I was delighted to be invited to present a workshop this year at the prestigious ‘WildScreen Photography Festival’ at the Royal Geographic Centre in London. I was also at the event representing Bushnell, showcasing their trail cams and some of the footage I have captured with them.
For those not familiar with the festival, it is a wonderful gathering of wildlife photographers from all over the world, giving workshops, talks and showcasing their incredible images and work. The website can be accessed by clicking on the image below:
I arrived early on the Friday, ready for the workshop I was delivering in the afternoon. Aimed at those new to trail cams, this workshop aimed to give some insights on the best ways to get the most out of these great bits of kit!
I had a quick look around Hyde Park and sussed out what wildlife might be around, ready & willing to come to perform in front of the NatureViews trail cams! There were plenty of squirrels, pigeons, magpies and even a couple of Jays that looked possible candidates!
I set the room up with all my kit and a showcase of some of the many clips I have captured.
My workshop went really well and the weather held, meaning we were able to go and experiment out in Hyde Park, setting the Bushnells low on the ground and tempting obliging wildlife in for a snack. What I was aiming to do was to show how the positioning of the trail cam is essential for good captures. Just as with photography, getting on an eye level with your subject can mean much more exciting and intimate captures! We spread out in the park, experimenting to see what we could lure close to our trail cams!
We all had great fun and captured a few funny clips that show how great the 46cm close-up lens is for small mammal and bird captures!
I then showed the group how to use iSkySoft Video Converter (there is a FREE version!) that is great for simple editing and screen capturing images from your video clips. Here are a few captures from the session. Click on them to enlarge them. These were all captured with the Bushnell NatureView HD and a 46cm lens.
The rest of the weekend was incredible… totally inspiring images and a true passion for wildlife photography in many forms. With a wide variety of photographers, many of whose work I was familiar, we were treated to talks from Tim these inspirational people. If you are not familiar with their work, I recommend looking them up!
I would thoroughly recommend a visit to this event…. you will leave fired up and inspired to further your skills as a photographer. Many of the stories I heard and images I saw this weekend will remain etched in my mind for many years.