A first visit Brandon Marsh and a boring intro

A first time visit posting, so be honest, if I make a mistake, let me know, because that's how we learn and move forward.

A little intro first

Some of you will be aware I'm recently retired, my wife still has to work, but not for much longer. I've sold my golf clubs, golf to me was work, and I'm retired, so I looked for a hobby to keep me sensibly active, and that's where photography comes in.

I’ve not used a camera properly for more years than I care to recall, though I did start with a Zenit E film camera, plus a separate light meter, and progressed from there.

I then started to look at how cameras had changed, and stumbled on Mirrorless, not something I’d come across before, though the tech is not that new, just vastly improved. A lot seems very similar to the compacts I’ve used on holiday, for quick easy snapshots, only with more impressive optics and software.

A few days ago, I had a day to myself, and thought I’d look at a nearby wildlife reserve.

There were a few cars in the car park, two looked like they’d been there all night, dew covered. I’ve since found out they belong to the reserve wardens who lodge there overnight.

Lost, no map, so it was chance a path and see what I saw. After a ten-minute walk, stopping off in each of the three empty hides, but with good views across the pool, the final one I looked in, and there was human life!

This chap, a very helpful and knowledgeable person on the reserve, was telling me what was to be seen and where, all the hide information and a lot more, but even more coincidentally, his camera setup was more or les the same as mine, R5, 100-400 lens, 2x extender (I now have one of those after trying his, a used one online, but in impeccable condition).

I had noticed that he had an NHS walking stick, though I didn’t want to ask, but as the conversation progressed, he did explain what had happened. I take my hat off to him, he’s had some challenges, though he did down play them, saying many more are worse off than he is.

I digress.

What was invaluable was his knowledge, and the time he took to help me understand many of the R5’s features.

Out of three decent photos, only two survived, I accidentally deleted one, a perfectly framed lapwing that caught the sun perfectly.

It's always good to pick an easy subject first, and there were plenty to see, Canada Goose

Uncropped

• Exp 1/1000
• F11
• ISO 500

Cropped

• Exp 1/1000
• F11
• ISO 500

Tufted duck

• Exp 1/800
• F14
• ISO 200

• Exp 1/800
• F11
• ISO 250

What I did take away, apart from book suggestions and R5 experiences, was this:

"Don't try to binge learn, you'll forget more than your learned. Take each new species one at a time, recognise it and the rest will follow from there"

That seems very sound advice, so my first new species to recognise, lapwing and tufted duck, though I was warned there are other black and white waterfowl very similar when viewed from a distance.