Cirl Bunting in snow

With most of Bulgaria effected by snow blizzards and tempratures ranging from – 8 to -25 its cold to say the lease, walking around the village and the outlaying fields with camera and long lens in hand its not long before i was having problems feeling my fingers form the cold. So limiting my photography sessions to just 30 minutes to one hour at a time then back inside for a coffee and a warm. I am lucky to live on the edge of our village so its just a short walk to my winter photography patch and i am enjoying the wonders of nature and wildlife.  Snow covered ground brings a few problems of its own for many camera auto setting so this time of year when the world looks white all over, I turn to manual dails on my camera taking my own spot meter light readings. Working in manual spot metering mode and taking manual reading from my hand or a object that looks nearest to 18 percent grey for best results.  This Cirl Bunting made eye concact with me and puffed out his body to make himself look bigger this action add a punky look to my final photograph. Enjoying a free meal of corn that I had just place on the ground at the right spot to allow my subjects a snow back-drop. A pocket full of mixed seeds this time of year helps to attract some passing birds into the front of your camera and lens also handing out a much needed free meal at a time when resident birds and visiting birds to your patch find it hard to feed.  

Blue Tit on side of tree 

The Blue Tit was photographed on a tree just outside the village, using a placing peanut and pigs fat paste pushed into a couple of holes in the side of a tree, then just sit and wait its not long before you will have your reward. 

Working with my Fuji S5 Pro camera and my general lens a sigma 150 to 500mm, the sigma covers a good range of focal lenghts. 

Once a country behind the Iron Curtain Bulgaria was a distant country to many of the western eyes filled with cold war assassinations and spy games behind the Eastern block. But Bulgaria today is in a different era than it was years ago. Bulgaria has a lot to offer for the traveller and holiday visitor, including the Kukerovo Den Festival Photographer Cliff Norton for the first time will be taking a photography tour to the Yambol Kukerovo Den festival over the weekend of 24 to 26 Feburary 2012. Kukerov Den is an old ritual which is performed ever year around Cities, Towns and Villages of Bulgaria. Dressed in colourful costumes and hand made masks with the sound of cow bells that hang around the waist as they dance and entertain the crowds of visitors with their colourful and fun filled routines to music. The weekend is full of portrait and documentary images truly an event that cries out to the beginner or advanced photographer don,t worry if you only have a compact camera you can still photograph this event. Once visited you will return year after year the people and culture of a land time has forgot will make you want to come back. Cliff has over 25 years as a news and documentary photographer with photographs pubished in National, Internation and Weekly Magazines and Newspapers around the globe. Bulgaria is now rated as one of the top holiday location globally. For more information contact cliff  link Bulgaria Photoholidays.co.uk