Review of the Year Part 3 - March

Looking back at March, I did a number of posts on the second recall for the 1Dmk111 here, here, here, here and here. Plus some test shots here.

Clearly this has been a very vexing subject for a number of Mark111 users, with seemingly the some of the most troubled users being those who shoot birds in flight.  While I expressed my satisfaction after this recall, in longer term use there are still issues.  It is now about as good as it gets, and the best the Mark111 has ever been.  But having recently done the same with the new 7D, it really does show the Mark111 to be a dog in this department.  That said, for other forms of imagery the Mark111 and the files from it are still stunning.  The fact that 'experts' claim that the 7D noise is now as good as the Mark111 is testament to that - Canon have had three years to catch up with themselves.

Anyway - enough words on that subject.

Other posts included a few on various of bits of gear such as self levelling tripod heads, extension tubes, extenders and also camera gear insurance here and here.

Trip reports were a bit thin on the ground for us in March, but we covered a number of local patch reports here in Warwickshire and here in North Carolina.

I wrote a Tips and Techniques blog on that perennial digital subject, and showed how I used a mask and layer technique to sharpen images

Finally, have a check out the archives section for March to see if there is anything else there that you like.

Stat porn for March - 4283 page visits,  657  unique visitors from 31 countries

Martin

Review of the year Part 2 - February

In the second part of our look back at this year, I thought I would highlight some of the key posts that we made in February.

A couple of posts from our archives looked back at Dave's experiences in India and I took a look back at the Red Squirrels at Formby who have been having a hard time of it.

In the gear section we looked at hides, the Canon 50D,  and the Dell 2407 monitor.

 

Dave shared some techniques with us on Slow motion panning and also his methods of metering.

I went to Mull for four days and set out three trip reports here, here and here - so if you like to see Otter in their wild habitat have a drop into those links.

There were also quite a few local patch reports along with other reviews on software, so check in to the archives for February on the lnks down the right hand side.

Stats for Feb were  4,375 page visits,  584 visitors from 31 countries - so were were a bit up on Jan's figures

Martin

From the archives - Short Eared Owls

It is just coming up to that time of year, next couple of months or so, that we can look forward to seeing Short Eared Owls again.

I have been lucky for the last two years to have a great hunting field within about 30 minutes drive from my home and so look forward to finding out where they will be this year.

It will depend on how the farmers have left their field through the winter, and whether the fields will support a sufficient vole population to feed them.

They are fantastic birds to watch as they quarter the fields, flapping their long wings, before suddenly folding the and stopping into the ling grass.

About the size of a Buzzard, they are often 'bombed' by a Buzzard or Raven, but as long as they get height then they are safe.

I had a fascinating time last year watch a much heavier Buzzard try to out climb the lighter Owl. They became small specks in my binoculars after a few minutes, before the Buzzard decided to give up the unequal struggle.

Anyway, here are a couple from two years ago, with thanks to my friend Robbie Brookes, currently living in the Shetland Isles who took me to this site for the first time.

Martin

From the Archives - Little Owls

A couple of years ago, I followed the fortunes of a family of Little Owls at the time the young were fledging. It was great to watch from the comfort of my car as my hide, and I studied them at first and last light on many occasions. Mornings worked well as the barn was east facing and it was bathed in beautiful morning light. Evening was obviously more difficult, but if it was a greyish day, the light worked OK.

Sadly, the following year the barn was subject to significant renovation and I haven't seen them again either last year or this.

So I need to find an alternate location for these enigmatic little birds. There must be one very close to my house as I did hear one out in the garden a couple of weeks back - so maybe next year.





Martin

From the archives - Marsh Harriers at Minsmere

Now is a great time of year to get along to RSPB Minsmere and take a visit to either the Bittern or Island Hides to get some in flight shots of the Marsh Harriers.

I have been there for the last two years and have had some great views.

Best time is first thing so you can get some space in the hides and also to catch the early light.

If you are lucky then you will also get some great views of Bittern too - either flight shots from the Bittern Hide or ground shots from the Island Hide. I usually have some bright spark tell me that they had great views ten minutes previously.

On a good spring day it is easy enough to see up to 100 species in a full day. You can also get great close up pictures of Avocet and Swallows down by the Sluice - just sit on the ground by the posts and wait for them to come to you.

Minsmere really is the birders jewel in the crown and every photographer should get there at least once in their life, and now is the best time of the year

Martin

From the Archives-India-Ranthambhore

I have travelled to India many times, In 2000 i spent 3 months there and then went 2-3 times a year after, It became addictive, There is nowhere like it on earth and i hope it continues to be like that, You will not find a more diverse place with its cultures,people and places,It has everything from mountains to deserts,wetlands and forests, I have visited Ranthambhore,Kanha,Badhavgargh Keolado,and Kazirnaga national parks in search of Indias fantastic wildlife, I think i should take each Park seperatley as they are all very different and offer different things Ranthambhore NP in Rajesthan is my favorite Tiger reserve,Its not the easiest place to get Tiger shots-that falls to Bandhavgargh but there is something about the place that draws me back, Its a big place,very arrid-semi desert and extremely hot, I tend to go around march-may time,The later you leave it the hotter it will be but that will carry favour for you as the water dries up it will bring the tigers out looking for it-where there is heat and water there will be tigers, Nothing is guarenteed but i have always come up trumps here and on some trips have seen tigers daily whilst on others you may wait 4 days before seeing one,Tigers are not the only thing on offer here,Its the best place to see and photograph Sloth bear, It has large numbers of deer both Sambar (similar to our red deer) and chital which are similar to the fallow deer, Lots and lots of cheeky monkey's will keep the cameras clicking and stunning scenery,the park is built around a fort that is built high up on a rocky hill and it has large lakes with temples built around the place,The downside with all of this is that its the closest tiger reserve to Delhi-around 6 hrs by train so it gets busy and its also very expensive, But its not far from Bharatphur-keolado NP which is one of the worlds best bird reserves,Jaipur the pink city and also Agra is a short train journey away where you find the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort,They call this the golden triangle and its gives you options to make for a diverse trip, I stay in the Ranthambhore Regency-ask for Ravindra who will sort all your jeep and drivers out, Guides i would recommmend would be Rajesh and Hymraj-just remember a good guide is worth his weight in gold, I now have a friend who has set up his own business out there so if you are looking for a trip to Ranthambhore and the surrounding region drop me a line and i will forward it on

Dave

From the Archives - Red Squirrels at Formby

I met up with a number of other wildlife photographers last night and was extremely saddened to hear of this story and also here. So it was with that in mind, I thought I would share some images from a trip I made there about two years ago.

Sue and I got there quite early, having previously photographed some hares a few miles away. We set up in a particular area, on the other side of the road to the squirrel walk, having put down some hazel nuts in a few photogenic places.

It didn't take long for our first visitors to show up, but they weren't red.
So we used the opportunity to get images like this of Great, Coal and Blue tits, and very handsome they look strutting their stuff in the early spring sunshine.

After about 45 minutes or so, the first of the little Reds came bounding across the ground towards us, looking very cheeky and mischievous. It didn't take long for it to find the goodies we had put out. Unfortunately, the first one didn't stay for long, as a loose dog came running through, ahead of its owners who seemed completely oblivious to us, or my profanities at the dog.



However, within a few minutes of the all clear, it came back and was joined by three of its friends who ran around us for about an hour or so, even getting closer than the minimum focus distance of the 500mm, which is 4.5m.



At one point, one was eating from the supply of nuts that was in a bag that was hanging from my tripod gimbal head, as I was using the 500 hand held at the time. It made me laugh anyway. Wish I had taken a picture as I think I must have had my serious head on and was looking for more specimen shots.







Well let's hope these little creatures can fight this dreadful disease off, but sadly the omens do not look good at all.

Martin

From the archives - Fungi

I thought I would share some 'out of season images with you all this week. The Autumn is one of the great seasons for wildlife photographers with fabulous golden light of late afternoons and early mornings, lots of bird migration and for those of us who like some close up work then there are the opportunities for fungi as well.

The 2006 'season' was fantastic with a bumper year that seemed to last for ages, whereas the last two years have been pretty challenging. I am fortunate in that I have a great wood near me with varied coniferous and deciduous habitat.

Fungi compared to other wildlife subjects are actually really easy if you think about it, as they are not going to get up and run away from you, so you as the photographer have the opportunity to control everything. The most difficult part is finding your subjects, but once you have then the results are all down to you.

I took this just over two years ago with my old Canon 1Dmk2N and 100mmf2.8 macro. I have shown a phone pic I took of the set up, using a couple of reflectors and a diffuser to hold back the strong sunlight. Tripod mounted, of course with remote release and manually focussed as all of my fungi shots are.

The latest 'Live View' facilities on the current breed of Canon and Nikon cameras has transformed macro photography for me now. I use the Live View, in conjunction with the histogram information to verify the exposure using M Mode, and then zoom in with the 5X magnification, depress the DOF preview button and then scroll around the main part of the subject to ensure that the subject has exactly the right components sharp. This technique really has taken out a lot of inaccuracies associated with looking through the viewfinder, particularly if the camera is at ground level.

I have only found one drawback using this technique and that is battery life. Using the screen does drain the battery much faster than conventional shooting as you would expect. That said, current battery life on the 1D mk3 is excellent and I am sure it is also on the latest Nikon offerings too.

When setting out to find fungi, early damp mornings have proven to be the most successful although you will have to watch out for the dog walkers, and make sure that you don't scare them if you suddenly get up as they are approaching you, unless you have a warped sense of humour. Another consideration is to make sure that you have permission to access the land you are photographing on.

There are some great resources on the 'net, one of the better ones is Roger's Mushrooms. I have had species confirmed by Roger Phillips - a really helpful guy. I can also thoroughly recommend his great book - see ad below.

This family group of Mycena was takenwith my old Canon 5D and 100mmf2.8 macro.

And finally, this was taken in the October last year, using the 1Dmk3, using the Live View technique. The species is Armilleria Ostoyae or Brown Honey Fungus, and was the species that Roger helped to confirm.

So something a little different from our blogs to date. Many thanks to those who have commented and continue to support the blog. If there are any subjects you want to see covered, then give us a shout on here

Martin

From the archives - Skomer's Puffins

Once a week we will do a trip back down memory lane to share some images from the archives. In the depths of winter with dark days, grey light and fewer photo opportunities, at least here in the UK at the moment, I thought I would share some images from a couple of trips I made to Skomer in West Wales during the summer of 2005.

Puffins are fascinating birds, that fly at great speed while they bring ashore their load of sand eels for their chicks in the burrows. They outrun a phalanx of gulls and other predators in the air, which is the easy bit. The difficulty comes once they have landed, whereupon the gulls will mug them of their hard earned catch.

The Puffins spend the majority of their year at sea, only coming onto land to nest and fledge their chicks. So if you want to see them, your opportunities are limited between April and about the end of July. The images with sand eels were taken towards the end of June, once the chicks have hatched. If you go before hatching you will see plenty of in flight birds, but without catches as they are only eating for themselves at this stage and will do at sea where it is safer for them.
Puffins can be seen at a few locations around the UK and Skomer is a good location that entails a boat trip cross to the island.

All the details you need to now about getting the can be found on the website of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.

It is certainly a great day out, providing you are fortunate with the weather. There is virtually no shelter on the island so make sure you are prepared for all weather eventualities, including plenty of water and sunscreen for days like we had when I took these images. It is a reasonable walk around the island, easily covered, although make sure you have appropriate footwear. The flower on the island are just magic, particulalry early in the season when the ground is carpeted with Bluebell's, followed later by White and Red Campion. There are a number of other exciting species to see including Fulmar, Razorbill and Kittiwake. I saw a few Choughs there too. All paths should be strictly adhered to as the whole island is riddled with burrows of Manx Shearwaters, a secretive bird that comes out at night time, so it is likely the only ones you will see will be dead from predation.
To see the seasonal calendar, check out the calendar here.

Photography of these birds can be very easy to very difficult, depending on what you set out to achieve. At the western side of the island at a place called The Wyck, the photo opportunities are probably the best. Stay on the marked paths, and when they walk across by your feet, please make way for thenmand remember their welfare is more important that your image. All these images were taken with my old Canon 20D and my 70-200f4L either with or without the 1.4 EF extender, so you do not need large lenses. In fact wide angles can be useful for low levels on the paths.
So get your calendar out and plan your trips now.

Martin

From the Archives - Starlings at Twilight

Here is a sight that is truly spectacular. Taken a couple of years ago from the car park at WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, UK. Using my Canon 1Dmk2N at ISO1600, my 70-200 f2.8 IS L wide open at f 2.8 I managed to capture the split flock. I needed to use noise reduction software to keep the noise out of the sky, but given that it was almost dark it shows what can be achieved with older generation kit.

Martin