Last time I mentioned that I had done a photo-shoot up in Norfolk at Cley nature reserve, run by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Cley is one of my favourite places to go bird-watching and just to be in general. Although my main objective that day was not with the wildlife, but the wonderful landscape that stretches as far as you can see down the coast.
We were up in Norfolk in April, which for anyone into birding would know is a fantastic time to be there because the bird migration is at it's peak! I was especially trilled to see a bird I've wanted see for a long time called a Ring Ouzel, which is closely related to a Blackbird, being a type of Thrush. They look pretty similar to a Blackbird too, but the most obvious difference is that a Ring Ouzel has a crescent shaped band across the chest. They are also notoriously difficult to see for even the most intrepid of bird-watchers let alone me! Even when my dad and I did find them we spent quite a while getting my wheelchair into the right position just to get a view! Eventually we managed it and the two of them gave us a really good view in the end! Here's a record shot my dad got of one of them through the telescope!
As well as birding we had a lovely relaxing time away looking round national trust places and wandering around Cromer pier, but I particularly planed to do some photography. Cley seemed to great place to take my camera and I've wanted to do a shoot there for some time. To properly capture the huge expansive landscape at Cley I thought would have to use my wide angle lens, but it didn't prove to be that successful. This was partly because the weather that day was very overcast and slightly foggy so it didn't produce the the dramatic skies that Cley sometimes gets. Here's one of my wide angle shots with a slightly better sky.
In the end my zoom lens work the best, which I was quite surprised by! I enjoyed the fact I could get a closer view of details in the wider landscape. I was amazed just how far I could zoom in because it's not a telephoto lens and the detail was pretty good. My objective was the capture the atmosphere which is slightly bleak and I always feel a little melancholy, but really beautiful! I especially focused on the bird hides which I know are not much more than glorified huts, but I think they have character. Here's one of the photos I took with the zoom lens of one the hides.
Although the shoot didn't go quite to plan I still learnt a lot and got a few good shots. I'm still pretty new to landscape photography so with a bit more experience I should be able to improve. Anyway I can always go back when the weather is better and hopefully catch some good skies. I'm really enjoying landscape photography, and I feel it's now a more established part of my work. So that's about all for now and I hope you've enjoyed reading. Before you do leave a comment, I'm always interested in hearing your feedback!