Photography at Hogganfield Loch

To date I have been a birder/photographer rather than a true wildlife photographer. What I mean by this is that I have had my camera over one shoulder and my binoculars over the other. I switch from seeking new birds with my bins to taking a photo with my camera fairly fluidly. But this comes at a cost.

This foot in two camps approach means that both my birding and my photography are held back a wee bit from achieving their full potential. When I am out birding, I am lugging a camera around which means I often leave my scope which can hold my birding back. Similarly, I very rarely go to just do photography and really focus on a subject and try to get that one shot that makes it all worth while – once I have taken a good enough shot I normally move on to find a new bird.

So my resolution going forward is to split these two pursuits and focus on Photography or Birding each time I am out. So to kick the photography side off I have spent a couple of very different mornings this weekend at Hogganfield Loch near Glasgow.

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On Friday I spent a morning with Paul McDougall on a 121 creative workshop. I had been looking for someone more experienced than me to help me break the approach described above and hopefully become a more creative photographer. We met at 6.30 just as the sun was rising. We discussed camera setup whilst the light was getting it together. Paul encouraged me to simplify my settings a wee bit.

I started taking a few shots directly into the sun looking for a simple silhouette. This was a technique I had tried before and was pleased with the results and Paul helped me to identify the best light on the water and identify a subject before it arrived at this spot so I was ready to capture the best image.

The next area of water that Paul encouraged me to photograph subjects on, I have to say didn’t look inspiring at all! And even worse Paul was asking me to shoot about 2 stops underexposed (ie dark). However the dark water set to offset the subject more and I was pleased with the results. Paul was also encouraging me to take care of tiny details like waiting until there was a catchlight in the bird’s eye or capture the water droplets falling from the bill after a dive. These details really help improve the shot.

In the same dark area a white swan really popped on the dark background. Waiting for the warm lighting to hit a dark coot was more of a challenge whilst side light on a Greylag also was helping me to tune into the light and conditions.

A heron flew in but we had to wait for about an hour for it to be free of Swans which were ruining the background. It was well and truly worth the wait for the following shots which I consider my finest from the day. The combination of the interesting light, simple black background and the amount of time I spent to capture interesting compositions and behaviours really elevated these shots. I would never have gotten these without Paul encouraging me to try -2 and -3 exposure levels. This is a fantastic new tool to incorporate into my repertoire and was worth the cost of the workshop alone.

Paul was also acting as a spotter for me by noting birds and/or behaviour I might have missed. Whilst I was photographing the Heron he pointed to a female Goosander which was playing with a feather. This kind of interaction always adds a story and a focal point to the shot.

Next up Paul encouraged me to try some slow shutter speed shots (1/8 second). Initially I was panning various swimming birds and the results were mixed. Whilst trying this a swan landed near me and I fired off a few shots wondering how they would turn out. I really like the simple composition of the 3 mallards.

The light was becoming more normal now as the sun rose in the sky we were walking around the Loch now.

At this point Paul encouraged me to try another shot that I would simply never have tried. First the subject was pretty boring – a gull on a buoy – and second the light wasn’t too promising either. We stepped the camera down to -3 stops underexposed. On the back of the camera it was difficult to see if the shot was amounting to anything but on the computer it was a real revelation to me – wow! Again the black background and large amounts of negative space really made the composition here.

The last subject of the day were a pair of Great Crested Grebes who were close to the shore. An interesting bit of behaviour too when they mated in front of us.

All in all a really useful morning with Paul and I recommend his workshops. I hope to incorporate much of what I learned in my photography going forward. For me the slow shutter speed panning shots and massively under-exposed black background technique were really great takeaways that I can’t wait to try again.

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Two days later I would be back at the same Loch but this time for a Birds in Flight workshop put on by Stirling and District Camera Club. As part of my plans to improve my photography skills I have decided to join this club. The start time was 7am but I got up a bit earlier and arrived at 6.15 for the sunrise.

The light was beautiful and I made the most of it capturing a swan and heron during these precious moments.

Once the group had arrived we had a briefing from Roger who had organised the day. This was a birds in flight workshop so here are some of the shots I took. I was mostly chatting with the other club members and making some new friends so I didn’t really get any spectacular shots but it was good to refresh this photography technique.

We had a few more birds as we walked around the Loch and I tried a significantly under exposed shot on a Grey Heron sat in a mass of trees. This was a shot I had talked through with Paul a couple of days before. I don’t think it is perfect yet but I think it is a good shot compared to a standard exposure shot.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to developing my photography in the future and being part of the club too.