With Blair Drummond Safari Park being some what similar to Edinburgh Zoo with the type of animals there are to see, there should be a variety of wildlife to capture especially of the wildlife suited to the hotter climate such as lions etc. The park looks spacious although it’s difficult to tell from certain pictures, I also did some research on Blair Drummond Safari Park on YouTube watching some videos, some of the enclosures look smaller and therefore difficult to shoot in if I’m to capture the wildlife without the fencing in the shot. I’m hoping to capture many great images and judging from the website and videos on YouTube much of it looks similar to the Highland Wildlife Park. The weather was forecasted to be sunny with clouds which will benefit me, for this I won’t need to worry as such about my camera gear and clothes but will wear appropriate clothing in case. Part of Blair Drummond Safari Park is travelling by car through enclosed areas such as the lions enclosure etc so this may give me the
perfect opportunity to capture some closer shots of the animals.
I maybe limited with capturing some other techniques I would like, however if I can capture some of the other animals such as the lions for example, it may benefit me to show for a variety of what is on offer to see as I based my images around the wildlife tourism in Scotland. Again, it maybe troublesome for capturing images to make it appear closer to natural habitat, depending on available space I will try to crop out any fencing or use shallow depth of field. It would be nice to capture some images of the wildlife in action such as the lions or even birds of prey, for this I will probably use the faster shutter speed again. The birds of prey I would hope I could capture some flight shots using the slower shutter speed for pan technique.
I will be using both my 70-200mm with the 70D camera body and my 150-600mm Sigma Sport lens with the 5D Mark iii body. The Safari Park is open from 10am till 5:30pm with last admissions at 4:30pm. Admission cost will be £16.50 for adult.
As I’ve mentioned from previous shoots similar I know from experience that often it is your luck on the day visiting these parks whether or not the animals are there, where you will find them in their enclosures, if close to fences etc it would ruin the shot. Perhaps the most challenging thing today will be taking pictures different to what I may
already have. I can’t see myself capturing landscape especially if in the car or walking around the enclosures.
I will be travelling to Blair Drummond Safari Park from the Cairngorms by car which will take me an estimated 2 hours hopefully giving me enough time to spend in the Park to capture a variety of images I could possibly use.
Sources for research can be found here:
Scott CJ McKelvie Photography, Vlogging & Blogging 