|
Tuesday, 24 June 2008 10:47 |
|
For the last few weeks I was privileged to follow the progress of a pair of nesting Spotted Flycatchers. I first observed the birds fleeting into and out of an old hanging basket that with the exception of a small conifer was pretty much dead.
After a few days, the penny dropped and I pulled up a chair to have a look inside. nestled within was a small nest containing five speckled eggs.
The Spotted Flycatcher is on the red list which means that it is not recovering from a historical decline or is globally threatened. Further details on the habitat and lifestyle of the Spotted Flycatcher may be found here.
I was able to track the nesting pair from egg laying to hatching and fledging though these are very flighty and will not tolerate any disturbance in the garden. After a few days I was attuned to the adult call. When the hen was sitting on the eggs, anyone leaving the house would cause the cock to emit an alarm call from the branch where he was overseeing his nest and this would cause the hen to also fly off.
I’m surprised they survived with the frequency of comings and goings at hour house, but all five chicks fledged.
The photography probably won’t win any prizes for picturesque imagery, however it does illustrate what can go on around us. I’m really happy that I managed this one for my photographic records. Hope you enjoy.
|
|
|
Sunday, 24 June 2007 18:09 |
 Well this was a disaster from the outset. A call to my photography buddies revealed a venue change. Instead of shooting an Autograss event, it was decided that the Conwy Butterfly Jungle would provide a suitable diversion. A quick spin back home to grab the bag with the flash gear and I was on my way – tagging along like you do. Only problem was, I left a vital piece of flash gear at home, the QTTL adapter, the little insignificant bit that interfaces the camera with the flash gun.
As a result of my forgotten component, I was confined to shooting with a wide open lens under low light conditions. Most insects (and birds) won’t sit still, so most of the images went into the bin. Anyhow, have a laugh at what I managed to salvage. I’ll apologise in advance for the shallow depth of field on every photograph. Some might call it artistic license, but ill just be honest and say that it’s all I could do. Anyone interested in visiting the butterfly jungle in Conway can find their web site here.
|
|
Sunday, 24 June 2007 18:09 |
 This is my first attempt at landscape photography and I think it’s a case of publish and be dammed. I was so busy concentrating on foreground interest that in many of the pictures I forgot about the subject, so ill label those as scenes.
The initial photos are from the paths that cut through Delamere forest. The latter images are of the lake, though in some places it looks more like a mid western swampland. I was determined not to spend the day swapping lenses, so all were taken with the kit 28-105 mm lens that came with the camera, though I dud use a polariser for the water shots.
This lake at Blakemere Moss was deafening. The birds that had migrated there were so loud they could be heard through the dense forest for quite some distance. Anyone interested in Delamere Forest will find more information here.
|
|
Sunday, 24 June 2007 18:09 |
 For my first attempt at wildlife photography I bought a bird feeder and stocked it with nuts. After hanging it in a tree for a day and observing ‘small things’ feeding I set up the camera on a tripod to see what was arriving.
I expected that the birds were all sparrows, but was pleasantly surprised to find four different species of bird feeding from the feeder. The birds visiting include Greenfinch, Long Tailed Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits. There is also a Bullfinch feeding from the ground under the feeder. I’m hoping that it will make the transition to the feeder or else ill be chasing the ground feeders at a later date.
I was surprised to see how much blue is in a Blue Tit, though I’ve never really been that close to one to observe before. I didn’t have a clue what was feeding from my garden so I visited the garden birds website to identify them. You can find their website here.
|
|
Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:00 |
|
Today the new Canon 100-400mm F 4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens arrived. It's by far the most expensive lens I have, but wow! The image quality is superb and it seems to take brilliant close up shots as well. I seem to have spent more time 1.8 meters away from subjects (minimum focusing distance) than looking for distant objects. Im really pleased that it bridges the gap between my macro lens and general purpose zoom lenses, so I can fill the frame with a subject as small as 15 cm across.
Given that every photograph except the blackbird was taken hand holding the camera and lens, the image stabiliser does an excellent job.
These photographs are from the first batch having screwed the lens onto the camera and dashed into the garden to see what was out there. From the seeding Dandelion and the lone tulip (it had just rained) to the blackbird and it's fledglings all images are sharp and shown with natural colour.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:00 |
|
The skies looked dark with small gaps for the sunlight to team through. It was late evening – about 8pm and very windy. Handholding the 100-400mm zoom lens was difficult when the wind gusted. I don’t have a 77mm polarising filter, so the images quite bland when I initially looked at them on the computer. Once I adjusted the curves in Photoshop and took down the mid tones I saw some surprising detail.
I deliberately pushed the tones to create dark areas with high contrast; somehow I always seem to be drawn to high contrast images. Maybe as an amateur I’m still into over exaggerating everything?
The images were taken at F16-20 on a Canon EOS 350D at ISO 100. The lens was my favourite EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens.
As an amateur photographer I’m operating under the (misguided?) belief that I should be able to make just about any subject interesting. Time will tell …
|
|
|
Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:00 |
|
These images are of a Bald Eagle (though I can't find the bald spot?), taken at the Gauntlet Bird of Prey center in Knutsford, Cheshire. I used a fill in flash on each picture to help open up some of the detail.
Getting the flash off the camera is one of the best things i've ever done. It really does open up new possibilities
|
|
Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:00 |
|
After taking delivery of a new Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens I rushed out into the garden to see what it could do. This was the first time I had tried a macro lens and it proved to be very different from usual. No more USM instant focusing. Can you believe a lens that costs so much has to be moved closer or nearer to the object to focus? It's very different.
The daisy I photographed measured about 12mm across from the tips of the white petals. The lowest magnification of this lens is 1x. That means (I subsequently learnt) that the image will be life size across the cameras CCD. In my case with a smaller CCD that means the lowest magnification is 1.6x and the highest magnification is 8x (allowing for my cameras 1.6x multiplier). At the higher magnifications the depth of field is less than one millimetre. Like I said, it's a whole new world.
|
|
Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:00 |
|
This Dandelion represents my first serious attempt at macro photography. I selected something not too challenging and abundant in my infrequently mown lawn. initial attempts to photograph at any magnification over 2x were thwarted by the wind. What I needed was a photographic laboratory; - enter the kitchen.
The kitchen solved the wind problem, but now lighting was an issue. it didn't help that when magnifying more then 3x I couldn't actually see the subject to focus, there just wasn't enough light for the job. Enter the Quantum T5d flashgun. I mounted (if you can call it that) the flash gun over the back of a chair as the tripod was in use. This was the first time I used the strobe function. This pulses light at 50 Hz for about 2 seconds, enough to manually focus the subject.
After quite a bit of trial and error with the flash power we landed these images.
- Image 1 was taken with my bread and butter Canon 28-136mm IS lens (I use this for just about everything). This lens was used because at the lowest setting, the macro lens will fill the width of a frame with a 12mm subject.
- Images 2-5 were taken with the Canon MP-E 65mm lens. The second image is at minimum magnification (1x) and the last ones are at 5x magnification.
The last two images show the set up.
|
|
Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:00 |
|
Had some fun today chasing spiders and flies around the outside of the house. The spiders were running around the brickwork on the garage wall and proved quite difficult to photograph as they just wouldn’t sit still.
The red blood spiders were about 1 – 1.5 mm across the diameter of their bodies. Very difficult to work with. I cant believe I have some useable images despite hand holding.
On the trunk of a tree at the entrance to my drive I found this fly who obliged by sitting still and allowing me to photograph it.
All images were shot hand held using a Canon 350D camera and MP-E 65 mm macro lens. Magnification ranges from 1-5 times depending on the image. ISO 1600 was used to minimise the effects of camera shake. Most images were shot at F11 though some were shot at F16.
|
|
Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:00 |
|
I was just thinking to myself that if I were a decent photographer (and I’m a novice here), then I should be able to make just about anything appear interesting. As that thought left my mind the heavens opened and after watching for a few minutes; – ding! Go take some pictures.
So I sat at the front door to stay dry and snapped away.
I pushed the mid tones and sharpness really hard on some of the images for a more dramatic effect.
These photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 350d, EF 100-400mm F4.5 L IS USM lens at 400mm, handheld.
I set the ISO to 1600 resulting in shutter speeds from 2000/sec to 3500/sec.
After shooting, into Photoshop and 30 minutes later on the web.
|
|
|
|
|
|
