#Ad I was kindly gifted this experience for the purpose of this review however all thoughts are my own.
With Father’s Day now less than a week away, some of you may still be struggling with what gift you can get your dad.
If your dad already has everything he needs and wants but you would still like to treat him to something special, how about an experience day?
I was kindly offered the chance to try out one of the experiences offered by Experience Days and took the chance to go on a wildlife photography course at Whipsnade Zoo. Now we are very fortunate that Whipsnade is only about 20 minutes away from us and to me it is my favourite zoo of all the ones we have visited, simply due to the space all the animals have.
Booking the experience itself was very easy to do, my voucher arrived through the post and then I simply followed the instructions in the pack to redeem online selecting a suitable date for me. From this Rachel, the photography tutor contacted me to arrange where everyone would be meeting and ensuring I had the right equipment for the day.
On the day I headed over to meet Rachel and the other people taking part, it was a small group with just 4 of us on the course but that was probably about the right amount as it allowed Rachel to help everyone individually depending on what their needs were. Before we headed around the park Rachel sat us down to explain the day, our cameras and the key points on how to capture a good picture. She asked everyone what level they would consider their photography skills to be. This was not to single anyone out (at the start of the day I was on auto mode the whole time!) but to help understand what level people are using and how to improve your skills with the camera.
I have to admit at the start of the day I was very apprehensive about how I would find the day as my photography skills are amateur at best, I tend to stick with auto mode or my phone as I have never really taken time to understand my camera. However, I needn’t had worried as Rachel was so helpful, not only in how to use the various settings on the camera but also how to think about what I wanted to capture and how I would do this.
These are some of the first pictures I took in my first attempt at using the manual.
Throughout the day it was never rushed and you never felt like you were taking up too much time. Everyone in the group was helpful and encouraging too and it was good to take inspiration from those who had a little more experience than I did.
Coming away from the day I have taken so much from the day, not just how to use my camera but how to think more about photography as a whole. Rachel was an amazing teacher and from just speaking to her throughout the day you were able to sense just how much she loves photography, her African Safaries sounds like an amazing adventure.
Experience days – Wildlife photography
This experience day will always be something I will remember, it may not be the right pick for your dad however Experience Days have so many choices to pick from, I am sure you will be able to find the perfect Father’s day gift.
I just want to say a huge thank you to Experience Days for gifting this opportunity to me and to Rachel for her amazing lesson!