Fun for photographers at Wildlife Open Day

The open day, which took place on Saturday, April 29, aimed to help customers get the most out of their gear this summer.

Fr customers visiting Park Cameras in Burgess Hill, not only were they blessed with fantastic warm weather (with a number of outdoor stands, this was fortunate), they also enjoyed a fun day whereby they could try out a whole range of gear from leading photographic and optical brands, including Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Tamron, Vanguard and Swarovski.

In order to truly try out the range of products available, Park Cameras had a varied selection of birds of prey on display including a Bald Eagle, Bateleur Eagle, Chilean Blue Eagle, a Harris Hawk, a Peregrine Falcon, a Hybrid falcon, a Spectacled Owl, an Ashy-faced Owl and a Northern Hawk Owl.

Customers were encouraged to take photos of these incredible birds, with experts from The Falconry Centre on hand to impart their knowledge on the different birds.

For those feeling really adventurous, customers were also invited to handle some of the owls that were on display.

For those visiting the Wildlife Day at Park Cameras, it was also a fantastic chance to see some of the top new products that will be coming out this Summer, with the Sony a9, Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM lens and the Panasonic TZ90.

This was one of the first opportunities that customers were able to get hands on with these new products, with technical experts from the brands available to offer customers help and advice.

The day was not all about cameras, lenses and scopes, but was also an opportunity to learn something new from a range of top wildlife photographers, all with different aspects to help customers get the most out of the range of products they had already invested in, or were considering.

Andy Rouse, Jason Wharam, Tesni Ward and recent Sony World Photographer Award-Winner Will Burrard-Lucas all presented some insightful seminars throughout the day, with a number of customers commenting on how they had come away from them with either some new inspiration, or some ideas on what they should consider adding to their kit bags!.

During the event, nature imaging experts Wild Arena were also in attendance helping customers with an introduction to the art of Macro Photography.

A whole variety of topics were covered including, the choice and use of macro lenses, keeping things in focus and the creative use of depth-of-field, managing movement in the images with shutter speeds and the correct use of other related accessories.

The groups were small to enable customers plenty of opportunity to get hands-on with this practical session, with many customers stating how much they enjoyed the session, and that it had inspired them to take this type of photography further.

The doors finally closed from a very busy day, and new store manager Michael Chant got up close and personal with a Harris Hawk.

Michael said: “Today was an extremely busy day, and I was pleased to hear feedback from a range of new and existing customers saying how much they enjoyed the day, and how passionate they are about their photography. The birds of prey certainly added a different element to the day, and really allowed customers to photograph something not normally seen! I personally am just pleased that the hawk didn’t take a fancy to an ear of finger when I had the chance to hold one!”

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