Trying something different
Bird photography at Bempton Cliffs
Hello, I’m Gill and I write a photography blog inspired by the landscapes of Suffolk and beyond. Please subscribe to read more of my writing and visit my website to view my images.
I am standing on a cliff top being buffeted by the wind. The sky is leaden and there is drizzle in the air. Ahead of me the North Sea looks wild as the wind whips up white horses and pushes them towards the rocky beach 100 meters below. It is July, although it feels more like October and I have come to Bempton Cliffs on the north east coast to try to photograph the seabirds that nest here.
Photographing birds is not something I have done before, mainly because I don’t have the right equipment. My longest lens is a 70-200mm, F2.8 which is way too short for good bird photography and I don’t have the budget for a longer lens. However before coming to Bempton I purchased a 2x teleconverter to see if this would be good enough. At £100 second hand it was a much cheaper option than buying a new lens and I felt it was worth experimenting with. If I was lucky I might even get some interesting shots.
All around me nesting season was in full swing. The air was full of gannets, puffins, guillemots and razorbills, battling with the weather conditions as they flew from the cliffs to the sea and back again. Every ledge on the chalk cliffs was occupied by a nest or a resting bird and the sky was full of noise.
Bempton Cliffs is an RSPB reserve and at points along the cliff edge there are wooden observation platforms which afford unobstructed views of the cliff edges. I set up position with my camera, battling with the wind to keep it steady.
It took me a while to get my camera settings correct with the right exposure, shutter speed and tracking mode and most of my initial images have been consigned to the bin. However after a while things became easier and I began to get some images that were at least sharp!
I fear I am a bit of a perfectionist, and although I should have had low expectations from my first session I’m afraid I didn’t! For some reason I always expect to achieve more than I am capable of and get frustrated when things don’t quite go my way.
I don’t know very much about wildlife photography but as an observer I am drawn to the more artistic style of photographers like Rachel Bigsby. I love the subtle colour pallet Rachel uses in her images and the compositional choices she makes. It gives her images a very artistic feel as opposed to the more representative bird portraits that you often see.
So inspired by Rachel and in keeping with my landscape style I set about trying to capture the spirit of Bempton and these are a few of my favourite images from my visit.
I spent a long time trying to capture gannets in flight as they were the easiest birds to work with given the limitations of my lens. Because the weather was so windy I found the birds were creating some interesting flight poses which were fun to capture. I decided these would be most interesting viewed together so I spent some time creating the following triptych.
These images aren’t going to win me any prizes, but I quite like them and I had lots of fun taking them. In the process I learned lots about the skills required and more importantly about the images that I liked and how I wanted to portray the birds. The 70-200mm lens with the 2x teleconverter was fine for my first visit. I was able to shoot at a wide aperture which gave me some nice background blur and I didn’t notice any discernible loss of quality by using this set up.
If I am being honest a 400mm focal length is not really long enough and these images are all cropped a little in post, but it was good enough to get me started for very little outlay.
I am never going to be a wildlife photographer but I do think having the ability to make landscape images that include wildlife in their natural habitat would be an interesting addition to my work.
Bempton was a great place to visit and I enjoyed trying something new. I learned a lot about my likes and dislikes and my abilities and I think this is really valuable. It is only by trying new things (including new genres and new techniques) that we grow as photographers.
What do you feel about trying new genres of photography, do you think it helps your creativity? I would be interested to hear your thoughts so please leave a comment below.
Thank you very much for reading and until next week enjoy your photography.
Gill
Hi Gill, glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip to Bempton Cliffs, but pity you had poor weather. I tell people it’s like the nature show that never ends, as on my last visit in June this year, I was there at 4:30, but the birds were up before me. As for kit, I use my 100-400 with 1.5 crop, but often pulling back as the gannets can be very close. As you have found, birds in flight are quite challenging both in finding the right setting and getting your hand in as a photographer. I was interested in what you said about wanting to get things perfect, even as a new comer to wildlife. I’m often in the same place, as I’ve researched the location first and seen other people’s tremendous shots. However, when I get there, it’s not so easy. That never bothers me, as I often fail things first time as I’m pushing myself, but use it as a learning opportunity. Exams, driving test and more recently my LRPS, all second time, but it doesn’t do me any harm.
Best wishes, Chris.
I think it is excellent that you are trying this! I really love the puffin in flight!