By kind invitation of the Hunte Family, the photoshoot last Saturday, September 19th, was hosted at Congo Road Swamp Bird Sanctuary and the Congo Road Equestrian Centre, St. Philip. We were pleasantly surprised that Mrs. Daphne Hunte personally came to welcome us and to ensure that we would be comfortable during the shoot.
A section of the Congo Road Swamp Bird Sanctuary
The 6am start did not deter many of us enthusiasts! In fact, we had a tremendous turnout for what we hoped would be a learning experience at bird photography. The timing was right, the wind was from the South and a hurricane was offshore to the North East. However, the birds had other ideas of where they wanted to be that morning and I think it was safe to say there were more photographers than birds!
Decoy birds
Reflections
This did not dampen the spirits however and as usual there are always photographic opportunities to be found. A lovely couple of hours were spent in the serene surroundings of what was once an active shooting swamp but is now a private bird sanctuary thanks to the late Robin Hunte of Merrymen fame.
Creative photographers training their lenses on subjects other than birds
We were fortunate to have in attendance the locally renown bird photographer John Webster and his vast knowledge of local and migratory birds. It was interesting to learn of the habitats and behaviours of migratory birds that visit Barbados and the few birds that did present themselves that morning were expertly named. I trust there will be a future opportunity where perhaps more birds will present themselves for the camera!
We then moved on to the Equestrian Centre to photograph the training of the dressage and jumping horses. This afforded the opportunity to photograph Roberta Foster and her Pan American Games horse ChicChic being put through her paces for International dressage competition and other horses in dressage training for local competitions, as well as being able to take photographs of a horse training over jumps.
Roberta Foster on star horse ChicChic Dancing Feet
A brief definition of dressage, which is an Olympic recognised discipline, is the art of training the horse to perform special movements as directed by the rider with barely perceptible signals. Dancing with horses to music is not only a sport but an art form. Another learning scenario for the photography of horses and horsesport.
Laura Smith taking her horse through jumping exercises
The Barbados Photographic Society thanks the Hunte Family and especially Mrs Daphne Hunte for kindly allowing us access to their Congo Road facilities.
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