Branston Water Park First Visit.

A good place to start this assignment is on my door step, Branston Water Park is made up from flood gravel pits and is a well managed easily accessible site with one of the biggest reed beds in the county. During the summer months it can be home to hundreds of birds as the population increases during breeding seasons plus with large numbers of people visiting regularly the wildlife tends to realize where there's people food can also be found. Another reason why I'm starting here is because of its proximity to active gravel mining operations, as I said in my last post I want to include photos of the mining work because it shows how when there finish in one area it can be reclaimed for conservation purposes. The problem I was facing was how to gain access to one of these quarries but from studying ordinance survey maps I can see that there's a number of footpaths that run in the right direction so that I can get close enough to hopeful get some good shots. By following this link you can see the layout of the park http://www.nationalforest.org/document/visitor/Branston_Water_Park.pdf and the mixture of habitats that make it an appealing site to begin with. I've treated this first visit as a bit of a planning exercise because I haven't been in a long time so  I wasn't sure what the lay of the land was going to be an what kind of shots I was likely to get below is what I ended up with.

Tech. Details

F-stops- f/13

Expo- 1600

ISO- 2000

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 300mm

Liked this view because of the way the scene was split into three individual areas showing the different habitats on site with the water, reed beds and wooded areas. Not the greatest colour variations between the second two areas but given another couple of weeks might get a more red/yellow tinge to the trees. I also liked the inclusion of wildlife in the view, there not very clear but it shows the place is alive with life.

Tech. Details

F-stops- f/8

Expo- 500secs

ISO- 2000

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 80mm

On the banks of the main lake leaves falling from the trees are starting to gather forming buildups of rotting vegetation feeding small insects and in turn the fish and larger wildlife found on the site. Even a small thing like this is an important part in the natural cycle in the environment.

Tech. Details

F-stops- f/11

Expo- 1000secs

ISO- 2000

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 80mm

One of the most important things in this section that I want to show is how land previously used for mining has been reclaimed for the better of the local environment and I think this photo is a start along these lines because it show the proximity of the current quarry to the wetland that has been created through close management of the land as the quarrying has moved on. Think it shows that brown field sites can be cleared and then managed to produce great new habitats that can work even so close to areas where people are working on an industrial scale, nature always finds away.

 Tech. Details

F-stops- f/14

Expo- 640secs

ISO- 640

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 18mm

I find this view a very quiet, calming kind of scene that shows in a way why we love these kind of areas especially when like Branston Water Park its located nearly right on top of the busy town of Burton On Trent and gives people a place where they can go and just relax and leave there problems of every day life behind for maybe half an hour and feel a bit closer to nature.

Tech. Details

F-stops- f/13

Expo- 1250secs

ISO- 2000

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 300mm

Trying to be a bit arty here, liked the way the white contrast against the blue of the water and the bird breaks up the patterns of the waves and the green reflections. A gull isn't the most interesting bit of wildlife to be found but it still makes a good shot.

So what did I learn form my first visit, well one things for sure there's plenty of bird life to be found and that it would have been a good idea to take along some bread because I'm almost certain that I can get so good close shots with just a little feeding. Also going during school half term maybe wasn't the best plan because it was surprisingly busy and with all the people alot of the more interesting wildlife was staying right out in the middle of the lake to avoid everyone as best as they could. One thing I did notice was that I thought there would have been more migratory birds present but there wasn't, whether its still a bit early I don't really know but I really want so images of the vast flocks that turn up every year on our wetlands. For this I might have to look further a field but I now have a much better idea of how Branston is set up and I can start thinking about images I should be able to produce there and others I might have to look else where to get.

  

Follow @shaunjohnson12