Wildlife Photography across the Water: Dave's Wildlife moments of the Year 3

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Dave's Wildlife moments of the Year 3

One of the best places for photographing wildlife is right under your nose in your own garden, My garden is smaller than 99% of peoples who read this and yet it has a fantastic variety of species coming to it both bird and mammal, This year has been pretty good as far as garden wildlife is concerned, I also have the use of a bigger garden a few miles from me and between the two i have shot fox,opossum,raccoon and deer in the mammals and everything from hummingbirds to cardinals and woodpeckers in the birds, The good thing about garden photography is that its readily available, No travelling and you can keep the bait going in and watch from your own living room, Last night it was cold here-very cold infact but that means hungry animals so i set up my flashguns and within 20 mins of sitting in the hide i had a fox come into the garden, Infact within 2 hours i had 3 chasing each other around, I guess it will soon be mating time and they were certainly frisky, Deer were feeding on corn i put about 6-8 feet from my hide and 2 raccoons came in and the smaller young one fed on some dog food i had placed by a tree, 2 hours ended the session when UPS pulled up in a large truck (with my 24-70) and scared the animals away but i had a result and was pleased with the results, I will continue through the winter and hope to get them in the snow

Young Raccoon from last night

As you can see an amazing variety in a garden thats only about 30feet x 100feet

But my wildlife moment of the year really has to go to the Manatees, It was the first time i had ventured into and under the water with a camera and i really did not know what to expect, Your heart certainly jumps into your mouth the first time one of these giants appears through the murky water but after 2 days with them i was buzzing and the experience has stayed with me all year as i have shown and been asked about the manatee images on my website-more than any other image, I am off to Florida again in 10 days time and have 4 days booked with the manatees, The weather in Florida is at a record low and the Manatees are already in the springs in good numbers, This could be a very special trip and i really cant wait, A great year with new species and challenges

Thats covers my year here in the States, My next blog will cover my gear of the year

Dave

2 comments:

robbieb8 December 2010 at 18:05
Great stuff Dave and thanks for posting. I'd love to be able to 'master' flash the way you have - maybe some time I'll give it a go.

Robbie
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WPATW9 December 2010 at 02:50
Hi Robbie
Hardly a master, However the SU 800 transmitter has an LCD panel with 3 groups, I use 3 flashguns-1 per group, The transmitter allows you to adjust the group/flash + or - so very easy to adjust each flash from the camera, A couple of test shots and quick adjustments and you are ready to go
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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.