OK, these are black and white photos. But they are black, white and shades of grey.
Black and White (Coot)
White, Black, Grey (Pied Wagtail)
Grey (Collared Dove)
Black (Jackdaw)
And a touch of brown 😉
Rat on Rock
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
An old favourite from Falmer Pond was back. The grey heron was enjoying some late autumn sunshine this morning, perching proudly on one of the No Fishing signs at Falmer Pond.
That was from a distance, but for this next one I approached through the trees. It was impossible to gain an entirely clear line to the heron, but with a little effort I managed a couple more shots. The first is the perch from another view.
And then a final image as it crossed from the sign to the central island.
It had gone by lunchtime, or perhaps was sheltering out of sight. On the other hand, the rats were out and about.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
It’s been very quiet this week. We’ve enjoyed (?) plenty of rain and mist, grey skies and a semi-permanent twilight. Not great for taking photos.
The main challenge of poor (i.e. low) light is the compromise between getting a fast shutter speed (needed to freeze the action) and keeping digital noise down. Getting a decent shutter speed means moving to a high ISO rating, but anything above 1600 (or even ISO 800) causes a lot of digital noise. Some of this can be removed with software, but the quality of the image suffers. If you go for a low ISO, the shutter slows to a crawl and the image blurs. This first shot of a rat was taken at ISO 3200 with a shutter speed of barely 1/25s. Actually surprisingly ok (and hand-held) but not something I want to try every day.
Later in the day the rats were at play and the light had improved. This one is at a tolerable ISO 1600 and 1/500s shutter.
Rat on rock
Usable images, but a real struggle. That may all change very soon. I’m awaiting delivery of a Canon 7D Mark II, a long awaited and by all accounts much improved version of the 7D. High ISO performance should be a great deal better, focusing faster and more accurate (the auto-focus manual runs to 50+ pages alone, and supposedly auto-focus works in moonlight!). I should be getting mine in a week’s time (pre-ordered, so one of the first in the UK). I can’t wait to try it out, and for once I won’t be cursing the dimly lit mornings, and grey afternoons. Bring it on!
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
