Wildlife Photography across the Water: Tufted titmouse

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

Seize the moment

I am very lucky being able to shoot when i want and not have the confines of weekend and holidays, Yesterday was a prime example and when i woke up and looked out side i could not believe that there was snow and that it was still snowing hard, Being away for a few days i hadnt seen the weather forecast so was totally unprepared so plans had to be made on the spot, Its not very pleasant to drive when the weather is so bad so i decided to grab my pop up 2 man tent and put it near my bird feeders,The birds would be cold and hungry and will be easier to shoot, I used the tent as opposed to a hide as it has a built in ground sheet and as i wanted to be low level meant that i could sit on the ground,It is also double skinned so would help keep me warm,

I dressed in multi layers and ended up in the tent for about 6 hrs and still felt fine,I made sure that i kept my gloves and hat dry when i left the tent as this is were the body heat will be lost, Its also worth remembering that you dehydrate when you are out in the cold for long periods as you do in heat so make sure that you have plenty of warm drinks during the day, As soon as i put some fresh food out and got into position the birds started to arrive and there was a constant stream all day,I had to top the feeders up 3 times!! When shooting in snow i set my camera to manual and spot meter directly off of the snow, I then add 2 stops as the white snow will try to fool the camera into under exposing leaing to a dark grey image,Once set i take a test shot and checked the histogram,It depends on how much sun there is on the snow but yesterday with heavy cloud and snow coming down it was spot on,

The histogram was way to the right but there were no 'blinkys' showing, i had placed a log on the ground a few weeks before so i sprinkled some food on tht and then had a flat tray that had a branch strapped above it and i put food there,I didnt fill the other feeders that i had as i wanted the birds infront of me, The only bird that i really wanted to get but never came to feeders in front of me was the tufted titmouse-a beautiful bird and one that i would love to get with the snow falling, There are 2 that visit my garden and they were around yesterday but it just never happened, I was pleased to end the day with some very nice images,The snow acts as a reflector and the images end up nice and evenly lit, I put some corn out hoping that the deer that visit my garden may come out early but i watched them come out and start feeding when there was little light so left them to it,

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

News - A Quicky

You never know what's around the corner, I was expecting to get up today and start downloading and processing some images from the last few days but instead we opened the blinds and there was snow-not just snow but SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOW,Lots of it. We have had about 6'' last night and its still coming down,The birds are all over the feeders and I have set up a low tent with built in ground sheet for some comfort and for the past couple of hours have been shooting constantly,So far I have seen Cardinal, Junco, Mourning dove, Downy woodpecker, Tufted titmouse and house finch to name but a few. I have some very nice stuff so far but the cardinals are not landing where I want them to, So its back out until I get the shots I want. Sorry to make this such a short post but it rarely snows here in NC so I am going to make the most of it. I will post some images as soon as I can-they look great on the camera screen so hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Dave

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.