15 May: Confessions of a wildlife photographer

Confessions of a Wildlife Photographer, is the independent sequel (part two) of the lecture Michael Leach, of WWF fame, gave for the Netherlands-England Socieity in Maastricht in May 2003.

This time his talk will feature magpies, hen harriers, badgers and many other animals. Michael will explain the basics of his art in this introduction to the realities of professional wildlife photography. This is definitely not a technical talk and is unlike any other you have heard.

In a humorous way Michael looks at the superlative highs and painful lows of the job. He explains how to coax animals in exactly the right spot and just how to convince them that a human is NOT watching. Michael also shows how he achieves his remarkable high-speed photographs that freeze action too fast for the human eye to follow. He uncovers some of the cunning and underhand tricks-of-the-trade.

The speaker
Michael Leach has been a full-time wildlife author and photographer since 1977. In the 1980s he spent four years filming wildlife documentaries for TV but he decided that he prefers still photography.

Today Michael mainly works with mammals and birds. His photographs have appeared in over 600 books (on wolves, owls etc) and in more than 50 countries. He has written articles for a wide variety of magazines.

Michael Leach is a lecturer on the national speaker list of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (the R.S.P.B.) and the National Trust, among others.

Date: Monday, 15 May 2006 at 8 pm (interval around 9 pm; ends around 10 pm)

Venue: Grand Hotel l’Empereur, Stationstr. 2 , Maastricht (opposite railway station)

Entry fees: Members free; Guests EUR 5.=; Students EUR 3.50; 11-16 year olds EUR 1.50

Due to the limited number of seats, e-mail reservations are required.

Source: Netherlands-England Society, Limburg branch