|
This page will act as a photographic journal. What I'm using, why I like various bits of kit, how I set up certain shots. Stuff that on the whole would act as a massive turn-off for anyone not interested in wildlife photography. Morocco for Bird Photography
January 15, 2014
•
1 Comment
I've just returned from Morocco, where a long weekend was spent purely in the pursuit of images. I wrote about the trip here, but deliberately kept it light on the details. I had no plan, and just followed smaller roads and tracks until I saw birds - if they were friendly I stuck it out, if I couldn't get close I moved on. On the whole (and when I stuck to it!) this plan, or lack of plan, paid off handsomely, and rarely was I short of subjects. It was interesting to note how birds seem to live together in small pockets, and then there is a blank area before another pocket. I guess is to do with habitat, water and food availability.
I flew to Marrakech with British Airways, hired a car from Medloc, a local company (22 EUR/day - arranged in advance from the UK), and stayed at the clean and comfortable Hotel Le Coq Hardi in Ait Ourir, where a room, dinner and breakfast set me back about 25 quid. Bargain. Driving is interesting, but if you're sensible and slow it's easier than it first looks. At no point in the trip was I further than about an hour from Marrakech by car, perhaps 60km, but it felt for the most part as if I were on a different planet. Speaking french is a big plus, but probably not essential, and I found that being polite to local people and taking time to speak to them and their children paid dividends. Once you get into the backcountry, people cease wanting to sell you stuff and just want to know what you're doing - my advice from personal experience is simply to steer clear of the tourist areas like the Ourika Valley and Oukaimeden, and instead go off the beaten track. It's a great destination, and you could easily come away with a ton of good images in just a weekend - I may attempt just that later on this year. I took the 1D Mark IV body, the 500mm lens and both converters, as well as full tripod set-up and my monopod. As I was by myself, I ended up with the tripod set up in the front seat (one leg in the footwell, one near the handbrake, the other out horiztonally into the door frame - see photo) so that I could gently roll up to roadside birds and start papping. When I left the car in search of birds I simply took the camera off the wimberley and popped in on the monopod. Most images were taken outside the car, but the "drive by" is still an effective method of getting close to some individuals, even in a bright white car! Other lenses taken but only lightly used were 16-35mm and 70-200mm zooms, with a 5D Mark III body which was also intended to serve as a backup should the worst happen with the 1D. All of this went into the Guragear Kiboko bag no problem at all, along with a whole pile of gubbins like spare batteries, cards, chargers, a rocket blower. As usual I took far too much, I was so busy taking photos of birds that the other lenses barely got a look in - lesson learned for next time!
The majority of the time I used the 1.4x converter, but some birds were so accommodating that this wasn't necessary. The 2x converter didn't come out of the bag! The light in the morning is brilliant from about 8am until 10.30am, at which point it became a bit harsh. It was at it worse probably at around 1-2pm, but it remained harsh probably until about 3pm. During this period not only was the light a bit tough, but the heat (20+ degrees even at the start of January) made accurate focusing and sharp images very difficult. If you could get very close you were OK, but I'd imagine that later in the year even this would be impossible. I tended to either rest up or do a bit of driving around in the middle of the day. With the light being so intense and constant, I worked in manual the whole time and was able to get shutter speeds all the way up to 1/6400th of a second. Generally I used this to get decent apertures of f8 and beyond, and so a typical speed was 1/1600th. When you get very close to birds, you need a lot of depth of field, I think f13 was used on a couple of occasions - a far cry from the UK! This was one of the reasons I went - the forecast at home was absolutely dire, whereas Morocco looked incredible, and I only booked it about two weeks before I travelled. Sure enough, winter gales ruined the whole weekend in the UK whereas I was wandering around in short sleeves. In addition to excellent birds and very few people to spoil your enjoyment of them, Morocco is such a sparse country that you can generally always find a situation which has the potential for very simple backgrounds of the type I love. Rocks and thorny bushes are often favourite perches, and you can blow the backdrops to pieces as there is simply nothing there, even when stopped down a lot. And the colours....wow! Every shade of red and orange or beige you could dream of. Bright blues and olive greens. Personally I love this kind of simple image, and it's a reason I'll keep going back there. On the trip I was birding as well, and so clocked up over fifty species, but took images of only about ten. I'm going to do a post per species of the best of those - Great Grey Shrike, Thekla Lark, Black Wheatear, and to start with, Moussier's Redstart. Here's a taster.
Wheatears of 2013
January 14, 2014
Well, Gulls are one thing, Wheatears are another entirely. I live for Wheatears, they're just great, great birds. I drove many kilometers recently in Morocco attempting to find Black Wheatears to photograph. Ultimately successfully, but more of that later - this is about last year as I thought I'd so something similar to the Gull post, but with a far superior family group! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them. Same rules as before, if one passed in front of the lens, on it goes. Funnily enough the list starts with Black Wheatear.... You will note that five of the nine images are from Morocco - it's THE place to go for Wheatears, or at least THE place that I've so far discovered. Heaps of scope for pleasing perches, completely blank backgrounds if that's your thing, and mostly great light in the early mornings and late afternoons. Just go! That said, my favourite image is the Izzy Wheatear from.....Wales! You can click on any of the images to make them bigger, and hovering over them gets you the exif. Fun fun fun! Black Wheatear
Taken on my first visit to Morocco, we perched behind our lenses hoping that the bird would come in. I ended up slightly badly placed, needed to be few feet left, and an inconvenient rock obscures the lower part of the photo as well as bit of background irritation. This was my first ever image of this species, so no real complaints. Next time! Maybe.... Black-eared Wheatear
Only managed a few photos of this bird, taken from a gently rolling car in southern Spain. Note the lovely perch and the nicely exposed forehead.....oh well, another one to aim for. The image was taken in early April, it was interesting to see how early the bird bleaches from the rich ochre. Later in the season they actually look black and white. Desert Wheatear
Another image from the Moroccan deserts. I needed a faster shutter speed here, as 1/1600 wasn't sufficiently motion-stopping or sharp. I actually use ISO 800 far more frequently these days than I did back in March, could have done with that here. That said, how often do I get usuable images of passerines in flight, and I like the action here. Eye level with the bird, decent background too, lots of nothing in Morocco. Isabelline Wheatear
Have I already said all there is to say about this image.? Possibly, possibly. Don't care though. I love it, I absolutely love it. Partly it's the image, for me it ticks all the boxes - on my stomach to get level with the bird also helps get a good soft background, the light is lovely and the bird has a sweet head turn. Partly though it was the blissful location, the lack of crowds, and the shirt sleeve weather in October. Mostly though, it's because it's a Wheatear. Mourning Wheatear
A big target bird for us in Morocco, we finally found a pair late in the day. I've lightened this image significantly to bring up detail. Now that I know my camera better I might have upped the ISO as well, but what's done is done. Still an effective portrait to my mind, got that classic Morocco background. Shame I couldn't stop down, but the light was bad. I deliberately underexposed in the field to squeeze out some speed, knowing I could bring it back up - always worth remembering, but only if you shoot RAW. Northern Wheatear
Although a little more space would have been nice, this bird was so close! Here, it's all about the pose, I don't see Northern Wheatear adopt it all that often, and I do spend a lot of time chasing them about! Good detail, nice light (note that the exposure is identical to the Izzy Wheatear above - same day, same light, same working in manual exposure mode), nice background, and something a little different so that's why I chose it above all my other N. Wheatear shots for this post. Pied Wheatear
Wish that I'd taken a longer lens! I had not been expecting to have a chance of photographing this particular bird, so was surprised to find that the opportuntity presented itself on a major twitch. I nearly didn't take a camera at all, then realised that I would be naked without one. This is with my 500mm with the 2x converter attached. Not bad considering, but as in so many UK birding situations, the 800mm would have been the deal-breaker here. Monopod (my tripod had a scope on it, you can see this was a birding trip!) and the central focal point by necessity as the minimum aperture is f8 with the doubler. Red-rumped Wheatear
Amazingly we only found one pair of this species in the Moroccan Desert, and in the heat of the day! Nevermind, here is the image, poor though it unfortunately is. Let's just say I had some lighting and exposure issues..... Aiming to improve on these birds on a trip sometime soon, for now here's what I have. White-crowned Black Wheatear
By the far most frequently-encountered Wheatear in Morocco, I like the pose, the simple background, and the native plant versus the usual rock. Many of the plants in Morocco are very stubby, thus you only have to be crouched in order to get to eye level with the bird.
Gulls of 2013
January 10, 2014
•
Leave a Comment
I can scarcely believe I'm writing this, I hate Gulls! But funnily enough as I was looking back through my files from last year, it turns out that I actually point the camera at them more than I thought. I guess they're large and obvious, and when all else fails, it's something to do. Rarely do I go out on a specific Gull mission, it's usually a grab shot whilst doing something else. I was inspired to do this post by Mick and Richard, who spend all weekend every weekend at Dungeness photographing Gulls. This is slightly one-dimensional, but results in some truly outstanding images (far better than those that follow), and Mick's review of his Gull year can be seen here, not sure Richard has done one. So, in that vein, here are what I think are my best Gull images from last year. None spared, if I photographed the species, there is an image here to prove it, even if it it's a bit useless! Funnily enough I had under ten Lesser Black-backed Gull images to choose from, but well over thirty of Bonaparte's Gull. It's only when you look back that you realise you have completely overlooked the common stuff that you see day in day out. You can hover over the images for the technical details, and click on them to display them at full resolution.
Audouin's Gull
Audouin's Gulls were few and far between on my family holiday in August. They departed the beach at the first signs of human life and didn't come back until dusk. Based on the east side of the island, it was impossible to get the right sun angle without taking my lens for a swim (I tried, didn't work!), but this is the best of what I got. Although there is a lot of shadow, the side lighting looks quite nice. I was very low for this one, and although the bird's legs look lost in the mist, this is actually the top of a ridge of sand I was shooting through. Black-headed Gull
Probably not the greatest photo of this species I've ever taken, but my main targets are always something else! This is a rare flight shot from me, and proves at least that I can kind of do it if I put my mind to it! Just not consistently! This was taken off Southend Pier, which I visited specifically to practice flight photography. That's dedication! Bonaparte's Gull
I actually made a specific trip to photograph this bird, four hours in car - what is the world coming to! The light was horrible, a nasty, insipid, flat and uninspiring day. The resulting images all looked very monochromatic, but you take what you can get. The bird was on a boating lake, and to get this image I lay flat on the pavement with the lens resting almost on the ground - you can't really tell where the water ends and the sky begins. I should have stopped down more to get a sharper beak, but probably even f13 would not have been enough, and at that point I would have been down to 1/250 or thereabouts. Common Gull
Another image from that same day on Southend Pier. This image required a tiny tiny bit of missing wingtip to be added - don't ask me the P number, I'm not that kind of birder! I barely have any images of Gulls in flight, I like the pose and the lighting, so I thought what the hell, I'll do it. Rather than stitch it from another frame, there was so little of it needed that I simply drew it by hand/mouse, as well as adding canvas to the right. If you hadn't been told, would you have noticed?! Glaucous Gull
This is about the only image I took of a Glauc all year - a bit annoying as I have much nicer ones from last year but rules is rules. This was taken on Shetland near the fishing factory, where there are always a few white-wingers hanging around. Getting any kind of shot was very difficult as this was late in the day, and even up at ISO 1600 I was struggling - the converter meant my maximum aperture was f5.6. Of all the shots I took, I like this one the best. I know eye contact is considered essential, but this a little different. The white wings of a white-winger. Great Black-backed Gull
I was forced against my will to go to Dungeness one day, and 100% of the birds there are Gulls. What was I supposed to do? This was another opportunity to practice flight photography. I'm still at the stage where if it's sharp I'm basically happy, so this isn't a classic pose, banking and so on, but I'll get there. The weather was really nice, good light in the afternoon, and this allowed me to dial in f9, which is always helpful in flight shots. Note how all the Ps on view (numbers 21, 23, and 28 especially!) are ragged. Herring Gull
Ah, the ubiquitous Herring Gull. Nothing special about this image, but I like the pose, and the light was fabulous, as was my positioning for the light. What do I wish I had done differently? Smaller than f4, as although this was handheld I didn't need 1/5000th of a second. Iceland Gull
I travelled to Ireland in the summer for a spot of sea-watching. The wind had other ideas and it wasn't that great, but luckily I had my camera with me. This was taken at Galway's famous Nimmo's Pier, a place I'd never been and that was completely different to what I had in my head. This was the only interesting Gull around, so I took a few images. As with the Bonaparte's Gull, I like the almost Black and White feel to the image, as well as it's cleanliness. Although the whites look bright in the late evening sunshine, the histogram has not been breached. A low angle has helped here - I was lying down on the pavement again. Ivory Gull
Never thought I'd see one of these, one of the only Gulls I've truly enjoyed this year! Photography at a major twitch is never easy, as you can't move around to change your position in case you flush the bird and are then lynched by 100 angry birders. I had to choose my spot in advance of the bird coming in, and this is what I got. Some way from ideal, but you can tell what it is. I actually guess the right spot and was closer to the bird than many people, and although the light was fine, even getting down as low as I could had no impact on the background which is naff. Kittiwake
This is a special image for me, not because it the best ever image of a Kittiwake (which clearly it isn't), but because of where I took it. Sometimes images are not all about the end result and how you got there, but the memories they recall. This bird was in Wanstead! I was walking along near Alexandra Lake when I glanced up at a Gull flying over my head. I did a double take when it appeared to have black legs. My brain screamed at me and I fumbled for the camera. At this point I was right into the light but even the dreadful frame showed what I wanted it to see. Solid wingtips and a yellow bill! Kittiwake! Nick and I think Josh who were still within earshot must have heard my screams - I was literally jumping up and down, pointing and yelling. I couldn't believe it, Kittiwake is rare enough on the river in London, let alone on my patch miles from the Thames, but yet here it was, a patch tick. The bird stuck around long enough to get some images with the sun behind me, and I was over the moon for the next few days. Lesser Black-backed Gull
I could only find a handful of images of LBB that I had taken in 2013, and not many more than that ever. It seems to be a species that I have completely overlooked. I have nothing to say about this image, the only thing that stands out is that I used a 300mm lens and a converter rather than anything longer as my 500mm was broken (or so I thought at the time!). Mediterranean Gull Lovely Gulls these, as Gulls go. I was quite pleased with the lighting and the pose on this image, given my usual success rate. The plain background helps, and I have to say I really enjoyed my time on Southend Pier. Ring-billed Gull
This bird was already frustratingly full of bread when I got to it, and never really showed much interest. That said, it was the first time I'd seen a juvenile of this species so I took what I could. Birds flying straight at you never really work, but the saving grace of this image is the head-turn and eye contact - ideally there would have been even more head turn, masking the other eye, but it wasn't to be. The bird did one pass and then flew back over estuary and landed in the same field it had been sat in when we turned up.
Photoshop
January 02, 2014
•
Leave a Comment
Do you remember this photo that I posted a while back in my "Editing Process" post? At the time I said I wasn't yet skilled enough with Photoshop to be able to sort it out. Well, it turned out that do know enough, and that I just hadn't devoted sufficient time to it. The below took me absolutely ages, and still requires a little more work on the tail, but I am pretty pleased so far. Obviously I'd have preferred to have taken the clean shot, and always strive to do so, not least because I'd rather be in the field that at my desk, but it shows what is possible these days. I use the venerable Adobe Photoshop CS2 package, which is now available for free I believe. I use a tiny tiny fraction of its functionality, but it is the most amazing program, and I do not see the need to swap to a newer version that costs many hundreds of pounds. It does everything I could possibly want, which for most images, isn't a great deal. The example below is extreme in nature, but from a free software package, wow!
Searching for the Light
January 01, 2014
•
Leave a Comment
Well, 2014 started off about as dark and dingy as you could possibly imagine. I looked outside this morning and that was that, no camera! It doesn't look great the next few days, at least not here in the UK. However....
...in Marrakech it looks rather nice! I said I'd be attempting to use the camera as much as possible this year, and this may be the solution to get me through the dark winter months - abandon the UK altogether. Morocco was probably the best place I went to last year for bird photography, and seeing as I have worked right through Christmas and New Year, I felt that a short trip away was merited. The flights are really cheap, everything when you get there is really cheap, and the weather and birds are excellent. Are you sold yet? Let's see if I can get some contenders for my "January" image under my belt early on, before work becomes rather hectic. You can actually do Morocco in a weekend, an early morning Saturday flight gets you there for about ten in the morning, and the return flight is on Sunday evening. That's only one morning and two afternoons, but there are a load of great places within striking distance of Marrakech, and by lunchtime on Saturday you could be photographing Atlas Shore Lark in the mountains. I'm actually going for a slightly longer weekend than that, but you get the picture. And I hope I do too!
|
