GREEN TOURISM AWARD - SILVER - SHETLAND SEABIRD TOURS - THE NOSS BOAT "Shetland Seabird Tours have done a fantastic job in achieving the Green Tourism Silver Award following on from their first GreenCheck Assessment. The team have displayed an excellent understanding of sustainability as well as an awareness of the opportunities and challenges associated with running a responsible business. Shetland Seabird Tours have performed particularly strongly in the Biodiversity, Chemicals, Community, Experiences, and Water goals during this assessment. The team have shown a strong commitment to continual improvement, a willingness to implement change where required, and dedication in the pursuit of sustainable best practices. A hearty congratulations to the team on their efforts and achievement in this assessment. Shetland Seabird Tours will undoubtedly continue to make progress in the Green Tourism programme as they continue their sustainability journey" Green Tourism What achieving our Green Tourism award means: We are supported in our sustainability practices, and in our improvement journey by the world-leading sustainability accreditation partner, Green Tourism. Achieving a Green Tourism award means that our sustainability practices have been assessed and verified by a credible partner. It shows that we have an ongoing commitment: to sustainability standards and practices to work responsibly, ethically, and sustainably to contribute to our community to reduce our impact on the environment, and to be accessible and inclusive to all visitors and staff. Green Tourism has assessed our business against 15 sustainability criteria grouped under the pillars of People, Places and Planet. These consider the social, economic, and environmental actions we undertake, providing a holistic assessment of our sustainability performance. To ensure that our cliental/passengers understand our sustainability commitment, we have been assessed by Green Tourism to validate our practice. This independent assessment brings reassurance that our practice is evidenced and authenticated. We are
GREEN TOURISM AWARD – SILVER – SHETLAND SEABIRD TOURS – THE NOSS BOAT
“Shetland Seabird Tours have done a fantastic job in achieving the Green Tourism Silver Award following on from their first GreenCheck Assessment. The team have displayed an excellent understanding of sustainability as well as an awareness of the opportunities and challenges associated with running a responsible business. Shetland Seabird Tours have performed particularly strongly in the Biodiversity, Chemicals, Community, Experiences, and Water goals during this assessment. The team have shown a strong commitment to continual improvement, a willingness to implement change where required, and dedication in the pursuit of sustainable best practices. A hearty congratulations to the team on their efforts and achievement in this assessment. Shetland Seabird Tours will undoubtedly continue to make progress in the Green Tourism programme as they continue their sustainability journey” Green Tourism
What achieving our Green Tourism award means:
We are supported in our sustainability practices, and in our improvement journey by the world-leading sustainability accreditation partner, Green Tourism.
Achieving a Green Tourism award means that our sustainability practices have been assessed and verified by a credible partner. It shows that we have an ongoing commitment:
to sustainability standards and practices
to work responsibly, ethically, and sustainably
to contribute to our community
to reduce our impact on the environment, and
to be accessible and inclusive to all visitors and staff.
Green Tourism has assessed our business against 15 sustainability criteria grouped under the pillars of People, Places and Planet. These consider the social, economic, and environmental actions we undertake, providing a holistic assessment of our sustainability performance. To ensure that our cliental/passengers understand our sustainability commitment, we have been assessed by Green Tourism to validate our practice. This independent assessment brings reassurance that our practice is evidenced and authenticated. We are proud to have been awarded a Silver award in our 6th February 2023 assessment.
Shetland Seabird Tours – The Noss Boat – Highlights
Green Tourism also helped us to highlight our areas of sustainability strength. At our 1st assessment our sustainability highlights included: Biodiversity, Chemicals, Community, Experiences & Water.
We have been working hard across the business for a few years to reduce our impact on the planet after a challenging time during covid, where we were able to stop, reassess our business & our future & re-evaluate our goals & directions. We were already committed to the environment as passionate ornithologists, naturalists, & conservationists, but time reflecting during the 2020 lockdown, for a business 100% tourism reliant, gave our business the opportunity to further cement our branding, environmental ethos & future direction & to further improve our commitments to the environment & sustainability. We now have an exciting action plan in place through Green Tourism, & continue to improve on our green commitments & look forward to growing as one of the first “green” tourism businesses in Shetland. A Silver Award allows prospective passengers to immediately identify us as a business that places great value the environment & strives honestly & seriously, to reducing our impact upon it. Another small step in the right direction……
GREEN TOURISM are a world-leading sustainable tourism accreditation, which means we are in ‘good company’ with some of the world’s largest brands in hospitality & tourism.
Thanks to all at Green Tourism – we really valued the input & support given by the team to help us through the assessment process.
Best Days with Shetland's Birds £17.99 PAPERBACK EDITION £26.99 HARDBACK EDITION Spanning decades as well as the seasons, thirty well known figures of the local bird scene share what Shetland's birds mean to them and recount their best days. Edited by Andrew Harrop and Rebecca Nason “I love the format of this book because it shares those moments of passion and excitement. This is no dry examination of facts or statistics. It helps us to understand the joy to be found in the natural world. These are the stories told and retold, while sheltering inside during westerly gales and horizontal rain. They’re much more interesting than bird name scrabble! Fair Isle, and later the rest of Shetland, taught me that nature is an intrinsic part of landscape. To fall in love with a place, without an understanding of the wildlife inhabiting or visiting it, is a limited kind of affection. The accounts of very special birding days give us a real and wider sense of these beautiful islands.” Ann Cleeves 134 pages 240 x 165m. High Quality Colour Photographic illustrations & Artwork We have been delighted with the response to our new book which was launched this Spring. There reviews & sales have been excellent & we are thrilled to have accomplished such a Shetland birding community orientated publication giving special, personal insights into birding experiences whilst living on the Isles over the years, from delighting in common birds to the rarer, there is something for everyone in this bird lovers collection....... Thank you to co-editor Andrew Harrop for inviting me to work with him on this, and to The Shetland Times for publishing it. Thanks also to our friend Ann Cleeves for her foreword & both Howard Towll & Paul Bloomer
Best Days with Shetland’s Birds
£17.99 PAPERBACK EDITION
£26.99 HARDBACK EDITION
Spanning decades as well as the seasons, thirty well known figures of the local bird scene share what Shetland’s birds mean to them and recount their best days.
Edited by Andrew Harrop and Rebecca Nason
“I love the format of this book because it shares those moments of passion and excitement. This is no dry examination of facts or statistics. It helps us to understand the joy to be found in the natural world. These are the stories told and retold, while sheltering inside during westerly gales and horizontal rain. They’re much more interesting than bird name scrabble!
Fair Isle, and later the rest of Shetland, taught me that nature is an intrinsic part of landscape. To fall in love with a place, without an understanding of the wildlife inhabiting or visiting it, is a limited kind of affection. The accounts of very special birding days give us a real and wider sense of these beautiful islands.”Ann Cleeves
134 pages 240 x 165m. High Quality Colour Photographic illustrations & Artwork
We have been delighted with the response to our new book which was launched this Spring. There reviews & sales have been excellent & we are thrilled to have accomplished such a Shetland birding community orientated publication giving special, personal insights into birding experiences whilst living on the Isles over the years, from delighting in common birds to the rarer, there is something for everyone in this bird lovers collection…….
Thank you to co-editor Andrew Harrop for inviting me to work with him on this, and to The Shetland Times for publishing it. Thanks also to our friend Ann Cleeves for her foreword & both Howard Towll & Paul Bloomer for their art work contributions……just beautiful! We are delighted to see SHETLAND SEABIRD TOURS – THE NOSS BOAT mentioned in several accounts as well as being illustrated within, and a super account by co-owner, ornithologist & skipper Phil Harris. Both of us love being part of the Shetland birding community and this was a fun, unique way of engaging both with many contributing Shetland birding friends and promoting our birding tales and experiences to a wider audience outside of Shetland.
Here is an extract from the latest British Birds journal with a thorough review by Andy Stoddart:
“Working with a large number of contributors can be like herding cats but the editors have done a splendid job of regularising the English and producing an internally consistent set of texts. Editorial comments follow some of the accounts to add additional content and/or useful context. The editors seem to have successfully navigated the mires of birdwatching politics and produced something with a genuine community feel. Indeed, there is a very welcome effort to ensure a diversity of contributions and perspectives, such as those of the recently founded Shetland LadyBirders.
The layout is pleasing, with some fine photographs and artwork, mostly by the contributors themselves, and there are some truly iconic images, from a 1967 Dennis Coutts’ Fetlar Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus to Rebecca Nason’s 2004 Fair Isle Rufous-tailed Robin Larvivora sibilans. The cover is a delightful and playful print by Howard Towll of auks hanging in the wind below Sumburgh lighthouse (and did I notice a Brünnich’s Guillemot Uria lomvia hiding in plain sight?).
We are a storytelling species, and birdwatchers are no different. This book is a wonderful celebration of place and a contribution to our collective folklore. It is a highly recommended companion for a dark winter’s evening:
Andy Stoddart
We have a super little review in the July Issue of BIRDWATCH magazine too…..
Thanks also to Shetland-based blogger Laurie & Blackpool birder Stephen for their personal reviews on their blogs………
www.henleyspiers.com Shetland Seabird Tours - The Noss Boat, are delighted to see the photographic side of our business develop so well over the last few years alongside our regular, popular scheduled tours. Since we started our boat tours back in 2016, we have collaborated & enjoyed working with some amazing names in the photographic and film industry, honing out skills to be able to offer a professional, knowledgeable boat platform to help others achieve outstanding results. We have regularly collaborated with the incredible underwater photographer, ecologist and Shetland resident Richard Shucksmith who has brought some outstanding photographers aboard bespoke workshops and tours all catering for different styles and requirements from amateur to professional. In our first of many showcase posts, our first highlights the latest photographic successes of the awesome Henley Spiers, who we welcomed aboard last year for the first time and who will be joining us again in 2022. Henley recently won 1st and 3rd places in the UPY 2021 British Waters Wide Angle category, see below. Henley has also written a fabulous illustrated article on his Shetland experiences last year in this months COAST magazine. Gannet Success: With the @upycontest results just released and now whizzing their way across news outlets worldwide (no joke), I'm glad to report that a couple of my frames made the final collection. Not having left British waters in 2021, it's great to see a couple of my favourite marine moments appreciated by the judges, picking up 1st and 3rd place in the British Waters Wide Angle category. The category winner is entitled 'Gannet Storm' and as an extra bonus it's also the cover shot for the UPY 2022 Yearbook: "A northern gannet swims in an artistic hail of bubbles created by diving seabirds. 40,000 gannets visit the nearby cliffs annually to lay
Shetland Seabird Tours – The Noss Boat, are delighted to see the photographic side of our business develop so well over the last few years alongside our regular, popular scheduled tours. Since we started our boat tours back in 2016, we have collaborated & enjoyed working with some amazing names in the photographic and film industry, honing out skills to be able to offer a professional, knowledgeable boat platform to help others achieve outstanding results. We have regularly collaborated with the incredible underwater photographer, ecologist and Shetland resident Richard Shucksmith who has brought some outstanding photographers aboard bespoke workshops and tours all catering for different styles and requirements from amateur to professional. In our first of many showcase posts, our first highlights the latest photographic successes of the awesome Henley Spiers, who we welcomed aboard last year for the first time and who will be joining us again in 2022. Henley recently won 1st and 3rd places in the UPY 2021 British Waters Wide Angle category, see below. Henley has also written a fabulous illustrated article on his Shetland experiences last year in this months COAST magazine.
Gannet Success:
With the @upycontest results just released and now whizzing their way across news outlets worldwide (no joke), I’m glad to report that a couple of my frames made the final collection. Not having left British waters in 2021, it’s great to see a couple of my favourite marine moments appreciated by the judges, picking up 1st and 3rd place in the British Waters Wide Angle category.
The category winner is entitled ‘Gannet Storm’ and as an extra bonus it’s also the cover shot for the UPY 2022 Yearbook:
“A northern gannet swims in an artistic hail of bubbles created by diving seabirds. 40,000 gannets visit the nearby cliffs annually to lay and care for a single egg, fishing for food nearby. Hitting the frigid water faster than an Olympic diver, these incredible birds have evolved airsacs in the head and chest to survive these repeated heavy impacts. From underwater, the sound was thunderous as streamlined, white torpedos pierced the surface. I wanted to create a novel image of these handsome seabirds and resolved to try and capture their movement through a slow exposure. The speed of the gannets led to innumerable failures but in this frame we retain strong eye contact with the gannet, even as the scene is artistically softened. With great thanks to @richardshucksmith , without whom this encounter with the gannets would not have been possible.”
Here’s what judge @alexmustard1 says: “That eye and this moment. A powerful picture. Diving gannets have won this category before, but we’ve never had a portrait like this, that reveals both the personality of this predator and the energy of the action.”
You can read all about Henley’s successful trip to Shetland in 2021 in this months COAST magazine!
ABOUT
Henley Spiers, half British and half French, is a renowned photographer, writer, and trip leader who has fast become one of the most highly decorated underwater shooters in the world.
Starting his professional career in diving as an instructor, working in the Philippines, Indonesia and Saint Lucia, he later fell in love with underwater imagery and made the transition to full-time photographer.
Since then, Henley has amassed a prolific series of award-winning images, including two category wins in the Underwater Photographer of the Year, winning first prize in the Black & White category of Nature Photographer of the Year, and winner of the Ocean Geographic David Doubilet portfolio award.
Henley’s photography has been published in the likes of The Sunday Times, Der Spiegel, and Sierra Magazine, and frequently graces magazine covers.
As an accomplished (and bilingual) writer, Henley’s words often accompany his images, and he is a regular contributor to DIVER magazine (UK), EZ Dive magazine (Taiwan), Plongez magazine (France), and Hakai magazine (Canada). Readers enjoy Henley’s conversational writing style, delivering insight without pretension and usually with a touch of humour. Notably, he has also written for Asian Diver, Outdoor Photography Magazine, bioGraphic, and Black + White Photography magazine.
In 2019, Henley co-authored Black is the New Blue Vol. II, showcasing blackwater diving. His latest book, the Guide to Cebu, co-written with wife and frequent collaborator, Jade, showcases the very best of diving in their former home. Available in the Philippines, the international launch for Guide to Cebu has been delayed due to the current pandemic.
Henley also leads trips to see incredible underwater wildlife encounters, specialising in small-group adventures to rarely seen locations and events. Sought-after as a teacher, Henley’s coaching on these trips has seen a number of attendees go on to become award-winning photographers in their own right.
Although he would be the first to admit that he can still do more to help, Henley has so far enjoyed collaborating in the field of ocean conservation with Blue Marine, Mission Blue, Bertarelli Foundation, Marine Conservation Society, Devon Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Wildlife trust, and Thunnus UK.
In 2019, Henley was honoured to be invited by Blancpain to the Edition Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment programme, joining a select group of the world’s foremost underwater photographers.
Shetland Seabird Tours - The Noss Boat gains professional WiSe Award Accreditation - March 2022. We are leading the way as a major boat-based tourist attraction in Shetland, on how to behave & operate responsibly & safely around the marine wildlife rich environment here on Shetland. We are delighted to be the first to have this accreditation for the start of the 2022 season, having been aware of WiSe for many years. Its main aim of minimising disturbance to marine wildlife is also fundamental to our own company ethos and branding, having two professional ecologists at its core. "All commercial operators trained and accredited under the WiSe Scheme have an opportunity to lead the public, through demonstrating the example of best practice in the field and ensuring that all commercial operations are sustainable. In doing so you will be helping the long-term future of our precious marine life, for the benefit of future generations". www.wisescheme.org The UK's national training scheme for minimising disturbance to marine wildlife The waters around the UK are home to a fantastic variety of marine wildlife, whether visible from the shore or from a boat. However, these wild animals are vulnerable to disturbance if not encountered in a manner that respects their wild nature. The WiSe Scheme is about watching marine wildlife the wildlife-safe way. Our aim is to promote responsible wildlife-watching, through training, accreditation and raising awareness. The WiSe Scheme is a simple modular training course aimed primarily at wildlife cruise operators, dive and service boats, yacht skippers and sea kayakers, plus people participating in coasteering, stand-up paddle boarding and wild swimming. These groups of people are most likely to come into contact with marine wildlife, as they are likely out on the water on a regular basis. We also seek to educate the general public
Shetland Seabird Tours – The Noss Boat gains professional WiSe Award Accreditation – March 2022. We are leading the way as a major boat-based tourist attraction in Shetland, on how to behave & operate responsibly & safely around the marine wildlife rich environment here on Shetland. We are delighted to be the first to have this accreditation for the start of the 2022 season, having been aware of WiSe for many years. Its main aim of minimising disturbance to marine wildlife is also fundamental to our own company ethos and branding, having two professional ecologists at its core.
“All commercial operators trained and accredited under the WiSe Scheme have an opportunity to lead the public, through demonstrating the example of best practice in the field and ensuring that all commercial operations are sustainable. In doing so you will be helping the long-term future of our precious marine life, for the benefit of future generations”.
The UK’s national training scheme for minimising disturbance to marine wildlife
The waters around the UK are home to a fantastic variety of marine wildlife, whether visible from the shore or from a boat. However, these wild animals are vulnerable to disturbance if not encountered in a manner that respects their wild nature.
The WiSe Scheme is about watching marine wildlife the wildlife-safe way.
Our aim is to promote responsible wildlife-watching, through training, accreditation and raising awareness. The WiSe Scheme is a simple modular training course aimed primarily at wildlife cruise operators, dive and service boats, yacht skippers and sea kayakers, plus people participating in coasteering, stand-up paddle boarding and wild swimming. These groups of people are most likely to come into contact with marine wildlife, as they are likely out on the water on a regular basis. We also seek to educate the general public who are keen to minimise their impact whilst out on or near the water.
“We enhance people’s understanding on how to avoid disturbing wildlife”…….
We were thrilled to find out in July that we were named as 1 of the top 10 best boat tours in the UK published in The Guardian & voted for my readers. Please click on the link below to see the article. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/jul/08/10-great-uk-boat-trips-scotland-cornall-london-chosen-by-readers
We were thrilled to find out in July that we were named as 1 of the top 10 best boat tours in the UK published in The Guardian & voted for my readers. Please click on the link below to see the article.
We are delighted to showcase our smart new logo for the 2021 season and beyond, featuring an additional Orca combined with our original double gannet logo. We think the combo works really well and highlights two very special marine wildlife species associated with our boat tours. We hope you like it! We are of course now open for bookings for the 2021 season (April-October) ...............
We are delighted to showcase our smart new logo for the 2021 season and beyond, featuring an additional Orca combined with our original double gannet logo. We think the combo works really well and highlights two very special marine wildlife species associated with our boat tours. We hope you like it! We are of course now open for bookings for the 2021 season (April-October) ……………
PURPLE PROS with OLYMPUS Purple Sandpipers or 'purps' as birders affectionately call them, are gorgeous and rather enigmatic waders that are a regular feature of Shetland's coastline in the autumn and winter months....... Purple prose, as Wikipedia describes, is often referred to it a literal sense as "text that is so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw excessive attention to itself. Purple prose is characterized by the excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and metaphors. When limited to certain passages, they may be termed purple patches or purple passages, standing out from the rest of the work. Purple prose is criticised for desaturating the meaning in an author's text by overusing melodramatic and fanciful descriptions. Ah, okay, my lightbulb moment of naming this post Purple Prose will hopefully not flagship the meaning of the term in a literal sense...and yes, I am the first to admit I can be a little flowery in my writing at times and stray from the point in question. But in this instance, my purple patch is the current arrival of the delightful Purple Sandpiper, Calidris maritima, a wader that has been migrating to & through the Shetland Islands from their high arctic breeding grounds in the last couple of weeks. The storm battered beaches, strewn with seaweeds ripped from their sandy beds, and peppered with Dunlin & Turnstone, are now joined by subtly mauve-toned birds heading south, many for the first time, to escape the harsh winter ahead - my ‘purple passage’. In fact around 7% of Britain's Purple Sandpipers actually over-winter on Shetland, not that you would realise this when out in the field, with so many areas of suitable habitat for these waders in inaccessible remote rocky islets & geos. Many high arctic breeding waders travel a long way south for the
PURPLE PROSwith OLYMPUS
Purple Sandpipers or ‘purps’ as birders affectionately call them, are gorgeous and rather enigmatic waders that are a regular feature of Shetland’s coastline in the autumn and winter months…….
Purple prose, as Wikipedia describes, is often referred to it a literal sense as “text that is so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw excessive attention to itself. Purple prose is characterized by the excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and metaphors. When limited to certain passages, they may be termed purple patches or purple passages, standing out from the rest of the work. Purple prose is criticised for desaturating the meaning in an author’s text by overusing melodramatic and fanciful descriptions.
Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 1600, 1/800 sec, F5.6. with C-AF (continuous mode).
Ah, okay, my lightbulb moment of naming this post Purple Prose will hopefully not flagship the meaning of the term in a literal sense…and yes, I am the first to admit I can be a little flowery in my writing at times and stray from the point in question. But in this instance, my purple patch is the current arrival of the delightful Purple Sandpiper, Calidris maritima, a wader that has been migrating to & through the Shetland Islands from their high arctic breeding grounds in the last couple of weeks. The storm battered beaches, strewn with seaweeds ripped from their sandy beds, and peppered with Dunlin & Turnstone, are now joined by subtly mauve-toned birds heading south, many for the first time, to escape the harsh winter ahead – my ‘purple passage’.
Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 1600, 1/250sec, F5.6. with C-AF (continuous mode).
In fact around 7% of Britain’s Purple Sandpipers actually over-winter on Shetland, not that you would realise this when out in the field, with so many areas of suitable habitat for these waders in inaccessible remote rocky islets & geos. Many high arctic breeding waders travel a long way south for the winter, but Purple Sandpipers are not known as long distance migrants, remaining as far north as possible in the winter months. They are very conspicuous on the sandy beaches where they loosely associate with other tideline shorebirds, though less so on their favoured rocks where they become incredibly camouflaged.
When time has allowed & with social distancing not a problem on these wild Shetland beaches in November, I have enthusiastically headed out, camera on shoulder, to face the challenges of finding & then photographing the hardy, tidal zone dependant Purple Sandpipers. In the last two weeks I’ve encountered small groups from just a couple to over 20 on beaches in South mainland Shetland. Weather conditions of late, have not been pleasant to put it mildly; our neutral, overcast skies have been good but the heavy rain & very strong gales really put me off wader photography (actually any kind of photography) as I’m not too keen on sand in my face or my equipment!
Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 1600, 1/400 sec, F5.6. with C-AF (continuous mode).
High winds often put the waders off their usual feeding behaviour & with the birds on extra high alert, the opportunities to get close are minimal too. With favourable conditions however, waders here can be incredibly approachable given time and patience. Of my recent photo sessions, I ended up being no more than a couple of metres away from them as they soon lost interest in the thing on its knees in the seaweed edging towards them. With no shutter noise at all with my Olympus set up, there was a wonderful silence apart from the waders little peeping notes and the tidal flows.
Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 1600, 1/250sec, F5.6. with C-AF + TR (continuous autofocus tracking mode).
As well as being found searching for food amongst seaweed clad rocks or running the sandy tideline with other waders, Purple Sandpipers will readily take to the water as they did when I spent time with them, virtually swimming in the breakwater and effortlessly running through the foamy shallows, occasionally up to their necks. This provided me with some amazing opportunities to take images that reflected a different side to their behaviour.
Taking to the water…..Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 1600, 1/250sec, F5.6. with C-AF +TR.
Although planned photographic projects have taken a back seat this year, photography for me has in some ways been my most enjoyable for years due to changing to the Olympus mirrorless system back in January. Nature photography brings me such happiness, a strong sense of creative achievement and is a welcome mental sanctuary in a particularly anxious, chaotic world. Perhaps too, I’ve had a stronger awakening to appreciate and enjoy the environment and nature closer to home, on my very own doorstep, instead of hankering for far-flung destinations across the globe.
Purple Sandpipers are a regular feature of autumn and winter on Shetland along much of our wave-pounded rocky coastline. I moved here in 2014, but it is only now I have found time to concentrate on finding their favoured haunts and on working with them photographically. It’s a reminder that we should take the time to appreciate what’s on our own doorstep – I live in am amazing place and am surrounded by wildlife. I’m fortunate indeed.
Now for more on taking the shots……..
Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens and 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 1600, 1/250sec, F5.6. with C-AF.
The flexibility of the Olympus gear in the field is one of the biggest advantages for me. Walking a couple of miles along the coast to reach shorebirds with the E-M1X, 300mm f4 pro lens & 1.4 converter over my shoulder, I forget I’m even carrying anything. After time stalking through sand & seaweed bent low or on my knees whilst shooting, I feel no discomfort or physical limitations at all. With a rather weak back after years of flogging heavy gear around & with advanced osteoarthritis in my hips & knee, my ‘relatively young’ but worn out body revels in this new gear, allowing me to just keep on going, rather like a duracell battery! The only thing that halted these wader photo sessions was high tide when the birds retreated to offshore roosting spots.
Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 640, 1/2000 sec, F6.3 with C-AF + TR.
With these wader encounters I had quality time with my subjects constantly passing me with repetitive activities and light conditions. Subjects like this for prolonged periods enabled me, at last, a chance to try out and compare some of the exciting new modes and set ups that my mirrorless, hi-tech camera system has to offer.
You can read up on as many camera features as you like, but nothing beats getting out in the field and practising to really see what works best for you, your subject matter and style. For bird photography, much of which is very opportunistic on Shetland outside of summer hide work, I shoot in (M) manual mode, often keeping the speed high whilst maintaining a low depth of field, usually around f5.6 to achieve my favoured out of focus, clean backdrops. Both these of course set against a manual ISO choice, depending on any given situation. I try and stay with low ISO’s but, particularly on Shetland, this is not always possible so anywhere between ISO 500-1600 is standard for me. I use Autofocus, with Continuous C-AF MF mode a favourite. However, these wader sessions gave me a chance to enjoy two other options, that of C-AF + TR tracking mode and Pro Capture.
Pro Capture (L) Mode ……Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, F6.3.Pro Capture (L) Mode. Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 640, 1/2000 sec, F5.6.
The C-AF Tracking mode produced many good, fast, sharp hits, particularly with running tideline waders, see this purple sandpiper in action. As long as the backdrops are pretty clean and uncluttered, this feature works very well and stays glued to the subject, tracking it seamlessly without being distracted. This feature takes the pressure off the photographer tracking the subject and makes the camera do most of the work. You can also select a subject to help your autofocus tracking within the cameras customised menu. The subject list is found by navigating through the custom menu to A3 Tracking Subject. (Intelligent Subject Tracking). Up to now I have practised using the airplane mode or having the tracking subject feature turned off. BUT . . . .Olympus has just announced an exciting new ‘bird’ tracking option to be added to the list through upgraded firmware available this coming winter! There are already options for Trains, Motorsports and Airplanes but a new Bird tracking feature is bound to send professional and amateur nature photographers alike clambering for the upgrade.
Pro Capture (L) Mode. Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 800, 1/2000 sec, F5.6.
I like to think I’m quite quick on the draw with tracking my subjects after years of practise, but there are always times when you just miss that moment, maybe the sudden unprovoked attack of one wader to another as they pass each other on the shoreline, or the sudden perfectly still, raised-head-side profile pose between frantic head-lowered feeding. The Pro Capture mode allows you the ability to capture those moments which has already gone by holding images in a buffer zone whilst you half press the shutter and follow your subjects around. What a feature, a camera that can act faster than my brain can react and take shots I would otherwise have missed! Fully pressing the shutter from half way to full down as soon as you see the action happening captures those shots from that instant as well as the images held in buffer from before you reacted. A massive bonus, especially with action and behavioural wildlife photography. I use Pro Capture Low which allows for continuous autofocus, a must when photographing birds on the move.
P.S Card Alert: Watch out for your memory cards filling quicker than they ever have before. Is there anything worse than an incredible photographic situation and the ‘card full’ flashing on the monitor? Even with space for two cards in the camera, you are not safe in Pro Capture mode and its whopping 60 images a second capabilities. I’ll be ordering a couple more cards to add to my day bag ……
By Rebecca Nason – November 2020
Striking a Pose. Pro Capture (L) Mode. Olympus E-M1X with M.Zuiko Digital 300mm F4 Pro Lens & 1.4 converter, hand-held. ISO 640, 1/2000 sec, F5.6.
I have not yet had too much opportunity to enjoy or put my new Olympus gear to the test, after switching from Nikon to Olympus at the end of January. With appalling weather in February and the world health coronavirus crisis and lockdown since...time spent behind the camera has been minimal. Plans are afoot to resurrect my garden hide set up before species other than House Sparrow and Starting start to move through as well as concentrate on more macro work in the short term at least. In the meantime, I've just been looking back at a couple of pre-lockdown Olympus sessions out into field on Shetland. The first early opportunity was on the westside of mainland Shetland, where, after a couple of failed attempts at approaching a very nervous Mountain Hare, I found another more confiding individual. Mountain Hare in early spring are still white, beacons against the harsh browns and dark peatlands of rural Shetland which rarely has any serious snowfall so little need for white camouflage ( or indeed any camouflage as predators are few and far between here). Given the culls of Mountain Hare on mainland UK, I think Shetland's populations are probably the luckiest in Britain. The changing topography of my approach to the hare meant that actually I ended up a little closer than I had intended to achieve a clean shot. In hindsight I'd have removed the 1.4 converter and given my fury subject a little more space - but in this instance I took what I could in the given opportunity. Mountain Hare are numerous and often approachable on Shetland. I can't wait to go to a few of my hare hotspots after the lockdown finishes.
I have not yet had too much opportunity to enjoy or put my new Olympus gear to the test, after switching from Nikon to Olympus at the end of January. With appalling weather in February and the world health coronavirus crisis and lockdown since…time spent behind the camera has been minimal. Plans are afoot to resurrect my garden hide set up before species other than House Sparrow and Starting start to move through as well as concentrate on more macro work in the short term at least. In the meantime, I’ve just been looking back at a couple of pre-lockdown Olympus sessions out into field on Shetland. The first early opportunity was on the westside of mainland Shetland, where, after a couple of failed attempts at approaching a very nervous Mountain Hare, I found another more confiding individual. Mountain Hare in early spring are still white, beacons against the harsh browns and dark peatlands of rural Shetland which rarely has any serious snowfall so little need for white camouflage ( or indeed any camouflage as predators are few and far between here). Given the culls of Mountain Hare on mainland UK, I think Shetland’s populations are probably the luckiest in Britain.
The upright-hoping-she-can’t-see-me approach, before settling a little lower in the heather. My first ever wildlife shot using the Olympus E-M1X with 300mm pro f4 lens & x1.4 converter hand-held. The conditions weren’t great, but I took this at ISO 640 at 1/400sec, f5.6. My initial thoughts I remember were being delighted to be able to take shots with such a lightweight set up which enabled me to nimbly move across boggy peatland to approach my subject. The set up actually felt almost toy like to hold and shoot with after lugging around my Nikon DSLR for so many years.What a beauty…. The other immediate benefit was that I could so easily feel confident in my manual exposures (I always shoot manual) in a situation which was a little tricky with a white subject on a dark background. The ability to look through the lens and visibly watch my exposure changes and tweaks on the image in front of me – in LIVE exposure meant that when I took a shot – what I saw is exactly what I got – no need to check after or worry about over exposure (EVF). The resultant image was as I had seen it when I took it. What a benefit.The level of detail was astounding I thought at ISO 640 and with the 1.4 converter…..here is a similar shot to the image above but at 100%.
The changing topography of my approach to the hare meant that actually I ended up a little closer than I had intended to achieve a clean shot. In hindsight I’d have removed the 1.4 converter and given my fury subject a little more space – but in this instance I took what I could in the given opportunity. Mountain Hare are numerous and often approachable on Shetland. I can’t wait to go to a few of my hare hotspots after the lockdown finishes.
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