After the unexpected success last night with the wood mouse, I decided to have a proper go at photographing it on the ground. I set up the camera on the tripod, adjusted the flash and focus, retreated several yards and lined up the remote trigger. And waited. And waited….
After about an hour I had about 30 test shots all looking just like this one.
After which I gave up. I checked the site an hour or so later, and it was still untouched. I eventually turned my attention to the pond instead.
Before coming inside to work out who I could tag (Eric tagged me). Here are the rules,
– Make a post with six random unimportant facts about yourself.
– Post the rules on your post.
– Tag 6 people to do the same thing, by commenting on their page with a link to your post.
My six random unimportant facts
I once fainted at the vet
I've never seen a Leonardo DiCaprio film
I've seen The Beatles live
I just stopped writing this to photograph a spider in the corner of the room
I took over 40,000 photos last year
I once owned a hamster
Picking six untagged victims (apologies to all!) was rather more difficult!
Karen
Elke
Andy
Louis
Derek
Mickeyjoe
Oh, and here's the spider!
Camera note: All photos taken with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens. I added a 31mm extension tube for the spider.
volkuro
30 Jan 200840 000 photos!!!!!!!!! :faint:
I only took 13 000! 😮 😀
chthoniid
30 Jan 2008Oh dear, it's always frustrating when a planned shot gives you nothing in return.
40,000 photos is rather good going. You realise your camera shuuter is probably only good for 100,000-150,000 shots? 😉 I'm starting to feel very disciplined in comparison.
gdare
30 Jan 2008Mine 2000+ comparing to yours 40000 looks like I was doing nothing :eyes:
No wonder you are good photographer :yes:
Nice on ot that spider, too 🙂
ALLY_G
30 Jan 20081. Maybe the food has not the right taste for the mouse? 😀
2. It seems, you are photo addicted. 😆
3. Thanks for the tag. 🙂
4. A spider in the morning makes me :yuck:
Nice post! 🙂
SittingFox
30 Jan 2008I didn't count my photos but I don't think it was anything near to 40,000! Wow!
Nice newt and spider shots! 🙂
CedarFox
30 Jan 2008Wow, 40,000 photos! I've only taken about 1,000 this year 😉
and good shots of the spider and newt too 🙂
Words
30 Jan 2008Darko, with that many the odd shot has to be ok 😉
Words
30 Jan 2008Elke, oh I'm probably addicted, but it gets me outside and away from the computer. A healthy addiction! Sorry about the spider :yikes:
Words
30 Jan 2008Eric, I do get carried away. With flight shots or macros I take a lot. I'm getting better at not taking too many shots that I know won't be any good (like really distant sparrowhawks… now I exercise restraint until they're in decent range).
Words
30 Jan 2008Adele, it works out at 109 shots a day, which with bursts is really not a lot. I took about 80 of a chaffinch today and will edit no more than 12. That was about 4 minutes actually using the camera. The spider was from a series of about 10 shots. So it mounts up!
Words
30 Jan 2008Louis, but you take a lot of landscapes which makes a difference I guess. I take a lot of bursts to get one shot, especially of the birds.
Words
30 Jan 2008Brendon, well I reckon 2 and half years for the body is ok-ish, and the 100,000 is a minimum expectation. It can last a lot longer. It's an easy number to get up to though, and in fact I thought I was getting better but a quick check suggests not. I just keep less of them!
chthoniid
30 Jan 2008Originally posted by Words:
I think I took about 12,000 shots (it's hard to factor in the photos I delete in the camera). I don't do a lot of burst mode shots however. If I have a co-operative insect or spider, I'll take 20-40 shots of that.
I hope I can afford to upgrade cameras in 2009, so even at the current rate of use, the alpha should last a while 🙂
Dudley
30 Jan 2008Tagged! Oh, I do not do well with this sort of stuff.
Words
30 Jan 2008I've been known to duck on occasions as well, so consider yourself officially 'untagged' 🙂
Words
30 Jan 200820-40 sounds about right with a co-operative subject. I tend to know the count by the way I upload them. I use a 4 digit index number on them and reset at around 9999 (+/- a few shots). I'm on to the fifth cycle now.
chthoniid
31 Jan 2008I think part of my problem is I'm usually hunting forest birds. A burst is no good, as the AF will focus on twigs, leaves, ferns etc before locking on a flying bird. I tried it with crazed tuis last year and never got a lock. So it's more a wait, frame and shoot game, often on manual focus.
Words
31 Jan 2008True enough, being in a forest would slow me down as well. That might be the answer.
pjbatty
1 Feb 2008That is a lot of photos to look through! I think I took about 6000 last year and maybe 25-30% are worth keeping.
Still, it was clearly worth the effort as your photos are really nice. The texture of newt's skin is marvellous. I've never seen any newts where I live, just frogs and toads.
Words
1 Feb 2008Thanks PJ. I'm sure you must have newts somewhere around where you are, but they are pretty much nocturnal and hide during the day. A garden pond makes it easier to spot them.