I recently had the pleasure of joining Phil Brooks, photography lecturer and author of 60 Degrees North, and Pro nature photographer Dan Everitt, along with a group of first year photography students for a workshop at Dudley Zoological Gardens. Despite the inclement weather the day was quite a success, with Dan explaining how he goes about his work and offering advice on how to get that perfect shot. Phil encouraged everyone to get the most from the day and I certainly did. My discussions with Dan covered metering, focusing methods, overcoming the challenges of focusing through glass or wire fencing and the pressure of commercial work. Dan explained that a good portrait shot is no longer enough, as there is such a tremendous amount of competition, there needs to be something more and we both agreed on the importance of capturing the essence of wildlife and how challenging this can be.