Red Kites – Watlington Hill

20 July 2009 // Comments Off

On Sunday I had a go at photographing the beautiful Red Kites of the The Chilterns. The weather wasn’t kind with rain and drizzle but worst was the bland, white sky:

Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

Location: Multimap

Posted in Locations, Photography, Wildlife

Skomer Island

12 July 2009 // Comments Off

A group of sixteen of us from the Talk Photography forum spent the weekend on Skomer Island off the Pembrokeshire coast. It’s a truly incredible place and photographing the Puffins was a real pleasure. All these photographs were taken at The Wick:

Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

Location: Multimap

Posted in Locations, Photography, Wildlife

Garden Birds

5 July 2009 // Comments Off

Photographing garden birds is probably what sparked my interest in wildlife photography. I’ve spent a fortune on feeders and bird food and brought hundreds of birds into the garden.

Birds attracted by the different foods:
- Niger seed: Goldfinch, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Greenfinch, Chaffinch
- Mixed seed: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Blackbird
- Black Sunflower seeds: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch
- Peanuts: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great-spotted Woodpecker
- Mealworm: Robin, Blackbird
- Fat block: Robin, Great-spotted Woodpecker

I’ve attached interesting, lichen covered old branches to the top of one of the feeders to act as a perch and placed the feeder so the background is the opposite side of the valley. I shoot with the 400mm lens through a gap I’ve created in the hedge:

This is the result:

Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

Posted in Photography, Technique, Wildlife

Brownsea Island

21 September 2008 // Comments Off

Yesterday a group of us from the Amateur Photographer forum met on Brownsea Island for a day photographing whatever wildlife we encountered. The weather was amazing, early fog and mist cleared to a beautiful sunny autumn day. Food was plentiful for the Red Squirrels so they were well fed and showed no interest in the hazelnuts we had brought. Instead I took the opportunity to photograph dragonflies for the first time.

Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

Canon EOS 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Location: Multimap

Posted in Locations, Photography, Wildlife

Day Trip to Brownsea

14 April 2008 // Comments Off

This was my first time on Brownsea Island and what an amazing experience. The Red Squirrels were wonderful and one in particular just kept coming back right in front of my lens:

Canon EOS 40D, EF 200mm f/2.8L II with EF 2x Extender II

Posted in Photography, Wildlife