Wildlife Photography across the Water: Local Patch-Bonus Time

Wednesday, 16 September 2009

Local Patch-Bonus Time

In answer to Martins post yesterday i am in the camp of DIY, I much prefer to do my own thing and find my own subjects whether its near home or abroad, The satisfaction of the DIY approach far exceeds being shown where and how to shoot a subject, You do your own fieldwork and use field craft which is something that you learn along the way-anyways

This week has had its ups and downs, I have continued to go to the Kingfisher perch but he seems to want to pose on every other perch around the lake, He is always in sight or hearing range but that's life and in time it will happen-persistence normally pays off, Last night i left the perch and walked towards the car, I stopped and watched the KF from a distance and 5 mins later he caught a fish and landed on the perch i had just left-DOH, The light was gone there anyways and it was good to see him still using it, Whilst waiting i noticed a large turtle half out of the water,He made a sudden dash and was nearly out of the water when he stopped, I didn't know what he was doing until a few minutes later a smaller (female) turtle scooted away from under him-so i got my first reasonable turtle shots in the bag-look close and you will see the smug look on his face
Yesterday morning i noticed a small flock of birds shoot out of the garden and when i looked outside a sharp shinned hawk landed in the tree, I grabbed the D3 and600+1.4x and grabbed a few shots from outside my back door, The light wasn't all that and thank god for image stabilisation, A beautiful bird and difficult to get on camera-bonus
Today i was back in my garden looking for spiders and found 8 webs with spiders on, I shot from every angle and changed various setting to try to get a different shot, One spider had a meal so i shot him eating and afterwards it repaired its web, Black and yellow garden spiders like the European wasp spider have a thick zig zag design in the center and it was this that the spider repaired, First it laid a thick multi strand web and then a single thread-incredible to watch and very difficult to shoot without a proper macro lighting system, You can see the multi thread web in the first image and then in the second spider image the back legs are holding the web whilst the spider lays thread fixing them together-amazing nature at its best
So far the week has been far from unproductive-maybe not what i had set out to get but so what

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.