This weekend was the “Fall PhotoWILD” event at the Carolina Raptor Center in Huntersville, NC. On both Saturday and Sunday they close the center for the mornings to the general public and provide amateur and professional photographers, who have previously signed-up, access to 20 different raptors in unique settings each day.
This was my first attendance but will probably not be my last. The number of photographers is limited and both days sold out quickly. There were eagles, hawks, owls, falcons, kestrels, kites and buzzards to photograph — truly beautiful creatures.
It’s true this isn’t nearly as challenging as trying to photograph these wonderful birds in the the wild, but it’s nice in it provides an opportunity to view and photograph them up close without wire or cages. For a challenge they also have a flight portion each day to test your skills in photographing some of the raptors in flight — I was found wanting and ended up with a lot of interesting brownish blurs. :-)
Most of the raptors at the center have been injured and brought to the center for care. The raptor center nurses them back to health, releases them if they can, or provides a permanent home if they can no longer survive in the wild.
A good organization and a good photographic experience.
What an awesome idea for helping photographers and raising a bit of money for the rapture centers. My friend, Mike, has been involved in our local rapture center in the past so I’ve been able to spend some up-close and personal time with these birds. And, what an experience that is. Glad you signed up and gave it a whirl even if some images were on the blurry side. It’s called practice. :-)
Monte, it was a nice experience. That flight time shooting was definitely practice, although I don’t know if I was any better at it by the end. :-)
I would have jumped on this event in a heartbeat!!!. My bird photography sucks but this is a great opportunity to improve. Very nice shot, Earl.
Ken, thanks. This was something I had signed up for a while back not knowing for sure if i’d actually do it when the time came. Turns out it all fell into place.
The Raptor Center is about 2 miles from my house! I wasn’t home this weekend, but shout the next time you are over that way. The whole park there at Latta Plantation has some great places for shooting, especially in the fall. I’ve never done the PhotoWild event but a lot of my local photographer friends were probably there.
Tom, I thought I’d remembered from our discussions you guys were gone this past weekend. It’s a beautiful area for sure. As I was telling Ken above, it’s one of those things I’d signed up for not knowing if I’d actually do it when the time came or not — turns out it was a great time. I’d love to meet up with you and shoot there again sometime.
You’re certainly not wrong about the difficulty of bird photography, Earl. I was very interested in it for a while a few years back, but the ratio of failed attempts to successful ones is amazingly high. Especially for birds in flight. It’s kind of like playing a video game – you have to be quick (and steady).
The owl shot is very good. Those eyes just bore right through you.
Paul, I’ve never been very good at those quick action video games either. I was shooting the flight portions in continuous high mode with resulted in a LOT of shots but came back with only a few worth anything. Thanks!
What a cool event and a great idea! Birding in the wild will definitely test your patience, skills and gear as a photographer. These are very good shots Earl, regardless whether they were staged or not.
NR, thanks. It was a good and worthy time for sure.