Professional Looking Photography

Located in West Wiltshire, approximately 12 miles from Bath, our wildlife photography hide is set on private land that is host to a variety of bird life and is managed by Simon and John.

Simon's primary objective in constructing the hide was to enable individuals new to wildlife photography, or those without high-end camera equipment to still be able to easily capture professional-quality images. This goal is easily attainable at the hide, as the background is sufficiently distant to prevent any distractions, allowing the subject to be showcased in its full beauty.

The background colour changes throughout the year and during summer it’s easy to get clean green backgrounds. There is an oak tree behind the perching area that in autumn, when the light catches it, provides a beautiful orange background. And in winter the background changes to greens and browns. You’ll be able stop your lens down without the fear of introducing a distracting background, leaving you free to focus on shutter speed and composition.

 

A male greenfinch perched on a teasel head
A male greenfinch perched on a lichen-covered branch

We understand the importance of getting pictures that are personal and unique to the individual photographer, therefore we will do all we can to help you achieve this. We will do this by giving you different perches to use, different distances to work from and different positions for the perches so that you can get the background you want.

Simon is always on the lookout for new and interesting perches, but if you have seen something you would like to bring to your session, no problem. Bring it along and we’ll set it up for you.

The Hide

The two person hide includes all the good things to help make your time comfortable so you can more easily ficus on your wildlife photography:

  • Gimbal plates and heads with Arca Swiss adaptors

  • Beanbags

  • Tea and coffee

  • Seating

  • Toilet

  • Lighting

  • Heating

The interior of wildlife in Wiltshire photography hide

Visiting Species

We do all we can to bring the birds in but can’t guarantee every species will appear during your visit, and some species are seasonal. Visitors to the hide include:

Blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, coal tit, marsh tit, chaffinch, green finch, gold finch, bull finch, great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, jay, robin, nuthatch, redpoll, siskin, dunnock, blackbird, song thrush, wren, grey wagtail, magpie, crow, jackdaw, pheasant, sparrowhawk, and if you are extremely lucky – hare, roe deer, muntjac. 

It’s always a special moment when a sparrowhawk visits the hide. Sometimes all you will see is a blur as this amazingly agile raptor flies through the area at speed, trying to catch the smaller birds. It can be tough to watch when the hunt is successful, but that is nature - all of the animals have to eat.

If you are fortunate enough, they will land on a perch after an unsuccessful hunt, or one may come to the pool for a drink or a bath, presenting the perfect opportunity to photograph this stunning bird of prey.

A female sparrowhawk standing in a pool showing its reflection

Not Just Birds

There is a small group of roe deer that sometimes spends time in the area. If you are very lucky, you may get the wonderful opportunity to see them gracefully wonder out of the woods and stroll through hide area, creating a delightful moment to capture with your camera.

A male roe deer close-up
A roe deer buck
A male roe deer sat in grass

What Kit Should You Bring?

We would recommend a focal length of 300 – 600mm if you have this at your disposal. A zoom lens works brilliantly as it gives you more flexibility, making the subject distance less important. A 70-200mm with a 1.4x converter also works, especially for the larger birds at the pool. But don’t worry if you have fixed focal length lens, we’ll ensure that the perches are in the just the right place for you to get the maximum out of your focal length. We will get you pictures no matter what camera you have. The images in the gallery were all taken on an OM System OM-1 and the Olympus 300mm f4, or the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 with and without a 1.4 converter.

Proof that you don’t need the latest and greatest kit at the hide. The pictures below were taken on a ten year old Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72 that cost £370.

 

Your Time in the Hide

When you book the hide it is yours and only yours for the session. We will not put you in the hide with someone you don’t know. The hide will comfortably take two people, so you can book for yourself and a friend (see booking page for more information). If you are coming alone, we recommend using two cameras if you can. One can be left on the perches and the other can be left on pool, it makes life a bit easier. But equally, it only takes a couple of seconds to move your camera from one window to the other if you don’t have the option of using two cameras.

Please use the contact form for any enquiries you may have about the hide, kit or anything!

A great tit photographed from the hide in Wiltshire
A jay photographed at wildlife in Wiltshire photography hide