Luckily these have been more successful with Blackbirds, Blue Tits, and Swallows as well as Sparrows being frequent (and verbal) residents. With one particular occupied box I was determined to get a shot of the Blue Tit emerging from the hole, and set up camp on a chair at that end of the garden, well wrapped up 'cause it was cold, and about 12 feet or so away from the box, and waited.
I had no luck with the bird but after about 15 minutes this fellow showed up.
This is a Stoat (Mustela Erminea). Fairly common in the UK, not so common here unless there happens to be a surplus of rabbits for lunch. He had a good go at getting into the nesting box as there were young Blue Tits inside, but with the hole cut at around 25mm diameter he found it a bit of a struggle
In went the head for a good look
but despite some swaying backwards and forwards the shoulders were just too much.
I give up. Still no shot of the Blue Tits though.
]]>
The difficulty in getting up early in the morning (besides actually getting up) is that it is dark, cold and wet, especially this time of the year, in Scotland. Also, for a photographer, there tends to be a lack of light. Which can be a bit of a snag. Deep in the woods, where my pal Jack tends to go, the light really does present challenges. Once he picks up the smell of a deer, fox or other unseen furry inhabitant of the local plantation he can be off in an instant. Sneaking up on wildlife even when it is quiet can be a challenge when Jack the Lab is thirty steps ahead of you with his nose pressed to the ground. I did manage this one recently though.
Not a brilliant photo I admit, but the best I could get on the day. I always have my camera set according to the expected light conditions before I leave the car, and for the woods a high ISO ready just in case, with maximum focal length for the lens, aperture priority and wide open, and keep an eye on my shutter speed. For the photographers out there is was taken on a Sony A7M3, FE 70-200 F2.8 GM at 186mm with some manual focus to avoid the trees, and F2.8. ISO 4000, and 1/250sec.
Regular followers of my Blog will note that I have been a bit quiet for a while. I have been busier of late and have had a full change of gear from Canon to Sony, necessitating not only change of camera (s) and lenses but the other stuff of photography such as flash, studio flash, triggers, and other stuff you don't think of when you have used Canon without thinking, for decades. I'll cover the change later, when there is (another) rainy day, and I feel another Blog coming on.
Steve.
]]>
This photo is a prime example. Half a dozen deer in the field, a whiff of the air, and the Lab is off! Autofocus didn't stand a chance. Got a sharp shot of the gate though.
Another case in point. Jack was poking around in the trees behind me following an early morning smell but with the wind behind me there was still no chance of sneaking up closer to this guy. Perhaps I need to get up even earlier in the morning, but lack the will.
(1st) Canon 5D111 with 70 -200 F2.8L IS USM at F8 with 2x converter at 400mm, ISO 400, 1/250sec
(2nd) Sony A7R11 with 70 - 200mm F2.8GM at 200mm and F2.8, ISO 4000, 1/3200 sec.
]]>
Was it as long ago as September 2015 that I wrote about my resident Tawny Owl? It appeared that he had moved on to pastures new as I had not seen him for quite some time. I do have a range of buildings here on the farm and was surprised to see him perched high up on the frame of a tin roofed barn a couple of weeks ago. It would be nice to think he is the same guy. Putting all barn activity on hold for a while to encourage him to stay seems to have worked to a certain extent. He was quite happy to watch me bob my head in and out of the barn end the other day as I fired off a few shots on the Canon 5D 111, fitted with a 400mm lens, and was still there in the afternoon.
A few days later he was up there and I needed to drive a bit of machinery in to pick up some heavy items. He watched me for a good while and stayed put. Later on I ventured in again for another pickup and he flew to the far end, planted his feet, and kept a beady eye open for a smidgen longer, and then vamoosed through a gap. I now have a owl box (hotel) in place high up in the beams. I think a camera up inside will be next. More later.
]]>
We are not short of squirrels around here, especially in the Eskrigg Nature Reserve in Lockerbie. Usually, my efforts to photograph them purely as an amateur wildlife photographer usually result in a red backside vanishing behind a leaf, or a perfect shot of a tree stump where only a few seconds earlier something cute was munching on something indefinable.
Occasionally, a trip to the city can give you a break from things that chirp, squeak, or make peculiar coughing noises in the middle of the night. Or so I thought. Straight out of the railway station in Edinburgh I met a squirrel with attitude. Far from vanishing in the flick of a tail he came right up and fixed me with a beady stare. I think he was trying to assess whether I had a sandwich. Luckily the camera was switched on. (the Fujifilm S1 has survived as my pocket camera - see previous blogs). He posed to make sure I got the shot, decided I had no food, then bogged off. Mercenary. Next time I go to Eskrigg, I'll pop into Greggs first.
]]>
Enough rambling - here is a decent enough shot of a woodpecker taken at maximum zoom equivalent of 1200mm, at about 20 feet distance.
For the techies out there 1/125th second at f5.6, 1200mm, ISO 400, and rather "flat" light conditions as the snow was melting in the background. Hand rested on a support as at maximum zoom there is a fair bit of camera shake. This was taken in one of the preset modes suitable for moving subjects. Given that the max lens aperture is f2.8 and I focused on the tree itself I would have thought that the camera would have taken the shot at 1/250 or faster, increasing the ISO. It seems to be a characteristic of the camera that modes do not automatically alter the ISO as well as the aperture / shutter speed to suit light conditions when supposedly operating in a semi-automatic mode. Also, continuous shutter firing does not seem to be available when shooting in RAW or anything other than one of the lower resolution file formats such as standard JPG. They don't tell you that in the sales info. You have to wait for the camera to process the shot before taking the next one. Not good. and yes, I use a very fast memory card. There is also a firmware fault. In manual settings, the software display tells me I am setting my aperture, but it is the shutter speed which alters, vice versa when trying to set a manual shutter speed. Not the kind of fault which should get passed beta testing. (apologies for using semi-technical terms. If you understand them, fine. if you don't, you are probably better off).
I wonder if I expect too much. Enough grumps. I shall try and be more positive in my next review. Current score 4/10. More later.
After lugging my "walking around" bag all these years I have decided to look for something a lot lighter. My daily kit is simple, but heavy, must be around 3kg.
Canon 5D Mk 111, 24-70 f2.8L, 70 - 200 F2.8L, a polarising filter and a couple spare batteries, all in a Lowepro 300 backpack. Other contents appear if I have a plan.
So, here I am in the hunt for a Bridge Camera. Not as straight forward as it sounds, as most of these are aimed at the casual user, not the enthusiast or Pro, so the features in most of the models available are not all they should (or could) be, being geared towards that sector. Having done my research from a knowledge base of zero, I had to abandon my idea that DSLR facilities would be available in a smaller package, and accept some compromise. Oh, the features I want are out there, it's just that they are not all in one camera, without paying silly money. I think my needs as an advanced user are simple
F2.8 max aperture (knocks out 60% of bridge cameras)
RAW shooting (knocks out 90% of bridge cameras)
A reasonable zoom - anything over say 400mm max zoom is fine, but down to 200mm would be ok), so most fit fine.
Lightweight and pocket stuffable - say under 800gms
Resolution circa 20mp, as I print often at A3 or above, but 16mp is acceptable (knocks out 50%) of the cameras
Viewfinder (not a useless screen) and a good feel in the hand, all for a decent budget of under £500.
Not an unreasonable list, however different models are excluded by the percentages above when the different criteria are applied, resulting and a shortlist of about 3 cameras! My hotlist boils down to the Canon Powershot SX60 (just under £300), Fuji Finepix S1 (£265), or the Lumix FZ1000 (£490). To be frank, given that the Canon lens is a max 3.4 aperture, and the Lumix is at the top end of the budget, the Fuji is looking good, as do the reviews. Just ordered one.
]]>
He's fine if I wander off in a left hand direction, and even sits tight if I walk back to the door, But if I head in his direction he's off. Thing is, he's there one minute, gone the next out through the far end of the barn, and he is completely silent. Not even a flutter, or a "bye". So I decided I needed a few shots of the little guy. Thing is, when he isn't there in the morning, I kinda miss him.
]]>
This shot of Longstone lighthouse on the Farne Islands has been selected for the Trinity House Calendar 2016. Trinity House is the lighthouse authority for England and Wales, and the organisation was granted a Royal Charter by Henry V111 way back in 1514.]]>
When I do manage to locate something interesting to shoot - such as the native Red Squirrel - it always seems to be on the other side of the tree trunk, or vanishing into undergrowth. The one above thumbed its nose at me seconds before I released the shutter. Perhaps I need a faster camera. And no, the photo is not the wrong way up. This really is a horizontal squirrel. Honest.
Luckily, another less awkward squirrel agreed to pose for the shot below.
He looks a bit like Tom Cruise. I think he has aspirations. Not all squirrels are the same.
]]>
It has to be said, that most of the shortlisted choices are really good - strong on a sort of "British" image, or are cute, with a good range from the Wren to the Red Kite. I am not sure a Puffin (lives in a hole in the ground) does it for me though, and the Red Kite is not prolific enough (although there are a good few around here).
I think being an island nation we deserve a sea-bird. Also, I happen to have a shot of an Arctic Tern.
Handy...
]]>
I now have around 500 images on line - many salvaged from the cutting room floor especially for the purpose, and some of my best sellers are (in my view) very ordinary snaps I snatched with a sandwich in one hand, a can of coke in the other, and a labrador tugging at the lead wrapped around my ankle. How they came out reasonably focused and pointing in the right direction is beyond me - but somebody likes them.
My most downloaded image is Belfast Titanic museum, sold 5 times now, so someone likes it. Closely followed by this one of Bradford.
Both totally different types of image to most I like to use on my website.
Contrast my meagre offering to other photographers with 30,000+ images on stock sites. I ain't going to get rich, and to be frank, I have better things to do, so I'll just plug away from time to time, when I get a mo.
More later.
]]>
If you have been to Northumberland you need to follow this series. If you have not been to Northumberland you need to follow this series. As I was born and raised there I have something of an affinity with the local agricultural shows, they are all in my diary, and attend as many as I can across the county. I think my favourite is the Hethpool Show (very small and local, great atmosphere, stunning location), the Alwinton Show (a bit bigger and last in the season) and of course the Powburn Show (I had family living in the village for many years). I look forward to watching the rest of this insightful series. http://on.fb.me/1CSPJIS
]]>When you submit images to a photo stock library you tend to wonder where they end up when they are bought.
This one just ended up in Holland on a Dutch tourism website which promotes the UK as a destination.
Nice of the owner to let me know.
]]>
This was one of a number of successful images taken on a Tees Estuary assignment recording the industrial landscape around the mouth of the river.
]]>
It's funny what you find when you are trawling (no coastal pun intended) through some of your older shots. Just walking past the end of an alley in Edinburgh I shot this unusual couple having a conversation - anywhere other than Edinburgh ( where all things are possible / likely) would have been too surreal for words. It was only a couple of years after I took this, and a couple of days ago, that I noticed he has a seagull on his head. How weird is that then? Still, I suppose Edinburgh is on the coast. You think he would have noticed.
]]>
9.00am and in Queens Park, Bolton, standing under Niagara falls, or something similar, on the wettest day of the year, camera perched on a tripod in a plastic cover, brolly stuck point-down in a patch of grass, wondering where the light has gone. Not the best day for a landscape assignment. The problem with waterproof trousers is that the water all runs downwards into yer boots.
Shooting on film. I'll post some shots up when I digitise it. Must dry the camera out.
What?
Yeah, OK - so it's not Bolton in the picture.
Rumbled.
]]>
Check out a few Fringe shots in my Portfolio "Projects" section. I try to get there every year, and shoot something different, but the snag with the Fringe is that there is so much going down you need days there, not hours. My sense of familiarity faded a bit though as the man with the didgeridoo seemed to be missing this year, even though I had resolved not to photograph him (again).
I try to get on the fringes of the Fringe and ignore the performances. Best to concentrate on the street life and dive down a couple of the alleys. This photo of a burger bar sauce table really caught my eye for the colour when it was back-lit by the sun. I passed on the burger though.
Took a few at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014 over a couple of days. Will post some of the more interesting shots over the next week or so.]]>
Saw Robson Green at the Powburn agricultural show in Northumberland this afternoon having a tussle. (Saturday 2nd August). Why was he not fishing....
]]>
