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Shorebird Photography with the OM-1, Tide was perfect, Weather not so!

Alex Handover Photography

1,461 views

Join me as I travel to a beach in South Wales to photograph shorebirds with the OM system OM-1ii, arriving two hours before high tide, the weather was pretty bad at first but I managed to get some lovely encounters with Turnstones, Oystercatchers and a beautiful Curlew.

The light was challenging, forcing me to try some low shutter speed photography, I also try out the groundpod for the first time, link to it down below.

Using the 150-400 TCpro lens, I was able to get nice and low with the ground pod/skimmer enabling me to get some nice shore bird photographs.

Don't forget every view helps out the Barn Owls as I am donating all my Adsense earnings (till April '26) to the @BarnOwlTrust1

If you enjoy wildlife photography, OM System cameras, or British wildlife films, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more nature adventures.

📸 Camera Gear:
OM System OM-1mkII
OM system 150-400 TC pro
DJI Osmo nano
DJI mic 2 with DJI lavalier

Chapters

00:00 - On my way to the beach
00:41 - Rain and sand!
03:18 - Found a peaceful spot
05:38 - My favourite Wader
06:14 - Playing with the shutter speed
08:07 - Shorebird photography tips
09:32 - Gear I used
10:40 - Outro

Photography Ground pod - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JLoneyPh...

Music - provided by epidemic sound -

Sound effects from - https://quicksounds.com/

Follow me on Instagram -Instagram: alex_handover_photography

Photos edited with DxO PhotoLab 9 - watch my review of it here - DxO PhotoLab 9 - What's new - Photo Editin...

#omsystemom1 #shorebirdphotography #wildlifephotography #birdphotography #wildlife #naturephotography #birds #curlew

17 Comments

@stephaniechadwick-s3s 10 months ago

Excellent, Alex. What a treat to get such lovely views of a Curlew. The Touchstone rootling in the seaweed was a lovely bit of footage, Thanks ☺

@darrenjames3178 10 months ago

Great video, Alex. Excellent tips for the budding photographer, but it’s also a great birding video! (Ssssshhh!)

@CraigDibdinPhotography 10 months ago

Nice little video mate , was good to see a shoot with a difference ☺️🙌🏻

@richardchew1767 10 months ago

Hi Alex. The times that happens! A well-earned day off, a plan hatched, a quick check of the weather …. ugh! And then there are dogs running loose everywhere …. don’t get me started on that!

Like you, Curlew is my favourite wader. Such a beautiful bird with an evocative call/song.

I was interested to hear that you were brought up in Essex. That is where I have lived for most of my life so the coast and estuaries are very familiar to me. As you will recall, they are excellent in winter for large flocks of Brent Geese, ducks and waders plus plenty of raptor species.

@exmoorphotographer 11 months ago

Another great video Alex

@jon_green_photography 11 months ago

Great video Alex. I enjoyed this one. I do love a curlew! A really beautiful bird and you got a great shot of it flying in towards the oyster catchers 👌. Keep meaning to buy one of those ground pods. Would also be good for lakeside photography. I know some people make them out of old frying pans!!

@alexlambaphoto 10 months ago

Great video, Alex! I really enjoyed watching you photographing those birds. There are some of my favorite ones to watch and to photograph. The ground pot is really nice. I was looking to buy one of those for a long time now. Thank you very much for the tips and I’m looking forward to tomorrow of your videos. Take care! 🙌🏻

@christinecowley3120 10 months ago

Excellent video….we liked this! Love the shore birds, I share your concerns for the Curlews, such beautiful birds and the call they make seems to resonants when visiting reserves

@johnlowe7097 11 months ago

Great video Alex really useful tips,so nice to see the curlew was up at Slimbridge last week seen a couple there 😊

@melvynhood9010 10 months ago

Great vid!

@Karkawry1970 11 months ago (edited)

Nice one Alex, we'll say no more of dogs and beaches, suffice to say it is far less stressful (for you the photographer) to find one that is quiet in the mornings, though that is becoming increasingly hard, another thing i find helps for the foreground blur is to have your lens hood kissing the sand, def the lower the better on that front, lens cover is a great investment though, especially as you say around salt and sand, lethal combo!

@richwilliamsphotography 11 months ago (edited)

Great video Alex 👍 Had my first go on the beach last week with the snow bunting. Lying down gave a great perspective and nice shots and the bird came really close. There were lots of waders but the tide was right out. I must go back and give it a try on an incoming tide. See what I get 👍

@theflyingdutchman7127 10 months ago

Beautiful photos of these coastal birds. Did you protect the front lens from the sea spray? That seems more important to me than a rain cover. Both are, of course, even better. Prevention is better than cure, as the saying goes.

@pistonslapuk 10 months ago

Nice video and adaptability. Always makes me laugh when I hear that curlews numbers are reducing, come over to the east coast and you’ll see more and more every year and the moors are packed full now too a lot more than when I was a nipper