28 April 2013: the second 'Photography: Day of Discovery' was blessed with good weather, co-operative hares and some rarer winged visitors on migration tour.
Our very talented 'students' enjoyed discovering the island's wildlife on their own as well as learning more tricks of the trade from the four tutors of the day: Jon Evans for tele-photography, Celia Bartlett for macro photography, Jeremy Hennell James for landscape photography and Paul Hackett, who had joined us for digiscoping; he was part of the tutor team for the first time and turned out to be a fabulous teacher for flight shots as well as being a brilliant digiscoper. In our lunch break under the wide blue sky we all enjoyed Paul's amusing stories from 'old twitching times' while tucking in the fabulous food provided by Orford's Pump Street Bakery.
Lunchtime under Suffolk's fascinating wide sky; Photo by Jeremy Hennell James.
These are the comments of the day, some from our 'students' and one from a tutor:
"Overall a very enjoyable day. Personally I came specifically for the hares and would have preferred to arrive for sunrise in order to catch the first activity, so I would seriously consider the overnight trip. Food was delicious and the RSPB staff/volunteers were superb. Thank you." Mark Smith, London.
"Unforgettable day out & a great adventure! 2nd time on the island & 2nd time of getting 6ft from a hare. Amazing tutors & magnificent food!" H. R., Bungay.
"It was both memorable and fulfilling to spend twelve hours on such a remote and beautiful island, studying and practising photography. Very friendly and inspiring tutors." Kate R., London.
"Had a great day out; the hares are just fab, I will be back on the island." Anonymous.
"An extremly enjoyable day which I would recommend. Very well organised by Monika and the food was filling. Best of all thank you to all the professionals for their undivided attention and expert teaching." Donna, Ipswich.
"A very enjoyable day, new ideas learnt, organising + hospitality and food first class, all participants have gone away with new gained knowledge. Big Thanks to Monika for organising the event." Paul Hackett, Digiscoping Tutor, Hertfordshire.
This time I not only got these lovely written comments at the end of the day, a few days after the event I found a thank you email in my inbox too, saying:
"Hi Monika , Just a small note to the RSBP for a great day of photography on 28 April. I learnt a lot and took tonnes of pictures which I'm still sifting through. Extra thanks to Paul for his undivided attention on getting me away from being dependant on the tripod and teaching me to take a chance. One extra special picture attached which I'm quite proud of - and as I haven't got photoshop or used any computer technology on it - apart from croping, I'm more proud than usual. Kind regards, Donna"
This was the picture attached:
Canada Goose on Havergate Island; Photo by Donna Hawes.