The WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) Centre at Slimbridge is very different from the type of location I would normally visit for a day of photography. On this occasion, it was another outing with Sidmouth Photographic Club.
Slimbridge WWT Centre – choice of lens
My lens for the day was my Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS which I wrote about in my blog of 20 March. Mounted on my Sony A6700 camera body it has a full frame equivalent reach of 525mm. For the birds out on the marshes shooting from the hides this was pushing the limits. More reach would have been useful. Instead it’s a case of cropping with all the compromises that introduces. For the permanent collection of wildfowl the 70-350 was fine as you can get much closer to your subjects.
Focusing on fast moving birds
The Sony bird recognition feature worked very well (Note to self – set it back to people at the end of the day!). The autofocus would reliably lock onto the eyes of the target birds. Even birds at some distance flying fast across the line of vision were captured, though it was tricky to pan at the right rate and get the target into the focus zone so it would be tracked from thereon. Once acquired, the target would remain in focus until operator error resulted in it being lost off the edge of the frame. I was quite impressed.
This was not my normal realm of photography, but a very enjoyable day out all the same. It was peaceful and relaxing. A stark contrast to the normally noisy environment of an urban setting, which is my photographic preference.
I am tempted to go back for another session!
Mike Hawkridge Photography 
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