The morning of Sunday 26th October was greeted by a blanket of misty rain in west Cornwall, hardly the most promising of starts for a CWT Photography Group field trip to Tehidy Country Park, near Camborne. To be honest the thought of walking around this very popular woodland & lake with all the Sunday morning dog walkers & the young families armed with bread for the ducks & squirrels wasn't exactly my idea of a walk on the wildside!
However here I was with around a dozen other brave souls getting our camera gear wet as our leader David Chapman extolled the virtues of photographing fungi. It quickly became obvious that the sensible ones amongst us had some form of rain cover for their prize camera & lenses, a valuable lesson in itself, and I have since invested in an OpTech rainsleeve. These very simple but effective polythene covers will fit a lens up to 18” long and have a draw string to close around the lens opening. There is also a small opening at the eyepiece so that you are looking direct through the viewfinder rather than via a sheet of plastic. They also come at a price which makes them almost disposable. A must in the British climate, winter or summer!
I don't think of myself as a plant/flora photographer, however I found that once I got down to eye level and had various fungi filling my view finder I became much more interested. The numerous varieties of caps, the beauty of the gill patterns beneath and the feeling that being up close & personal perhaps gives a window onto the enchanted landscape of a Grims fairytale, all added to the appeal!
With the rain easing, lying along the ground to photograph Dead Mans Fingers seemed a little less odd than it sounds. The low light levels beneath the trees meant that a tripod & slow shutter speed were both essential, but the detail that the 90mm macro lens revealed was certainly an eye opener. The orange glow of the autumn leaves really sets off the texture of the black cap, a feature not at all obvious at a casual glance with the fungi appearing to be a featureless black digit initially. The rain drops gave added interest to a Honey Fungus and probable Mycena species fungi nestling nearby, however our search for the red & white Fly Agaric was ultimately unsuccessful.
A visit to the park's café at lunch time for a coffee, a slice of very nice chocolate cake, and some light hearted banter recharged the batteries for the afternoon session which again, on the face of it, didn't sound too exciting, photographing squirrels & ducks! However once again it proved more rewarding than I thought with the heavy cloud giving just the right light for photographing Mute Swans whose beautiful white plumage would have been burnt out in bright sunlight. Excluding the surrounding habitat in favour of intimate close ups seemed to work well.
Even the Grey Squirrels were fun to photograph. David had advised us to bring some nuts to tempt them and I spread mine around a nice old tree stump, with instant success, the squirrel was there in a flash, collecting a few at a time, scurrying off to hide them before repeatedly returning to gather some more. In fact the squirrel was so quick that on occasion I didn’t have time to get back to my camera before the next lot of peanuts had to be planted as bait. Still the other photographers present were happy to take advantage of my efforts!
Of course the tapestry of yellow & copper toned leaves all around us was also a great subject for photographs, as were the imaginative carvings which we found along the various trails.
All in all, an enjoyable day, which perhaps given the weather, we might have all too easily written off as too wet to be out and about.
To see more images from the day, taken by fellow photography group member Jeremy Northcott, take a look at the excellent slideshow on his website at: http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4e5449324d7a597a4f413d3d0d0a&sb=1
If you are interested in any form of wildlife photography the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photographic Group may be of interest to you. As well as monthly outdoor meetings at various locations around the county it also holds an indoor meeting on the 2nd Monday of each month at CWT Five Acres, Allet, near Shortlanesend between September & May. The meetings are relaxed & informal, and beginners are very welcome. Details of these meetings can be found on the CWT website: http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/whatson/ Alternatively you can contact David Chapman on (01736) 850287
I will try to include details of forthcoming CWT Photographic Group meetings on this website at: http://www.cornishnature.co.uk/field-trips-courses-and-holidays.html
The OpTech rainsleeves are available from Amazon via third party sellers priced at £4.99
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