Day Before Nikon Gigrin Farm Visit

Monday was scheduled for a trip to Gigrin Farm near Rhayader in Wales, and I was lucky enough to be joining the organiser of the trip, Wildlife Photographer Chris Gomersall. Although this is under the auspices of Nikon UK, I had learned that the trips are camera-type agnostic, so sporting Canon equipment did not place me at a disadvantage or any additional cost burden. The red kite do not have any prejudices either, and they are not the only species of birds that attend the feeding station as I was to learn.

I set off with a clear GPS SatNav route to follow to meet up with Chris, but it did not account for a road closure close to my first destination, Potton – a bridge is being repaired, and this meant I had to phone Chris to find an alternative route to reach him. I arrived only five minutes later than we had arranged and we loaded the car with my camera gear and clothes and set off for Wales avoiding the motorway roadworks, breaking the journey at Telford. Along the way we both got the chance to know each other better and discuss a wide range of topics, not all related to what lay ahead at Gigrin Farm. One surprising incident was when Chris spotted a buzzard sitting happily on a road sign on our side of the road, he mentioned it to me and had I had a camera to hand it was so close I could have filled the frame using a wide angle lens!

We met rain and numerous light-controlled sections of roadworks even on these lesser roads, but arrived well in time to get our gear into the Brynafon Hotel and have some time at the afternoon feeding up at the farm where we took up station in the high hide. We were really lucky with the changing weather as during this ‘bonus’ time we were blessed with a rainbow that stayed for quite a while whilst the birds were still feeding.

We met up with one of the morrow’s delegates at the hide and learned he had seen a spectacular display at Aberystwyth of a Starling Murmuration, which decided us on the hour’s drive to coast to see whether we might be so lucky, but though they appeared briefly it was a very small flock that visited us! But the high tide and the skies still invited us to take pictures.

We joined up again with Daan and his wife at the hotel and suppered together enjoyably, all of us eager to repeat and improve upon that day’s shooting.

SRB-Griturn – Precision Engineers

I visited a small Precision Engineering company in Bedfordshire that proves that manufacturing can still take place in the UK. This company formed from two others some seven or so years ago is well-known in the photographic industry for supplying filters, step-up and down rings, and other photographic components. It is less known possibly for the other products it produces, often for other companies.

Even I did not know it produced specialist motor bike parts – it makes products that prevent a bike from flipping over in the case of an accident; if the bike goes down it stays down, which can save the rider from serious injury, whilst also lessening damage to the fairings. I did however know that they produce almost the whole of some high quality bows for the serious archer. They have several products either under development or in small scale production for the new breed of videographer working with movies using the latest crop of digital SLRs from Canon and Nikon.

In the accompanying gallery of images taken during a quick visit to the works, I show the solid block of aluminium from which are manufactured the components of a gearbox in a follow-focus system for Shoot35 Limited, and an intermediate stage of a bow part, and the finished anodised piece.

Not only do they have sophisticated CNC machines and skilled engineers to operate them, but they also have an anodising plant so that components can be finished to a high degree. I am very grateful to Director Terry Fogden for giving me some time to see some of the work he and his team are working on currently. This is a small company that is not standing still in this time of economic difficulty; it is diversifying and by producing a range of quality products and services. Since they are working on something for me, I am hoping that I can continue to capture some of what they do in images and words to show others what a small British company can produce – it is not all gloom and doom!