This was the 3rd Wex Photographic and Andy Rouse seminar to be held at Slimbridge Wildlife and Wetland Trust, a superb venue for nature lovers and therefore a great venue for Andy's seminars, as they are so focused on wildlife. This time, Wex Photographic sent our resident bird photographer along to get an enthusiast’s insight in to what these seminars had to offer.
“As a member of the audience and fellow nature lover, I warmed immediately to Andy’s unique style, which combines a direct and no-nonsense approach full of insightful opinions that challenge your preconceptions, with an extremely entertaining oratory style. Andy's passion is evident in his words and he is great fun to listen to, offering hilarious anecdote after hilarious anecdote from his years of experience in the field.
Andy knows how to produce great photographs, without getting bogged down in the technicality, instead remaining focused (pun intended!) on the essence of the image he is looking to create. He loves the wildlife he photographs and his knowledge and the respect he has for them is humbling.
These characteristics are evident in his work. I took many things away from Andy’s Seminar, including inspiration, a different way of looking at my nature photography, challenges to my preconceptions (comfort zones can be spelt R U T!) and reaffirmation of the absolute prime importance of not disturbing the subjects habitat and well being.
My advice to anybody considering attending one of these seminars is quite simple. Do it. Not only because you will see a great set of nature photographs, but because you WILL be inspired.”
As at all our seminars, Andy chose his favourite images from the entries into the Visions of Light photo competition.
In 3rd place was this beautiful shot by Jonathan Corry of a wolf standing in a shaft of light in a woodland glade, with the wolf's slightly wary expression perfectly captured.
In 2nd place was this fantastic image of a water droplet by Mike Curtis. The droplet has formed the shape of a swan!
Lastly, and in 1st place, was Angela Brain's stunning photograph of her daughter and her dog. The elegant lines combined with the moody lighting make this a deserving winner. Well done Angela!
In the afternoon, the attendees disappeared into the reserve to shoot the starlings that are roosting there at the moment. If you attended the seminar and managed to capture the starlings, please send your photos to the [email protected] email address and we will add the best ones to this post!
If you attended the Visions of Light seminar at Slimbridge on 24th January 2009, thank you so much for coming, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Please let us know what you thought by commenting on this article.
