ACCRINGTON CAMERA CLUB

MEMBERS took a journey into the wild with the arrival of wildlife photographer Sheila Davies.

Sheila, who is an international competitor in audio visual photography, paid us a visit with her ‘wild and wonderful’ show – taking us around the world with a series of AV sequences, accompanied by tales of magical moments and hardships, plus the practical problems of digital shooting ‘off grid’ for days on end in harsh environments.

She told us that she became inspired by nature at a young age when her parents let her stay up late to watch David Attenborough’s Zoo Quest for a Dragon, which captured the first ever TV footage of a Komodo dragon.

She became a fan of Sir David’s work, avidly watching all his nature programmes, and her wildlife trips have tried to emulate him.

In her talk, Sheila took us first to Uganda and her search for great apes.

In Kibale National Park, in the south of the country, she was able to get close to wild chimpanzees and also during her trip was lucky enough to photograph a family of mountain gorillas and successfully found lions resting in the trees – something which is unique to this area.

In Argentina she travelled in the Andes, reaching 16,112ft above sea level, and experienced the wilds of Quebec during a visit to her son who lives in Canada, as well as a trip to Alaska.

But tropical rainforest is Sheila’s favourite and her natural history ‘must sees’ had to include a special quest for a dragon – something she ticked off her bucket list with a trip to Indonesia.

Seeing a Komodo dragon in the flesh and photographing it, Sheila said, was “a personal quest fulfilled after 55 years.”

Sheila was thanked for her fascinating talk by club vice president Harry Emmett.

This week’s meeting on Friday from 7.45pm features our monthly competition. Visitors and new members are most welcome.

We meet at the Primetime Centre, on Stourton Street in Rishton.

For more information about the club please visit our website, accrington cameraclub.org.uk.