Category Archives: Wildlife

Samples of wildlife photography

Auto-focusing on Goldfinches

November 12, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

These are a long way from being the best photos of goldfinches you’re likely to see, but they are a great illustration of the very sophisticated auto-focus settings on the 7D Mark II. The flock came in quickly, passed overhead and disappeared. Maybe 7 or 8 birds in total. It’s absolutely the kind of shot that I would have missed with the old camera.

I had the camera AF mode set on the ‘Case 6’ setting which is ‘for subjects that change speed and move erratically’. The AF area covered all 65 points, and the setting means that the camera will track movement and automatically select the correct focusing point from among the 65 available. Both these shots are heavily cropped.

Goldfinches in flight

Goldfinches in flight

I managed around a dozen shots in a burst, all with birds in focus. This bodes extremely well for the annual summer challenge of photographing swallows and swifts, and possibly even dragonfly.

Photographing ducks lazing on the water is altogether easier. It was nice light though, so I couldn’t resist this lady.

female mallard duck

The last shot this evening is a fox. Finally. Just one frame, taken this evening in drizzle.

fox

Camera note: bird photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. Fox photographed with the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM lens.

Also posted in Birds, Foxes, water birds Tagged , , |

Cat and Blackbird in the Garden, Peregrine on the Cliffs

November 10, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

A long descriptive title, but there’s little in the way of a theme to today’s post. Just a collection of photos, starting with a blackbird in the garden.

Female blackbird

Female blackbird

Female blackbird

Female blackbird

Overhead, a buzzard put in an appearance, to the annoyance of the local gulls.

Buzzard

This is a neighbour’s cat (which uses our garden a lot), jumping up on the fringe of the pond. For some reason it likes that spot 😉 The first three are consecutive frames, which are a nice demonstration of the benefits of the 10fps capability of the 7D Mark II.

Cat jumping up on to wall

Cat jumping up on to wall

Cat jumping up on to wall

Cat (close-up)

Cat stepping over pond

Later in the day we headed down to Rottingdean, taking advantage of a mild and sunny afternoon.

Rottingdean Undercliff walk

The Undercliff Walk at Rottingdean

The first rise of cliffs in the distance is Saltdean, and beyond that are Telscombe Cliffs. We didn’t go as far as Telscombe, but I did take a couple of long range shots of one of its residents. This is uncropped, taken at 400mm.

Peregrine falcon

Peregrine falcon perched high on Telscombe Cliffs

And now a couple of crops (with the 1.4 extender added). It’s still a very long way off.

Peregrine falcon

Peregrine falcon

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The final two shots had the Canon EF 1.4xIII extender added.

Also posted in Bird of Prey, Birds, cat, coastal, Landscape, Seaside Views Tagged , , , , |

Oystercatchers and other birds

November 7, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

The oystercatchers are the pick of today’s birds, but I’ll get to them in a moment. I’ll start with some early morning photos of the local heron, something of a fixture at Falmer Pond.

Once again we had sunshine in the morning.

Heron

Heron posing in the sunshine

Heron flying low over Falmer Pond

Heron flying low over Falmer Pond

Heron flying low over Falmer Pond

At this time of day, getting the best of the light depends greatly on where the subject is on the pond. The heron flew into shade, but at the far end the ducks were resplendent.

Female Mallard

Female Mallard

Male Mallard

Male Mallard

The best of the light had gone by lunchtime, but I had a few minutes to spare down at Rottingdean. I headed for the beach, where a smal lgroup of oystercatchers were gathered.

Oystercatchers

Oystercatchers on the beach at Rottingdean

Oystercatcher

Some were feeding…

Oystercatcher

Some were dozing…

Oystercatcher

This pair of oystercatchers were going for a stroll…

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher on the Wing

One final treat, a passing cormorant.

Cormorant in flight

Cormorant in flight

All the shots today were taken with the 100-400 lens with a 1.4 extender attached. It’s a nice combination and performs well, though you are restricted to the centre focusing point with this combination. It does however turn the lens into a 560mm monster, which once you take into account the 1.6 crop factor on the 7D Mark II’s sensor equates to a more than respectable 896mm. You really can get in pretty close with that.

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens + Canon EF 1.4xIII extender.

Also posted in water birds Tagged , , , , |