Wildlife Photography across the Water: Trip Report-South Carolina 2

Saturday 18 July 2009

Trip Report-South Carolina 2

Hot and Extremely Humid that about sums up the last few days, I have just arrived home and its nice to be back to less humid conditions, The South Carolina coastline is very pretty but a very busy place,Wildlife only getting a look in in designated areas, The area i was first in was better for photography and its a shame i didn't get more time there but its noted and i will make it back at some time, I managed a couple of sessions there and it was very successful and you had chances of shots every couple of minutes so you could get the standard shots and have plenty of opportunities for arty farty shots as well, As i said before i chose the D300 over the D3+1.4x as the AF is faster without the extender and D3 combo and IQ is great under ISO400, I am old school and still try to keep the ISO as low as possible although last week i processed a couple of images taken at high ISO with the D3 and its very impressive and i will come to this in a later blog,The skies were clear so only the first hour or more after sunrise would be worth shooting in as the light after this was harsh although i did some back lit flight shots that worked OK in Bright light, I set the D300 to ISO 400 which is the max that i use it for and this gave a shutter speed of 1/500 or more which was adequate for what i wanted and the wimberley Gimbal head worked perfectly with the 600 F4 making my life very easy for tracking birds, The birds were feeding in the mud next to the river and with the sun behind me i could focus on the trees next to the river so as soon as the birds flew over the on the way back to the nests i was already focused and could track them from distance and shoot when i felt they were a good size in the frame, Even if the birds were closer than the trees by the time i saw them the AF snapped on to them, I would rather focus at distance and then lock onto something closer than focus close and then try to grab a distant subject if that makes sense,
So that's another state pinned on the map and a big thank you to my buddies for allowing me to stay with them and show me around

Dave

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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.