Grey Seals Video

Here is a short sample of some Grey Seal footage I have been filming over the past few months,

Let me know what you think,


http://vimeo.com/36856874

Purple Sandpipers

I made a new friend today, a purple sandpiper. I had not photographed one so it was a nice distraction while waiting for seals to resurface. It was fast and hard to focus on and if you add this to a slightly older worn out lens then.........

I was having real difficulty getting the 600mm from Uni to focus today, I had it on a sturdy gimbal head and still the shots were very soft. Oh well, I know where the bird might be again, so if im in the area i will check back to have a look. 

Video Slider Rail,

I have spent today, building a video slider. I have been meaning to build one for a while and a couple of days ago I went to get the materials and today I put it together. It is basically just 2 PVC tubes and 2 T pieces.  Its never going to get me an award for camera operating but it seems to work well so far. I am getting my old tripod head to attach directly to it, and then I will be away. Hopefully I will be able to get some interesting film with this. The photo was taken with my Go Pro.

Oh and ignore my curtains, its a student house!!!!!

Tutorial and Another Otter

Hi Guys,

I spent last night working on a tutorial for RAW, I decided I am doing a series of tutorials on the things I wish I new when I started wildlife photography. I might not be able to do them yet, haha, but I like to think I know about them.

Here is the first one, http://raw.tristanjud.com/2012/02/wildlife-photography-how-to/

What do you think of it? Im completely new to writing so I need time to get it right.


On a different note, It looks as though I have found a barn owl location back home in Dorset, I have been doing loads of research and have come across an area that looks to be good for both Barn and SE owls. I will keep you posted on this.

I had to upload an image with this blog, This was the same Otter as my last posts, but this time he is eating some kind of Eel! Does anyone know anything about what species it could be? Im not too hot on my river species.

Another Otter

All I seem to be uploading at the moment is Otter shots, thats because I am working mainly with moving image this year and so I am not taking many stills worth uploading. Having said this I do try to take the occasional weekend off to photograph other stuff for my portfolio. I have to take advantage of these lens available to me before they are stolen back by the University in June. Its a scary time however I try to not think about it to much! 

My longest lens when I finish this course will be a sigma 500mm that makes the images look like they have been shot with a lens made of cotton wool! Or next in line, the mighty 28-80mm Nikon kit lens I got with my D90 a few years ago. 

I am looking at raising some money over a few months after uni to get a sigma 120-300mm 2.8 because I have heard they are very sharp. If any one has had any experiance with this lens it would be great to here from you. 

Anyway back to the shot below. I had been waiting less than 5 minuets when this Otter turned up. He stayed about for about 10 mins then vanished. Its amazing how they can disappear so fast. This one dived to catch some fish and never came up! I looked up and down the river however it was gone! 

When uni is over I will focus on them and try and get some original stuff, not sure how possible this is however I think there must be some shots waiting to be captured of these guys doing something really special. 

Let me know what you think!

New Blog

Hi guys,

I am in the process of designing a new blog. I am hoping to have my blog run through my website so that I can keep it all under on roof.

You can find it at www.samstewartphoto.org

Urban Kingfisher

Today I though I would post a shot, of a great species, in a not so great habitat. Its never nice to see wild animals using manmade objects however it must have been in just the right place for fishing.

I tried to get something different with this image. Usually kingfishers are always sat on nice clean branches, so I wanted a shot of one perched somewhere different.

Another Otter

Hi Everyone, 

Today is a shot taken a couple of days ago in Dorset. The otter was hunting a few meters in front of me and catching fish on almost every dive. I managed to get a few shots of them with the fish in their mouths, however I like this angle as the view into the mouth is awesome. 

I am hoping to get back to the site over easter to try to improve the images. 

Otters

Today, I had the privilege of photographing an otter at close quarters. After only about 10 minuets of arriving at the site, I saw a lone Otter dive in the middle of the river. It surfaced on the far bank and proceeded to climb up the side of the river. It rested for a while before returning to the river to hunt.

I found a low level platform in front of it and got into position. It soon was diving and catching fish regularly right in front of me. I was at a really awkward angle and so I was not able to hold the lens very well however I am pleased with the results.

I am hoping to return to the site soon (ish) to photograph the female with cubs that has been reported in the area.

Here are two images, I will upload some more over the next few days.