This image was taken as I was leaving WWT Welney and crossing the bridge back to the Visitors Centre and car park. Other visitors ahead of me had stopped to take some photographs of the fledglings waiting to be fed by their parents. They were sitting on the top edge of the wooden screen either side of the walk way waiting for their parents to feed them. They were very tolerant of human presence, and therefore allowed a close approach.
I waited for the other photographers to finish taking some photographs before I started moving along the bridge. If the birds got a bit nervous of they would take off and land back on the bridge some where else. Once settled they allowed a closer approach. From my original direction of approach the light direction wasn’t that good, but I still made some images just in case the swallows left completely with my attempt to get the other side of their position. Occasionally the birds took off in alarm when a Kestrel passed by, but once I got into position with better lighting I was trying for this shot. The fledgling swallows would start begging for food as their parents flew past so I concentrated on one individual, waiting for signs of the fledgling to start its begging and then hit the shutter button. With 8fps on the motor drive I was hoping that one image would include the parent flying in. There is no substitute for taking lots of images in this situation, so don’t be afraid to use the delete button when editing later!
As a side issue, there some ethics you should adopt when approaching a subject when other photographers are present and also generally in your outdoor photography and wildlife issues. Recently in Outdoor Photography magazine there has been some discussion about some set ups used by the photographer Niall Benvie for some of his images. Having read a lot of Niall’s writings, I know that he is very careful and ethical in his photographic approach. When I noticed that other photographer were photographing the swallows I could have walk right up to their position and attempted to make some images straight away. This in my mind is a selfish approach as it would be about just me and the images I could make. A couple of things could have happened: I got my photographs of the swallows as well as the other photographers and the birds stayed put, I scared off all the birds and no photographers got any photographs or I scared off the birds and only the other photographers got some photographs. There is no real written code of conduct but the North American Nature Photographers Association have some guidance on their website which is worth reading and following. Download the PDF version here. To make my photographs I approached slowly to the are over 10 minutes, made sure the other photographers were aware of my presence and waited for them to stop taking photographs before moving closer. As a result we all got photographs.
This contrasts with another experience I had later on in London’s Richmond Park where I was photographing the Red Deer. I was alone photographing a Stag with impressive antlers, and had been doing so for about 20 minutes when 3 other photographers walked straight up towards the stag to try and make some images. Even though the deer in Richmond Park are habituated to humans, the Stag got up and moved away quickly. Why? Probably two reasons: a rapid, direct approach towards any animal could be perceived as an attack plus since multiple persons were involved it could appear as a ‘pack’ hunting. A slower more deliberate approach would have probably resulted in images for all!
I’m off to WildPhotos 2009 in London later today, so say hello if you see me. I’ll be the guy with the Gower Photography logo on his shirts!
