Springwatch Photo Club
| 09:53 UK time, Monday, 10 May 2010
There are a couple of rather exciting additions to Springwatch this year and I'm particularly pleased about Springwatch Photo Club. You may remember I've always felt we don't devote enough time to the amazing photographs you post on our Flickr group. The new Photo Club will go some way to addressing this.
We will have 15 minutes on Red Button immediately after the main Springwatch program on Wednesdays. That's 15 minutes completely devoted to your photographs and wildlife photography in general. We hope to have some special guests, top tips, Chris's expert (but sometimes controversial) opinions and a photographic theme of the week for you keen photographers to explore.
I will update the blog as we crystallise our ideas (and do let us know what you would like to see) but in the meantime please keep uploading your pictures to our group. We now have the opportunity to do them a little bit more justice!!
And on Tuesdays it's The Springwatch Pub Quiz.
Update 8th June: You can watch the first Pub Quiz again here, the first Photo Club here and the second here.
Comments
Hi Martin, great to see you back,really looking forward to Springwatch and the three specials next week.What a brilliant idea to have a photography theme of the week!Will the Red button programme still feature viewers questions?
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from Wildlife Filmer Adam:
Nice to have your blog postie things back...
Hmmm, sounds good...but more should be done on viewers videos too or at least on mine, I've been devoted to Springwatch ever since it started and I've always contributed videos and never had them shown...meh...
Cheers.
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Well would rather have more on what we can see during this time of year than photos the viewers have sent in.
If you want to do a viewers pictures why not have a seperate programme devoted to them, one a week.
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No Roger no..... Its a cracking idea, If's there's any chance that one of my or any of the other hunderds of 'flickr group' pictures gets shown to the masses, I'm up for it. Flickr's OK, but a lot of 'little old ladies' out there don't have a PC. I little pix slot at the end of every show is a great idea. :@)
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roger, I think you will find that the viewers photos are an excellent guide to what can be seen at this time of the year. A quick browse through the Flickr Springwatch Photo Pool, will give you a better impression of what is around at this time of the year than any amount of words.
I think the Springwatch Photo Club is an excellent idea. You see I firmly believe that nature photography is an superb way of helping people to engage with the natural world. I find that as people get more interested, their interest in what they are photographing grows. One of the main reasons I find close-up and macro photography so fascinating is that it is the true egalitarian branch of nature photography. No need to travel huge distances and painstakingly set-up hides, and have super expensive long lenses. People's backgardens have an array of creatures with action packed lives that make the lives of exotic African mammals look tame. What is more it can be tackled with quite humble photography equipment, with even little digicams doing a fair job.
I spend a lot of time giving people help and advice with their macro and close-up photography, because I see how their interest in the natural world develops because of this interest.
Whilst I use fancy equipment for my close-up and macro photography, would suggest some features on using more humble equipment, like the little digicams most viewers probably have.
The difficulty is that not that many of the experts use them for much apart from snapshots. However, to show how easy it is to turn a humble little digicam into an excellent means of recording the little things we see I will give a quick tip. Flash is excellent for freezing action, and for close-up photography, but the fixed flash in digicams gives very bad lighting close-up. However, this can easily be changed. Screw up a white tissue and hold it in front of the flash, being careful your fingers don't obstruct the flash. You will now get lovely soft even light with no shadow from the lens, when used in macro mode. Go in your camera's menu and select "flash forced on" and now you have an excellent means of recording all those little things you see. No blurry photos either, because of the freezing effect of flash. The light from this simple trick can be surprising good, and professional looking. It is a useful tip for any budding naturalist who wants to use their digicam for taking record shots of what they find.
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Steb1 ??
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Yes cosper, I normally use a variation of SteB, which is just a contraction of my actual name, but often the simple form of it is already taken, so I have to add bits to it.
I am really pleased about this whole idea because I believe that digital photography is the single best way of involving people in, and enthusing them about the natural world. It is all about user participation. When people start photographing or filming things they see in their garden, or the places they visit, they start asking questions about what they are photographing. What is it, or how can they get a better photograph of it? Nothing forces you to look at, or learn about nature, more than when you are trying to photograph it or film it.
Yes of course there is the angle of someone trying to get the best photograph/video, or see it on the telly. But when they are doing it they are actively engaging in a real study of the natural world. Plenty of people marvel at the wonderful natural world they see on TV through the fabulous natural history films produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and others - but it often seems very distant, and very other to them. When they try to photograph or film what they see themselves, this starts to change. Perception is everything, and it becomes real to people when they enage with it.
My view of the natural world has changed so much through my trying to photograph it. When I watch a flower feeding hoverfly in close-up, when trying to photograph it, I know I am not just watching some simple little thing. The precision, delicate, and intelligent way in which they open up the flower parts to get at their food shows that even these little flies are not the crude and simple machine like animals that many modern ideas about the natural world imply - there is no "just" anything - all the parts of the natural world have features and abilities beyond anything you will see in books or on TV - they are complex beyond out limited ability to understand them. Yes their can be a competitive side to photography, but I cannot think of a better or more direct way of involving people in the natural world, and increasing their understanding of it.
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I'm not sure roger realises that all the photos are taken at this time of year in order to go into the relevant flickr group.
It's a very popular and enthusiastic part of viewer participation that has been under represented and putting it on the red button section is a marvellous idea. Anything that gets people up off their bums and out responsibly engaging with nature is a good thing.
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I think it's amazing how digital photography has opened up photography to everyone - and, because there's no expensive film to buy, you can take dozens of pics in the hope you get some good shots rather than be limited to only a couple because you knew the processing would prove expensive. Featuring viewer's photographs on Springwatch will encourage us all to get out and about in the hope of taking a cracker of a shot, one which might even earn a word of praise from Chris Packham!
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I Am very much looking forward to this! I agree with Steb totally! I am a some what fidgety teenager, I love birdwatching and walking around my local patch, but photography really has opened my eyes to nature much more than just watching did before, and has made me much more interested and involved with it! Getting just one of my images on this show would mean the world to me, especially since I can only afford a bridge camera (although a pretty beasty one! but its no DSLR), and can't get to some amazing wildlife locations easily. But I love my local patch, and can't get enough of walking around my limited area, and exploring the great British countryside and its natural splendour, through the artistic, yet scientific, world of photography :)
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Hi martin,what a brilliant idea to have the 15mins on red button after the main springwatch programme,my partner and myself have various types of birds in our garden to capture on camera,we are quite fortunate to be near the countryside,so cameras at the ready..
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Great to see Springwatch back - shame you aren't on sooner though. Here's something I've never seen before. Got woken up this morning by the sound of very loud knocking at 6 am and was about to complain about noisy neighbours. Realised it was a Great Spotted Woodpecker bashing away at the nestbox on the ash tree in my front garden, trying to get inside. It pulled out loads of feathers, small white ones and discarded them. There are blue tits nesting in the box and Mum and Dad looked on anxiously as the woodpecker tried to hammer it's way into the hole. Maybe I shouldn't have but I went out into the garden and the woodpecker flew off. Mum and Dad bluetit were back feeding their chicks within 30 minutes. My nestbox looks rather battered, if I hadn't disturbed it the woodpecker would have ousted the blue tit family and set up home in the box. Is this often seen?
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Great idea, cant wait!! but if I miss it will I be able to watch it again on i player or on springwatch website?
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We've been waiting for Springwatch for months, but tonight's programme is a big disappointment. Is Kate Humble on drugs? She is SO hyper I am dizzy! And Chris and Simon seem to think we are all children. Why has the BBC dumbed-down this programme? Keep to nature; this is NOT about hyperactive "personalities". And don't make the program so hyper and frantic!
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We love all of the photos but we love the two fox cubs playing.
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I have to admit I agree with cleaverp and last night's programme was a particular disappointment. Please Chris and Simon we are not children and the whole episode appeared rather silly with a few serious moments thrown in. Please, please calm Kate down, enthusiasm is one thing but to be completely over the top is another.
I like the red button idea but for us with Freeview we can only receive it now and again. So we saw the end of the pub quiz and none the photography club.
Congratulations to Simon on his OBE I have followed his career with great interest and enjoyed all his work I have seen.
Dissappointed!
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hi all,
about the limping fox, totally agree on a different fox feeding the cubs, but possibly disagree on it being the the dog fox, it may be possibly be a lesser female maybe a daughter which can often happen, would love to know your comments, the fox is a very social family group, cheers guys
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A family of field mice chose a belfast sink to raise a family under in my garden. Over a period I watched the young appear and they wandered around the flower bed . One afternoon a male blackbird caught one young mouse ,it battered it about then flew off to nest with the limp mouse in its beak. The blackbird then returned and took the other three young mice one at a time.Can a young blackbird swallow a mouse?
On 22nd of March this year I was on holiday at Corton Suffolk and saw two Alpine Swifts flying up and down the coast, The weather was cool. Is it usual to see this bird here at that time of year?
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Great series so far - Love the idea of the photo club on wednesdays.
Great to see Springwatch Unsprung back too!
Query: What is the name of the piece of music you use for the montage of photos on the Springwatch Photo Club?
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hi spring watch. i have recently moved to the Isle of Wight and while out walking my dog Ben in Firestone Copse i took a photo of what i thought was a red squirrel, however on examination it does not appear to be. i am trying to upload the photo for you to see. i run a pub and so far it is suggested that it could be a baby fox, a weasal or some animal that escaped from a local zoo. it is quite high up in the canopy so your guess is as good as mine please can you try to solve the mystery and how do i upload photo thankyou.
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have just watched springwatch photoclub for the first time.i loved kate and martins enthuisiam about some of the pictures sent in, but I wish Chris Packham would smile now and again, and also whilst giving out critisism, how about chris points out what he does like in viewers pictures they have sent in.
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i watched your programme last night 10/6/10 about what looks to be cob webbs on the trees we live in gloucestershire on a farm and we have two trees with the same thing.
I have had a look on the internet and found st petersberg park in russia had the same problem a few years ago and its i think an ermin moth.
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Hi there,
I'd just like to say thank you for making my week day evenings an absolute pleasure. Can I dare to dream that you will be doing the very first Summer Watch soon? I do hope so.
Also, we have noticed what we think is a 'Little Owl' in a field behind our house acting a little peculiar. First of all we've noticed that it's out for a lot of the day feeding on worms. I think Chris mentioned that owls may do this in wet weather when they can't hear other prey so well. But also, it sometimes crouches down, and spreads out its wings over the ground as if it's trying to keep the ground dry. Can you tell us why the owl is doing this, please?
Many thanks, loving the shows!
Kathleen & Dewi,
Whittonstall, Northumberland.
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We are loving the shows and as amateur photographs we've been SO looking forward to tonight's Photo Club. And now we find that on FreeView and on Virgin we're unable to watch. Football, football everywhere. Grrrrrrr........ Where are you?!?!?!!!!!!!!!
We'll miss you next week!
Lisa & Trevor Coley
PS: Just this afternoon in the garden, we've taken pics of a newly fledged magpie being fed by its parents, a green woodpecker scrounging for grubs, a blue tit on its favourite suet ball, a bee on the poppies and some lovely hoverflies at the pyracantha blossom.
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I have a picture of a caterpiller type thing. it's basically green about 3 t0 4 inches long and as thick as your little finger, And I would like to know what it is, how can I send a picture to you for identification ???
jamie
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