Monday, October 25, 2010

Return to Richmond

Yesterday morning was colder and there was some nice mist in the hollows but the group of deer I had photographed a few weeks ago were not in the same locality. I found another group about a kilometre away but the sun was getting higher by then and I became distracted by some very showy Ring-necked Parakeets in beautiful light. I managed a few pleasing images of the deer but not the early morning atmospheric ones I had in mind. Still a few weeks to go...











Saturday, October 23, 2010

Hello goose, where are the herons?

Early Saturday morning in the park, but it was a cloudy start. I tried a new angle on the Greylag Geese, this time from above rather than ground level. One heron was nicely lit in a Weeping Willow.







Friday, October 22, 2010

Dark side of the heron

Trying some more silhouette and backlit work on the herons yesterday morning before work, I used an aperture value of 40 at 400m to produce the star-like halos often seen in night and landscape photography. These actually result from the eight blades of the aperture diaphragm in the lens. Positioning myself to make the most of the dawn light I managed to get several of the reflections to bend around the bird's head creating the glitzy portrait below.








Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Autumn excursions II

After a bit more foraging, I made (some - others in the field) these images in a lightbox with a macro lens.










www.fssbirding.org.uk/photos.htm

Monday, October 11, 2010

Richmond Rut

I wonder now why I've never been to Richmond Park before. So it is a bit of a trek - over two hours by bus and foot but arriving at dawn yesterday I realised its a beautiful place... until the masses arrive. The morning broke grey without any atmospheric fog (it'll take a few visits in the next couple of months) and it was a while before the sun broke through. Although its nearly mid-October, yesterday could have been the best day of the summer. Still a lot of dragonflies and butterflies around while Redwings, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks streamed overhead. Leaving the park after sunset I saw a Little Owl on a low branch of a huge oak silhouetted against a fine sunset and the new crescent moon rising. And of course, the reason for visiting....Red Deer.