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Hi Guys,
Now that this years DPITB has reached its conclusion, is there any chance that a few of you guys who were lucky enough to attend put your fingers to the keyboard and let those of us who weren't so fotunate, what the highs, and maybe not so highs, of the weekend were? I've already heard that the WTP once again produced the goods for those that travelled up the highway. Surely with so much on offer, there must be a few exciting tales to tell?
Bruce

Hi Bruce,
I think that everyone is probably so exhausted that you may need to wait a few days for them to get home, catch up on house chores and then find some quiet time to reflect on the DPITB experience.
Cheers,
Ian

Hi Bruce
I attended Fri/Sat/Sun.
Highlights for me were
1. Assisting Jill Wilson in the am & pm tours of WTP by providing transport and a permit: a chance to repay the great hospitality from my previous two DPITB experiences where "locals" ferried me and others around.
2. Sighting on the Friday afternoon tour at WTP near Kirk Point on the rocks on a falling tide, in the one field of a spotting scope, (I think thanks here to Craig from Geelong Naturalists) six species of term. From memory (but don't quote me) they were fairy tern, little tern, common tern, whiskered tern, white-winged black tern and crested tern. Someone will probably correct me on the species: my tern identification is a work in progress!! And because I was driving/guiding I didn't do any photography and have no image to check!
3. The great presentations from members on a wide variety of bird photography subjects, and esp the personal insights from Kim Wormald and Georgina Steyler.
4. The ethics presentation by Georgina Steyler and the reinforcement by other speakers of these. I now understand the background and am on board with them.
5. The insights and presentation of the 2015 winner of the Tom Oliver Award, Brian O'Leary, was very informative and entertaining: but I do think some of his 'live baiting' with mealworms and 'earth' worms in our current BLP environment of high ethical standards needs to be addressed. This is not to be taken as a criticism of Brian, but just a call that we, Birdlife Photography, need to look at our view on ethics in this general area of feeding birds and esp with live baits. The latter is one of the reasons as to why I'm not a game fisherman any more.
6. Finally I attended the last two sessions of the Canon Collective presentations by Jay Collier (?). Because of clashing other presentations, i missed the earlier part of his sessions. For me his presentation was very confident, polished and full of great insights into bird photography with the emphasis on Canon users...but Nikon users would have gained insights also. It would be great if his notes could be circulated with the notes that are to be circulated from the other speakers.
Apologies to the presenters (esp Keith, Ian, et al) not mentioned, but Bruce asked for the highlights........you were all great.
Cheers AB

Hi Andrew,
You're spot on with the Tern species. I was lucky enough to see all but the Whiskered at the same spot on Monday; and my passengers had a scope so I got a good view to help with my tern identificaion education, which is, like yours, a work in progress.
More comments on the event in due course - when I get back to something resembling normality.
Rob

Hi Bruce, I agree with Andew’s comments re the BITB weekend and here is my take on our few days together.

For me the major benefit was putting faces to names I have seen over the past 2 years I have been involved with Birdlife. It is always great to spend time with people who are just a passionate as I am about wildlife and photography.

Highlights from the sessions I attended include:
The birding day at WTP on the Friday was a cracker. There were birds everywhere with lots of dynamic action at all sights. Our interstate visitors were very impressed and I took a record 1400 shots for the day.

The venue was perfect and our President Graham Cam got us off to a great start. He and his hard working committee are to be congratulated for all their preparations and hard work.
Birdlife Australia President Paul Sullivan addressed the group and spoke about the success and challenges that BLA has had throughout the year. There is a real challenge to gain “hearts and minds” support from the average “Joe in the street” so Paul saw a role for photography in helping do this.

Steve Tredinnick gave a very motivational address regarding the work he has done over 18 years with Wedge Tailed Eagles in NSW. He has spent many hours in bird hides and caves to gain the scientific data for his work. I found his commitment very motivational.

Graham spoke about Luminosity masks and convinced the audience of their value. In another session Graham spoke about noise reduction which all photographers struggle with at times. I know that many in the audience got a lot from Graham’s sessions.

Keith Lightbody presented a very interesting presentation regarding using natural light and shooting in jpeg and the quality of Keith’s images were excellent.

Kim Wormald gave a wonderful presentation regarding her journey as a photographer. Kim spoke about her motivations and enjoyment in becoming an award winning bird photographer. Kim’s photo’s were superb.

Georgina Steytlier presented on the Art of Photography and continued on the wonderful standard that Kim had set. Very motivational messages backed up with superb images. To me Kim and Georgina’s presentations would be at home at any top level International birding conference.

Ian Wilson impressed the audience with a very scientific approach to bird photography. The depth of thought Ian goes to to capture his images is very impressive, he leaveS nothing to chance. Ian also spoke about using flash photography which most of us find a real challenge. Ian is a wonderful resource for our photography group and his willingness to share his knowledge is a credit to him.

Brian O’Leary then spoke about his method of attracting and photographing birds. His photos are amazing and he takes most of them from a distance of 4m. His method of attracting birds was a topic of debate however it works for him. This presentation was very engaging and humorous.

Jay Collier - from Canon was very good. Jay has been leading photography groups to South Africa for 11 years now and spoke with authority of his experience in Photographing wildlife including birds. HIs tips were excellent and he gave the new and experiences photographers great information.

So in summary - the venue was wonderful, the presenters were prepared and motivational and the attendees were enthusiastic and enjoyed the whole weekend. I think we should hold another one next month…..Thanks again to Graham and his hard working team.
Tim Van Leeuwen

Wow, Wow Wow, what a fantastic time. I agree, it was great to meet you all and realise you are as colourful and interesting as your photographs. I enjoyed every session and feel that my new camera is at least half way to being set up properly. I could hardly sleep at night after reviewing my notes and trying to remember all the main points and work out how to put them to practice the next day. I loved the variety of sessions and the flow of topics where each speaker referred to previous talks. It was also stimulating to understand how birding impacts each of us differently and how the individual experience is reflected in our images.
My favorite outing experiences included seeing my first Terek Sandpiper at the WTP, and learning to Pish from the great Bird Whisperer himself
A HUGE thank you to all of the Birdlife committee, the DPITB organisers, outing guides and to all the presenters for your tireless work and effort towards a most perfect experience. Can I book for the next one now?