Reflective mood....

Perhaps it is the winter chill or more likely the year ending has started me off in a reflective mood and how the last few months have worked out.

The year started with high hopes which were soon dashed as I had to withdraw from the MA course. At the time this seemed like a big thing but now with benefit of some distance it was not. I hadf wanted to do the course but the reality is that I just like making the photographs that I do rather than for any greater academic purpose.

I'm starting to get the itch to go out to the east coast for the day - probably over the Christmas period - boxing day or new year's day are usually good as people recover from their previous days and nights activities the last thing they want to do is go out and bird watch. Mandy and I had a wonderful day at Rutland Water one boxing day. The place was deserted apart from the wildlife. Brilliant.

So what will the new year bring? Who knows other than more interesting experiences to enjoy. One of these I suspect may well come via flickr. I have spent the last few weeks working on this and slowly it appears to be paying dividends. It is such a wonderful way of experiencing photography from all over the world. There is a whole range of photographs from the best you will see any where to some which you wonder why put them out there - but that is the beauty of flickr - you just don't know what you are going to see. One of the down side of flickr is that your photography will appear in all sorts of strange places - to date my work has appeared in eco warrior news letters and anger management blogs. This can be frustrating but if you publish your work on flickr it is something that you have to come to terms with.

The contacts list is slowly growing. To date I have people who are interested in my photography from all the fours corners of the globe - the latest is from Qatar. This means that my work is being enjoyed by wider group of people than I would ever have hoped for. It also means that I get to experience their views on photography and this has as much to do with their culture and location as their respective photographic skills. It is a fascinating journey.

Another thing I will probably be exploring is the updating the blog on the go. The Posterous experience is catching - it is so simple - especially when using the iPhone. One note of caution though - it can be a long winded thing uploading photos if you are out of reach of a 3G network

Early Results

Well I have just started to work on the Rutland Water photographs.  The interesting thing is that the nature reserve is very good if you want to take photographs of birds of the land.  However, it is not too great if you want to take photographs of water birds.  Anyway it is a lovely part of the world and you do some interesting birds, its just that you can't get close enough to make a really good photograph.

At the moment there are large meadows in full bloom.  They have swaths of buttercups and daisies.  Again following my theme of trying to make photographs that are slightly out the usual I have had a go at this one.  I am not sure whether I like it or not.

I saw the Osprey

yes it is true I saw the Osprey today at Rutland Water.  I was really close as well.  Great.  Now here is the downside I was driving my car to Hambleton at the time and the bird flew overhead - no more than 10 metres away.  Needless to say by the time I had stopped it had disappeared!

I'll post some of the photographs over the next day or so.

Off to Rutland Water

Going to spend a few hours at Rutland Water today...not sure whether this will be any good but at least I will get some exercise and fresh air.   Might even get some good views of the Osprey???

Cold and Grey

Hide with a view.  The Manton Bay lagoon where an Osprey is nesting on a nesting site - it really was this bleak!

Another frustrating day sitting by the reservoir.  I arrived at the Lyndon nature reserve just before 9am.  I signed in and off I went through the mud and gloom towards the Shallow Water hide at the far end of the reserve.   The first part of the walk was reasonable enough.  I saw a Blackcap and Chiffchaf singing away, their songs lifting the gloom.   Just as an aside I do wish the BBC weather people would get their heads out of the London centric forecasts.  They had predicted good weather for the East Midlands almost as an after thought.  Needless to say the forecast was wrong.

I finally arrived at the Shallow Water hide after about of a mile walk.  I had the hide to myself which is always nice.   I dropped the cover and took a look out.  My heart sank.   Somewhere in the gloom about 1/2 a mile from the hide was the Osprey nesting site, a specially built platform in the middle of Manton Bay.   I peered through the gloom with my binoculars and was surprised to see a bird on the nest.  The surprise wasn't that there but rather that it wasn't an Osprey but rather a more common Canadian Goose!   Spirits plummeted.

No matter I thought lets just see what might happen.   Nothing.   This, of course, is not true.  There was plenty of things happening, none of it within easy photographic reach.   The only thing that came within range was a flock of Hebridean sheep wondered by.   Out on the water the House martins were performing and flocks of ducks and Egyptian  geese squabbled amongst themselves.  None of this near where I was sitting.   After about an hour or so of this I decided to give up and walk back to the visitor centre.

Photo of the day!

As I walked back along the farm track, leaving the muddy path to its own devices, I came across a number of slugs slimming over the track towards the grass.  Out came my trusty G9 and I started snapping.  After this I went back to the centre had a chat with a fellow visitor who informed me that the Osprey nest had eggs in it, not sure what the goose was doing there perhaps a bit of baby sitting?

The weather hadn't improved so I decided to take a walk to other end of the reserve in search of a reported nightingale.   Again the track was muddy and I am sorry to say I only made it as far as the Swan hide as I had almost fallen over.  This is a well named hide as it over looks a small pool which had a resident pair of mute swans, a pair of mallards and coots.   After about 15 minutes I decided to call it a day and slithered my way back to the centre for some warmth.   The weather still didn't appear to be lifting so I beat a retreat home.

So what of the hunt for the Osprey?   Well they are there but too far away to get any interesting photographs.   Do I continue?   Well yes but it is not looking promising but you just never know.

More thoughts on Ospreys

Example of my attempts at Digiscoping

Having thought a little more about the Osprey problem (See previous posting) another option would be to consider digiscoping. Now I had a go at this a few years ago and found it a bit hit and miss.  However, things have moved on considerably since then as have my skills and knowledge so maybe this is the answer?  I have a already got a very good scope and the costs of a good compact, I wouldn't use the G9, would be significantly less than the outlay for a very long lens.   It is worth considering.

I am going to make another reci of Rutland water tomorrow so hopefully more ideas will come to me.

More thoughts on the Osprey

5R sitting on fallen poplar in Manton Bay - John Wright - from official Rutland Osprey Website

I have been giving this project a lot of thought over the last few days.   Just how do I capture a really good photograph of the birds at Rutland water.  One option would be to bite the bullet and buy an even longer telephoto lens, the longest I have at the moment is 600 mil,  however, I am not sure that this is the answer as the equipment never takes a good shot the photographer does.

Another option would be to visit a site where ospreys are far more abundant.  This would involve traveling abroad and would end up costing the same as the long lens.   I am not sure I will ever be able to answer this conundrum but it is something that all photographers go through, just how do you capture the photograph you have in your mind's eye?

A good wildlife shot?

I have been thinking about the problem of capturing photographs of the Osprey at Rutland water and the problems associated with it.   The biggest problem would be around the distance between the bird and the photographer.  The only place where you can guarantee to see the bird is at the nesting platform.   this is the best part of a quarter of a mile from the nearest hide - not that close.  So you then have to ask are there other locations where the bird may well turn up.  The obvious one would be whilst it is catching fish.  Again this has a problem.  Rutland water is one of the largest man made lakes in Europe and so in theory the birds could hunt anywhere.  However, this is not quite the case but there still is a large area to try and stack out.

None of these problems are insurmountable but it has started me to question what is a 'good' wildlife photograph.  I know this is an almost impossible question to answer and I am not even going to try to answer this here apart from to say that I am being drawn more and more to what I would call 'situational' photographs.   By this I mean photographs of the animal in its natural situation rather than some close up.  The photograph above gives an example.  Here we see a crow sitting in a tree surveying the land for feeding opportunities.   The photograph also portrays the broader landscape and also provides a sense of perspective to where the crow lives.  Is this a 'good' wild life shot?   I believe it is - however, when you look at wildlife magazines you find a different approach.  They always seem to want the more punchy shot.  The close up, quite literally in your face.  I am not sure this is the wild life shot I like to produce.   I will have to give this some more thought.

Right place at the right time...

Great Crested Grebes

Any one who know Rutland Water will be able to tell you that there is an awful lot of water and quite a bit of it between you and the birds.   The position of the hides doesn't help with the lighting either.  Anyway, we turned up at one of the hides this morning and it wasn't looking promising - the Osprey nesting platform was some distance away and most of the other birds were either too far away or the bright sunlight was behind them.   Not a good combination for any useful photographs.   Then two Grebes decided to perform their very intimate matting ritual right next to the hide at just the right angle for the light.  Now you some time have to wait hours for this but not today.  Within five minutes of sitting down in the hide they performed.  Magic.  Sometimes it just comes off.

The first Osprey Shots...

Well here it is...the first Osprey photograph.  Not brilliant but it is a start.  I have learnt a lot about the set required at Rutland Water and I am afraid there is no substitution for a long lens.  In this case size really does appear to matter.   There are a  lot of technical issues I have to think about before I proceed but I now have some useful data to help this.

Rutland Water

Not an Osprey!

At least I am now out of the bog.  Spent a great day at Rutland Water.  The trip had two objectives.  The first was to see the Osprey and assess the camera angles etc that I might want to use or have available.  The second was to have a nice time in the countryside bird watching and capturing some photographs of birds.   I achieved both objectives.  At the moment I am processing the photographs so I will post a much more in depth report over the next day or so.   I did get to see the osprey - magnificent!  The last time I had seen one was at Walt Disney World when it was fishing in the Seven Seas Lagoon.   

The gloom of winter and the plans for a summer to come

Oh I wish....

The gloom of winter has started me thinking about the summer to come and what to do.   Well I am starting to research a project that I have had in the back of my mind for sometime - Rutland Water Ospreys.   I am not sure whether I will proceed with this but it is getting my creative juices flowing.

What will this involve?  The first step is to try and work out where the osprey nest and then feed.  The photographs I want to make are based around the osprey catching a fish - this will require a certain amount of luck, patients and research.  It may also require me getting up early, especially in the summer.   We will see what happens.