Category: Photography

Very busy day today, spent the first part of the early morning on Isle of Skye, then the rest of the morning on board ship.

Lots of Herring Gulls, but also Guillemots swimming and flying by. Also incredibly lucky to see lots of Puffin’s, not just swimming and diving, but also flying past.

You would not believe how fast they can move. A 200mm f/2.8 lens with a 1.7 teleconverter, is not really long enough to catch them but I managed to get a few shots I am pleased with.

I was hoping to post a few pictures but Photoshop Express on the iPad cannot edit RAW files so I am afraid you will all have to wait.

Shooting from the ship was a major challenge, I was using a monopod to save my arms as a tripod was not really practical but the vibration from the engines was a problem. I had the VR (Vibration Reduction) mode of my lens set to active and kept my shutter speeds high, this meant shooting wide open most of the time, meaning depth of field was limited.

Restful day for us tomorrow, maybe some landscape scouting but not much else.

I noticed from a Twitter feed that TV presenter, wildlife photographer and general all round wildlife geek, Chris Peckham, has been on the Isle of Man filming for this years Spring Watch.

While I have been getting better and better photographs with each visit to my local parks and nature reserves, sometimes only a trip to some exotic locations do you feel will enable you to capture that killer shot.

Trips to Africa or the far East are expensive, and as the BBC’s Spring Watch program shows not strictly necessary. Many of the remoter areas of the British Isles have simply stunning scenery and wildlife and can often be a viable destination for a long weekend.

Chris was enjoying the sunshine, Cormerants and Lampreys, and a chocolate cake, it was his birthday on the Isle of Man. A great location for a long weekend.

One thing you must always remember is, that unless your visiting a zoo, nowhere guarantees seeing wildlife. Enjoy the visit, if you see anything, wonderful; and if you get your photograph, then that’s the icing on the cake.

Today finds us in Uig, a small port village in the north of the Isle of Skye. The camera gear is all packed in cases safely stored in our hotel room for the night. While we were tucking into fresh Scottish Scallops in a local restaurant: as we looked out over the bay, we could see Heron Gull’s wheeling overhead, while in the rock pools, Oystercatchers fished, Hooded Crows kept a lookout for an easy meal and Pied Wagtails also took a meal from the rock pools.

A fantastic wildlife sight. A sure lesson to always keep a camera to hand, unfortunately an iPhone and Nikon D200 with a 12-24mm f/4 are not suitable tools for birds!

Still a wonderful memory to file away.

I have been having a bit of a play lately with my DSLR’s. Modern SLR’s have very customisable focus modes, you can set the number of sensors, wide or narrow area, and focus pattern. Add to that lock on time out and you have a confusing system that can be difficult to figure out.

I have five years experience with the Nikon D200 SLR body but still need to practice and familorise myself with all the functions. With a big trip planned soon, and as well as my customary medium format landscape photography, i’ll be shooting wildlife.

Because of that every couple of weekends over the last few months I have been visiting the local parks and RSBP Reserves. Trying different focus modes and techniques.

Today was another visit to a local park with Chris a far more experienced wildlife photographer then me.

I tried various techniques, including programmed auto ISO, aperture priority and shutter priority, to improve my chances of getting a good shot.

Practice makes perfect. As you can see the shots are not perfect, but I have learned a lot a over the last few weeks and have a number of photographs I am extremely pleased with.

Today we saw Herons with young, Mute Swans, Greylag Geese also with young, Canadian Geese, Tufted Ducks, Cootes, and Common Terns.

We saw a number of males competing for females. In particular two male Great Crested Grebes and also two male Coots were really fighting it out. It was quite something to witness.

A good day out.

Update: Chris has just posted his pictures, stunning couple of shots of the Herons.

With today’s Royal Wedding I thought I would make a quick blog post about Wedding Photography.

I feel that this is one of the more difficult genres of Photography.

Some would disagree, but there are a lot of elements to balance.

Knowing your equipment is important, being able to produce technically good shots is also important, but the key skills are your people skills.

As the wedding photographer you have to balance many things. Directing, shepherding the guests, getting the groups of people together for the key formal shots, doing it quickly but not offending anyone.

It is important that you and the couple know exactly what you are trying to achieve. The meetings before hand allow you to develop a relationship with them and to get it clear beforehand exactly the kind of photographs they want.

Some couples want a very informal, reportage style, others a very traditional style with all the formal group shots. Also consider that the parents may want a different kind of style then the wedding couple, these conflicts may need to be over come, who is paying for your time, the couple or the parents. You may need to shoot two different styles. Providing at the end an album for the parents and one for the couple.

For your traditional wedding I find enlisting and getting on your side, the mother of the bride is key. She can act as your assistant, marshalling the guests, getting them in place for the formal shots. A useful ally to have on your side.

These days, weddings can not only be Dawn to Dusk events, but can now start months in advance. Many brides today want their wedding planning documented. Key events like the Bridal shower and trying on the dresses can be photographed and documented for posterity.

There is also a growing trend in Wedding Boudoir photography. Often a field that many female photographers are getting into. Pretty romantic, and often very erotic shots of the bride in her Wedding lingerie. The resulting pictures are often given to the groom on the wedding night.

I only shoot a few Wedding each year, choosing them carefully, I only work with couples I really get along with, but I work hard to produce exactly the kind of photographs they want.

Some couples will come to you and expect a photographer to work for just £500 or less. Many think £500 is a lot of money for a set of pictures, others know they are hiring a professional skilled artist and craftsman, one that can produce unique beautiful works of art, of their special day and are willing to pay good money to get someone with those skills. Which one are you? Don’t be afraid to turn work down or feel you have lower your price to get every piece of work offered.

Develop a unique style that people want and the work will come to you.

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Monday morning found us at the Lincolnshire Whisby Nature Reserve.

While Caroline concentrated on Macro work, and the multitude of insects and mushrooms that seemed to be around, I concentrated on the birds.

The first lake had mainly black headed gull’s including some engaging in courtship and mating. We also spotted a Coote, Moorhen and a Canadian Goose.

Moving on we slowly walked round the “Coote” footpath, we did not see any Cootes on that lake, but we did spot a Great Crested Grebe sat on the nest, and a very attentive Canadian Goose on patrol, his partner was sat on the nest on the small island.

On the third lake we came to, we hid in the hide watching the action. On the shore was a large crow poking his nose into everyones business. The Coote took exception and chased him off. He then made the mistake flying to close to the Gulls and got dive bombed. We also spotted which we think was a Golden Eye, but I’ll have to check with my Photography Buddy Chris to make sure on Tuesday when we meet up.

All in all, a good day and finished off with a Kangaroo burger and chips in the visitors centre.