Wildlife Photography across the Water: First image of 2011

Sunday 2 January 2011

First image of 2011

Sometimes you think the photographic gods are against you, My last few hide sessions have not yielded anything decent, Florida was great but photographically not as good as i had hoped, The snow has now all gone, Yesterday and today its been warm and last night i watched as a fox feed in my garden at 6pm and then returned two more times before 7pm, So today i charged my batteries and got everything ready for another session after my nemesis-The Grey Fox, I had only been in the hide 5 minutes when the heavens opened and then as the rain subsided the mist rose out of the ground-Great that's all i need, Then a slight breeze and it was gone, then back and then gone and then the rain came and didn't go and it absolutely pissed down for over 2 hours, There was nothing else to do but sit it out and hope, 8pm and a Raccoon appears, Well it will do for me, But then the stupid part of my brain took over and i took a shot before it had time to feed, I checked the screen and noticed that not all the flashguns had gone off, I had moved the tripod back a couple of inches when the rain got really bad and the flashgun in the back was not in line of sight, I looked up and the raccoon was gone, I smacked my forehead and called myself some names, I moved the tripod forward and took another test shot-great all back to working, A few seconds later the raccoon started to come down the tree, i thought it had gone back into the woods but no it had gone up, It came down head first and stopped and looked around, it looked like the worlds largest squirrel, when it reached the base it decided to grab another mouthful, I had a second chance and waited, after a minute or so it looked around and i took another shot, In the bag and it looked OK on the screen, i sat back and watched and a minute later it got fed up of the heavy rain and went and didn't come back, I waited another 30mins and nothing expect the heavy rain was somehow getting heavier and i was now getting dripped upon and decided to make a run for it, End of session, Could have been better but also could have been a lot worse
I used the D7000 with the 200-400, Its a great combo, The D7000 in quiet mode is very very quite and the 200-400 is very versatile, 3 flashguns on mini tripods covered with a small freezer bag to keep them dry

I come in doors and grab some dinner and a beer then check to see if the rain has stopped, It has and there at the base of the tree is a the fox-Grrrrrrrr
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.