Something in the middle...

I had a couple of hours or so to kill while on business in Christchurch today, so I made an unscheduled visit to Stanpit Marsh. It was late morning when I arrived, so the light was nowhere near its best, but as I had a camera with me I decided to chance a few shots, purely for the sake of it.

As can sometimes (frustratingly) be the case, when the sun broke through the clouds the ponies I was trying to photograph were not well placed, and typically, when several moved into a good configuration the sun had disappeared back behind cloud, lighting just the background.

I wanted to shoot from this particular position as I was using the water as a lead-in line to Christchurch Priory in the distance, and needed something of interest for the middle foreground: the ponies playing an integral part of the composition.
This is the most successful image I was able to produce before business needed attending to.

24-70 mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/640 second at f/11. -0.33EV compensation. ISO 400

© 2010

Minimalism...

The light remains flat and overcast, and with the promise of the weather deteriorating further for the rest of the week, I decide to stay at home today, and catch up with image editing and processing.

Today's photograph was, therefore, not shot today - but yesterday afternoon, at Poole Harbour, Dorset. The light was flat, but still relatively bright, and the low tide and windless conditions added to the calming effect of the picture. I deliberately excluded any extraneous detail or horizon by framing the shot with a zoom lens, with the intention of producing a simple, minimalist image.

24-70 mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/1000 second at f/2.8. ISO 200

© 2010

At last, a host...

Spring is late: there's no doubt about it, but apparently this can be a good thing. It seems that if it occurs at the proper time - not in the middle of winter, for example - then the effects are more long-lasting. The hard winter experienced in the UK this year produced far fewer mild days, which can cause insects and hibernating animals to wake up and forage for food. When none is to be found, they either return to sleep, or perish in subsequent cold spells. This is, obviously, a bad thing from their point of view.
 Spring at the right time gives hibernating animals the proper length of sleep that they require, and they benefit accordingly. Plant life finds it similarly beneficial, as do insects.
 Incidentally, the last time spring happened this late was in 1976: a summer of high temperatures and drought.

There is, however, ample evidence that the season is getting into gear, as the display of daffodils shown here testify. Photographed at Branksome Dene, on the Dorset coast this morning, it is the best spectacle of these flowers that I have so far encountered.

24-70 mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/1000 second at f/5.6. ISO 200.

© 2010

Warren Hill, Dorset...

Weather for the week is forecast to be grey cloud, with spells of light/ heavy rain, but the early hours of the day are free of such conditions - well, at least today they are - so I'm out with a camera before sunrise. The Met Office prediction is, for once, accurate, and mist is present along the coast, although most of it had burned-off before the image was taken.
I choose to shoot the dawn at Hengistbury Head, Dorset. The area is the site of an Iron Age settlement, and at one time a favourite photographic location. Despite the number of times I've photographed it, I always get something different.
The picture included here, shot at 6.47am today, shows Warren Hill, the plateau that makes up the bulk of the headland.

24-70 mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/500 second at f/11. -0.33EV compensation. ISO 400. 0.9 grey graduated filter on sky.
Mono conversion in Photoshop CS4.

© 2010

Seasonal preparations...

Signs of spring have been evident for a number of weeks - daffodils are now blooming on the south coast - but the season is occurring later than of recent times, with many trees yet to blossom. This is possibly due to the hard(ish) winter experienced in the UK this year.

While nature takes its own sweet time, man runs to his own timetable, and signs are appearing that indicate the anticipation of better weather to come. One such manifestation is the installation of the RNLI lifeguard stations, situated at intervals along the busier locations of Poole Bay, Dorset, to keep a watchful eye on swimmers and surfers alike. In the photograph, a surveyor directs an excavator driver (while another leans on his shovel), in creating a level base for one of the structures to the west of Bournemouth Pier.

24-70 mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/8. ISO 400.

© 2010
 

The Ides of March...

With a clear sky and light winds, I set off before dawn on my mountain bike to photograph the sunrise. To maximise my chances of being in the right place at the right time, I've starting using software that predicts sunrise and sunset times, plus directions, on a global basis (and the same for the Moon and its phases), and it is proving its worth.
The photograph of Bournemouth Pier, Dorset, was shot at 6.27 am - shortly after the sun had broken the horizon.

24-70 mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/800 second at f/8. +0.33EV compensation. ISO 640

© 2010

Posturing, bobbing and landing...

One of the easiest ways to shoot wildlife is to visit your local park. Although not captive, like animals in a zoo, they are used to human presence and will tolerate a closer approach. Despite this, they still have their "comfort zone" and to a degree it depends on the animal's size as to how close you can get before being considered a threat.

I photographed all the birds here in Poole Park, Dorset, during the first hour after sunrise.
The mute swan - Cygnus olor - is an adult in aggressive display posture: one of several on the lake in search of a mate.
The middle photograph is of a male Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula - distinguished from the female of the species by its black and white plumage, as opposed to the female's essentially brown feathers.

Whilst photographing the more sedate activities of the waterfowl, there was more frantic action happening around me, with a number of birds landing here and there on the lake as they flew in to feed. One such bird was a Canada Goose - Brantia canadensis - seen here as it touches-down on the water.

300 mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor with TC-14EII converter.

Top: 1/3200 second at f/6.3. -0.67 EV compensation. ISO 250
Middle: 1/1600 second at f/8. ISO 200
Bottom: 1/250 second at f/6.3. -0.67 EV compensation. ISO 200

© 2010

Marsh life...

Today was one of those cloudless/blue sky days, and since I missed the opportunity to shoot during  early morning, I opt to make the most of the afternoon.
Although there are signs of spring everywhere, the temperature remains low, and the brisk northeasterly wind makes it feel colder than it is on Stanpit Marsh, Dorset. The total absence of cloud makes me wait until the sun is fairly low in the sky before I start shooting anything serious, and it is not until late afternoon that I get my first images of a Little Egret, here resplendent with its breeding plume on the back of its head.

I only manage 5 shots before it flies off out of range, but the appearance of two Shelducks get my attention as they fly onto the marsh. Unfortunately, they stay a good two hundred metres away from me, making any sort of meaningful photograph impossible.
However, I'm treated to the presence of a Teal (Anas crecca), the smallest duck in Britain. Although flocks are a familiar sight on estuaries and mudflats during the winter, they tend to be nervous and flighty, and I consider myself lucky to have got close enough to photograph one.

300 mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor with TC-14EII.

Little Egret: 1/4000 second at f/5.6. -0.33EV. ISO 400
Teal: 1/1600 second at f/5.6. -0.67EV. ISO 400

© 2010

Cloud iridescence...

...is the occurrence of colours cause by diffraction, and is fairly uncommon. The pastel colours are produced by small water droplets (or ice crystals) of similar size, scattering light. This is not to be confused with a rainbow, which requires much larger droplets of water, and produces the effect through refraction.
The cloud that produces the phenomenon has to be optically thin, such as altocumulus, so that rays from the sun only encounter one droplet or crystal.

...there, I've said it.

300 mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/8000 second at f/8. ISO 200.

© 2010