is well worth checking out their websites if you have not seen their work. If you click on the images below, you will be taken to their websites.
Each talk was packed with inspirational imagery and delivered with passion, enthusiasm …… and humour! It was tangible the love all these guys have for the natural world and the part they have in portraying it and sharing its wonders with the public.
At lunchtime, there were also a range of great workshops, where speakers would give a little more insight in to the ways in which they capture their images. The two I sneaked out to for a quick peek, in between manning my stand, were those of Alex Hyde and Jamie Hall.
Alex, the macro master, gave a brilliant demonstration of how he would go about photographing a range of macro subjects, including a rotten log, lined with sulphur top fungi he had found in the grounds. Refreshingly simple techniques that often used cheap homemade alternatives to expensive kit, I was dying to get back out with my macro lens!
Jamie spoke about his techniques using DSLR camera traps and how he uses his Bushnells to suss out and monitor the areas before he places his traps. DSLR camera trapping is something I am very keen to try, especially with the wonderful wildlife at Yew View! Jamie’s images have always had the ‘wow’ factor in my mind and his recent work with barn owls gives me goose pimples!
Although I was actually staying in a different hotel to these guys along with organisers, Pete Cairns, James Shooter and Mark Hamblin, I joined them in their hotel in the evenings. Nothing beats spending the evenings with fellow enthusiasts. We all share a passion (and obsession!) with the Natural World and aim to share that through our own, individual work. It was a total pleasure being in the company of such a warm and friendly bunch of wildlife professionals, many of whom’s work I have admired for years.
A massive thanks to all those who played a part in the organisation of what was a most wonderful weekend! If you haven’t been to this event before, then I can thoroughly recommend it…. and get the date in your diary for 2017!