Adam Hillier Photography

Last week I was offered the great opportunity of photographing the first shoot of this years shooting season. I was invited by Graham Chapple of Rapid Pest Control, Graham is very well connected within the shooting community and has been for years, it sounded great fun but also as something I could add to my commercial photography portfolio.

It was a very pleasant relaxed start in some of Berkshire’s most beautiful countryside just outside of Newbury. The shoot all gathered at 9am and soon off went the beaters into the woods to start driving the pheasant’s into the desired areas in readiness for the poised guns. I shadowed Graham for the morning, and was soon I was introduced to the team who work tirelessly behind the scenes ensuring that the day of shooting is a great success, I never realised how much planning went into this!

From here I then met all of the gentlemen that were actually participating in the day. A very successful businessman from London, making a fair living in the insurance marketplace, had invited and laid on a days shooting for 8 of his clients and associates – all very pleasant guys and keen shooters.

We set off on to the first of four “drives”. A drive is a shoot in a particular spot, the beaters would force the birds down through to the drive, there would be a couple of frenzied and loud minutes of shooting and then that drive would be complete on the sound of a very loud whistle, the whole group would then move to another location/drive and the whole process would be repeated, the beaters would fast set off and start driving the birds in a specific direction and so on. There were to be 4 drives in this morning.

As a local photographer in Newbury, I was aiming on capturing some very traditional shoot photographs, the gentleman poised, gun in hand watching and waiting. I wanted to capture the landscape and scenery at its best. I wanted to capture colour, the beautiful colours of early Autumn as it slowly sets in the greens, the yellows and the orange of autumnal leaves, but also the stunning reds and greens of the male pheasants in contrast to the subtle browns and beige of the hen birds. This was going to be a real treat. You can see the gallery of images from the day here

The day was great fun, and it delivered everything I expected. What I didn’t expect was the sheer pace of everything about the day. The speed of the drive, from the moment the beaters drove the birds to and then out of the maize was incredible, the actual shooting action from spotting a bird to firing was a blistering speed, the birds were being driven at us at such a great rate that I quickly gave up even trying to capture them at full speed. Everything was fast, but terrific fun. It was engaging, relaxing and wonderful to be outside, in the fresh air photographing such an event. I can imagine this culture being very addictive, this society of people linked to and included with a shoot, from the beaters, the co-ordinators, the staff with their dogs picking up and right through to the people on the guns themselves were all enjoying themselves so much, you couldn’t help but want to be involved more.

I can’t wait for another opportunity to join another shoot, from the photography perspective whatever your views on shooting, it truly is a wonderful experience.