Getting the right name...

As I write this I am surrounded by reference books; books on flora and fauna; books books books! So I have become to the technicalities of wildlife photography. Not the capturing of a particular image, nor its artistic value. No I am fretting over whether a butterfly is a Large White or a Green Veined White.

Not only do I spend my time looking through books I then revert to examining endless photographs on line. This can be a bit dodgy as you are never quite sure whether the person who has named the creature is correct in the first place. So you endlessly switch between books and the screen. It is at times frustrating and also fascinating - I think???

New Challenges

Well I am feeling energised today.  I have now decided on my next challenge.  I am going to enter the new British Wildlife Photography Awards.  Those of you who might know my work will be aware that I have produced a considerable number of wildlife photographs in the past.   This is an opportunity to pit these against other photographers.   Now I am aware that the chances of being selected are slim but you don't have any chance unless you win - so here goes.

Remote Flash

Robin taking off from feeder

I have a new toy - a wireless remote control for my camera.   I have been playing around with it today and the results have been mixed.   To be ell the truth I had no idea what to expect but it has given my some food for thought.   I used my flash and surprise surprise this spoked the birds.    I was able to capture some action but I need to do some thinking about how to improve the results.   Still this is a whole new enterprise and is fascinating.

Walking to University

Aylestone Meadows - Leicester

What a pleasure it was to walk to University yesterday.   It was a bit slippery under foot but that didn't bother me.   On the way I was able to do a bit of photography - see above - and also a bit of bird watching - saw a lovely Little Grebe as well as some nice views of Long Tail Tits.   We had a bit of a Christmas lunch/snack with some rather nice mulled wine and mince pies.   

The day was very short.   We had a bit of a discussion about next term/semester and the work we are likely to do...we are actually going to take some photographs yippee...   As I was not in last week I messed the second half of the seminar's and clearly there was some rumbling in the camp about the length that some of our colleges seminar.  Whether it was the mulled wine but we then some of our number decided to slag off men.   A catalogue of faults with men were then put out as though they were indisputable facts.   I am never ceased to be amazed at the sexist comments made by women about men.   This is not to say that men are without their faults it is just that it would appear that nowadays you cannot say anything about women but it is open season on men.   I also found out that there would appear to be a bias amongst some of my colleagues against long lenses and wild life photography.   This, however, was wrapped up into a general moan about men.   I did try to defend men but to no avail.   Clearly,  it is a proven fact that whatever men do is rubbish!   

The only formal part of the day was a tutorial.  This went well and the feedback I got from my first draft was very encouraging.   It looks like Gregory Crewdson will be resurrected to add some extra power to my analysis.   I intend to get this essay finish before Christmas as I want to go to Norfolk and get some winter shots of the geese and other birds.

Anyway, a merry christmas to all my colleagues and I look forward to working with them in the new year.

I have been lost today

Campus Centre

Arrghh!   The internet crashed today.  Having spent a wonderful hour checking the network it would seem that the problem was in 'the cloud' rather than on the local network.  To think one time I thought it was really interesting to know about http or TCP/IP - thankfully no more and now all I have to worry about is when the system crashes.

The good thing about this was that it gave me time to look over some of the books I've recently bought.  I have to say I am humbled when I look at the photography in the Wildlife Photographer of the year. Now interestingly I started to compare the photographs of a snow leopard and Gregory Crewdson -both elaborate setups and yet recording a beautiful creature the other ...well I am not sure yet whether I really like Crewdson's work. ( I know this is almost a heretical comment from someone studying photography but the artificiality leaves me cold - well that is the case at the moment and things may change! Watch this space)

Emma, one of my fellow students has circulated a set of mug shots of all my fellow students.   Interesting to see how each persons sees them self.

Twitching and Photography

Lapland Bunting

Lapland Bunting Twitch

This is not an attack on twitching or bird watching but rather to question what is the purpose of photography and what makes a good photograph.   Anyway to set the scene:  a glorious sunny autumn morning on the north Norfolk coast near to the Titchwell RSPB reserve; sea, beach and sky full of different birds and you come across a group of bird watchers and photographers pointing their cameras at a small patch of beach next to the dunes.   Their backs turned to the beauty all around.  Instead they were concentrating on this small patch of beach because there was a rare bird sitting there.   Welcome to the Lapland Bunting twitch.

The bird itself is nothing special ( I mentioned this to one of the volunteers at the reserve and was put in my place as to how beautiful/attractive/worthwhile it was to see the bird.  I don't think he appreciated my comments!)   This started me to consider why people take photographs and what they consider worthwhile and beautiful.  This is the subject of many books and thesis and I don't think this blog would be able even scratch the surface but it did seem strange to me that you would turn your back on the beautiful seascapes to look at some bird that is stranded a long way from home and most likely never to get back there.   I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

For the record I too went over to see the bird and captured the earth shattering image at the start of this blog.   Also for full disclosure I am a proud member of the RSPB and Wild Fowl and Wetland trust.   I love taking photographs of birds - in fact the reason for me being on that beach was in part to do just that. Its just I like to take images of birds doing something interesting rather than just because it is a rare bird.   I  am sure I am missing the point somewhere along the line.  

Why so many images?

Waterfall - Lathkildale

Having spent the day culling over 2000 images from the weekend shoot I am still trying to answer why I shot so many images.  For this shoot I think the answer can be broken down into the following reasons:

Subject Matter:  The main subject was wildlife, in particular migrating birds.   Because of this you have to shoot a large number of shots to get the image you are looking for.    If you are trying to capture an image of a goose landing then you need to shoot the whole landing and then perhaps choose one or two;

Experimentation:  I was also trying out new approaches and techniques.   This will always be a hit and miss affair and so will lead to a large number of discarded images.  This I guess is the cost of experimentation.

Of course the beauty and perhaps the curse of digital is that you can shoot as many images as you wish.   The real cost of digital is at the start - once you have bought the hardware then the costs are almost negligible.    This reminds me of the old joke about the cost of anew drug. The first tablet costs £700m whilst the second one only costs a penny.  So it is with digital.    Of course it is not that simple but certain types of images generate far more than others.   I would be very surprised if I generated this number of images if I were shooting a landscape - in fact I wouldn't.   Still I think I still need to monitor what I am shooting and why.