Nature photos

ON MONDAY September 25, Sileby Photographic Society were treated to a superb presentation entitled “The Wild Long Journey Down Under” by acclaimed nature photographer, and PAGB Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016, Gianpiero Ferrari FRPS DPAGB FBPE.

Gianpiero was accompanied by his wife Paulo on this long seven week tour (in a small campervan) covering a distance of several thousand miles from Perth to Melbourne and taking in the Flinders Mountain Range in the North. For Gianpiero this did not mean city and urban life but mainly the natural flora and fauna that he came across.

The trip was blighted by more than average rainfall and high winds which was unusual but Gianpiero overcame these circumstances to take a huge amount of fabulous images on the clearer days.

There were a few humorous shots of signposts, the names of which we recognised: “Quorn” and “Melton”, proof that other locals had ventured there in earlier times!

Trees and nature were abundant, and the images of Dragon, Vanilla and Custard Orchids were stunning, Flannel Flowers were something very unusual!

There were variations on our sweet pea called The Bitter Pea, too many to name, but one that did register was the Running Postman, a red variety that ran along the ground. Australia has over 600 species of orchid and Gianpiero did his utmost to photograph most of them, Queen of Sheba, the Spider Orchid (which has many varieties from 2 1/2 inches to 3 foot tall), Pink Fairy and Blue Fairy, all were a real ‘sweetshop’ of colour to the eyes.

Birds such as Wood Duck, Crested Turn, and Yellow Billed Spoon Bill so ordinary in one sense were given the ‘star’ treatment by Gianpiero, showing his expertise in capturing these fantastic images.

Yet because of the extra rain these birds did not frequent their usual watering holes and had to be found elsewhere within the National Park visited. Many cockatoo and parrot varieties were photographed, in amazing colour and in their natural wild habitat.

Some of the most unusual flowers in Creation were beautifully photographed such as Trigger plant and Cow Kick which quickly react to insects landing on them to cover them with their pollen.

Gianpiero skilfully put together his images in not just ones, but panels of three or five images to give the maximum display of his work.

Insects and butterflies were not forgotten with images of the Australian Painted Lady, many moth varieties, the Mountain Huntsman Spider and the lovely Mardi Gras Cockroach.

Gianpiero and his wife visited a guest house at the Eyre Bird Observatory in a remote place originally built as part of the Inter-Colonial Telegraph Line in 1877.

This place was not far from the sea with lovely white sand dunes with Camel footprints, but the Camel was elusive! Images of lizards, snakes and more elusive birds were again beautifully captured. The Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo was photographed playing on wire fencing and Gianpiero was quick to capture the display of its crest.

After a well-deserved coffee break, Gianpiero resumed his presentation with images from the Nullarbor Plain, a reserve ran by Aboriginal people. In this area were numerous kangaroos and snakes the likes of which if found dead were quickly cleared by carrion scavenger birds. Here Gianpiero captured an image of a Dingo, and also trees which stuck out along the flat earth of the plain.

Visiting Port Augusta water birds such as the Black Headed Ibis, Black Swan, White Faced Heron and Little Grebe were again stunningly captured by Gianpiero’s expert camera work. Large flocks of parrots and budgerigars were also in the area.

From here travelling north to Wilpena at the Flinders Mountain Range National Park Gianpiero and Paulo found the campsite was very busy with families, but getting out to view the landscapes he captured stunning images of mountain views and also colourful groundcover in the wooded areas.

Here the Emu were very tame and were a delight.

To capture the rarer images off-road travelling was necessary and stunning images were shown of Fairy Wren in the most breath-taking of colourful variety.

Here also were orchids, lilies and myrtle, and in the pitch blackness of night Gianpiero captured the night sky.

Travelling to Chiltern to what seemed an abandoned place but is actually a memorial to Gold Mining in the area, Gianpiero took a break from nature and captured images of old abandoned buildings including a fascinating old petrol station full of memorabilia.

The Ironbark forest was visited; a very rare bird was photographed, the Helmeted Honeyeater.

A great variety of birds too numerous to mention (but included Crimson Rosella parrots) were also beautifully photographed along with the iconic Koala Bears.

Bringing his fantastic presentation to a close along the Great Ocean Road, beautiful sandy beaches and other coastal vistas including the eroded rock formations of Twelve Apostles and London Arch (formerly London Bridge) were captured by Gianpiero’s expert eye.

David Putt gave thanks to Gianpiero on behalf of the Society for his beautiful presentation of hundreds of images, and the time in preparation and research in fitting the images together into panels was a great way to see so many images. Brilliant!

News closer to home was brought by Pete Smith our External Competitions Secretary who reported that we had won two competitions against Nottingham Outlaws and Lutterworth in recent weeks. Well done and thankyou to those who submitted work.

The next meeting will be held on 2nd October when Helen Willis will be presenting “The Road to Mandalay”.

As always, visitors and prospective members are always welcome to attend meetings which commence at 7.45pm for 8pm and are held at Sileby Community Centre.

Further information can be obtained from the Society’s website, the address of which is www.silebyps.org.uk