Frederic Desmette

Wildlife Photography

Park Camera: Sony lens repair

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Park Camera , service

Hi everyone

I have to share this.

My Sony 200-600 mm front element was starting to move. After a year I decided to have the lens fixed. I had bought that lens 3 years ago from Park Camera. Nothing more natural to send the lens there to have it repaired.

Park Camera asks £50.00 for the estimate. If I wanted to go for the repair that £50.00 would be refunded.

I received the estimate. It was £706.00 yes Seven hundred and 6 pound!. I was really surprised .

I mentioned this to a friend of mine and he told me to go and have the lens repaired by an independent person. I Google for independent Sony repaired company and came across “Camera repair direct “ I spoke to as gentlemen Called Wes. I explained to that gentlemen the issue that I had with the lens and he told me that it would cost £126.00. Hundred and twenty six pound. (All inclusive, postage etc)

I declined the Park camera estimate (Losing my Fifty quid) and I ask to have my lens back. After a week the lens came back. I immediately send the lens to Wes at Camera repair direct and my lens came back to me repaired within 4 days!!

Over the years. I have spent a lot of money with Park camera. Well , never again. I just don`t like to be taken for a ride. I don`t care if they use Sony or not. They should give you a choice.

Conclusion, Do not get ripped off and search for independent camera repairer people.

Frederic Desmette

Photo raptors, Spain, May 2018

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Hello everyone

In April the weather in UK was poor to say the least, & it was nice to get out of this country.

I went to Spain for four days to clear my mind, and to do some wildlife photography. When I go abroad, which is not often, I always want to photograph a species that it would be impossible to do with such a short amount of time.

For some species it can take years to make them come to an area. Well, I did not have years, so I used a company called Photo Raptors. The company is run by two very good photographers, Helios and Jose.

We arrived in Spain very late, it was 23h30 & Helios was waiting for us at the hotel. He explained a few things and we went to bed, I was knackered!

The next day Helios came to pick us up and we went to a Spanish Imperial Eagle hide. The hide was very luxurious and comfortable. It needs to be as I am getting older, & I cannot sit for hours on end in a tiny hide. I need space, & I need to be able to sit on a proper chair etc… All the hides we used were very good.

We were shooting through glass, of which I’m not a big fan, but it worked. The quality of the pictures were fine.

During the next few days we photographed all sort of birds. Azure Wing Magpie, Bonelli’s Eagle, Cuckoo etc

It was magical to be in such beautiful country.

Helios, Jose and the hotel owner could not have done more to please us.

Overall, I had a very good trip. The country is spectacular, and the organisation was very professional.

I would definitely book future trips with Photo Raptors.

Frederic 

Photo logistic ,Spain, June 2015 Trip report

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Spain: Trip report
The Spanish curse has been lifted!!
Every year I try to photograph a species that it would be almost impossible for me to do, but it does need a lot of preparation.
This year, I wanted to photograph three species. The pin-tailed Sand Grouse, the black-bellied Sand Grouse and the Rock Thrush. In order to do this I had to go back to Spain. All my previous trips to Spain had been disastrous (Steve west and Birding in Spain, had been a catastrophe!)
This time I decided to go with a company that is owned and run by photographers.
The company we used is called Photo Logistic. Roger and Carless of Photo Logistic, are wildlife photographers, and that is the difference. They know exactly where to place the hide, they know that people will want quality pictures, they know about the perches, they know about the distances, the background etc…
We arrived there late in the afternoon and we met Carless. We had a quick drink and Carless asked us if we wanted to go in a hide with a drinking pool for two hours, we said yes. Carless took us to that hide and we photographed a few species. It was good to take some pictures.
Carles came back and told us that we had to drive for two hours for our first target species (the Sand Grouses) and we arrived in a little town called Belchite at 23h00. We were starving. The hotel was behind a petrol station and we really thought that we were going to end up in a shit hole. We met the garage and hotel owner and he told us to drive to the back of the petrol station. We arrived at the rear and we were really surprised, it was like a little oasis. It was very very nice. (Never judge a book by his covert! )  I am not very extravagant when I travel, but I like to have minimum comfort. We were shown our bedrooms, they were roomy, with aircon and really clean. It was like paradise and my friend Mike went for a quick dive in the swimming pool.
As I was saying, we were starving so we went and asked the owner if it was possible to have two or three slices of bread. The chap said “No, no, no, we are going to cook for you.” A lady called Olga appeared and asked us what we wanted and we told her to do whatever she wanted. After five minutes she came back with some very tasty Spanish food. The hospitality we had there was extraordinary and Olga could not do enough for us. It was also very very good value for money. If you are in this area I can’t recommend this place highly enough.
Their website address is: www.rincondelcierzo.com
The next day we went off to the Sand Grouse’s hide. I had last seen Sand Grouse some years ago, but the birds were always in flight and far away. This was the first time that I had had these birds so close. The colours were spectacular! We photographed these species and more during the morning.
After, we went back where we met Carless the day before, and he took us to another hotel. This hotel was in the middle of nowhere. Again, we were received like kings! The owner of the hotel Enric and Angel could not do enough for us. We stayed there for three days and it was like being in paradise! Beautiful place, good food, and calm. You could actually hear the silence. The noisiest neighbours were Scops Owl and Nightjar, it was a magical place. Here is their website: www.calmiramunt.com
The next day we went to photograph the Rock Thrush. Again, this was a fantastic bird to photograph. The colours were incredible, and we stayed with the bird all morning.
We had completed our target species and we were very pleased with the results. The next day we went in another hide to photograph Roller, and again birds performed, after that we went back to the drinking pool.
Overall I had a great time in Spain. The hospitality of the Spanish people has always been excellent.
I will definitely use Photo Logistic again, because I think that they look after their clients very well and they know exactly what you want.
The Spanish curse has been lifted!
Frederic

Photo logistic Website: http://www.photo-logistics.com/wp/ 

Lassi Rautiainen Bear,wolf, wolverine photography July 2014 Trip report

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This is a trip report about the Lassi Rautiainen set up in Finland
The trip took place at the end of July 2014

My all time photographic dream has always been to photograph a black wolf with yellow eyes in the wild. As it is not possible to do this in Europe, I decided to go for the next best thing, to photograph and watch a wild wolf. I had heard of a place in Finland where this was possible, and it had been recommended by several photographers. A friend and I decided to go and we planned our trip for the end of July 2014.

Our location was near Kuhmo, about four hours drive from Oulu, and we arrived on a Wednesday afternoon. We were greeted by a man who was cooking. He was very charming and offered us a coffee, we were made to feel very welcome. After coffee and a quick chat this man showed us our accommodation. The set up seemed simple, but we were there to photograph wolves, bears and wolverines, so we were excited and not duly concerned. At 17.00 that same evening we were taken to our hide. In total, they had about sixteen hides and four feeding stations. We were placed at the ‘lake hide’. I’ve found that Finnish people make very good hides, and this was no exception. We waited all night and did not see anything. At 08.00 someone arrived to take us from the hide and back to the centre. We had a good breakfast and met with Mr Rautiainen for the first time. He advised us that we had been very unlucky to have not seen anything, and we paid him the agreed fee. We went to bed and after we had had supper at around 16.00, we were taken to the ’no man’s land hide’. At 23.30 we saw our first silhouetted wolf in the darkness, but is was a considerable distance from us and it was impossible to take any pictures of it. That was our only sighting that night and the following morning someone again came to collect us and take us back to the centre. So far, two whole days and still not a single shot. On the third day we were being taken to the ‘paradise hide’ but before we could leave we had to wait for an hour for a group of Norwegians to arrive, which meant that we did not leave until 18.15. Mr Rautiainen did not seem at all concerned that we had all been kept waiting to get to our hides and I thought that was very unprofessional. That night we just saw a bear in the dark, and again it was very far away. However, at 01.00 we suddenly heard a wolf howling, which was incredible, but we still had not taken any pictures. We had now been here three days and still not a single photograph had been taken. The Norwegian group had been taken to the ‘lake hide’ that night and they hadn’t seen anything either, they weren’t at all happy, and I was beginning to worry. On our last day we went back to the ‘lake hide’ and we saw a wolf and a bear in the dark. Whilst we were able to take a few pictures they were about 250-300 metres away and I was not pleased at all. I had a chat with Mr Rautiainen and he told us that we could have a ‘free day’. I did not find this very satisfactory as I would have preferred a refund of some of our money. In any case we did not have the time to take up his ‘free day’ offer and as we both lived some 3000 km away the likelihood of us returning to claim the free day was remote. Mr Rautiainen told us (as he had every day) that we’d just had bad luck, but that bad luck had been very expensive for us both.

I find the fact that we took 20 pictures in four whole days very poor, especially in light of the cost. We saw a total of three bears (always the same three) in four days. While we were there I had the opportunity to talk to several guides and they told us that a lot of bears had been shot in that area, and maybe even some wolves too! All the people that were at Mr Rautiainen’s set up at the same time as us were complaining that they had not seen anything. I personally think that they have far too many feeding stations as the density of large mammals in that area does not warrant four. It is my opinion that they have four feeding stations so that they can accommodate more paying clients and whilst I’ve heard reports that some people have had success here, I had not, so I would not return as I believe we had been ripped off.

‘Bad luck’ seems to their motto, and I heard that phrase a thousand times during the four days. I have arranged my own workshops from time to time and if the customer doesn’t succeed on the species they want, I give them a total refund. I just cannot take money when I don’t deliver.

Frederic Desmette

Summary

Whilst we did experience the extraordinary sight and sounds of a wild wolf this was meant to be a photographic trip and we came home without any satisfactory shots. This company prides itself on their ability to provide photographic opportunities with wolves, bears and wolverines. When you charge the prices that they ask you expect to be able to get good shots of your quarry, and we most certainly did not.