Wildlife Photography across the Water: White Christmas

Monday 27 December 2010

White Christmas

Snow was predicted to fall on Christmas afternoon here in Raleigh, White Christmas's here are pretty much unheard of and last year it was 71 degrees, But they were right and early evening it started and carried on until i went to bed around midnight, It was very light snow and i didn't have much faith that the predicted 2-6'' would happen, I opened my bedroom blinds on Boxing day (26th) and it was still snowing and we did get around 7'', Now i don't need many excuses to get the camera out when it snows, Its my favourite condition, A giant reflector meaning no shadows, My dog Alfie loves snow and was soon out playing in it, He loves to try and catch snowballs so is an easy target when photography comes into the equation, We had a 20 mins play before he doubled in size due to the amount of snow stuck to him then i set about planning the night shoot, I want grey fox and in the 'desperately' we dont get much snow here so my chances are limited, The last time it snowed i waited 5 hrs in the blind and although the fox came it was nervous around the tripods that held my flashguns, So yesterday i found some tiny tripods and put 2 of the 3 flashguns on these then wrapped the legs in white material to help camouflage them, Another 5 cold hours in the hide and nothing, A couple of deer made an appearance but the fox.,opossum and raccoons stayed away-it was like a ghost town, Very disappointing but i am hoping that there will still be enough snow around tonight to give it another go-fingers crossed
Here are a few of Alfie having a great time

I used the D3s with a 70-200 and 1.4x, I set the camera to manual, took a couple of shots until the snow started to blow out then dialled back 1/3

Hope to have some stories of success in my next blog, Until then carry on enjoying the holidays

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.