courses
Donna Nook Statement
It’s getting to that time of year again when hordes of photographers descend upon a certain seal colony in Lincolnshire. A statement has been released (which makes for pretty convincing reading) linking it’s rise in popularity with an increase in pup mortality. And, going from many first-hand witness accounts, I can well believe it! You can read it on Terry Whittaker’s Blog here.
Grey seal, photographed at Donna Nook almost 20 years ago.
In an older blog post here I talked about how I was pretty much the only person there throughout my stay. I haven’t been back since and, quite frankly, I have no intention in doing so since it would only ruin a perfect memory.
So, how do we stop groups of photographers flouting the LWT’s request to stay behind the fence? Simple, don’t attend group workshops organised and led by those who will. In other words, all photographers that advertise seal photography workshops here since it is HIGHLY unlikely that, given the money that has been exchanged, that they would remain behind the fence as opposed to trudging off across the beach. I would personally like to see permit-only access where, each year, a lottery based permit system is drawn up where, for a fee, a certain amount of photographers/public are permitted to walk across the beach to the main seal colony. The money could then be put into the LWT’s pot. This would be beneficial to all concerned, not least the seals!
South Downs 1:1
A very enjoyable day yesterday was spent holding a one to one. We met at Alfriston then headed off in my car to several locations centered around the Cuckmere valley. The location was chosen as it gives a range of opportunities to illustrate techniques within a relatively small area. Total time spent from one location to another never exceeded 10 minutes. The picture below was taken to illustrate how to ’anchor’ the image. To give it foreground interest where your eye then leads through the frame to the distant cliffs. Without the rock it would have been rather uninteresting of just the beach, pebbles and cliffs. I then processed it in black and white since in colour I felt it was too monotone whereas in monochrome it brought out the textures and contrast of the chalk and seaweed.
Nikon D300, 12-24mm at 15mm, iso 200, 1/80th sec. f16, Manfrotto tripod. 2 exposures, one for the rock, the other for the sky then merged in Photoshop CS4. Using an ND Grad would have also darkened the cliffs.
About Robert Canis
Robert Canis is a professional photographer specialising in the natural world.
Read more about Robert Canis
