Last night we were treated to a superb evening of entertainment. The speaker Dr. Michael Leach enthralled us with his tales of a professional wildlife photographer.
He is a BBC camera man and has written many wildlife books. IMHO he was the best guest speaker that has visited the club since I joined. His delivery style was thoroughly engaging and gave a gripping insight into the life of a professional photographer. We heard tales of how he began and got his ‘break’ at the BBC filming 8 seconds of a blue tit, all the way to very narrowly avoiding a mauling by a polar bear.
The night went by far too quickly and we will certainly be inviting Michael back again.
i must emphasise that he came across as a thoroughly single minded individual ,so focussed on his love of wildlife photography ,to the point that to get a single picture he would endure countless hardships ,from the antarctic of minus 72 to the sunshine of barren hot spots just to get that one picture ,to hrs upon hrs in a hive not moving or making a sound so as not to startle the wild life away ,truly marvellous man and what a speaker.
I would certainly second that, it was a most enjoyable evening delivered by a really down to earth and often funny character with nothing too technical and a wonderful insight into the life of a wildlife cameraman. His style and delivery was excellent and he gave away enough little tips and secrets to give everyone something to consider in their own meagre attempts to do similar images. So overall a great evening which I am sure the majority of members thoroughly enjoyed as much as I did, so congratulations for arranging such an interesting speaker.
Terry Smith