Winter is my favourite time of year for photography. It may be cold and mostly gloomy but when the sun does make an appearance it is the best kind of sun. Low and warm - at least in light if not in temperature. Today I spent some time in Central London. Before the sun came out I was shooting abstracts. Late afternoon, however, as I came to Trafalgar Square the sun broke through. The sky was still quite grey - but the light was perfect for some moody black and whites.
And then as I crossed the Hungerford Bridge I spotted the lengthening shadows on the embankment. Another great opportunity for black and white.
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Saturday, 17 January 2009
On the joys of birds in flight
The other day I came across an excellent mastering flight photography article on Richard Bedford's website. An interesting read with lots of practical advice from an expert on the subject. Some of his shots must have been phenomenally difficult to obtain. Swallows for example, being small and fast, are incredibly hard to track, yet Richard has a beautiful shot of one swooping low across water.
My own successes have largely been with much larger or slower birds. The king cormorants in the Falklands were particularly enjoyable to photograph. One day I found a group conducting flight operations from a table of rock on the cliffs at Sealion Island. It was a great location in that it enabled me to position myself upwind of and slightly below the landing area. I spent well over an hour in this vantage place tracking the birds coming in and shooting in bursts as they decelerated to land.
Even with slow moving birds and a good zoom I didn't find it easy to always get the best framing. This is one of my favourite shots from the day - it's just a shame I lost the bottom of his foot. Cold fingers did not help either!
My own successes have largely been with much larger or slower birds. The king cormorants in the Falklands were particularly enjoyable to photograph. One day I found a group conducting flight operations from a table of rock on the cliffs at Sealion Island. It was a great location in that it enabled me to position myself upwind of and slightly below the landing area. I spent well over an hour in this vantage place tracking the birds coming in and shooting in bursts as they decelerated to land.
Even with slow moving birds and a good zoom I didn't find it easy to always get the best framing. This is one of my favourite shots from the day - it's just a shame I lost the bottom of his foot. Cold fingers did not help either!
Saturday, 10 January 2009
On goldcrests and cold weather
I don't know whether it is just the absence of foliage on the trees, or whether the nose-diving temperatures of the last couple of weeks have increased the urgent need to feed, but everywhere I go at the moment I seem to see goldcrests. The cold weather has to be tough on Britain's smallest bird.
This morning, in a snowy Crane Park, I saw several at very close quarters. So intent on feeding where they that they seemed completely oblivious to the close passage of several dog walkers. Whilst too dull for photography, it was fun to watch them - and nearly as nice to return to my centrally-heated flat!
Here is a shot that I took last week in Bushy Park.
This morning, in a snowy Crane Park, I saw several at very close quarters. So intent on feeding where they that they seemed completely oblivious to the close passage of several dog walkers. Whilst too dull for photography, it was fun to watch them - and nearly as nice to return to my centrally-heated flat!
Here is a shot that I took last week in Bushy Park.
Saturday, 3 January 2009
On the significance of small things
The New Year got off to a dull start. Two days of grey overcast which stopped me taking photographs, but not seeing a lot of wildlife (including my first water vole!). Today, however, dawned bright and clear. Freezing cold - but great photography weather. I spent a happy morning in the park seeing and photographing a number of small birds.
As I was heading off in search of some lunch I heard a wren call in the bushes. I've seen a lot of wrens in the last few days, so I could have walked right by. But I chose to stop. I'm so glad I did. I never found the wren but what I did find - in the tree right by me - was a female sparrowhawk. I've never had much luck with sparrowhawks. They are birds that other people see. That non-photographers manage to take photos of in their back gardens and tell me about afterwards. Today, however, she was all mine.
It is surprising how many times that happens. I hear or see something common or insignificant and when I stop to look at it, I find something far more interesting. Of course, now I've broken the jinx I'll probably see sparrowhawks everywhere - but I don't mind that. They are beautiful birds.
As I was heading off in search of some lunch I heard a wren call in the bushes. I've seen a lot of wrens in the last few days, so I could have walked right by. But I chose to stop. I'm so glad I did. I never found the wren but what I did find - in the tree right by me - was a female sparrowhawk. I've never had much luck with sparrowhawks. They are birds that other people see. That non-photographers manage to take photos of in their back gardens and tell me about afterwards. Today, however, she was all mine.
It is surprising how many times that happens. I hear or see something common or insignificant and when I stop to look at it, I find something far more interesting. Of course, now I've broken the jinx I'll probably see sparrowhawks everywhere - but I don't mind that. They are beautiful birds.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
On the passage of time
It hardly seems possible that it is a year since my Falklands trip. In fact, this time last year I was spending my last day exploring Gypsy Cove near Stanley - avoiding the minefields and having a chance encounter with a crested caracara.
The year has flown. Photographically it has not been a great year. Poor light has dogged most of my trips and poor health has limited their frequency. Nevertheless there were some truly memorable moments. Perhaps the wildlife highlight of the year was witnessing several families of tree creepers feeding their young on the banks of Loweswater last spring. What seemed to be just a fluffy bulge on a tree trunk was suddenly transformed by the appearance of several hungry beaks. I'd all but forgotten it until sorting through some unprocessed photos. I must have spent well over an hour watching them - mostly with binoculars because it was pretty dim. But I did get a few shots including this one.
The year has flown. Photographically it has not been a great year. Poor light has dogged most of my trips and poor health has limited their frequency. Nevertheless there were some truly memorable moments. Perhaps the wildlife highlight of the year was witnessing several families of tree creepers feeding their young on the banks of Loweswater last spring. What seemed to be just a fluffy bulge on a tree trunk was suddenly transformed by the appearance of several hungry beaks. I'd all but forgotten it until sorting through some unprocessed photos. I must have spent well over an hour watching them - mostly with binoculars because it was pretty dim. But I did get a few shots including this one.
Monday, 22 September 2008
On perception of reality
One person's mundane is another person's extraordinary. This weekend I visited the National Wetland Center, Wales (near Llanelli). It was a stunning day. Lots of interesting birds to see - including a number of little egrets. I've only ever seen one before - briefly, in Salisbury a year or so ago. Certainly I've never got a camera to one. From one of the hides I could see three of them - all too distant to make a reasonable photograph. As I commented on this fact to my companion someone overheard and asked what we'd seen. "Just the egret in the rushes," I said. "Oh. I thought you'd seen something interesting," they replied.
The next hide we visited was empty and right outside it was another little egret. Over the next half an hour or so we watched as it zigzagged ever closer. At the end of it's approach it afforded me some excellent close-ups even if the light was not in quite the right place to make every shot count. I don't care if they're as commons as sparrows on the west coast - for a city-dweller like me this was a real treat.
The next hide we visited was empty and right outside it was another little egret. Over the next half an hour or so we watched as it zigzagged ever closer. At the end of it's approach it afforded me some excellent close-ups even if the light was not in quite the right place to make every shot count. I don't care if they're as commons as sparrows on the west coast - for a city-dweller like me this was a real treat.
Monday, 8 September 2008
On technology versus art
A few days ago Canon released the EOS 50D - the latest successor to the camera that I use (EOS-20D). This is the third upgrade since I bought my camera, and the first one which has made me seriously consider upgrading - although I will probably wait until the price inevitably drops. Both the 30 and 40D were very good cameras - but for my requirements they were only minor upgrades. There were some new features that I wanted - but not enough to get me to part with any cash.
What I find very interesting is the number of people who are almost outraged with the 50D. Online forums are full of people complaining. Never mind that this is the most advanced camera that Canon have produced with that sensor size and at that price point. The biggest area of contention seems to be it's "poor" high ISO noise characteristics. The comparison is with Nikon (who until very recently lagged Canon in terms of image quality quite significantly).
For me this is simply not an issue. The high ISO performance of the 50D looks at first glance to be at least as good as the 20D, and probably significantly better. I came to Cannon from a Minolta A2 which had significantly worse noise performance than the Canon. With the Minolta I only ever shot at ISO64. ISO 100 was usable and anything beyond that was a waste of time. With the Canon I routinely shoot at ISO400 for equivalent quality and have had decent results at ISO800. Despite that, I still think that some of the best ever shots I have taken were with the Minolta. Actually two of my favourite shots were taken with a two mega-pixel point-and-shoot.
With a significant investment in Canon lenses a move to Nikon is simply not on the cards for me, but even if it was, I probably wouldn't move. Why? My current camera is already a far better picture taking machine than I have ever had. It is more than capable of getting excellent results under most circumstances. And Canon are not that far behind. Shooting real world pictures most people probably wouldn't even notice the difference.
Sometimes I think people get so bound down in the technology - they forget that photography is art.
What I find very interesting is the number of people who are almost outraged with the 50D. Online forums are full of people complaining. Never mind that this is the most advanced camera that Canon have produced with that sensor size and at that price point. The biggest area of contention seems to be it's "poor" high ISO noise characteristics. The comparison is with Nikon (who until very recently lagged Canon in terms of image quality quite significantly).
For me this is simply not an issue. The high ISO performance of the 50D looks at first glance to be at least as good as the 20D, and probably significantly better. I came to Cannon from a Minolta A2 which had significantly worse noise performance than the Canon. With the Minolta I only ever shot at ISO64. ISO 100 was usable and anything beyond that was a waste of time. With the Canon I routinely shoot at ISO400 for equivalent quality and have had decent results at ISO800. Despite that, I still think that some of the best ever shots I have taken were with the Minolta. Actually two of my favourite shots were taken with a two mega-pixel point-and-shoot.
With a significant investment in Canon lenses a move to Nikon is simply not on the cards for me, but even if it was, I probably wouldn't move. Why? My current camera is already a far better picture taking machine than I have ever had. It is more than capable of getting excellent results under most circumstances. And Canon are not that far behind. Shooting real world pictures most people probably wouldn't even notice the difference.
Sometimes I think people get so bound down in the technology - they forget that photography is art.
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