Well this morning it was an early rise, though we decided not to arrive at dawn like last time. Now the mornings are getting earlier, getting to location at dawn is getting much harder. No dedication thats the problem!
Not a serious wildlife shoot but more a test of technique and a bit of practice.
I met Chris Bennett at the car park, at a rather civilised 08:00 in the morning, and we loaded up with tripods, cameras and lens. I was travelling rather light just a single camera and lens together with the tripod. Though I did have spare CF (Compact Flash Cards) and a spare camera battery in my coat pocket.
During the course of the morning, I tried several different techniques and camera focusing modes. I was not expecting any particularly good shots but as you can see above, while not portfolio material there not too bad.
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The limiting factor as always was shutter speed. Due to the light levels and the fact I limited myself to ISO400 my shutter speed was often not quite high enough to freeze the action, thus a lot of unsharp photographs.
But certainly a worthwhile exercise.
Thanks to Chris for allowing me to tag a long, its fun having someone along who knows what they’re doing and knows there birds as well as Chris does.
Remember photography is a skill and a craft. It needs constant practice, even a day where you come back with no great shots is not waste. Time spent familiarising yourself with your equipment so you can use it without thinking means, when the light and that perfect shot becomes available you can concentrate on getting that shot, not having to think about how you use your camera or what mode/exposure it should be.
As you can see not bad results but in no way perfect. Before any of you start blaming your equipment, remember; wildlife photographers have been producing stunning images for decades. What equipment did they have? Now we have far better equipment then then ever did. Get out there and practice. Learn your equipment, your craft and your subject.
Get out there and get that killer shot.
