The weather and its issues

Good old british weather strikes again. The weather has taken a turn for the worse in the last week and it is not good as this not only effects my project but more seriously it really effects the survival of wildlife in britain. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future and to see if any birds move to the red list of endangered species because of it.

Other wildlife photographers are mentioning it as well including Andy Rouse however he is making the most of it as he is photographing birds in his garden. Pity my garden is not big enough really to do this. Also cannot get of the drive to go anywhere as am snowed in.

BBC Springwatch crew have got so worried about this they have put on a special week of programs to make sure the people do feed the birds and to highlight migration and britains importance to the success of it.

Bird Migration - Slimbridge 2009

Hi all it has been a while since I have posted any work on here. As part of my Degree I have been looking at bird migration. This is an area of photography that has interested me for a long time and there is so much that can be photographed with migration.

The day I went to Slimbridge I had been watching the weather very closely. It said that it was going to rain. By now I had had enough of the Great British Weather and also of the wrong predictions of the weather men. I decided days before no matter what the weather I was going to go to slimbridge even it was raining, as I needed to take some pictures.

I got up and as per usual it was raining, I stuck to my guns though and drove the Hour and 1/2 to Slimbridge. When I got there although very cold it was sunny and perfect weather for photography.

Another good thing was that the reserve was empty, with this I was able to go where ever I wanted and was not be disturbed, I think I saw 6 people all day most of them photographers.

Something I have always liked doing is to take flight shots, however I wanted to be more creative in what I was doing. Slimbridge is well known for its starling roosts over the winter months. I remember it last year being amazing to watch. Recently I have been talking and following Danny Green and I have seen his photograph titled "Starling Wave" which one the best in nature in the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 Competition. I had decided in advance of going to Slimbridge, that I would try to something similar.

Like danny this is a project that I will continue over the next couple of months. As I think that this area may pay of in the long run.

To be Continued...

Elusive Fox

For many years now I have wanted to take photographs of Wild Foxes, although I have plans for the new year to find some, by chance I have come across this one. Before this encounter I have only seen foxes at night and in my headlights.

Over the last couple of days I have been following a Fox in West Wales, for obvious reasons I will not disclose where. This fox has been seen during the day for the last couple of weeks. It seems to have an old injury. I think it has been hit by a car sometime. However it seems in good health.

The images were taken on a Canon 1D MKII n and a 300 2.8 IS lens with 2x converter attached. (This is the only lens that I find that the 2x converter works well with).

These were also mounted on a wimberley head attached to a Gitzo tripod.

The image at the top of the Blog is a crop of the one below. This was possible as I locked the mirror up and used a shutter release. This makes it possible to take photographs of animals further away and them still being sharp. Try it and let me know how you get on.

New work

Over the last couple of weeks I have been speaking to photographers such as Danny Green and he has told me to find a niche and also be creative in my work. I thought that i would post this image. Let me know what you think.

It was taken with a F4 lens at the F4 end of the lens. I was panning with the shot with the help of a Wimberley Head.

Latest images from gigrin farm

I thought I would post my favourite shot from my latest visit to Gigrin Farm. This shot was taken with a my 300m lens with a 1.4 converter attached with the exposure at f8 1/3200 over exposed by 1/2 stop of light.

wildlife photographers

Last night I had the pleasure of Wendy Conway and Terry Wall showing me their work in a presentation that I went to. I found there work very inspiring and also top quality. You can see there work at http://www.terry-wall.com/

Check it out its very good work.

I will update my blog soon. Lately I have been photographing Birds at Slimbridge WWT and also more Red Kites at Gigrin Farm. This time I was concentrating on the birds diving. Images to follow soon

Young Greater Spotted Woodpeckers

Hi all sorry for the delay in putting any new images on lately have been very busy taking pictures of young Greater Spotted Woodpeckers.

This time of year is great for seeing young fledgelings and in the month of June and July is great for seeing the young of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers. I missed them last year as I was having a interview for my degree and they never really came back last year.

This year however, 5 young ones came in with the parents. The first two weeks are the best time to take photographs of them as they are less weary of people. If you have ever photographed woodpeckers in the past or had the pleasure of being in the presence of them, you will know what I am on about. To take the images I was in a portable Hide. This was made by my father in-law Tommy as he has just invested in a 500 f4 lens. (see pic of hide below.)

As you can see it a is a simple Hide made up of Bamboo canes with a camouflage net put over the top. In the picture is my camera setup on a wimberley head. You can see that the lens has been camouflaged by using a cover available from wildlife watching supplies. This cover helps break the outline of the lens up helping it less likely to spook wary wildlife.

At the back of the hide is a brown screen, this was put in place as it helped break up the outline of the person that is using the hide. When I was using this hide I also wore clothing that would help break up my outline. Such Items as a DPM Jacket.

To get the pictures of the woodpeckers and to get them to come in range took some preparation. As I new roughly the time of year that the young woodpeckers would fledge, around easter time I spoke to my father in law and asked him could I set up a tree branch in the garden. This log had holes drilled in it to take peanuts and peanut butter. I could not believe how quick that the adult woodpeckers came to feed on it. Within hours they were confident at feeding on it and after a few days we moved it closer to the house. They still came and were not bothered at all. This pre planning is sometimes vital to get the shots that you need and the proof is in the pudding as they say. Below are some of the images that have been taken in the garden. fstops ranged from f4 to f8 and the shutter speed I was aiming for was over 1/500 of a second. I could allow this to go to around 1/200 of a second as long as I used the shutter release and locked the mirror up to eliminate camera shake.

Below are the best of the pictures that I took during my time in the hide.