Nature Workshop - The Full Story

Day One

Arrival at Orca Country Inn.

Welcome session followed by evening meal.

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Day Two

Sumburgh Head After breakfast we will spend a short time going over camera settings, exposure and composition before heading out to our first location, the extraordinary cliffs at Sumburgh Head. RSPB reserve.
There we will go through all the important aspects of field technique and action photography.
Awaiting our arrival on location will be Puffin, Guillemot, Fulmar, Great Skua, and Shetland Wren. While Gannets pass by, close to the head.
In the late afternoon we will return to assess our day’s work and begin to look at our workflow on the computer in the digital light room.

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Day Three

Noss National nature Reserve Walking the Island of Noss will give us the best possible views of Gannets, both in the colony and individuals in flight and perched. The spectacular site of over 20,000 Gannets on the 1300ft cliff is breathtaking.
We will also have the oppotunity to photograph Puffin,Twite,Shetland Wren, Great Skua,Arctic Skua, and Raven.

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Day Four

Mousa RSPB Reserve Private boat charter will transport us across Mousa Sound to this uninhabited island where the RSPB protect and manage one of the UK’s best locations for viewing Harbour Porpoise, and with luck Killer Whales.
On the island- Great and Arctic Skua, Eider Duck, Oystercatcher, Shetland Wren, Shag and Black Guillemot, as well as one of Shetland’s largest Harbour Seal colonies, living beneath the shadows of the 2,000 year old Broch, the finest example of Pictish architecture in the world.
After spending the late afternoon back in the digital light room, we will return to Mousa after our evening meal to photograph the extraordinary spectacle of Storm Petrels returning to nest and feed their young in the Broch and surrounding dry stone walls. This will allow us to experiment with flash techniques.

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Day Five

Landscapes of the West Side – Wildflowers and Birds
We will journey to the wild west of Shetland where the vast expanse of untouched wilderness provides opportunities to photograph Landscape and breeding waders.
We will also experiment with Macro Photography, looking at the hundreds of vividly coloured wildflowers that grow throughout the summer months.

 

 

 

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Day Six

Bressay and Noss
Noss National Nature Reserve .The cliffs on the island’s east side have one of the most spectacular sea bird cities in the world – a photographers’ paradise – with 45,000 Guillemot, 8,000 Gannet, 2,000 Razorbill, hundreds of Puffins and many other sea birds.
We will travel around the island from Lerwick with award winning tour operator Dr Jonathan Wills on board Dunter III, who will take you closer than you can imagine possible to the cliff’s seabird colonies, and introduce you to the local seal population. He also has underwater cameras to show what is happening under the waves.
In the afternoon we have the oppotunity to photographing seals at close range, before visiting the Iron Age Broch on Clickimin Loch and focussing on local wild flowers on our return journey.
We return to the computer room for another session before our evening meal.

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Day Seven

Landscapes and Nature of South Mainland.
This beautiful part of Shetland will give us a full day taking photographs of dramatic sea cliffs, and tranquil bays with sand and rocky shores.
The abundance of wildlife will allow for a fascinating array of subject matter. Dunlin,Ringed Plover,Golden Plover,plus much more.
Once again, we return late afternoon to the computer suite to work on our digital technique.

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Day Eight

Breakfast and departure.

Extra Notes for 16-23rd July 2011

During our 16-23rd July Workshop The Tall Ship race will be coming to Shetland We will have the opportunity to photograph this rare spectacle of between 70 and 100 vessels around the Shetland shores, over a period of three days.

Extra Notes for 11th-18th June 2011

Notes for 11-18th June 2011 On this trip only We will not undertake the evening Storm Petrol trip. But will be out most evenings if the weather is kind. We will also visit our Otter locations.

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Computer Room Projects

• Adobe Photoshop Tools
• Optimizing Photoshop
• Raw vs Jpeg
• Histograms and Exposure
• Cleaning and Adjustments
• Sharpening
• Creating and Stitching Panoramic images
• Expanding the Dynamic range and HDR
• Raw Conversions
• Layers and Layer Masks
• Advanced Black and White conversion
• Monitor and Print Calibration
• Adobe Lightroom

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Field Techniques

• Metering
• Lighting
• Flash
• Composition
• Focus & Sharpness
• Stalking & Camouflage
• Equipment and its correct use
• Plus much more

 

 

 

 

 

 

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View Techniques & Guidance