June 2016. Photography trip to the Dombes in France
June 2016. For three weeks we have been holding wildlife photography workshops dedicated to using floating blinds to observe and photograph aquatic birds.
The Dombes is a wetland area located in the department of Ain in southeastern France. It is a major wetland organized around thousands of ponds which are used for fish farming. Many farmers raise carp, which will either be exported, mostly to Germany, or sold to populate ponds for carp fishing.
These ponds attract many species of migratory aquatic birds, such as grebes, black-necked grebes, ducks, egrets, herons, etc. Shorebirds, wading birds, and diving birds meet here in the spring to mate and reproduce before returning to warmer areas for the winter.
The ponds in the Dombes are shallow and are easy places to use floating blinds to achieve exceptional photos. A floating blind enables a photographer to move around easily in a beautiful natural environment. It also enables him to get closer to the animals and photograph them without disturbing them. Photography from a floating blind allows the photographer to be on eye level with the subjects he is photographing. This creates a real relationship with the birds because the viewer feels very close to them.
A floating blind also enables a photographer to create interesting photos by using perspectives which it is impossible for someone on the banks of the pond to use. We described all the advantages of this technique in this article.
For us, this annual trip to the Dombes is not only the opportunity to organize workshops of exceptional quality but also the opportunity to create unusual photographs.
