Ernest and the eagles
POORTVIEW – Meet Ernest Porter, the man behind the camera lens that gives us a look into the world of the black eagles.
The Black eagles of Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens are a rare sight nowadays as they have no chicks to look after and only roost in the gardens at night.
The eagles spend most of their time near the nest when they have chicks, which is normally around May. Around this time is when the best footage from the live webcam and for nature photographers, is found.
Ernest Porter (24), who lives near the botanical gardens, is responsible for most of the footage of the black eagles seen on the gardens’ website and Facebook page. He started his endeavour in photography when he was 19 years old and his love of nature steered him into bird and insect photography. Although Porter didn’t plan to turn photography into a career, as he has completed a honours degree in Financial Management at the University of Johannesburg, photography has become a professional hobby for Porter.
In the last few years he has managed to photograph 156 birds in the botanical gardens, which included 12 raptors. Porter compiled a bird guide of the birds you will likely see in the gardens, which is sold at the Botanical Society of South Africa inside the gardens.
“I like to challenge myself to capture more difficult subjects, so I have been focusing a lot of time and effort on photographing birds in flight,” Porter added.
His favourite part of taking the photographs is the amount of time he has to spend in nature. He always enjoys a trip up the cliffs via the geological path to photograph the eagles. This is worth it for Porter, who can’t get enough of the little surprises mother nature throws at him. “The one morning I went to photograph the eagles and I got very few photos of them and it was almost time for me to leave. Then out of the blue a little sparrowhawk flew above me and caught a swift in mid-air. It was amazing to see and it’s one of my highlights in the botanical gardens,” Porter said.
Porter encouraged other young photographers to experiment with their cameras but advised them not to feel they have to run out and buy the most expensive equipment in order to achieve great photographs, as photo editing is always an option.
Details: Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, 086 100 1278.
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