Sir David Attenborough

Last Sunday, I was lucky enough to meet my personal hero Sir David Attenborough. First I bought a ticket to the Dorset Wildlife Trusts 50th anniversary Fundraising Concert, which Sir David was talking at. I was then able to inquire into weather there was a possibility of me meeting him and Dorset Wildlife Trust team were so helpful and did some enquires. I was able to go to the reception of the after concert dinner where I was able meet him. 

He had already been told he might be meeting me, and so he started the conversation with:

'I believe you are studying wildlife photography at Falmouth University?'

I was a bit star stuck it has to be said!!!!

http://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/

© Stewart Canham 

Another Otter

This image was taken on sunday in Dorset. Once I had found myself a low level platform I was able to wait and shoot when the otters returned to the surface. I had to learn how to track them underwater by using their bubble trails and pre focus before they came up. Quite hard to master but I was just about getting there when the sun set, so soon I will have some more shots for you. 

200mm f2.8

Otter

Here is a shot of an Otter that I took yesterday. I am going to be studying them over christmas and I hope that I will be able to get some interesting results. 

I am changing my third year final project slightly, to study the human conservation work that has helped to monitor and protect some of britain special wildlife. I hope to look at why there has been such a rapid increase in the numbers of Otters in recent years and how humans have played a part in this.

I will also be looking at some of the other species that have benefitted from healthier rivers in recent years.   

Continuing with Grey seals, I hope to follow one pups journey through rehabilitation and try to show just how important this work is to the survival of the species both locally and internationally. 

Please let me know if you have any suggestions and please let me know what you think

Something Different

This is a shot that I took a view weeks ago, I was just trying to put grey seals within there environment. 

Im not sure about it 100% but it can go in my project as experimentation and its something to work on. I suppose that the aim to to achieve good landscape results with grey seals in the shot as well.  

70mm 4sec f 22

Dipper

Another try at the dipper this morning, Getting better but still not happy as they only seem to come out before sunrise and as soon as the light gets nice they leave and dont show until the sun has set again. 

Hopefully I will get something better next time I go. 

1/160 sec f2.8  iso2000 @300mm

Grey Seals from London?

So yesterday I was on the North Coast of Cornwall photographing anything going really. I ended up seeing a lot of stuff that I dont normally see, including dolphins off shore!

Once the dolphins had passed I started photographing a pair of seals playing just off the rocks in the shallow water. After a few minuets I realised that the seals had taggs on there flippers and I spent a few minuets trying to capture an image of these taggs to send to the Cornwall Seal Group for Identification.

The first tag said: "informLondon Zoo"

The second said : "80005"

I reported this data to the Seal group and I found out that, the seal with 80005 is a male called Triffid and he was last seen on 05/09/11.

This is the information I sent to the seal group with the images of the tags, 

Snow Bunting

Arriving in to the Uk in late September and staying until February, the snow bunting can be found in Scotland and down the Eastern coast.  That was why I was slightly shocked to find one on the North Coast of Cornwall this afternoon. Mainly record shots as I didn't really have time to perfect my images. 

Kestrel

Here is an image of a male Kestrel on the north coast of Cornwall. I again tried to capture the animal with in its environment by stepping back and using the zoom slightly. I like the effect but possibly it could have benefitted from the kestrel not being so camouflaged. I purposefully put my self behind some thrift so that it blurred and helps soften the foreground. It helps to focus on the main subject. 

Dipper

I have started up the dipper shoot again today and am hoping to get some good stuff over the next few weeks. They are small and very elusive, and can test ones patience very well. However I am pleased with this morning I just hope tomorrow brings better results.  

400mm f5.6 

Seal at Sunset

This is another image where I have tried to capture a Grey Seal within its environment. This young seal was playing just off the beach and so I was able to use a 70-200mm at 70mm to capture this image. 

Evening Environment

Here is another image, trying to capture a grey seal with in its environment. This was slightly more of a challenge as it was windy and I needed a 3 second shutter speed to capture the movements of the water and the more active seals. Hopefully you think it worked however I will be trying this again soon. 

Seals with in the Environment

Recently I have been trying to figure out a way that I can photograph seals effectively while still showing enough of it environment with in the image. Its really tough! I was told to try and capture an image that looks nice on its own but made better by the fact it has a grey seal within it. I have not quite got there yet but Im working on it.  

1/400 sec f 2.8 @300mm

Coot

Here is an image taken at a very low angle, which is something I have been working on recently. This however was almost underwater. I like this effect as it looks nice with the reflections off the bird. 

1/250 sec f2.8 @ 300mm

Grey Seal

This image was captured the first time I went to my new seal location. Whilst hiding behind some large rocks I was able to get the side of the lens out and in line with this young female Grey seal named Quiche. She was born on this beach about 6-7 weeks ago and since has never really left the area. I have seen here there every time I have been bar once. 

She spends most of her time playing on her back in the water and not very much time feeding. 

300mm f2.8

Seal Pup

I am very sorry for the lack of posting recently, Im not really sure why but I have had an over load of processing to do because of so much shooting recently. I have finally got round to doing it and this is a shot which I found from the 9th of October. Taken at a secret location on the North Coast. This young seal pup called Quiche is here seen hauled up playing in the sand. 

There is a number of seals in the area but only this young female hauls on the beach. I am hoping that once she moves off then another adult female will move on to give birth. Although I am mainly doing moving image this year, I cant help taking a view stills. 

This format is not something I would not normally do however with this image I feel that it works well. 

Please let me know what you think of this image. 

1/1000 sec f3.2 @ 300mm

I am going back to uploading on image a day from now on so check back for updates. 

Glossy Ibis

Sorry I have not been posting in a while, I have been busy working on my third year project and have been busy. This image was taken last week at Stithians. This bird has been in Cornwall for a while and looks like it might stay for a few more weeks. It is always interesting to see rare and uncommon visitors in the area. 

Hidden World

This image was taken in Marsa Alam in Egypt. I like the subtle colours of this photograph and I think I am going to work on this more over the next couple of months. 

Road Kill

Today is a bit more morbid. A dead Red Fox found lying on the side of the road. It was in very good condition and looked like it had hardly been hit. Very sad to see and very strange to be able to get close to a fox after so many attempts to get shots in the wild. 

First Ever Seal Pup

Yesterday I saw my first ever grey seal pup in the wild. An awesome sight, it was feeding with its mother. within the next few months the seal pupping season begins and more will begin to be sighted. 

Dipper In Progress

Recently I have been up and out every morning trying to photograph dipper. It has been a painful process of trial and error but at last I think I have come to the conclusion that it is not ging to be possible to get a shot! It is far too dark and the image of the bird below was taken at 2.5 seconds exposure at 1600 iso. hopefully I can get something better soon but its testing my patience. 

My hide Set up. Once I have a reliable technique I will lower my camera to the ground to get an ultra low angle. Hopefully with some nice light, and some luck I will get something worth while. 

Dipper

I have been photographing dipper over the last few days and have basically just been trying to solve problems each day. Firstly is the issue of the light. I am trying to find the best time of day to go for the best lighting and also tie this in with times when the birds are active.  Also is disturbance from people around you. Today a woman stood 3 meters away from my hide and through stones in the the river for 10 minuets before she eventually got bored and kept walking. I will keep trying and hopefully keep improving. 

Bubble Ring

This image was taken at Porthkerris on the South Coast of Cornwall. I freedived down to around 10 meters and blew a bubble ring which rose towards the surface. I had already asked my instructor (Saltfreedivers, Freedive Cornwall)  to lie on the surface face down and I framed her within the ring and got this shot.  Let me know what you think.

Kestrel 2

Here is another kestrel image from my shoot last week. I am happy with this image as the light was amazing. However I would like to get slightly more of the body in the shot.

Kestrel

After following this male Kestrel for a while I positioned my self close to where he perches to rest. He went off hunting and soon was back to sit and rest. I am happy with the result. I was on the edge of a very steep cliff lying flat on my front so that I was a very low profile. 

Star Trails

I found this image yesterday and re-edited it. It was taken a few months ago and I had lost it in my catalogue. It was my first attempt at star trails and I feel that it has worked ok but I could have done with more individual exposures. Let me know what you think.

Hunting kestrel

Here is a shot taken a few days ago on the North Coast. This Kestrel was hunting and I was able to position myself next to a potential hunting ground. I was lucky and soon a slow worm was its next victim. 

www.samstewartphoto.org

North Coast - Double Rainbow

Today is a shot taken on the north coast of Cornwall. It was a sunny day and suddenly it started to rain! which left this outstanding rainbow that went more than 180 degrees! At one point it was almost 360! Awesome to see, however the colours were not very strong and therefore hard to photograph effectively. 

Tomorrow I will upload an image of a kestrel with prey taken yesterday. 

Kestrel

Below is an image that I took today at one of my Kestrel Sites. I decided to go after I had dropped my girlfriend back to Newquay Airport and it was a real success. It was a very windy day and resulted in either the male hovering directly over head or landing on the cliffs close to my position. I have got some images of the bird hunting and catching some very interesting meals which i will post over the next few days. 

Chough

Today is an image of a Chough photographed on the south coast of Cornwall. This is believed to be one of the chicks from the lizard nest that was born earlier this year. They have traveled far and will start looking for a mating partner and building a nest for a brood of chicks in the spring on 2012. 

Breaking wave

Todays image is one of a breaking wave! taking with a waterproof camera, soon after I was drenched and battered! I want to start taking more images of waves from within the water and hopefully get some interesting shots with the sunset/sunrise. I am currently planning my third year final project and have some ideas for interesting cameras and angles and hopefully will report back with some short samples and sequences soon.

Grey Seal

Today is an image of a female grey seal taken a view days ago. I have muted the colours slightly as  feel that it works well with the image. I have aslo added a link to a video that I have created from my dive the other day. Please watch it and let me know what you think. I will hopefully get a chance to go back soon so I can continue to record numbers and individuals present. 

http://vimeo.com/28560305 - Dive with grey seals! 

Underwater with Seals

Today I had some success with wide angle UW seal photography! was really cool to observe these seals underwater and nice to see some of the individuals that I have seen before. 

I have muted the colours in the image below as I feel that it works better with the particular image. 

Kingfisher Sequence

Here is a short re edited sequence of kingfisher footage. Please let me know what you think.

http://vimeo.com/28520346


The image below is taken on the north coast of Cornwall. I have photographed this young seal before and I was able to sit and observe him? for quite a while.

Grey Seal

This shot was taken at sunset on the North coast of Cornwall. The colour of the water was amazing here and I am going to try this again and see if I can get a sharper shot.

Chough

Here is another image of one of the Choughs that I photographed about a week ago, They have ben seen in the same area again so while I am there watching seals I might keep an eye out for these guys too! 

Adder

Below is another image of an Adder photographed in Cornwall! This adder was found on the south coast of Cornwall in a location which seems to have the perfect environment for these reptiles! I have been three times and both times have seen these creatures! 

Seals

Below are a couple of shots taken of seals in Cornwall. The top image was taken in Falmouth Harbour and the image at the bottom was taken at Godrevy. Hopefully ou like the images and I will upload something different tomorrow!

Grey Seal

The image below was taken in Cornwall about two days ago. This was a male bull seal which was very inquisitive and came very close to see what I was doing! The way his image was captured emphasises the personality of the seal!

North Coast Landscape

Todays image is one of a Cornish Landscape! This image was taken at Godrevy on the North Coast of Cornwall! I like the subtle colours and the muted effect that this causes! 

Adder

Below is an image of an Adder in Cornwall! Once we had found this it meant that I had seen 5 out of the 6 british reptile species in one week! Not too bad, once I have seen a sand lizard then I am complete! Dorset is one of the only places to see them in the UK. Apart from small populations around the place. 

Hunting Kestrel

Today, is an image of a Kestrel hunting. I used the hedge in the foreground to make this effect as I feel that without it the shot would be very plain. Hopefully you like the image, 

Cornish Cormorant

Here is an image of a Cormorant taken in Cornwall a few days ago, I really like the effect achieved when shooting through reeds. 

Choughs! Sparrow Hawk! No Seals?

Today I decided to go back to one of my trusted seal sites to see which of my 6 studied Seals were still around after 3 months of being out of Cornwall. As I walked down towards the area,  a sparrow Hawk flew out of the hedge in front of my with a Black Bird in its talons. I was unable to get a shot but stalked it for a while and eventually got a snap of it. Nothing outstanding but I got a shot at least!

After this I went and got in to position for an afternoon of waiting for the seals. However I soon heard the call of the Choughs. They came round the headland and landed right next to me behind a small hedge. I crawled round and did my best to get shots in the 2-3 minuets they were feeding. They spent a short time feeding before talking to the skys and flying west, down the coast. 

I also saw my first adder, which as nice!