Wildlife Photography across the Water: Bandits at 8 o'clock

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Bandits at 8 o'clock

Yesterday evening i was sitting on my patio with my wife and a neighbour when i looked over to the tree where i put some food down, The raccoon was there and right next to the fence was my dog, The dog and raccoon were less than 20 feet from each other but both were calm, Alfie my dog was laying down and trying to take in what this strange creature was, The raccoon visited the 3 areas where food is put down, The last area was very close to Alfie and when the raccoon had finished and began to move off Alfie let out a loud bark and the raccoon lept up into the nearest tree, Halfway up stopped and looked around-it would have made a great shot, and then continued up into the tree foliage, I grabbed the camera/lens/tripod that was already set up and told Alfie to back off, About 10 minutes later the raccoon started to descend and stopped to have a look

It carried on descending and i gave a small whistle and it stopped for a split second

Then Alfie barked again and it turned around

And finally it came down the back of the tree-took a final peek around the base of the tree

Then decided to call it a night
In all about 10 minutes start to finish but very enjoyable, Its great that the raccoon is coming out in the light although these were taken with ISO 6400 and the last one at ISO 3200, I have used a small amount of NR on all the images except the last one, The grain/noise at ISO 3200 is minimal on the D3s which is an incredible statement in itself when you think about it, The shutter speed on the last image is 1/40 yet beautifully sharp considering i was using a 600mm lens, Fantastic kit and anybody who asks why the kit costs so much more than basic kit only have to look at these, there is not another camera currently around that could give results like this

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.