Bird of prey practice

[CVP]

Cheated a bit at the weekend and instead of spending all my time looking for wild creatures I booked Mrs CVP and I on a day with behind the scenes access at the British School of Falconry near Biggleswade.

All oragnised by a company [url]www.wildarena.com[/url]. Dave and Peter ran a really good day, friendly and informative plus they were on hand to offer technical advice and tips if required. Participants ranged from the very experienced to quite a few people early on in their photogrpahic experience. I think all of us got something from the day, so a good result all round.

I have no connection to them apart from being a very satisfied customer, so satisfied in fact that I've just booked with them to go to Skokholm next June to photograph puffins in the wild.

A sample of what I did manage to get then;

Barn owl in flight, such a beautiful creature and so photogenic


Eagle owl banking turn to home in on the falconer


A super young tawny owl


The very inquisitive Steppe Eagle (didn't want to get too much closer that's quite a beak it has )


More at [url]www.pbase.com/cvp/birds&page=all[/url]. Not fully organised yet but the ones from Sunday at the foot of the page.

Cheers

Chris

[KB_S1]

I Really like the eagle owl because of the blurred wings yet pin sharp face. It really highlights the way owl's hunt.

[matthew_h]

They're all great but that Eagle Owl shot is superb. Just my kind of shot.

Superb

[tonyvid]

If the puffins are anything like the ones on Skomer you won't need a telehoto for the ground shots, macro more like - one actually walked across my foot! If you have a long lens just make sure you know how close it will focus.