RIP Wonky Wing

Back last month in this blogpost I told you about a juvenile Blackbird that had taken up residence in the Dyer garden. As recently as last Friday she spent a lot of the day with me at close quarters while I was laying slabs in the garden.

Sadly that was the last time that we saw her. We have been out there all weekend but no sign at all. So I have come to the conclusion that she has either succumbed to her condition or has been predated.

We are quite sad as she appeared to be improving but as I said in the original post I didn't think she would survive for too long.

MartIn

Chimping-Right or Wrong?

I don't know why i bother but sometimes i comment on Dpreview, Its always been know as an argumentative forum and it has more than its far share of jerks that seem to just want to wind people up and live under a false name, The other day a guy put up an image that was very under exposed and asked why his image was so dark, I made a comment that he should take a shot and then check the histogram and adjust using exposure compensation as needed and then retake the shot getting a good exposure, Now i used the word test shot and i am guessing that my comment was mis-read as is easily done as i was basically told that this was bad practice and if you shoot wildlife you do not get the chance to take a 'test' shot and reshoot, I guess the guy does not know what i shoot!!, Now i did not say that i do not know how to take a good exposure without using the histogram i just said that the guy should have checked the histogram and that way he would have known straight away that he had made a booboo and could have reshot, I shot slide film for many years and as anybody who shot slide will tell you its very unforgiving, if you are 1/2 stop out its in the bin, These days i still tend to meter off of something like grass or like in Japan i would meter off of the snow and then add a couple of stops, After shooting for so many years you tend to know or have a good idea of what your camera should be set for, however i have a histogram on the camera and like to check and confirm that my exposure is bang on, This means that i will have to do little adjustments in processing, So the question is, Is it bad practice to look at your histogram or chimp as its known or does it make you a bad photographer?? Well all i can say is that i am happy to use mine, I understand what a histogram should look like and teach people how to check their exposures by using a histogram, We have a lot of features on a modern day Dslr and i think that you should know how to use them and if it gives you a better image or makes your life easier then so be it, I am not saying to take a shot willy nilly and then check your histogram and adjust and retake and adjust, What i was saying is take an image after you have say metered off of some grass or a white cloud or whatever you are comfortable metering off and then have a quick look at your screen and histogram, I like to shoot to the right i.e overexpose the image but not to the extent of blowing highlights, To do this i will meter and adjust, So as a for instance on a beach shooting a white bird i may spot meter off of the bird and add 2 stops, I will check the histogram and maybe be able to add another 1/3 so i am on the edge of getting blinkies on the back of the screen but not blowing the actual highlights, This way i can get the maximum amount of detail in the whites and the shadow areas, I am not saying that this is right, What i am saying is that this is right for me,its difficult when you try to help somebody on a forum only to get flamed by those that should know better but thats the way life is on the internet and certainly on Dpreview

Dave

Sad News - They have gone

The first week in August has had happy memories from a few years ago when I used to make the annual pilgrimage to Cowes on the Isle of Wight with some friends and race on their yacht with them.  A great week with fabulous sailing, great partying and good friendly company, and a chance to see a few sea birds while we were at it.  A memory that has carried me over from this time of the year was that when I got home it was always noticeable that the Swifts had left the neighbourhood where I lived at the time.

And so it is this week with the last sighting of this enigmatic bird over my garden being Tuesday just gone.  We did see a few last night over Stratford but from here the main flocks have gone.

My attempts at getting images of them in flight will now have to be put on hold for another nine months.

I did manage a few in the last of the evening light back in June but they are very small in the frame and therefore large crops, so nothing to write home about.

 Martin

Twins

It seems that my photography seems to be the opportunistic type at the moment, You know the type where you see something unexpected and try to make the most of the situation, Like the tree frog and toads and also the snapping turtle from a month or so ago, Well it happened again, The other day i was taking a cup of tea up to my wife who was working hard on the top floor of our house, We have some small windows on the side of the stairs that over look the farm next door, I noticed two small bambi's-young deer with spots very close to my blind just the other side of the fence in the farmland, I quickly grabbed the D3s and 600VR lens, I wasn't sure if i would be over gunned but carefully opened my front door and snuck outside, I peeked around the side and they had their heads down, I took a test shot adjusted the exposure, It was pretty much all mid tone but the bright overhead light shone off of the deers coat, I knew they would only be grab shots as i was hand holding and i had either the fence or my blind in the way, I could also hear the gardeners close by and within a few minutes they deer fled as they could hear the approaching lawn mowers, It was great to see either way, They were probably twins, I had seen a very small deer many weeks ago but this was the first viewing since, The woodland between my house and the farm is pretty dense and a great place for them to hang out during daylight hours, Its difficult for people in the UK or Europe to understand just how big a population of deer we have here and most people have them in their gardens at some point no matter where you live, I will certainly miss them when i move out in just over a week but once the new house is built i will have them in my garden everyday/night so something to really look forward to

You can see my Blind/hide in the corner, All images are full frame

Dave

Badger Culling - Part 2

Following on from Dave's blog on this subject last month, I heard about an alternate option today that is being pursued in Gloucestershire, the neighbouring county to me so thought I would share it with you.

Back in June, the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust announced it would commence vaccination trials on Badgers in this story here.    Today, I picked up via Twitter that fourteen animals have been vaccinated at one location alone - good news for those creatures, even though the cull that has been much discussed is probably a long way off yet.  Reading on further, more details can be found here as well.

I am encouraged by this and hope that this might prove to be the solution.

If you want to support Badger protection in any way, the Badger Trust website is here.

Finally, one more quick plug for the Big Butterfly Count - don't forget to join in and send in your records.

Mine for my garden is as follows;

6 Large White

1 Red Admiral

2 Comma

7 Gatekeeper

2 Meadow Brown

I Common Blue

2 Peacock

Quite happy with that for a small patch - shows the wildlife planting has worked anyway.

Martin

Dry Dry Dry

The wet has gone and the heat is back, Not so severe as before just mid 90's, The tree frog in my last blog has taken up residence behind the barometer outside of my back door right next to the light so he can just stay in one position and eat and never have to move, Monday night i watched the 2 toads hopping around on the patio eating tint flying ants, I grabbed the D7000 with the Sigma 150 macro and went outside, I laid down on the still hot patio (it was dark and about 9pm) I had the camera in manual mode at ISO 800 (i started at 400 but wanted a little extra shutter speed) I had the SB900 flashgun on, I had the head angled about 45 degrees up and had the white card that is built in pulled out so that i could bounce the flash off of the house walls and bounce some light down onto the subject, The flash works very well like this for portraits as well, If you have a flash without a built in white card then just cut some white card or use a playing card and attach it to the flash with an elastic band, I took a test shot and it was great, Infact i was blown away with the sharpness, I had the camera (with battery grip) resting on the floor to help stop camera shake as the speed was quite low, This also helped get me to eye level with the toad which always makes an image have more impact, The toads are very different and always together so i am guessing that they are mates i.e a couple not friends, The larger one has beautiful bold markings whereas the smaller one is plainer, They seem to have very different characters as well, the small one moves slowly and methodically and tends to wait for the bug to come to it whereas the big guy bounces around quickly to where the bugs are, My ideal shot would be to get the toad with its tongue out grabbing a bug but it happens before you can blink and the one shot i did get was more luck than judgement, Its only my first try and things like this either happen straight away or take some time and effort, I think i know which this will be,
The D7000 is really growing on me, I enjoy using it and the files are very nice, Look at the images at ISO800, I have not used any noise software and they are very clean, I would not have even considered the D300 for this, Yes i could have used the D3s but the D7000 gives me some extra distance from the subject and as the toads were slow moving i did not need the extra speed plus i get 4 million extra pixels thrown in, True 1:1 macro lenses like the Sigma 150 are slow to focus but even the in dim light on my patio it worked OK only hunted a few times and when it locked on it stayed there, The Sigma 150mm macro is amazing, Its soooo sharp that i am going to sell my 180 when it comes back and get one, The 180 is a great lens but the new 150 has OS or is stabilized and for hand holding it was be better, I am super impressed with it and cannot recommend it enough, The toads are very relaxed creatures and you can move around and they take no notice, Put the lens close to its face and blind it with flash and it does bat an eye-the perfect subject and very comical to watch, We leave the house in 2 weeks so i need to get some hours in with these guys if i am going to get the shot thats in my head-fingers crossed

All images are Full Frame unless stated
Click on the images to enlarge them then use the back button to go back

 Now where did that fly go? (smallish crop)

 Crop from horizontal (full height)

Dave

What next?

While discussing wildlife and photography last Saturday with Robbie the subject of time lapse photography and camera traps came up, as Robbie acquired a trap earlier this year.  Thinking about this with time on my hands as I take the train to work, I started to think about what and where to go with some different aspects of my photography.

With putting a lot of time into house projects this year, and the not inconsiderable price of fuel, my trips further and wider have been very limited.  Now the wildlife garden giving me a good degree of interest but there is only so far you can go.

One of the thoughts I came up with is to do a time lapse compilation of a 12 month cycle of life through the seasons on the garden.  But how to do it? What kit to use, how will the camera be controlled, powered, protected from the elements - lots of unknowns that I have never previously had to think about.

I was chatting it over with a work colleague who is also a very good photographer and he recommended a site to check out.  Lots of great stuff on both time lapse and DSLR video can be found here.

Again, with the grey matter whirring, I have often thought about using the camera close to the wildlife using wide angle lenses and firing remotely - both for stills and video.  So with that in mind, I ordered the Hahnel time lapse and remote wireless trigger release today shown below.

It will be delivered tomorrow so I will get testing over the weekend and see how we get on.  It seems to have some pretty good reviews so we will see.

Meanwhile, I need to think further about some time lapse stuff.  Please let us know of your experiences or other useful resources that you have found.

Martin


 

Wet,Wet,Wet

In the last 24hrs the weather has changed-Big time, The heat and humidity have dropped to a cool 85 and it has rained and rained and rained, Anybody who has spent time in a primary rain forest will understand the downfall that we have had, It started on Saturday night and that bought out the toads and frogs, We have a pair of toads on our patio every night, One of them (male?) is beautifully marked and i must get some shots soon, We have glass storm doors on both the front and back of the house so we can sit with the main doors open and watch the weather and still be secure, My dog was sitting at the back door looking out when i noticed something on the glass, I went and took a closer look at was surprised to see a Green tree frog which are sometimes called rain frogs as they are so active after a down pour, I hear them a lot in the trees and bushes but have failed to actually see one until now, I grabbed my D7000 which had the Sigma 150mm macro on it, I put it on the tripod and got it all into position, I focused by both manually and also live view and got sharp images with both, I used the 10 sec timer as i didnt know where the remote was, This along with a 4 second shutter speed and i had to hope that the frog did not move for 15 seconds which in most cases it didnt, The frog mainly stayed in the one position but a couple of times it gave a more dynamic stance and i did manage to get some reasonable shots, The frog is pretty small and its difficult to tell its size in the images although you can see the rain drops on the glass, Today i popped out and found the frog under the barometer but let it be, I hope it keeps around as its a nice specimen

Once i started looking for frogs i started to see them everywhere

Dave