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Friday, September 30, 2016

Video: CWA-BOW Women's Pheasant Hunt Weekend

California Waterfowl's Women's Pheasant Hunt Weekend is very dear to me: Before I started working for CWA, I was volunteering for CWA, and this was my favorite event.

Located at Birds Landing between the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento, the event gives women the chance to get licensed, learn to shoot and try hunting for just $250. Because gear is provided, this basically means if they decide they hate hunting, they're out just two days and $250 because they didn't have to invest in a gun or hunting gear.

Of course, that's superfluous because the women always want to keep hunting. Check out the video from this year's event and you'll see why. And if you'd like to learn more about CWA's women's events, click here.



© Holly A. Heyser 2016

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Video: Argentina dove hunting time-lapse

Virtually every wingshooter has heard of the mythic dove hunting down in Argentina: wave after never-ending wave of doves. Like every hunter, I've had high expectations dashed, so I've always wondered if it could really be that good down there.

Last week I found out: Yes, it can. It really is that good.

I spent the week with outfitter Maers & Goldman in Córdoba, Argentina, on a mission to photograph every angle of their operation, and of course to slip in a little hunting as well. The visuals were stunning, but I felt like still photos alone didn't do the hunting justice. Even when I caught a flock of 50 doves in the frame, that didn't convey the relentless intensity of the flight. What to do?

Answer: time-lapse.

Last Friday we arranged for the two best shooters in our group, Lex and Ken, to hunt together (hunters usually hunt alone there, though in a big, social line along the edge of a farm field, as we do here). I put my camera on a tripod behind them and set it to take one photo every second for 15 minutes - 900 frames.

The hunt turned out to be pretty average for the week - the big day had been Thursday. So what does average look like? The video is below - 1:12 of time-lapse. Be sure to watch to the end to see the numbers!



© Holly A. Heyser 2016

Friday, September 9, 2016

New video - 'California Waterfowl: What We Do'

I am one of those incredibly lucky people who does work she loves (writing, photography, video, design) for an organization she loves (California Waterfowl). While my job can be stressful and tiring, I never lose sight of the fact that I absolutely love it.

The latest video I've done for CWA should help you understand why (unless you hate hunting, in which case you'll be horrified). If you want more than just the broad outlines, you can download our annual report online - it provides a lot of details and numbers.

This video is a compilation of photos and video from a variety of our events and activities. Major contributors were CWA employees Jake Gonsalves, who took fantastic photos at CWA summer camps this year, and Andrew Creasey, who started at the end of June and started banging out videos for us. I also used a lot of video from Mark Grupe Outdoors - Grupe did the school field day footage and the family hunt footage.

Enjoy the video! I've watched it a thousand times - that's part of the deal with video editing - but it still makes me smile every time.



© Holly A. Heyser 2016