This week we were delighted to welcome Fiona Brims back to Musselburgh. Fiona had previously given us a talk on creative portraiture, where she had talked about her journey from beginner to expert in creative portraiture. This talk was different. Fiona admitted she is no expert at wildlife photography, mainly because she doesn’t like waiting in a hide for hours, but that doesn’t take away the joy of capturing photos of wild animals when the opportunity arises. Fiona recommended the following nature hides

• Scottish Photography Hides
• Nature Nuts Photography in Blairgowrie (which may have closed)
• Argaty Red Kites and Woodland Hides
• Dean Manson Windows on Wildlife

but she usually goes to the public part of the hide, rather than the part reserved for photography bookings. Not being in a photography hide usually means the photos are taken from further away, or are taken from the wrong angle. So, most of the photos are not up to competition standard, but that doesn’t take away the joy of capturing a glimpse of a wild animal in its natural habitat. Fiona’s talk was divided into 4 parts:

• Wild Birds and Animals. Fiona showed us some of her photographs of wild birds; from a short-eared owl photographed at Sheriffmuir, to a shot of a grey heron taken at close range, which Fiona described as “vicious” (don’t get too close to a heron). Some bird of prey shots came from the Hawk Conservancy Centre in Andover, and the ICBP centre in Newent (which has recently closed). The most captivating shots show an animal doing something different, such as the shot of a red squirrel drinking from a pond in Blairgowrie. A deer with 3 antlers was spotted at St Syrus Nature Reserve in Aberdeenshire, Fiona also compared shots of wild animals she had taken in South Africa and India, showing us the differences between the African and Asiatic lion. You can see some of Fiona’s wildlife photographs in her galleries: Birds of prey; Wildlife of India and African Wildlife.
• Captive Birds and Animals. Fiona had visited animal sanctuaries, such as World of Wings and Munchester Castle, where you could get closer to some exotic birds, including an Egyptian ibis, a hooded vulture, several different kinds of owl, a goshawk and a black-chested buzzard eagle. Apparently, you can tell the size of a bird’s prey by the size of its talons.
• Reptiles and Amphibians: We then moved indoors where Fiona showed us some shots of snakes, lizards, geckos and frogs under indoor lighting conditions. Some of the creatures were contained in a glass case, but you can eliminate the reflections from the case by pressing your lens against the glass. She also advised us to take a glass cleaning cloth, because you’ll find these glass cases almost always covered in fingerprints.
• Creative Creatures: In the final part of the talk, Fiona revealed her expertise in creative compositions; showing us still life creations, where a snake curls around a clock or a raven investigates a model skull. Fiona sometimes uses animals in her creative portraiture, for example as seen in her Vikings gallery.

We finished with tea and biscuits as usual. Thank you Fiona for another fascinating talk.

• Next Thursday (26th February) we will find out the result of our second set subject competition on the theme of “Emotion”. The deadline for entering the third competition, on the theme of “Comedy”, is a week later on 5th March.