Category Archives: water birds

Ducks in Motion

April 29, 2015 by Words | 2 Comments

I’ve been doing some more experiments with slow-shutter panning shots. The technique isn’t to everyone’s taste but occasionally it can produce some gems. I’m not sure these can be classed as such. The aim is to show plenty of motion, whilst keeping the subject recognisable, hopefully with only one head (two-headed birds are a common feature of this sort of photography).

Today’s selection shows a couple of mallards coming in to land on the local pond.

Mallard duck (motion blur)

Mallard duck (motion blur)

Mallard duck (motion blur)

Mallard duck (motion blur)

Mallard duck (motion blur)

Mallard duck (motion blur)

Plus a bonus badger from tonight.

badger

Camera note: all ducks taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. I used the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM for the badger.

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Some Pairs

April 28, 2015 by Words | Comments Off

This is just a quick entry tonight, with barest hint of a theme (not that I will keep to it entirely). Pairs: such as this pair of herring gulls, taken with a slow shutter to accentuate the movement. It’s a technique I’m working on and can be a bit hit and miss.

Herring gulls (motion blur)

This one is better, but just a single gull. It comes close to what I’m after: an impressionistic image of the bird (but you can still see what it is).

Herring gulls (motion blur)

Herring gulls (motion blur)

Back to the pairs. In this case, a pair of the local rats. I do like this shot, with the second rat just showing to the rear.

A pair of rats

And another twosome. This would have been better had I zoomed back just a bit more.

Rat leaping

The final one for tonight is another badger shot, from this evening. That’s a happy badger!

Badger in garden

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, except the badger which was taken with the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM lens.

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Badger Update, plus a cute little rat and a fine stock dove

April 27, 2015 by Words | 2 Comments

I’m going to try to pack in a fair bit tonight as a way of catching up with myself. I’ll start with some badger news (old news for those who follow on Facebook). There are two badgers that visit regularly, one of which is a lactating sow. She’s considerably more shy than the male, but even a shy badger can’t avoid the trail camera. Here she is a few nights ago.

I’ve been working hard with the male badger to get some better poses and positions around the garden. We’re making mutual progress in terms of confidence, which opens up some good opportunities. This is a tiny selection taken over the past few days.

Badger

One of my favourite portrait shots of the male badger.

badger and fox

Here he is further down the garden, with a fox lurking in the background.

badger

Badger… black and white… makes sense to me!

badger

Badger in the long grass

Badger

Happy with peanuts

As for the rest of this post, the first is one of several shots I’ve taken recently of a stock dove. These look very similar to the more prevalent feral pigeon, but a slighter in build and can most easily be distinguished by the dark eye. Yes, this is an arty rendition but I did get some sharp shots too. I just like this sort of thing.

Stock dove

Stock dove (motion blur)

Finally a couple of my favourite little rats down at Falmer Pond today. They were out in force (five were running around at one point), but they do look cute when standing on hind legs.

rat

Brown rat peering over the undergrowth

rat

Brown rat on hind legs at Falmer Pond

Camera note: all badger photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS lens. Everything else is with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens.

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