Wildlife Photography across the Water: Making the effort

Monday 15 February 2010

Making the effort

We had a weather warning on Friday that it was possible that we could have another dump of snow late that night, I was still full of a cold but decided to go and swap the hide for a pop up tent, We don't get much snow here and if i didn't make the effort then it could be another year before we get some more, The reason for using the pop up tent and not the hide is that it has a built in ground sheet and sitting on the floor would make for a better angle especially if i was to shoot birds on the ground, Saturday morning i looked out of my bedroom window and sure enough we had over an inch of snow so i dressed in multi layers as i didn't want to kill myself and spend 2 hours shooting birds, I was hoping that it would snow some more as falling snow adds nicely to the images but it wasn't to be and by mid afternoon most of the snow had melted, I had my usual set up-Nikon D3 with a 600 and 1.4x set up low on a Gitzo 1548 tripod with Wimberley head, I had set the camera to manual mode and spot metering, I metered off of the snow and added 2 stops and took a test shot and then adjusted the exposure from there, After a while it became obvious that to expose the bird properly i would need some fill flash or blow the background out so i set up an off camera flash just to add a small amount of light and give a glint in the eye, One thing that is obvious is that i need to spend some time in the woods and find some decent perches, The one i have up here was nice and mossy last year but is now very drab, After i had come in and downed a coffee or two i looked out of the window in my wife's office and noticed a couple of Eastern Bluebirds in the tree and then watched as they dove into the bush under the window and started to eat the berries, I rushed to the car and reversed it into the drive and waited, I had the camera gear set up on a beanbag on the window, The bluebirds flew into the neighbours and did the same thing so i slowly moved the car into position and grabbed some shots, Not the best but clear enough and always nice to see these beautiful birds

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren

Dark Eyed Junco

House Finch

Eastern Bluebird

Male and Female House Finch warming up on an exterior light

Dave

1 comment:

Bobbster15 February 2010 at 21:59
Excellent images full of colour, vibrant, sharp and well exposed
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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.