24/4/2015 0 Comments Cairngorm National Park 2015If anyone has known me for longer than five minutes then you will know about my love of Scotland: the mountains, the lochs, the forests and of course the wildlife. I was however, yet to discover the highlands in winter so my friend and I booked a few days off to visit the incredible Cairngorm National Park at the end of January. We were excited to see how the charismatic Red Squirrel coped in the extreme cold conditions of the Scottish highlands at the peak of winter. It is a common misconception that Red Squirrels hibernate but they like nothing more than running around in the snow. And whilst there are still nuts put out for them in certain areas, they won't waste such a great and essential food source. Of course it isn't all about the Red Squirrel - The Cairngorm National Park is thriving with wildlife both commonly seen and highly elusive. With miles of Caledonian Pine Forests peppered with beautiful lochs hidden amongst the trees, it is unsurprising that the Cairngorms is home to 25% of the UK's most endangered species. It is still one of the only places on our little island that has been left unspoilt, a perfect habitat for birds and mammals alike. 21/1/2015 2 Comments Winter Wildlife at WWT Slimbridge Click any image to enlarge. Lapwing in Flight - Filmed at WWT Slimbridge Welcome to something new! Over the next year or so I am going to be working hard to get my newest project 'Greenshank Productions' off the ground. I won't say too much now but as my interest in Wildlife Conservation grows, my ambition to find new media platforms to give nature a voice increases. I am going to be producing a lot more film footage alongside my photography and will hopefully be able to launch my new project properly soon. For now, here are some photographs I have taken alongside the two short clips shown above. Winter is a beautiful time of year to get out and photograph! It may seem that the cold, the strong winds and for some, the snow may be the worst time to find wildlife as they should all be hidden away in the warmth or in a deep, deep winter sleep. But I assure you winter is buzzing! Migrant birds such as Lapwing and Bewick's Swans are regular winter visitors and will not come over quietly nor under the radar. Lapwing, along with other bird species like Golden Plover will put on huge murmuration spectacles like those of the Starlings that are most popularly witnessed on the Somerset Levels. And it isn't just the wildlife but as the landscape changes as the weather turns colder, more and more exquisite scenes unfold and if you are lucky enough to live in an area with good snow fall then all the better. Snow can be both fast and exciting or relaxed and romantic and gives the landscape and wildlife photographer endless scope for winter inspiration. 31/10/2014 0 Comments Isle of Skye - The Wildlife 2014Click any image to enlarge. For the sixth consecutive year, I spent two weeks on the beautiful 'misty isle' of Skye with my family and for the sixth consecutive year I spent less time relaxing and more time walking along the beaches and mountainous terrain in search of wildlife. After-all what more relaxation is needed than watching the gracefulness of seabirds soaring through the skies and listening to the mass of calming calls of the thousands of wading birds feeding along the beach? I was lucky enough to see and photograph some species I have never seen before this year. One such species was the incredibly good looking and colourful Turnstone which I came across on one of the wettest days of the fortnight. I convinced myself that if I braved the rain then the wildlife would be the reward - it did not disappoint. I spotted the orange mottled plumage of a small wader that I did not recognise as I peeked over a rock and down to a small inlet beneath me. I was cut off by a rocky slope of seaweed and my only choice to get closer was to shuffle down this rock on my front. With water seeping quickly into my apparently not-so-waterproof clothes, I edged gradually towards the feeding Turnstone. I got a few shots, enough to identify the bird later, before it flew a little further out to some rocks beyond the inlet. I was chuffed with what I had as I was just happy to have seen a new species. Not thinking I would see the Turnstone again, I wandered on towards where I thought I had seen a Heron land a little earlier - however, as I came around another clump of rocks, I spotted a mottled orangey plumaged wader blending beautifully into the orange seaweed not too far away from me. It's always worth getting a little bit cold and wet to photograph wildlife. Another species that I came across this year for the first time was the Black Guillemot which I spotted in the quaint harbourside village of Armadale. Although being a bustling tourist spot for the many people arriving and departing Skye via the Caledonian MacBrayne Ferries, once the ferry has left, the place becomes beautifully quiet and a haven for wildlife. Seals sit just off shore basking in the sunshine (when the sun makes an appearance!) and over the years I've seen otters, dolphins and even basking sharks alongside the regular population of seabirds. But the Black Guillemot was certainly a first for me so the adrenalin kicked in as soon as I saw two of them sitting and washing on the rocks by the waters edge. They were in such a place so as not to be seen from land other than via the ferry walkway that ran along and above these particular rocks, so I managed to get pretty close before they even knew I was there. By the time they spotted me, I was sat very still among the rocks, peering round at them and I didn't seem to even faze them by being there. It was an incredible moment of trust to be allowed so close and I managed to photograph them for a good 5 or 10 minutes before I felt I'd better back off and leave them in peace. There was of course many more familiar species that I had the pleasure to photograph too - Skye will never cease to surprise me with it's abundance of wildlife and landscape beauty. If you'd like to see my landscapes from Skye this year then I have put them in a separate blog here: Isle of Skye - The Landscapes 2014.
All images are straight out of camera JPEG's and can be clicked to enlarge. I do not hide the fact that I am a Nikon shooter and always have been so perhaps this review could be somewhat biased. That aside, I have been the proud owner of Nikon's newest 'prosumer' DSLR for just under a month now and already, I have been blown away and would like to share a few of my feelings on this impressive piece of kit. Lets get the initial squabbles out in the open early... Is the D750 a replacement to my much loved D700? Well Yes and No. Do I miss the round viewfinder found on the 'pro' bodies? Yes - I have already lost the eyecup which isn't through mistreatment but I have always found the consumer style eyecups are desperate to escape the camera. However, the viewfinder itself is beautifully bright with 100% coverage and the now white writing on the exposure read-out found on the newer models is a nice touch. Do I miss having the ISO, white balance and quality on the top dial? Yes - I personally see the mode dial with the 'EFFECTS' mode a bit gimmiky, however it is easy enough to adjust to changing the ISO via it's new location on the magnify button on the back or by setting it to a custom button on the front. I can not help but think it would be simply stupid to get held up on these silly 'issues' and to not instead make the most out of what is a more rugged, weather sealed, higher resolution and overall more versatile D700 - my initial worries have been put to rest ever since I made the decision to part-exchange my D700 for the D750. So how does it perform? Well I have been ripping my hair out waiting for Adobe Lightroom to release the update support for the D750 (at time of writing) so I can only judge the camera on usability and the JPEGs straight out of camera (as seen below). But already this 'little' camera packs a punch and puts a smile on your face doing it. Recently I visited Westonbirt Arboretum, a large collection of incredible trees in an assortment of colours and textures and I took my new D750 along with me. Shooting under a canopy of branches and foliage can push even the best cameras to the limit with focus and low light capabilities - with the D750 being able to focus at -3EV (for reference -2EV is moonlight!) you will never miss a shot. Focus locks on almost every single time and with the option of using Group Focus (as found in the D810 and D4s) life is made that much easier for the photographer by allowing you to move a clump of 5 focus points around the finder giving you way more chance of the camera finding what you want to focus on. Walking around with this camera is a pleasure in itself as the new design allows for an extremely rugged but very light camera. The new deeper grip gives you a comfortable sense of security and I find myself often (and not sensibly) carrying the camera around with 3 fingers with the strap wrapped around my wrist. It's just that lightweight! The dynamic range is very impressive and will expose images near perfectly almost every time (with minimal exposure compensation tweaking). According to the latest DxOMark sensor review, the D610 trumps the D750 in colour depth and even beats it by a fraction in the overall score of the sensor. However, I feel these reviews must be taken with a pinch of salt. I have handled both cameras and perhaps the D610 does have a better colour depth but in the overall scheme of things the D750 wins hands down every time for the overall versatility, performance, quality and usability. For those trying to decide whether to spend the extra money on the D750 over the D610 then I would personally recommend picking up some extra shifts or try selling a limb on eBay as this camera just won't disappoint. I'm blown away by the amount of camera you get for the price - although aimed at the 'enthusiast photographer' Nikon themselves have said that the camera will likely to be used by many professionals too and I can see why. The low light capabilities are possibly one of the most impressive things about this camera with a DxOMark rating of 2956 - beating it's older brother, the D810 at 2853 and it's younger brother, the D610 at 2925. The native ISO is 100 to 12800 and can be extended to 50 to 51200. Sporting the EXPEED 4 processor found in the D810 and D4s allows this camera to process clean and well saturated imagery even at high ISO's and does so with a resolution at an impressive 24mp. For those wanting a little more resolution out of their cameras without breaking the bank and their computers with the impressively high resolution 36mp D810 then this is the camera to buy. The RAW files come out at a very comfortable average of 30MB which can be processed much more quickly, save space and allow a modest 6.5 frames per second. The JPEG's straight out of camera have really impressed me (although the white balance can sometimes be slightly off and I found it accentuated the magentas and purples slightly at times). I found that noise is processed very cleanly with a smooth compression that won't destroy or soften the image greatly. I can't wait to get the Adobe Lightroom update (hopefully soon - I have been assured from several sources that it's on its way!) to put the D750 through it's paces properly. The only thing that I am scared of is that it will begin to replace my much loved D3 - Although slower frames per second it seems to look like the low light performance will out-do the older D3 and of course the fact that I have group focus and fast focus in less than moonlight is a huge advantage.
I am also hoping to produce some more video as the capabilities for DSLR videographers with this camera are very impressive with up to 60fps at 1080p and the option to shoot high resolution video in low light in both FX and DX format. The auto-ISO feature also allows for super-smooth transition from dark to light environments. Plus the dedicated timelapse feature is a lot of fun and produces extremely sharp video in-camera. More to come soon I am sure but for now here are a few more example images. 26/9/2014 2 Comments Isle of Skye - The Landscapes 2014Click images to enlarge.
Click any image to enlarge. Back in the summer of 2013 I met gull expert, Peter Rock and was lucky enough to accompany him as he ringed some of the fledging chicks on the roofs of Bristol (See my blog here!). It was a fascinating insight into the hidden lives of an underrated bird that is widely misunderstood and considered as a pest. I therefore jumped at the opportunity to repeat the same experience again this year.
Peter has gained a lot of media coverage for his work with urban gulls, including an appearance on Springwatch and countless articles in newspapers. This occasion was no different as we were joined by cameramen filming for a possible pilot about gulls in urban areas. Personally I hope more can be done to tell the story of such an overlooked species. It had only been a year since I had last met Peter above the streets of Bristol and yet it felt instantly different. The same apparent mass of gull activity peppered the skies but down on the nesting grounds, things seemed scarce. I knew from previous experience that the council have been replacing eggs with fakes in the hope of cutting down a thriving population. However, it was shocking to find on one roof, that every lesser black-backed gull nest of which there were two of three, had been attacked with the egg replacement scheme (These birds are amber status). Each nest had around 3 or 4 fake eggs. That's 3 or 4 chicks from each nest that won't break free to see the light of day. The council will replace several thousand eggs a year in Bristol as well as putting forward other pointless, hap-hazard schemes such as netting and ledge spikes. Luckily the Herring Gull population escape the slaughter as they are still a protected red status species. It has become all too apparent in recent years that the government and some organisations in positions of power are too quick to ignore the science and too eager to find an easy route out - usually at the cost of the lives of our wildlife and the resulting breaking down of our ecosystem. I hope it will soon be time to change and I am personally very thankful that there are people like Peter, who are doing the research in aid of the conservation of our wildlife.
28/7/2014 2 Comments Pembrokeshire RoadtripClick any image to enlarge. So this story begins, as you would not expect, at the end. The end to which I am referring is that of my degree and my education in general, as in early July I graduated alongside my peers with a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Photography. It has been a long and tiring journey, but one that has taught me valuable life experience and not only helped me develop a style, but also guided me in the direction of the career I am now working towards. To celebrate this achievement, my fellow photographic graduate, Daniel McNeil and I decided to take a 'Wildlife Roadtrip' to the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast. One of the great things that is instantly noticeable with this part of the Welsh coast is the richness of wildlife. Song birds are in great abundance, making this not only a beautiful landscape to see, but also to hear. The smell of the sea, the feel of the sea breeze, the sight of the green rolling hills and stronghold cliffs and the sound of the birds. Every sense comes to life in such a natural part of the country. One of my favourite passerine birds is possibly an unusual choice as some may consider it a pest, a scavenger and in general, quite plain. But I can't help getting excited in photographing the handsome jackdaw every time I get the chance. I look for character when photographing wildlife and the jackdaw just seems to be full of it. It is one of the smartest birds I've seen and combined with its smart jet-black body, greyish head and piercing blue eyes - it makes the perfect subject matter and is a wonder to watch. It was an incredible way for myself and Dan to finish off three long years of Uni and we were lucky enough to not only see some amazing wildlife, but also to meet great new friends. We had the fantastic chance to meet up with one of our university lecturers, who over the years has become not only a mentor but a good friend too. It was a great chance to catch up, but also to learn some inside knowledge about great birding spots that he had found along the Pembrokeshire coast! The very next day we followed his directions towards St David's in search of our first sighting of fulmars. The location, which is situated on the cliffs below St Non's Chapel in St David's, is an incredible place to see fulmars; not only nesting on the cliffs below you, but also flying in close proximity. Of course the main reason we visited Pembrokeshire - and I suspect from the tourist memorabilia that the main reason a large percentage of people visit Pembrokeshire - was to visit the fantastic Skomer Island and the charismatic puffins! The weather had held up a lot better than suspected - too well in fact. Wildlife photographers are a strange lot when it comes to weather, as overcast skies are preferable and clear skies and strong sun are the bane of our lives. Especially when photographing a black and white bird, strong sunshine is not ideal photographically speaking. The excitement was still high between us and after nearly missing the boat we were off across the sea to the island. We knew straight away when we reached the island that something was different from when we visited last year. We were a week or so earlier this year, so we knew there was a strong possibility we'd miss the favoured 'sand eels in the beak' shot - but we hadn't prepared for what we found. The island, still as beautiful as ever, was overrun by what seemed like an increased gull population with the odd song bird singing it's little heart out. But when we reached the Wick - the best place for spotting puffins - we couldn't help being disappointed. Last year the Wick held thousands of these colourful birds running around and flying in with food for their chicks. This year however, we discovered that the puffins were two weeks later than usual and were either still sitting on the nest or out at sea. This meant the grand total of puffins we saw on the ground was just three. This aside, it was an amazing day to wander the island and eventually we found a great spot to get close to razorbill and guillemot on the cliffs and even get close to puffins in the water.
This is going to be a very quick update as I am currently packing up the car in preparation for a photographic roadtrip to Pembrokeshire and the beautiful Skomer Island (Images and blog to follow!!)
I just wanted to share some recent photographs from one of my ever more frequent excursions to WWT Slimbridge. Spring has certainly sprung and I was instantly greeted by an abundant amount of growth, colour and a flurry of new life. Among all the incredibly cute and fluffy new-born chicks that I saw taking over the centre, I had the immense treat of seeing one of the first Common Crane chicks to have been born on the reserve in over 400 years. Unfortunately, wildlife is indeed wild and both chicks have now dissapeared. One chick was filmed being taken from the nest by a fox - the other is still unknown about but has quite likely met the same fate (Wildlife Weekly Episode 24). Staff are confident however, that the Crane parents will go on to raise more young successfully in the years to come. I was also treated to close encounters with Oystercatchers and their young, Coot Chicks, Moorhen Chicks and Greylag Goslings. I hope you like the images and I will be back soon with, no doubt, thousands of Puffin photographs to share soon! Click images to enlarge. So it has been a long and difficult 3 years but finally my University career is nearing it's end. I have unfortunately been so busy that I have not been able to keep this blog up to date as of late. This however, is about to change (hopefully!). Over the summer I intend to revitalise my portfolio, visit places I've always wanted to visit and put in place all that I have learnt over the last 3 years. I will do my best to keep this blog updated at least monthly with new images and records of my adventures. In June my photography partner in crime, Daniel McNeil Photography and myself will be driving up to Pembrokeshire and visiting the incredible Skomer Island and all the Puffins that summer there. I will also be going on my yearly family holiday to the Isle of Skye in August. Breaking News: there is the intention of creating book releases from both these trips that will hopefully be made public! In the mean time I have put together some images I took when recently taking a day off to relax in my favourite spot in the Gloucestershire countryside: Slimbridge Wetlands Centre. Click any image to enlarge. I was extremely lucky to not only get to work with two fantastic Little Egrets, but I was pleasantly surprised to see my first Spoonbill too. I could have sat there for hours working with such an amazing species of bird and I am still keen to go back in the hope of trying to achieve some in-flight shots too. There are of course the more common birds around the centre too, that are always fun to try and photograph in new and interesting ways. I love the shapes birds and especially swans make when washing themselves and with the luck of a bright sunny day, I wanted to try and capture that by freezing the action. If seeing my first Spoonbill wasn't excitement enough for one day, I was also treated the ultimate pleasure of seeing a bird of prey in close proximity. As I walked past the Rushy Hide entrance, a small group had gathered, blocking the pathway - I must admit I joined in the blockage once I realised it was because everyone was photographing a Sparrowhawk that had decided to have its lunch merely metres away from the path. It was amazing to see such a bird so close and I was excited to photograph it, however I didn't stay too long as I did not want to disturb the bird from it's lunch! |