morning light.

1/500s f/6.3 ISO400 400mm

I have been going through my old files and found a few which I missed. These two were taken in the summer on a very early morning at Climping, the first one was taken at 5:26am. I am glad the sun rises a little later in the winter!

1/500s f/6.3 ISO400 400mm

light.

1/640s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

1/800s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

Finally got some good weather this morning with some nice light, no really close passes but they are getting closer. I found a new place which allows me to be hidden whilst they soar the thermals, it still takes a lot of patience before they make a pass.

I will be hopefully purchasing a hide soon, so I have plans to get some frame fillers of Kites in flight and on the ground but this may take some time. I am also looking to set up a hide in a woods to photograph song birds as I seem to ignore them.

1/800s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

blur.

Been to busy but I managed to get out to Climping this afternoon, was a bit of a waste of time as it was cold windy and lacking birds. There where a few Sanderling but as this photo demonstrates they were constantly flying away due to dog walkers...

I have most of December free so I am hopefully going to concentrate on Red Kites as they are beginning to be my favorite birds to photograph. Owls are proving to be hard to find in Berkshire and I only need to travel a few miles to be surrounded by Kites and Buzzards.

In The Dark

My laptop decided to die 3 weeks ago, at a time when I needed is most so I am behind on images and work at the moment. I will hopefully be able to get out in the coming weeks.
This was taken at Coldwaltham whilst waiting for the local owl which seems to be hiding a lot recently, only appearing when I have gone.

GDTfoto

The winners of the GDTfoto competition have been announced, a competition that I didn't even know existed. But there is a lot of creative stuff in there so well worth a look. With the winning image being very different and good as long as you don't mind a bit of blood!

Climping, West Sussex

1/500s f/6.3 ISO400 400mm

Taking advantage of the clocks this morning I went down to the beach expecting to see lots of winter waders but there was just an Oystercatcher and some Turnstone. It may have been because I got there when the tide was going out instead of coming in but I was a bit disappointed.

After a lot of waiting I was able to get close to the only bird worthy of photographing and after numerous attempts due to dog walkers I finally got some images I was happy with.

1/400s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

As I am sure you are aware, the 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year was announced this morning and of course there are some amazing images that are well worth a view.

With the announcement of the new 1D mkIV and Nikon D3s there are arguments and reviews trying to decide which one is better. If I had the money I would be moving to Nikon as they seem to have the edge over Canon especially regarding price.

But I think Vincent Munier's latest images may have swayed me a little bit...

Red Kites

1/400s f/5.6 ISO640 400mm

1/400s f/5.6 ISO640 400mm

Today started very badly, the weather was rubbish and I got a bit lost so ended up walking around the wrong reserve. The first two images were taken when the light was very harsh and I couldn't get the bird and sky exposed correctly despite being very close.

So I have applied some black and white treatment along with boosting the contrast to try and get something different, I quite like the result.

1/800s f/6.3 ISO250 400mm

1/800s f/6.3 ISO250 400mm

After finally finding Aston Rowant I positioned myself in a bush and waited, I was entertained by quite a few kites and the local Kestrel but few wanted to come close. I got lucky with one which was almost eye level and gave some great views, just need a decent background now and some light...

Autumn

I have been very busy this week, and rather desperate to take some pictures but this weekend is looking promising. Especially with trees looking very autumny, if that is a word...

A new photographer for you to drool over, Mark Walle he is not English but has some great work so well worth a look.

Inspired by this I II, I am inspired to find some urban foxes in Newbury something that may take some time and effort but the pictures Laurent Geslin has taken really are amazing. Night photography is something I want to experiment with so mixing it with some wildlife could be interesting...

More Mist!

1/320s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

Managed an early start this morning, so I went to Woolhampton Gravel Pit, it seems that every time I go there the light is perfect and there is always a lot of mist. Not that I am complaining as it gives some great photo opportunities especially with the rather dismal weather we have been having...

Greenham Common

1/800s f/5.6 ISO200 400mm

1/1000s f/5.6 ISO200 400mm

I cycle to work through it everyday but this evening I decided to see if I can photograph some Stonechats and maybe a Dartford Warbler the latter deciding to hide a bit to well. But there where a lot of Stonechats which I thought at first would be a good thing but it meant that if one flew away all of them flew away so I had to find some brave birds for these shots. Will be making a return trip to try and get a full frame image but I really like the light.

Woolhampton GP

1/160s f/5.6 ISO400 37mm

1/200s f/6.3 ISO400 43mm

On the way to the Chilterns I couldn't not stop off at my new favorite Gravel Pit especially as it was so misty. I found that at 400mm everything looked rubbish so I only shot with a budget 35-80mm lens. I am pleased with the results as the colours were really that vivid, might need to invest in a new lens...

Chiltern Kites!

1/640s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

Made a trip up to the Chiltern Hills this morning, well worth it as I went form never seeing a kite before to seeing 30+ I was there when the light was really good, but of course they only came closer when it was starting to get a bit harsh. I will have to make the trip back when the sun is lower (winter) as there is some scope for eye level shots but just need to put in the time.

Wagtails

1/125s f/8.0 ISO200 400mm

1/800s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

Slowly exploring the extensive footpaths and reserves around Newbury, found a field full of wagtails searching for food. There was also a buzzard doing the same thing but it of course flew off before I could get focus, the only bad thing about shooting into the sun!

Thanks for following.

Short Eared

1/800s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

One from April at Pagham Harbour where two briefly stayed during their commute, looking forward to the return as I only had one attempt this year.

Newbury

1/640s f/6.3 ISO250 400mm

I have been getting out most evenings this week, looking for good spots to photograph birds. I have found a few good landscape pictures but they are looked in my head and are waiting for some mist and morning light.

There seems to be numerous gravel pits in the area but it is hard to find one where I can get low and contains birds, tonight it came together.

Just need some mist...

Chichester Gravel Pits

1/1600s f/6.3 ISO320 400mm

1/2500s f/8.0 ISO200 400mm

1/400s f/5.6 ISO200 400mm

1/800s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

1/1000s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

The sun doesn't rise until 6:45, so at 6:50 I was at Chichester Gravel Pits I stupidly didn't check the wind and as it turned out there was to much of it for there to be any mist. The light was perfect so I did some experimenting with shooting into the sun. I quite like the effect the wind had on the water but it would of course looked better with still water.

A Kingfisher landed on a tree about 5 metres away from me but lying on the floor I couldn't get my camera around so just had to admire it.

Coldwaltham

1/800s f/6.3 ISO400 400mm

1/500s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

Back in Sussex for the weekend, I managed to get a few hours at Coldwaltham to see if the Barn Owl would make an appearance. He was there but started hunting late so had to make do with the swallows and the local Kestrel.

newnewnew

1/800s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm

I decided that now I am not really living in Sussex anymore that a new blog was in order, I was also a bit bored of the old one. Images will vary from Berkshire (Newbury), Surrey and Sussex but I will hopefully say where they were taken with the majority concerning birds.

Armed with an os map of Newbury I will be doing a lot of exploring over the next few weeks. This year I hope to try and photograph some different birds but I don't want to give to much away, should be updated every week but hopefully more often....