About the workshop
The Whirling Wader Spectacle
The course takes place on The Wash - one of Britain's largest estuaries The North Sea and The Wash's mudflats provide food for hundreds of thousands of waders or shorebirds. There are oystercatchers, knotts dunlins, curlews, ringed plover, redshanks, sanderlings, turnstones and many others. On the highest of high tides these birds get pushed back to the shore line and when they run out of space they take off and fly in formation. This is truly one of Britain's greatest nature spectacles.
Course contents
This course is as much about the art of photography as it is the technical. You will leave the day will lots of wonderful portraits and action flight photos.
We will cover:
- Composing images with flocks of birds
- Exposure and white balance to account for both the birds and the landscape
- Understanding the tools available to you to judge exposure
- How to take great portraits of waders
- Making the most of backgrounds and foregrounds
- Choosing the right camera and lens settings
Timing
We will meet with plenty of time to walk from the car park to the best viewing location. The timing is based upon high tide.
Birds don't perform to a schedule, so you never know how long it will take them to carry out their spectacular display, but we will stay as long as it take and you can expect to be with me for at least five hours. As the whirling waders display is ending we will move on the the portraits portion of the workshop. In the unlikely event that the birds decide not to perform, I will offer you the chance to attend another workshop free of charge (but this has not happened to me any time before).
See more
Check out this video of waders on the Norfolk coast:
Key information
Event type: Workshop up to 5 people
Start time: (varies by date depending on high time time. See booking options)
Equipment needed: A DSLR or mirrorless camera with a lens of 400mm+ at full frame, 300mm+ at APS-C and 200mm+ at micro four thirds. You will find a tripod very useful, although it isn't essential, it will mean you don't have to hold your camera for long periods of time. If you have teleconverters please bring them, though they also aren't essential.
Children: Under 18s are welcome if accompanied by an adult. The adult must either be a paying workshop participant or remain nearby their child whilst not participating.
Location: Norfolk coast
Site entry charges: None, although there is a parking charge payable at the nearest car park. It is £3 at the time of publishing this page.
Duration: 5 hours minimum
Accessibility: We will be walking from the car park to the viewing location which takes about 20 minutes. This includes some steps. There may be a long wait for the waders to take off and fly in formation, so if you can't stand for long periods of time you might like to bring a folding chair to sit on, but you will need to be able to carry it from the car park to the viewing location. The portraits part of the workshop will include some lying down. If you can't lie down there are other types of shots you can take from a seated or standing position.
Comfort: Food and drink are not included. Portable toilets are available nearby. You will likely need to bring drinks or a flask to see you through the session, there is nowhere to buy food or drink. Please consider sunscreen/sunblock if you book on to a summer workshop as we will be outside for a long time.
Parking: Car park available, Currently £3.
Public transport: Not possible at this location/time of day.
Accommodation: Not included. There hotels and B&Bs within about 20 mins drive.
