Category Archives: Speakers

17 September 2026 (Molly Hollman: Creative Flower and Plant Photography)

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This week we had our first speaker on the season. Award winning photographer, Molly Hollman, joined us by Zoom from East Kent to talk to us about “Creative Flower and Plant Photography”, which is also the title of Molly’s book. Molly explained that she likes all kinds of photography, but photographing gardens and flowers is what she likes best. She works as a teacher Monday to Thursday, but on Fridays you will often find her with a camera in one of the public gardens near where she lives. Molly is a members of the Historic Houses Association (HHA), which gives her access to more local houses with gardens than the National Trust (at least in England it does). When photographing flowers in a public garden, Molly is careful not to disturb anything. She has more freedom when photographing flowers in her own garden, or in her home studio, and can move things around to get the background she wants. You can see some of Molly’s work in the portfolio on her web site: https://mollyhollman.myportfolio.com/flowers

Molly uses Sony cameras, and has a collection of vintage lenses with focal lengths ranging from 24mm to 600mm. She uses the shorter focal lengths for studio work, and macro lens for photographing insects, but when she is out and about exploring gardens she prefers a long focal length lens to a macro lens. A long lens lets her blur the background but maintain a safe distance from the flower. Besides her cameras and lenses, Molly’s most used pieces of equipment are:

  • A diffuser, which can filter sunlight and reduce harsh shadows when taking close-ups.
  • A clamp for holding a flower or branch in the wild or in the studio. She recommends the Wimberley Plamp for garden work or a Third Hand Tool for small studio work.

A full list of equipment can be found on Molly’s web site: https://mollyhollman.myportfolio.com/equipment-and-other-resources

Molly gave us some hints on how to compose a flower or plant photo. Don’t crouch over a flower and photograph it from above. You need to get down (or up) to its level. Think of a flower like a face and compose it like a portrait. If it is “looking” in a certain direction, allow more space in that direction. Upright and symmetrical plants will look good when placed in the centre of the frame. The focus point is crucial. Molly uses manual focus so she can place the focus point exactly where she wants it: sometimes on the anthers in the middle of a flower; on a leaf or seed; or even on the edge of a petal. Molly takes flower and plant photos with a wide aperture and small depth of field, which concentrates attention on the subject and keeps the background blurred. However, a narrow aperture works better when photographing an insect on a flower, so the depth of field can cover most of its body. Molly will try different viewpoints to get the best background. But if nature doesn’t provide a good background, she also has a collection of background images made by taking out of focus shots of all kinds of coloured objects (such as a garden fence, a blue T-shirt, a green hedge, a child’s painting, etc…). These images can be printed to make a backdrop, or can be added using Photoshop. Molly has made so many that she sells them on her web site: https://mollyhollman.myportfolio.com/overlays-and-textures-1

Molly prefers to take outdoor photos on a cloudy day when the sun doesn’t cast harsh shadows (and uses her diffuser at other times). Shots taken during the golden hour (near sunrise or sunset) often work best for garden landscapes, especially when shot into the sun with a neutral density (ND) filter. The low sun can work well as a backlight for flower photography, and you can also get some good silhouettes of ferns or bracken during the blue hour.

Molly went on to describe her indoor studio work. She likes to photograph flowers indoors using natural light from a window or conservatory, but will also use a light box which delivers diffuse light from the side and from the top. Flowers can be held in place using “Third Hand” clamps mentioned earlier. Coloured card (or a printed backdrop) can be placed behind and underneath each flower display. A light pad (of the type used for viewing slides and negatives) can be used as a backlight for a display of translucent flowers. Molly prefers to capture good pictures straight out of the camera, but will use Lightroom and Photoshop to crop the images, lift the shadows, improve the contrast, remove noise and dust spots and (if needed) drop in a new coloured background (often blended with the existing background for a more natural look).

Molly finished by introducing her photography course (https://mollyhollman.myportfolio.com/my-online-course) and inviting us to check out her YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@MollyHollmanPhotography/videos). During questions we learned that Molly sometimes enhances the lighting with a reflector but never uses a flash. We also learned that her favourite lens is the one provided by her Sony RX10iii bridge camera, because it is the lightest and most versatile for travelling with. Thank you Molly for a fascinating and insightful talk.

  • On Thursday, 24th September we will be trying out some “high contrast photography”. Please bring your camera and check out the video on the single light bulb technique which Derek posted: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdCKXFxjSMv/

18 September 2025 (Graeme Barclay: Street Photography)

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This week we were delighted to welcome our first speaker of the season. Graeme Barclay has a background in hydraulic engineering and started photography in 2017. He is currently a member of Midlothian Camera Club, but also has links to Falkirk Camera Club. Graeme has interests in creative street photography, astrophotography, themed portraits, sports photography and nature photography. You can follow Graeme’s work on social media:

In tonight’s talk, Graeme introduced us to his creative style of street photography. When he first started, he found street photography a challenge. You need to overcome your fear, learn to blend in and remember to press the shutter at the right moment. But once you get started you’ll find yourself a member of an awesome community and feel a special connection with people. It is legal to take photographs on public land, but you need to be careful not to include private spaces (such as the inside of a house or pub through a window). London and Edinburgh are both very good locations for street photography. Graeme finds that Princes Street is a better place for street photography than the Royal Mile because the lighting is better.

Graeme showed us some great shots where street performers had posed for him. However, he prefers candid portraiture, where you catch an expression without someone being aware of the camera. Graeme has several tricks for hiding his camera. He cut a slot in an old credit card and uses it as an adaptor which lets him take level shots while his camera is around his neck with a flip-out screen. He also sets his camera to silent mode and uses a remote shutter release from his pocket. He has mastered some misdirection techniques, such as pretending to look at his phone or picking up his keys. He showed us a series of great candid shots, mostly taken using a 135mm lens with a f/1.8 aperture. The wide aperture blurs the background and reduces distractions, although he found that the side of a passing bus can sometimes make a great background! He also explained how using a hashtag, such as #camden, is a good way of connecting on social media with the people and places you have photographed.

Graeme revealed some dramatic shots he created with an 8-15mm fish-eye lens, especially shots angled upwards from a low angle. You need to get the camera angle just right so that the lens distortion exaggerates the right part of the image, for example showing a huge foot and a leg stretching into the distance. You also need to get within a few inches of your subject to ensure they stand out from the background. Graeme uses centre-point auto-focus to capture his standard portraits, but for these special effects he uses a narrow aperture with the focus set manually to the hyperfocal distance (i.e. the one that produces the maximum depth of field). He uses the Photopills app to calculate the right focus setting for each shot:

https://www.photopills.com/

The evening finished with an audio-visual presentation that showcased Graeme’s street photography collection. We then broke for tea and biscuits. Thank you Graeme for showing us how to take some fantastic and dramatic street photography shots.

Next week we have an informal club night. Please choose 6 images that you’d like to share with other members. You can email them to George Todd or bring them along on a USB data stick. A club night is also a good opportunity to ask questions or to demonstrate something, such as a useful skill or a new gadget.

10 April 2025 (Stephen Ball: Scotland Behind the Lens)

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This week we were pleased to welcome Stephen Ball to Musselburgh as our last speaker of the 2024/25 season to give us one of his signature talks on landscape photography: Scotland Behind the Lens. Stephen is originally from London but moved to Scotland in the 1990s. He started his career as a theatre lighting designer and technician before moving into photography, and has recently won several landscape photography awards. You can read more on his “Scotland Captured” web site.

Stephen used to use a Nikon D7100 but has recently switched to a Nikon Z7, which gives a better image quality. His standard kit consists of a tripod, a collection of kit lenses and a set of Lee filters (neutral density, graduated and polarizer). Stephen explained that he likes to get his images right in camera. He uses Adobe Lightroom only for minor adjustments, such as cropping or adjusting the colour saturation. He will occasionally adjust the highlights when there are bright lights in the scene (such as the spotlights on the Queensferry Crossing). He likes to visit places very early in the morning or late at night when there are fewer people around. When Stephen photographs a landscape, he sets his camera on a tripod and takes the time to look at the scene and think about the composition. He avoids the temptation to take a large number of quick snaps, and the tripod helps him slow down. He adjusts the exposure manually and likes to choose a low ISO (such as 64 or 100) and small aperture (such as f/16 or f/22) to get the best image quality with the maximum depth of field. If there are many focal points in a scene, he will increase the depth of field by focus stacking. Stephen avoids using a wide angle lens to capture a panorama because it distorts the edge of the scene. Instead, he builds a panorama from several overlapping shots made in portrait orientation. He has also started experimenting with shots cropped to a square format.

Besides photographing Scottish landscapes, Stephen also likes to photograph the Edinburgh Tattoo, arranged through his membership of the Beautiful Edinburgh Facebook group. He explained how he uses different camera settings for these images. He selects a higher ISO setting for these darker scenes, and normally begins the evening with an aperture around f/11 to get a good depth of field, but when it gets darker he changes to “Auto ISO” and uses wide apertures like f/4.

Stephen took us on a tour of Scotland pictured through his lens, starting with popular locations like the Crawick Multiverse, Stobo Japanese Gardens and Leaderfoot Viaduct in southern Scotland and locations closer to home such as Dalkeith Country Park, Seacliff Beach, Preston Mill, North Berwick and Bass Rock. He also showed us iconic scenes in Edinburgh, from the picturesque Dean Village to citywide views from Calton Hill. Stephen also showed us how he obtained some unusual shots of the Forth bridges in the early morning mist, and he found the platform at Dalmeny Station gives an unusual view peering down the length of the rail bridge. He then took us further afield, showing beautiful scenes from all over Scotland, including an autumn scene at Loch Dunmore, some misty shots of Loch Ard, frosty images of Rannoch Moor and mountain scenes at Buachaille Etive Mor, Glencoe and Sligachan, Isle of Skye. Many of Stephen’s images had been taken only a week or two ago, showing us what we could expect to see if we were to travel to these places right now. Stephen finished his highland shots with a recent image he had captured after a long climb to the Old Man of Storr, where the view was so breathtaking that Stephen almost forgot to take any photographs! Thank you, Stephen, for inspiring us with so many beautiful shots of Scotland.

  • Next week we have a our “Best Image of the Night” evening. This is a fun, informal evening where we discuss and vote for our favourite images on the night. Please bring up to 3 images, either in JPEG format on a USB stick, or as prints, or a mixture of both. Prints can be any size (as long as they are large enough to see from the room) and don’t have to be mounted, although mounted prints are fine as well. I look forward to seeing what you bring.

20 February 2025 (Joe Gilhooley: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It)

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The club was delighted to welcome Joe Gilhooley from Loanhead, Midlothian to talk about his work. Joe’s interest in digital photography began in 2010, when he wanted to record his daughter growing up. He purchased a Canon DSLR and took the camera on family trips. He developed a liking for landscape photography but fell into the usual trap of coming home with 400 scattergun images of the same scene. He now recommends pretending you have a roll of film and only capturing the small number of images you think are worth keeping. Joe has 3 Canon DSLR camera bodies, a Sony compact camera, and a selection of 9 lenses. He always uses a tripod for landscape photography and recommends using the camera in “mirror up” mode with a remote shutter release to prevent camera shake. Joe’s love of landscape photography won him the “Scots Magazine Photographer of the Year” award in 2017 and 2019. Joe joined the Royal Photographic Society in 2020 and achieved an LRPS qualification in 2021 and is working towards the ARPS qualification. You can see more of Joe’s work on his web site:

http://www.joegilhooley.co.uk/

Joe started by showing us the 10 images he had submitted to win his LRPS qualification, which included a night view of the Forth Bridges, a night view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill, star trails over the Belhaven Bridge and a clever still life which simulated colours being painted onto a bowl of fruit. Joe likes to take his landscape images during the blue hour: the hour just before sunrise or just after sunset when sky is still bright enough to give a blue background. Joe watches the weather forecast and will often drive to a location at short notice to arrive in time for the perfect conditions. Calm conditions at sunrise are ideal for capturing still reflections and morning mist. Joe took us on a journey across Scotland, showing us a wide variety of excellent images of castles, gardens, monuments, lochs, mountains and iconic viewpoints. His subjects included landscapes, cityscapes, wildlife, star trails and fireworks. In 2022, Joe successfully applied for a press contract to photograph the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which gave him the opportunity to capture some beautiful images of the event. Joe had also offered his services to several football clubs, and had obtained a press pass to capture images of key moments during their games. Joe finished by showing us some of his sports photography images. Joe uses two camera bodies for his sports photography. One body has a 400mm lens attached, which he uses to capture distant action. The other has a 70-200mm lens, which he uses when the action gets closer. He uses fast (f2.8) lenses and a very high ISO to achieve the fast shutter speeds required for sports photography. A monopod helps to support the weight of his heavy 400mm lens.

It was a fascinating evening where Joe gave us hints about good places and times to take photographs and encouraged us not to be afraid to contact organisations like sports clubs and local newspapers who may need a local photographer.

  • We are having our “Sense of Speed” club photoshoot this Saturday, 22nd February at 10:30am in Lewisvale Park, Musselburgh, EH21 7AR. Bring your camera to practice photographing bicycles, dogs and people moving against a background. For best results bring a lens with a large maximum aperture, such as f2.8.

16 January 2025 (Gordon Rae: Wild at Heart – A Photographer’s Journey)

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This week we were delighted to welcome award-winning wildlife photographer Gordon Rae to Musselburgh to talk to us about “Wild at Heart – A Photographer’s Journey”. Gordon had last visited a year ago when he judged our human portrait competition and gave us a short talk on the “Birds of Iceland”. Gordon explained that he had started as a farmer in South West Scotland with an interest in landscape photography. A local magazine liked his landscape photographs and signed him up. His career in photography took off when he began photographing the local wildlife, joined Dumfries Camera Club and began giving tours for other photographers. He now gives 10 tours a year. Gordon uses a Nikon camera with a 200-400mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter. He likes to take his shots from close to the ground, which makes it easier to get a narrow depth of field. He also likes to use space in his shots to show the creatures in their environment. You can find some of Gordon’s work on his web site:

https://www.gordonraephotography.co.uk/index.html

Gordon began by showing the wildlife photographed in his local area, including birds and hedgehogs in his garden. Gordon travels around his farm on a quad bike and uses it as a tool to get close to wildlife. His strategy is not to use a hide, but to keep repeating the same actions until the wild animals get used to him and realise he is not a threat. The local hares will let him get close as long as he doesn’t get off the bike. As well as great shots of hares, dippers and kingfishers, there were some unusual dark squirrels and a fantastic shot of a grumpy sparrowhawk. Gordon then took us further afield and showed some fabulous shots of ospreys, grouse and mountain hares taken in Scotland.

In the second half of the talk. Gordon described his adventures on a bear-watching trip to Silver Salmon Creek in Alaska. The journey there was an adventure in itself, with the site only accessible by a small aircraft which landed on the beach! Visitors to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge live and move within the habitat of the bears and need to be constantly on watch. Gordon described some hair-raising encounters with the bears. He witnessed a mother defending her cubs, a bear running towards him to pounce on a salmon, and a bear that came so close that other photographers had turned their cameras on him! The results were some truly breath-taking images. Gordon finished his talk by showing us photographs he captured on a trip to Churchill in Manitoba, Canada. After arriving in the autumn, he witnessed how quickly the Hudson Bay can freeze. This time polar bears were his main subject, although he also captured some images of the local foxes. The polar bears were photographed from the giant tundra vehicle, and the driver was happy to position the vehicle to capture the bears against a more interesting background. Gordon left us all inspired to improve our wildlife photography.

  • Next Thursday we will use our Members Evening slot to have another studio portrait session. We can practise some of the advice we learned from last week’s portrait competition. It will be similar to last year’s studio night, except this time we’ll concentrate on the lighting. Derek will bring along his studio lights, and we can move the lighting around and see how it affects the final result.
  • Please bring your camera on Thursday, plus a tripod and a flashgun if you want to experiment with those.

31 October 2024 (George Robertson: Exploring Kathmandu and the Khumbu Valley)

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This week we were delighted to welcome back George Robertson to the club. George had already entertained us with two previous talks featuring stunning mountain photography:

23 September 2021 (Into the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods)

22 September 2022 (George Robertson: The Snows of Kilimanjaro)

This time George enthralled us with photographs documenting a trek from Kathmandu through the Khumbu Valley to the Mount Everest base camp. George is a member of Milngavie and Bearsden Camera Club and has been running the mountain trekking company Mountaintreks for a number of years. George’s photography had begun from a need to record the experiences of the clients on his mountain adventure treks but had expanded into the fantastic collection of mountain landscapes you can now see on his web site:

George Robertson Photography

The journey begins at Kathmandu, a place full of jumbled, multi-colour buildings and picturesque Buddhist temples. The group then catch a flight to Lukla, perhaps one of the most dangerous airports in the world. All flights to Lukla take place early in the morning to avoid the fierce winds, and the short runway slopes upwards at 12 degrees to help aircraft stop before hitting the concrete wall at the end! From here, the rest of the journey is on foot along a narrow, rocky road dotted with monuments and engraved symbols. Literally everything, from luggage to building materials, is carried down this road either by pack animal (dzo) or on someone’s back. George documents this journey with a series of stunning photographs showing the towns and people encountered on the way and the increasingly stunning views of Mount Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. All of George’s photographs were taken with one camera body and a single 18-200mm lens. He didn’t take a tripod but managed to get some fantastic night shots of the mountains by balancing his camera on a rock. The talk finished with the group’s arrival at the Everest base camp and a series of jaw-dropping photographs of the mountains at sunset. Thank you George for entertaining us yet again and showing us why you have twice won a Landscape Photographer of the year award.

  • Next week’s colour print competition has been moved to 14th November, so will have our members evening on 7th November instead. Please bring along any interesting images or ideas you would like to share with other members. We can also take the opportunity to finish the back and white printing.

11 April 2024 (International ZOOM Speakers)

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On 11th April we were delighted to have 3 international speakers who joined us from Sweden and the Netherlands.

First up was Denise van der Boom who provided a bird’s eye view using drones to capture images from the sky. Denise has a very practical reason for favouring drone photography due to mobility issues. The drones do provide a great tool for getting compositions and locations that just would not work on foot. Members might recall Eddie Telford telling us back in February than he often waded into a river to get best shots. Denise gets similar shots without getting wet by hovering her drone over the water. The legalities of drone flight were mentioned (similar to UK rules) along with a brief comparison of a few different models. The small size and low weight of the DJI mini 4 meant that it could be taken on holidays as well as providing that unusual bird’s eye view of her homeland. While the novelty of the different views afforded by drones is interesting, there is still the need for a good composition. Abstract images of tulip fields full of coloured strips of flowers to the astonishing aqueduct that confused the senses, rainbows in agricultural watering systems and fine historic buildings all benefitted from the unusual viewpoint. Denise’s work can be seen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/denisevanderboom/

Hans van der Boom followed with a great 10 tips for “Photographing flowers in soft focus” using his own shots to illustrate his points (some of which may be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/hansvanderboom/).

  • Use a Macro lens or adapters
  • Accessorise – mat to lie on, lights, plamps, clothes pegs, crinkled tin foil and, surprisingly, dog poo bags – the packs with various colours!
  • Use a BIG aperture, you don’t want all of the detail of a pin sharp image.
  • Make use of “out of focus” areas, to simplify your image.
  • Know your subject – go out with certain “in season” flowers in mind. An online Flowering Calendar could give an idea about what flowers might be currently available.
  • Pay attention to composition and space within the image. Using a low viewpoint (using a bean bag, or even a polystyrene bean bag for weight reduction) can keep the image simpler. The space around the subject is out of focus and this minimises clutter. Less is more!
  • Use of Light, avoiding harsh light and dark shadows. The use of a white umbrella can be used to diffuse light
  • Experiment – Christmas lights (battery operated LEDs) in front of or behind the subject. Use crinkled aluminium foil or glitter boards. Use a plant mister for a few dew drops. Place anything in the out of focus areas to simplify them. Reflectors can also be useful.
  • Bokeh and light bubbles are easier to achieve when shooting low to high.
  • Post Processing – add a little brightness and saturation, combine techniques. Moderation makes the master.

Hans also suggested shooting in raw and keeping ISO low to minimise digital noise. He also suggested that double or multiple exposure could be useful. Attaching the coloured dog poo bags, or sandwich bags etc to the lens hood with a clothes peg is a good way to fill the out of focus areas. Hans suggested that folks should look at the work of Bob Daalder for some inspiration.
https://www.instagram.com/bobdaalder/
https://4tinyhands.com/macro-photography-with-bob-daalder/

The evening was brought to a close by Helen Lunden, who many know from her time in Scotland and who is now a member of Mölnlycke Fotoklubb, Gothenburg, Sweden. Helen presented her work on images produced using Intentional Camera Movement (ICM). This was sparked by her attendance at a course in Dumfries and Galloway run by Morag Paterson and Ted Leeming. Helen covered the Why and How of ICM along with what equipment was needed along with examples and inspiration. The equipment used does not have to be special, in fact because the finished result is rarely pin sharp, older or less sophisticated kit can work out fine. Helen often uses an older Olympus EM10 and a mixture of lenses and ND filters.

How? Move the camera during the (long) exposure. An exposure of 1/8th of a second is often enough, and Neutral Density filters can help here. The camera is moved horizontally, vertically, spun, etc. You won’t know what you will get until the photo is taken. Multiple exposure can add to the finished result with perhaps multiple ICM images or 1 ICM image and a sharp image combined. Helen prefers to achieve the result in-camera with only subtle increase in contrast and saturation carried out afterwards. Her method is to “take lots of shots and delete what you don’t like”. While vertical movements are often used for trees and horizontal for landscapes, you can always add in other movements or shapes. An advantage of the technique is that it can work indoors or out, in pretty much any lighting conditions and even macro can be effective. People photos can provide a ghostly effect.

Helen’s recent projects include The Swedish West Coast (ghostly images), Dark & Light (quite moody) and Light & Harmony (quite fresh). It is very interesting to see things in the final images that have been introduced by the working method, the results can be striking. Helen was keen to encourage more photographers to have a go at ICM to see what they could produce. Helen Lunden’s images are on show at…
https://helunhelun7.wixsite.com/helensfoto
and she talked about the work of several other photographers who champion ICM images including…

along with the ICM PhotoMag Network run by

The ICM PhotoMag can be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ICMPhotoMag/

An interesting international evening highlighting aspects of photography that are not often discussed at Fisherrow.

  • This Thursday (18th April 2024) we will be having a “Studio Lighting Fun Workshop” at the Fisherrow Centre at our usual time of 7pm. Bring your camera or phone and come along to experiment and have fun.

Breaking news: Scottish Nature Photography Award Winners

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The winners of the Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2023 Awards have been announced. Charles Everitt, who gave us a talk just a couple of weeks ago, has been announced the overall winner. Here is the BBC news article:

BBC: In pictures: Nature photography award winners

I think Charles’ winning image was one of the ones he showed us during his presentation. Congratulations to Charles!

  • Please note that Musselburgh Art Club have cancelled their visit to Musselburgh Camera Club this Thursday. We’ll have a members’ evening instead. Stephen is going to try to move us back to room G3, so please check room G3 before going upstairs to room F1.

22 February 2024 (Eddie Telford: Around the World in 80 Images)

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This week Eddie Telford returned to Musselburgh to give us a custom talk based around two themes: “Remember Photography is Fun” and “Around the World in 80 Images”. Eddie began by showing us a short comedy video showing the antics of the “Nessie” toy that he takes with him on his travels. A Loch Ness monster who likes his whisky. 🙂 He then showed us a selection of humorous photos with silly poses, odd juxtapositions and unfortunate angles of view which showed the funny side of photography. Eddie showed that photography can be fun and entertaining, and is more than just entering competitions.

The second half of Eddie’s talk showed a varied selection of photographs taken on his travels around the world, covering at least 4 continents. I lost count of the number of countries he mentioned. His presentation was peppered with fun anecdotes and good advice about presentation and choosing the right title. He showed us some “before and after” images showing the edits he had made in response to judges’ comments. Eddie was not averse to viewing a scene from the best angle, sometimes donning waders to get the shot from the middle of a river. We finished the night with a chat with Eddie over tea and biscuits. Thank you Eddie for a great presentation and an entertaining evening.

Next week, 29th February, Malcolm Roberts will reveal the results of the “Contrasting Textures” set subject competition; and the week after, on 7th March, we will be saying “hello” again to our friends from Mölnlycke Fotoclubb, in Gothenburg.

16 February 2023 (Alan Walker: Discovering Nature Photography – Japan and Beyond)

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This week we joined Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club for a fascinating talk by Alan Walker of Keswick Photographic Society, who described his experience discovering nature photography around the world. This particular talk, Japan and Beyond, is part 4 of Alan and Julie Walker’s “Discovering Nature Photography” series. You can find Keswick’s summary of this talk at the following link:

Julie and Alan Walker “Discovering Nature Photography Part 4 – Japan and Beyond” October 30th

Alan began by showing us the photographs he had taken from a visit to Japan in February 2018. The trip began in the Japanese Alps, where macaque monkeys gather to warm themselves in the hot pools. The two main problems in photographing these monkeys are the large numbers of people who gather round them and the steam from the pools. Alan avoids these problems by getting in close and waiting for moments when the steam subsides. He uses a Canon 200-400mm zoom lens with a built-in 1.4x converter, which can take the lens to 560mm. Photos were typically taken at ISO 1600, f/5.6 and 1/1000th second. Next he showed us photographs of the iconic red-crowned cranes at the Akan-Mashu National Park. These cranes are black and white birds photographed against a white snow background, so are difficult to capture. Alan recommended an exposure compensation of about +2 stops to get the whites looking right. The birds can be darkened in post-production. The best images are taken by getting down low to capture the birds against an out of focus distant background. Alan also described his experience photographing Steller’s sea eagles in the Sea of Okhotsk, birds which make great silhouettes when captured in profile.

Next, we were treated to a collection of nature photographs captured at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, USA. Here Alan photographed snow geese and sandhill cranes in dim lighting. He experimented with photographing the flocks of birds at slow shutter speeds (e.g. 15th-60th second) while panning, which created images with movement. He also captured individual birds when taking off or landing. The birds look better when taking off, because they are looking up, but it is much harder to catch a bird doing this.

Alan moved on to show us photographs of mountain hares and red squirrels captured in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, and photographs of tawny owls and other birds captured from a hide in Otterbourne in Hampshire. Alan also showed us photographs of big cats captured in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. He explained that the Kalahari is not a good place to visit for a safari if you want to see lots of animals, but if you are a photographer you go for the yellow grass and the lovely light. Alan finished by showing us images of polar bears captured in the arctic tundra around Churchill in Canada. This is a very bleak and cold place, and the polar bears are out to get you! Alan showed how polar bears are photographed safely from large viewing vehicles. In the question and answer session Alan gave some tips on keeping your camera operating in the extreme cold:

  • Keep your batteries warm at all times. Keep charged batteries in your pocket, not in your camera bag. Be aware that even the discharged batteries need to be kept warm, or they won’t charge properly.
  • Be aware of condensation when you return to a warm room after being out in the cold. If you need to take your batteries out do it before you come in. Opening the camera in a warm room when it is still cold could let condensation form inside.

All in all this was a fascinating talk from beginning to end. Thank you Alan for entertaining us with the talk and thank you to Beeslack Penicuik Camera Club for organising it.

Steven