Simon King Wildlife

Having not posted for a while I thought I would do an update on the project I am currently working on.

I have recently started working as an assistant for Simon King. Together we are installing a range of Live cameras that soon will be available to watch on our website (Simonkingwildlife.com) and edited highlights on our YouTube channel.

Nest Boxes for a range of small garden birds have been installed and many have had regular visitors.

Owl boxes that we have installed have been investigated by Tawny owls and we are very hopeful they will be inhabited in the Spring.

Our River cam has captured a range of wildlife on the river including Otters, Dippers and Kingfishers.

There is so much preparation going into the cams, Im so excited to watch the stories develop over the coming weeks, months and years.

To view our cameras currently Live please visit - www.simonkingwildlife.com and follow the links to the 'Live Cams' and also the YouTube channel for films and updates. 

Sam

Camera Trapping

Here are a few of my recent camera trap shots. Still no where near perfect but its been a great project so far and im still working on it. 

Otters, Mother and Cubs

On my way back from Cornwall I decided to stop in at my local site for Otters. It was really quiet and there were no dog walkers or anything so it all seemed a bit strange. However I pressed on and walked the length of the footpath looking for anything going really. I came across a couple of kingfisher on the far bank and some different ducks and moorhens. When I got about 10 mins in to my walk I heard what sounded like 3 kingfisher all calling and splashing in the shallows. I thought it might have been a couple of males fighting so I got to a good view point and suddenly saw what was making the noise. Two Otter cubs!!! The were sat on the bank waiting to be fed by mum, who was out in the middle of the river hunting for them. 

I only had a D90 and my (very old and very worn) sigma 150-500mm. It soon decided that it did not want to work and so OS, AF, and the control of Apature soon stopped working all together. I tried my best with it and I am happy with the shots considering the circumstances. I would have loved a 500mm f4 but I didnt have one so there is no point in me getting pissed off. Having said this, at the time I was fuming, because im not sure how soon an opportunity like this will come up again. 

OH WELL......

Have a look and see what you think, 

Cub hiding against the river bank 

Cubs playing in the water 

Cubs following mum 

Cubs playing on the river bank 

Cub entering the water 

Cub with mum 

Cub waiting for food 

Cubs with mum 

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!

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. 

Otter

This shot has got mixed opinions recently. I love it because it is very different to what I have uploaded before and that its a behaviour that happens about 1/10 sec after the otters surface. They raise their head straight up just after a dive and shake their head to rid of excess water. The whole process is very quick and it took me a lot of attempts to capture it and when I did this is what I got. What do you think? 

70-200mm @ 200mm f3.2 iso 800

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