Ruth:

Many thanks for the kind words.

The hat is a one off, I rescued it from a charity shop bag. I normally keep it at work and use it as my "thinking cap", but I thought it deserved a day out.

I'm really just an inexperienced amateur with very few finished films under my belt, and I'm viewing this as a great learning experience. I can't wait for the next challenge. Let's hope June isn't a typical Irish summer, i.e. raining non stop for four weeks!

Mike:

I loved this! Thee cheers for the lucky UWOL hat to bring back the magnificent gray herons! That absolutely brought a smile to my face. You are bringing humor, good wildlife filming, thoughtful insights and narrating to the UWOL community. Well done!

Cat

Cat,

Thanks for the kind comments. I felt it was about time I tried to give something back, I've been quietly enjoying everybody else's videos for too long now!

Mike,

Great story telling. Your narative along with the visuals is something that I need to try. Sofar I have been letting the natural sound and the music make the tone. But your narative in addition to the images and the sound set the tone. I have once again learned a technic. You have a natural talent.

Regards,

Oliver

Hello Mike


You have some nice entery here,vo and story wery harmonic.
And some greait sekvense.


Nice Work!!!


VJV.

______________

One of the best entries for this round.Great story..great footage ..I enjoyed this one

Hi Mike,
I'll chime in with the others and don't think I have anything really new to add. I simply enjoyed your video. The footage, VO and music all flowed so well together. My favorite shots were the robin, the rack focus at 1:49, and the heron in the tree. Thanks for sharing!!

Amelia

Oliver, Vidar, John and Amelia - thanks for taking time to comment. It's heartening that I've managed to produce something that seemed to work well.

I felt the best way to go about the UWOL contest was to look for a story and then construct my video. My normal habit of going out and pointing a camera randomly ends up with no structure and four months of editing!

UWOL has inspired me to try to do something the right way for a change.

Hi Mike.

Great story and first entry.
Also want to say welcome to Irland :)

Just about 60 meters from my house we have a little forrest with round about 30 herons, nesting. It's a great bird and abit odd to see it sitting in the trees.
Your investigating style is great, and so is your VO.
Now I'm just waiting for your next entry in uwol9.

All the best.
Geir Inge

Geir Inge,

Thank you so much for your comments, and for the welcome. I could watch those herons all day - and to see 30 in one place of them rather than just one or two, that would be incredible.

It's a bit like when I go to Australia and see flocks of Pelicans on the beach, and the locals are not at all surprised by them!

I hope I will learn some lessons from this round and do things better in UWOL9. Rule #1 is now "don't keep moving the tripod around: stop panning all the time!"