THERE'S a garbage collector and a company director.
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One's a former Scottish falcon handler, another is a retired farmer.
Throw in a university IT lecturer and a TAFE accounting teacher.
Six men from very different backgrounds, but united by one passion - capturing the beauty and majesty of the Bendigo region's raptors through photograph and film.
Each of the six brought their own skills and expertise as they set about creating an exhibition showcasing the birds of prey who call the skies of Bendigo home.
From hours in a camouflaged 'hide' waiting for the perfect shot, to mapping the locations of the region's raptors, the group's Hunters of the Skies exhibition is the culmination of years of work.
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Driving between 450 and 650 kilometres per day behind the wheel of a garbage truck, Pug Ryan scans the horizon for any sign of one of the 16 raptors found in central Victoria.
He travels through Loddon Shire, passing the paddocks of Serpentine and Pyramid Hill, and down to the forests of Dunolly, stopping occasionally for a bin or two.
"It's just me and a camera," Pug said.
"Just today, I would've seen six different raptors near Pyramid Hill."
He's been interested in birds of prey for 50 years, stemming from an upbringing on the land in the Mallee, caring for injured wedge-tailed eagles.
A few years ago, Pug noticed an advert in the local paper from two men in Bendigo.
They wanted information about where the birds of prey nested from anyone in-the-know. It piqued Pug's interest, and he got in touch.
"I had 14 nests working on my map," he said.
Before long, he had connected with two others sharing his interest, helping them to find some of the raptors.
Of the four images he contributed to the exhibition, one was a photograph of a Brahminy Kite landing on water, and another was of square-tailed Kite chicks ready to leave the nest.
Those two men who placed the ad were Fernwood Fitness director John Clow and Bendigo TAFE accounting teacher Daryl Fleay.
Now retired, the two mates from way back had the time to rediscover their love of birds of prey and wanted to photograph as many of them as possible, starting by wandering around Sedgwick with their cameras.
"John and I started the whole thing off, we were mates from a long time ago and got back into photographing birds of prey in 2011," Daryl said.
Daryl had always maintained an interest in raptors, growing up when his famous naturalist cousin David Fleay was pioneering the breeding of native species across Australia.
John's property at North Harcourt is home to several wedge-tailed eagles and other birds of prey - creatures he captures on his camera using two 'hides' at the base of known nesting spots.
It takes a trained eye and technical skill to photograph the birds.
While John and Daryl had some of the know-how needed, it wasn't until they visited an exhibition in Bendigo in 2013 that they were really able to hone their skills.
Former La Trobe University IT lecturer Chris Cope was hosting his Up Close and Personal exhibition of 24 of his own photographs of native birds of the Bendigo region.
The two amateur photographers were impressed. They needed to hear just how Chris had captured the elusive birds in such detail.
"John and Daryl really wanted to know how I managed to get the pictures so sharp," Chris said.
One of the keys to getting the perfect photo, Chris says, is making sure the eye of the bird is in focus.
"If it isn't in focus, then the picture isn't going to work," he said.
"You've also got to know their behaviour. The area to the north and west of Bendigo is a great hunting ground for birds of prey.
"The birds will follow the tractors and harvesters, as rabbits and other rodents will shoot out when they come past."
Combined with the skill of experienced bird photographer Lindsay Cupper, they were able to help the amateur group find some of Australia's most elusive creatures.
Before long, Chris was heading up into the hides with the group - the camouflaged boxes often up the top of scaffolding, set up next to where the birds nest, designed not to disrupt their daily routines.
The hides require the utmost care, as even the slightest noise can scare the birds away.
Rustling plastic bags, preparing cameras and murmuring to one another could be enough to ruin hours of work.
"You could make a noise and a wedge-tailed eagle from kilometres away will hear it and you won't see him for a while," Chris said.
One of the only ways the elusive wedge-tailed eagle could be captured on camera was through video.
David Gemmell, who runs a super fund advisory business in Bendigo, spends his free time capturing video footage of raptors nesting and hunting.
He met John as a farmer, sharing their interest in birds of prey.
David's vision will be played in loops at the group's exhibition, while a still photograph from one of his videos of a wedge-tailed eagle standing proud will also feature among the other photographic works.
Born in Scotland, falconry was one of David's main hobbies from the age of 16 to 20 - a craft illegal in Australia.
Yet he managed to carry his passion for raptors into his life in Australia, using his Raptor Capture blog to share the work with the community.
His next challenge is the Simpson Desert as the floods return to the outback plains.
The group of six spent many hours together up in the hides, trawling the landscape for more birds and filing through their photographs for that one winning shot.
The result was 24 images, each immaculate and each showing one of the region's 16 birds of prey in their natural environment.
The Hunters of the Skies exhibition of Australian raptors opens on Monday, April 20, and runs through until Friday, May 29 at the Capital in Bendigo.
The exhibition runs from 9.15am to 5.15pm Monday to Friday, and Saturday from 10am to 1pm.
