Let me say that it was my first visit to Minsmere, and it lived up to it's reputation. It was great to be able to spend a few days there, which gave me time to investigate much (but by no means all!) of the reserve.
The best hides for photography (in the afternoon and evening at least) are the South and West hides, I found. The South hide in particular has scrapes that are close enough to allow decent captures at a focal length of 500mm or higher. This is something of a rarity for a bird hide - typically the action is way too far away from the hide for photography. Even guys using 600mm f4s with teleconverters must struggle to place more than a handful of pixels on their subject. These hides are (quite understandably really) built with telescopes and bincoluars in mind, not photographers. As I say though, the South and West hides at Minsmere are different.
From the South hide:
Redshank: Nikon D300 + 500mm f/4 with 1.4x TC @ f/8, 1/500th sec, ISO 320
Black Headed Gull Nesting: Nikon D300 + 500mm f/4 with 1.4x TC @ f/8, 1/1000th sec, ISO 360
Avocet: D300 + 500mm f/4 with 1.4x TC @ f/8, 1/1250th sec, ISO 500
And from the West Hide:
Spoonbill: D300 + 500mm f/4 @ f/5, 1/1250th sec, ISO 200
Juvenile Herring Gull: D300 + 500mm f/4 @ f/4, 1/2000th sec, ISO 200
More from Minsmere next time.
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