Kingfisher Update

I thought I would do a quick update on my Kingfisher project. Things have been going really well since my last post and I have been able to really push the photography forward and try for new and original images. 

The main reason the project has progressed so well, is due to the site its self. The river runs through the middle of a field which means there are very few over hanging trees. The banks are also only 2 foot tall. This situation means that I can get images quickly by placing a perch out in the the river. When she next does a fly by, she lands on it every time, without fail because there is little else to land on on this stretch of the river. 

I have tried wide angle images, by placing my camera on a tripod close to the perch and wiring the cable release back to me in the hide. I then waited for her to land in postion and then fired away. 

She was,  and still is, completely oblivious to the shutter, it has never effected her. I do however wait for her to settle on the perch for a few seconds before I fire the shutter. I usually do one or two, to remind her of the canon shutter noise, then its fine after that. 

Tamron 10-24mm @10mm full frame 

I love the wide angle images, I am just waiting for nice blue skies to capture them again. Or perhaps some misty winter mornings at sunrise. We will see!!! 

Sigma 120-300mm @120mm full frame

Simga 120-300 @300mm full frame

Sigma 120-300mm @300mm full frame

The following image is so far my favorite from the project. It was taken by pre setting up a 10mm wide angle, on an area I 'hoped' the bird would fly. after three hours in the hide, the bird flew back up river and I jumped out of the hide, I checked the camera and was very pleased with the image on screen. 

Its by no means perfect but its in the right direction. 

Tamron 10-24mm @10mm full frame 

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