Wildlife Photography across the Water: Take advantage of the situation

Thursday 7 January 2010

Take advantage of the situation

The weather in the USA as in most of Europe has been unseasonably cold for a long spell, Even as far down as Miami its been below 0, This has meant that many of the lakes in my area have frozen and more and more birds and animals are coming to my feeders, Last night i had 2 grey fox in my garden as well as possum and deer, Late yesterday afternoon i grabbed some warm clothes and camera gear and headed off to my local lake where i shot the Kingfisher,It was 80% frozen and the birds were all congregated at one end, I walked around the boardwalk and set up, The ducks are used to being fed here and as soon as i stopped they looked over, A handful of bread thrown in the lake had many of them in the air and i shot them as they came towards me, Once i had some shots i sat back and let them dissipate and then did the same again, The light was very low and even with ISO 1600 i struggled to get the focusing to lock on and freeze the action, Non of the images are what i would call critically sharp which is not a problem of the kit or my abilities, It was just lack of light, I could have upped the ISO more but i wasnt after grainy images,The images here are all taken at ISO 1600 and shows just how far digital photography has come, The images only have light processing and no noise reduction was used or needed, The new Nikon D3s is said to have at least 1-2 more stops over my D3 so that would have worked well here allowing me to use even higher ISO for a quicker action freezing shutter speed, I noticed a heron moving around the lake behind the boardwalk so i spent 20 mins watching him and getting some shots before calling to a day, Winter is always a good time for wildlife photography, Without leaves on the trees the animals are easier to see and you get more light when shooting in woodland and wildfowl are much more approachable as they are hungry, Take advantage of this situation as it only comes once a year

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.