Bullfinch

The Bullfinch.

Once a common sight along our country hedgerows, this stunning finch has, along with other seed-eating birds, suffered a rapid and severe decline in numbers.  This is almost certainly caused by a lack of food in autumn and winter, due to modern faming methods.  Feeds mainly on seeds, crushed in its large bill.  Also enjoys buds of fruit trees, making it an agricultural pest in some areas.

hawfinch

The Hawfinch.

Britain's largest species of finch is a magnificent bird, with a thick, bill capable of exerting enormous pressure to crush its favourite food of cherry stones. feeds mainly on seeds and berries, such as cherries and beech huts, which it crushes using it enormous and powerful bill.

Planning to get some shots.

I am planning to go to Rutland bird sanctuary to try and get a shot of a hawk finch.  I am going there next weekend to have a look where the bird has been seen.  By going onto the Internet and doing some research I now know that the bird has been seen.  So I intend to go and see for myself, and I shell take the gear with me so I can hopefully capture the bird.  But if I don't then I will arrange another weekend to try and get the shot that I require.


This is going to take sometime to capture as first of all I am going to have to see the bird and fined out its habits first.  Then I shell come up with a plan of how to get the photo's that I want.  These are very shy birds and I will have to careful how I go about this task as not to disturb anything or any body.


I went Rutland at the weekend 3rd April in search of the Hawfinch but, did not see it.  I also asked at the centre if anybody had seen the bird but they have not seen them yet.  Brought a new card for the camera but, put it in when I got there and it didn't work.  Wasted journey really  but, had a good walk round to see if anything was worth looking at.


The Macro side of things are taking shape now, i managed to get a bee shot but, looking to get a better one looking to get a wasps head and eyes.  Good fortune there just happened to be a wasp in the office and have captured the shot I was looking for, so happy with how things are going with the the macro side.   Like the theme of the eyes I am doing I do have two shots of close-up flowers if I get the opportunity  I will try and get some more eye shots depending on the time scale.


I plan to go to Cakle Abbey on a regular basis, as I do not live far from there and I can look out for things to photo on the macro side.  I go most Sunday mornings, just looking and taking in the atmosphere checking things out to photograph.  Just basically observing things that are going on and that I could eventually photo.


I have also set my hide up in my garden, so that I can be ready to take a shot of something if I need too.


The technical side of the camera comes when you change the aperture, so you can control the depth of field. which means you can blur the back ground out and keep the subject Sharp.  This comes in very handy  when shooting wildlife.


By setting yourself an aperture of say F2.8 on a nice and sunny day this would give you a fast shutter speed allowing you to capture your subject in flight, and be nice and Sharpe.  Using the controls of the camera is whats its all about, you should be controlling the camera.  By doing this you control the depth of field, or blurring the back ground out, but, if you use an aperture of say F22 it is just the opposite.  This should make the the picture Sharpe front to back providing you use the camera correctly.  By doing this with an aperture of F22 you would need a tripod as this could give you a slow shutter speed, depending on the light and what effect you are after.  To make a very slow shutter speed you could use filters, warm ups, graduate, and Polarizer filters which gives you some fantastic  affects if used properly.


For this type of photography that I intend to do I shell what my 500-mm lens along with a good tripod for this to rest on, along with my D200 which will fire at 5 shots per second.  I shell set the camera at 4.5 aperture as the large lens does not go any further than that.

Stuart Goodwin: Macro Close-up Photography.

Camera settings for the Toad ISO 100.  F2.8 Shutter Speed 1/10 Lens 50mm Macro.

This shot was taken at Calke Abby, it is a photograph of a toads eye.  The toad was very dormant, he was just lying in the peat.  I was able to get the lens within 20mm of the toad and this is the result.  There is no enhancement on this shot and very little as been done in photoshop as you will see if you look at the file.  A very pleasing shot.


I am going to try and get an assortment of pictures so this page could changed from week to week until the time comes that I have to choose the final 10.

Camera settings for Rose ISO 400.  F3.5 Shutter Speed 1/3200 Sec lens 50mm. 


This was taken in my back garden at the height of the severe winter that we have just had.  Some how this rose survived for as long as it did.  It looks so sad, but colourful in the snow.  I am very pleased with the shot of the rose, it was a crisp sharp morning when this shot was taken. I used a small tripod to hold the camera steady.

Camera settings for Fly ISO 200. F2.8 Shutter Speed 1/3 Sec lens 50mm.


This shot of a fly was taken at a friends house, the fly was very dormant and was just about to die.  So I put the fly on a flat surface placed some card behind the fly and took the photo.  I was very lucky to have the Macro lens with me as i just been out to do some landscape photography.  Please with the detail on the fly, I had to use a bean bag to keep the shot steady.

Camera settings for the crab ISO 100. F5.6 Shutter Speed 1/250 Sec lens 50mm.


This shot of the crab was taken at the back of my garden pond.  It was taken in daylight and I am pleased with the result.  The crab was brought at the market at Burton on Trent.  I took it home and set it up near my pond.  I used a tripod to keep the shot steady, you have to use a tripod when you are that close, but, very pleased with the outcome. 

Camera settings for the snow drops ISO 400 F 5.6 Shutter Speed 1/10 Sec lens 50mm.

This shot was taken at a place called Calke Abbey early one February morning.  These snow drops at Calke are beautiful when they are out, so I set my self up as close to the snow drops as possible.  I do like the droplets of water that are on the snowdrops.  The shot was set up using a bean bag, this was to stop camera shake.  I was looking to get the drew drops on the snow drop as well as the snow drop its self.

Camera settings for prawn ISO 100 F5.6 Shutter Speed 1/50 Sec Lens 50mm Macro.


This shot of a prawn was taken at a fish market at Burton On Trent one Saturday morning while doing this course at the college.  I had a word with the fish monger one Saturday morning, and he let me take the shot of one of his prawns.  He gave it to me after so I was able to take it home and do some more but, pleased with the first one. 

Camera settings for Eye ISO 400 F5.6 Shutter Speed 1/2 Sec. Lens 50mm Macro.


This is a shot of the wife's eye, I asked her to put some heavy mascara on around her eye.  Then setting the camera on the tripod for stability, was able to get this shot.  There was some work done in photoshop for this one but, overall very pleased with the shot as I don't normally do anything like this.

Camera settings for Lady bird ISO 400 F5.6 Shutter Speed 1/40 Lens 50mm Macro.

This shot of the lady bird was taken at Calke Abbey, the lady bird was just resting on a pot.  I was able to get close to it with out it flying away.  I have captured the eyes of the lady bird and I am pleased with the shot.  Again I had the bean bag with me for stability, these really are a must for Macro work.  As you can see by the settings of the ISO it was a dull day so I had to alter some settings to capture the shot .

Camera settings for Bee ISO 400 F5.6 Shutter Speed 1/8 Lens 50mm Macro.


This shot was taken at Stapenhill gardens on my way to the college.  The bee had been stunned by something and was laying on the ground.  So I placed the bee on a stone wall and took three shots of it before it recovered and flew off.

Camera settings for the wasp.  ISO 200 F2.8 Shutter Speed 1/160 Lens 50mm Macro Bean bag used.


This shot was taken at home, I set this shot up by my fish pond. The wasp was court in the office at work as Geoff does't like wasp he hit it.  Stunning the wasp.  So I collected it and placed it in a jar,  then at the end of the day I took it home and set the shot up.  It was still alive, so I managed to set it up by the pond and took the shot.  Pleased with the shot and the wasp survived the day. 

Camera settings for Eagle ISO 400 F6.3 Shutter Speed 1/1250 Lens 300mm Hand Held. 

This shot was taken at the Catton Estate at a game fair.  The bird was on a stand and is called a Red Linnet Eagle a beautiful looking bird. The man in charge said that I could get closer if I wanted, but I said no as I am alway a little bit weary of these sort of birds.  Beautiful but deadly. 

Camera settings for  Deer ISO 400 F6.3 Shutter speed1/80 Sec.Lens 300mm Mono pod. 

This shot was taken at Calke Abbey the deer was very close to the wire that surrounding  the enclosure.  Placed the camera on the Mono pod and got as close as possible.  They are used to people at Calke but this one didn't see me behind one of the posts at the top end of the site.

Camera settings for Winter Rose ISO 400 F5.6 Shutter Speed 1/1250 Lens 50mm. 
This is a shot of the same flower as above only on a different day, can't make my mind up on which to choose, but pleased with the shot.

Ross Hiddinolt, Close-up Macro Photographer.

Ross Hoddinolt is one of the UK’s best outdoor photographers of the moment, with a huge award-winning portfolio of stunning macro, landscape and wildlife work. His latest accomplishment was scooping the first place title for the British Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award 2009 – a prestigious accolade among wildlife and outdoors photographers alike.

Ross Hoddinott made an early start on his career, getting a taste for photography at the tender age of ten. His parents gave him a little compact film camera and He always had a passion for nature,” he comments. “It wasn’t long until he entered a picture into Countryfile’s Photographic Competition and he won an SLR in the under 18’s category. That was the encouragement and motivation he needed at that age.

With no formal training, Ross relied upon his love for nature and home schooling from his parents to improve his photography.

It was easy for Ross to build a portfolio of work that focused mainly on landscapes, wildlife and nature-based macros. “The two aspects of his work are landscape photography and

macro. With the landscapes, He lives in a very beautiful part of the world in the south west, with dramatic coastlines, great weather and great light, so it’s a logical thing to develop an interest in landscape photography.

It’s Ross’s macro work, however, that he is most recognised for. Kitted out with his trusty 150mm and 105mm lenses, he will often head out in search for rare and beautiful insects to photograph. Being attuned to the natural world has an affect on his photographic practices, He tends not to use flash photography, He  much prefers to manipulate natural lighting, so the only specialist equipment he uses are a small reflector to bounce light onto the subject. The remainder of Ross’s kit list includes merely a tripod and a remote release – a simple list that’s testament to the skill of this photographer.

Now aged 32, He is working hard to build a reputation as one of the country's leading outdoor photographers. He is a regular contributor to a number of magazines, including Out door photography.  His work is published throght the World and is contracted to a number of picture agencies, including NaturePL.  He as had multiples success in the wildlife department.  photographer of the year competition and in 2008 was on the judging panel for this prestigious competition.  In September 2009 He was named 'British Wildlife Photographer of the Year.  He also the author of six photography books, including The Digital Exposure Handbook.

A quote from Ross Hoddinott.

"I am a macro specialist, so the majority of my wildlife images are taken of insects and wild plants. Over the past couple of years, I have spent an increasing amount of time shooting scenic images of the South West’s stunning landscape and coastline. This region, and its natural history, is a constant inspiration to me. Indeed, Cornwall will always be my home and where my wife, Fliss, and I look forward to raising our two beautiful, young daughters...

At the risk of sounding clichéd, I simply hope that my work will help highlight the beauty and importance of our natural history and the environment on which we depend"

John Hedgecoe close-up macro (All Rounder)

John Hedgecoe was a talented photographer and inspiring teacher who produced many elegant books of landscapes and portraits and was a prolific writer of manuals on how to take pictures. One of his images is probably the most widely reproduced of all time — that of the Queen in profile on British postage stamps. It was in 1966 that that he was recommended by the Postmaster General to photograph the Queen. 

The shoot took place in the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace and within 20 minutes or so he had shot dozens of rolls of film at which point he said he thought he was done. “So soon, Mr Hedgecoe?” asked the Queen. Realising that he was being granted more time, the anxious Hedgecoe leapt at the chance to try a different light and they moved to the Music Room, where he took yet more pictures of his royal subject against the window. She chose 14 of his images, eventually whittled to just one which was then rendered in plaster relief by the artist and sculptor Arnold Machin. The image became immortal, appearing on British and Commonwealth stamps to this day.

 John Hedgecoe was born in 1932 — although he maintained the fiction that his birthday was in 1937 — in Brentford, West London, the son of William Hedgecoe, who worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in the Far East and who was a fireman during the Blitz, and Kathleen Don. During the war he was evacuated to Cornwall to stay with an aunt, Dolly, and was educated Gulval Village School near Penzance. Later he wrote a novel, Breakfast with Dolly, a thinly disguised memoir, about an evacuee growing up in the West Country.

 He began taking pictures as a teenager and studied photography at Guildford Scool of Art under Ifor and Joy Thomas. During his National Service with the RAF he contributed to an aerial photographic survey of wartime bomb damage. After the RAF in 1957 he became a staff photographer for Queen magazine where his reputation as an exceptional portrait photographer grew throughout the 1960s and where he remained until 1972.

 His unconventional but elegant approach to portraiture led to freelance commissions for The Observer, The Sunday Times andThe Sunday Telegraph, shooting people such as Francis Bacon, Agatha Christie, Vita Sackville-West, John Betjeman, Ted Hughes, Stephen Hawking, David Hockney and Mary Quant. His pictures also illustrated features on fashion and architecture.

In the mid-1960s Hedgecoe persuaded the Royal College of Art (RCA) to let him create a department of photography and in 1975 he became the first professor of photography in Britain. He was an unstoppable, creative force at the RCA, a dynamic personality, determined to place the study of photography on an equal footing with the rest of the arts and to make the college one of the most important artistic institutions in the world. He had a profound effect on the teaching of photography and wrote a bestselling book on how to take pictures, The Photographer’s Handbook. First published in 1977 and with more than 1,250 illustrations, it has been frequently reprinted and remains the bible for photography enthusiasts.

Hedgecoe produced a broad array of books on architecture, landscapes and portraits, including The Spirit of the Garden, for which he travelled throughout Europe and the US; England’s World Heritage, in which he photographed sites for English Heritage;Shakespeare’s Land, with the historian A. L. Rowse; riding schools of the world; a book of photographs of the works of Picasso; photographs to decorate anthologies of poems by Thomas Hardy and Robert Burns; Zillij, his pictures of Moroccan ceramics; and three volumes on the sculptor Henry Moore.

 The two became friends in the 1950s when Hedgecoe was a student and they collaborated on two books, Henry Spencer Moore and Henry Moore, My Ideas, Inspiration and Life as an Artist. Moore died in 1986 and a third book, A Monumental Vision: The Sculpture of Henry Moore was published in 1998. Richard Calvocoressi, director of the Henry Moore Foundation, described the three books as “an exceptional range of incisive and insightful photographs. These are among the most important visual records we have of Moore’s life and work.”

Among Hedgecoe’s manuals on how to take photographs are The Book of Photography (1976), a volume on photographing babies and toddlers, another on photographing young children, and The Art of Digital Photography (2006).

Hedgecoe was a man of enormous personality, self-belief and physical energy. He could be outspoken but always demonstrated great warmth, kindness and generosity of spirit. Away from photography he devoted much energy to restoring Oxnead Hall, his originally 16th-century house and garden in Norfolk, celebrated as the repository of the Paston Letters written during the Wars of the Roses.

He was twice married, first to Julia Mardon, and then in 2001 to Jenny Hogg, who survives him, with two sons and a daughter from his first marriage.

John Hedgecoe, photographer, teacher and author, was born on March 24, 1932. He died of cancer on June 3, 2010, aged 78.

Arthur Morris Bird Photographer.

Arthur Morris is one of the most respected bird photographers there is.  He is a freelance nature photographer and writer who specializes in birds and bird photography.  He is widely recognized  as one of the worlds best bird photographer and one of the best nature photographers.  He is an active teacher and lecturer.  He taught elementary school in New York City for twenty years.  And for eight years he conducted the shorebird survey at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge for the International Shorebird Surveys, Monument.  Two of his images were awarded prizes in the 1997 BG plc Wildlife Photographer of the year competition.

These are some of the images that Arthur Morris has taken.


Arthur Morris became a Canon contract photographer in 1995 as part of their Explorers of light program.


More than 11,000 of his photographs have been published in American Birds, Audubon, Birding, Birder's World, Bird Watcher's Digest, Florida Wildlife and Nature, Living Bird, National Geographic, Natural History, Nature Photographer, Outdoor Photographer, Photographic, Ranger Rick, Wild bird, and other magazines, as well as in hundreds of books and calendars. More than 100 photo-illustrated feature articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications worldwide.

The picture taken below is taken out of the Art of Bird Photography and his dedicated to is late wife:

"This work is dedicated to the memory of my late wife,

Elaine Belsky Morrris,

who was my love, my best friend, and my biggest supporter."

"Her wonderful smile was lost to the world on November 20, 1994".

Arthur Morris is an American based photographer, he has produced some outstanding images some of which are shown below with the settings that he took when photographing the images:

Arthur Morris (United States of America)

Sandpiper congregation

He was told I'd missed the peak of the migration by a week, in the Alaskan fishing town of Cordova, and that only a few birds were left. With low expectations, He went down to the beach. And there in full view was a snoozing congregation of 6,000 or so western sandpipers snuggled together, their subtle colours enhanced by the flat light of an overcast sky.' Western sandpipers breed on the tundra in Siberia and Alaska, then migrate south to the coasts of North and South America. It's one of the most abundant sea birds in America and during migration tens of thousands of birds will flock together. They keep up their energy on a diet of mainly small crabs, shrimp, marine snails and worms.

Canon EOS-1D Mark II + Canon EF500mm f4 IS USM lens; 1/60 sec at f22 (+1/3 compensation); ISO 400; Gitzo 1325 CF tripod + Wimberley head.

 

Snowy Egret fishing, Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS Lens with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400.  Evaluative metering-1/3 stop: 1/2000 sec.  at f6.3 set manually. 

Roseate Spoonbill, Alafia Banks, Tampa bay, Tripod- mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS Lens with the EOS-1D-Mark IV.  ISO 400.  Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/8 set manually.

Great Egret, Fort DeSoto Park, south of St. Petersburg, FL. Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS lens handheld with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 1600. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6 set manually. Fill flash at -2 stops with Better Beamer.

Wildlife Photographer Chris Packham.

Chris Packham is one of the best wildlife photographers this country has produced.  He was born 4th May 1961in Southampton, he is a English naturalist, nature photographer, a television presenter and author.  He lives in the New Forest with his zookeeper girlfriend Charlotte and 14year old step daughter Megan.




Chris Packham is known for his television appearances, notably in the BAFTA winning BBC 1 children's programme The Really Wild Show and the nature series Wild Shots, the X Creatures, Two's Hands on Nature and Nature's Calender he was until recently the lead presenter on the BBC South region's version of the BBC local television series Inside Out with Kaddy Lee-Preston.




Chris Packham is President of the Bat Conservation Trust and Vice president of the Wildlife Trusts.  He as had papers on Kestrels published in British Birds and as written in photography magazine's, mainly for Amateur Photography and Photography Monthly.

In 2011, he was awarded the British Trust for Ornithology's Dilys Breeze Medal for his outstanding work in promoting science to new audiences he said at the time:


"I have always been interested in scientific research an understood its importance in underpinning conservation action, not just in this country but around the globe.  To receive this award from one of the leading scientific research establishment in the country is a real honour and is also very poignant for me.  Dilys was instrumental in me getting in me getting my first wildlife presenting job at the BBC.  I accept the award for her and citizen scientists everywhere".

Some of Chris,s photography is outstanding from an early age he transformed his house into a menagerie, with snakes, spiders, birds, and foxes.  His passion for wildlife shaped his career, one of his most successful ventures was presenting the Children's BBC Wildlife programme, the Really Wild Show.Although he loves the T V work his passion is photography, not just bid life but all wildlife photography.




In June 2009, he became a presenter on the BBC Two show Spring watch with Katie Humble, where he as become very popular with his knowledge about wildlife is fantastic.



This is some off Chris Packham's photograph, as you can see some of these shots are out standing.  

Eric Hosking's Bird Photographer.( Black & White.)

Eric Hoskings  OBE (1909-1991)
The first professional wildlife photographer in Britain, his specialisation in birds, was to bring him world wide acclaim.  He was aways looking for perfection in his field of photography.  For over sixty years he enjoyed a long and distinguished career as on of the worlds best loved and respected wildlife photographers.


At the age of just eight he was given is first camera , a Kodak Box Brownie.

He was fortunate to survive a childhood illness.  His love of bird watching made him determined to live life to the full.  He left school at the age of fifteen.  His head master saying, "you will never make anything in life".  His first job at fifteen was in the motor industry, which he was ill suited, and sustaining an industrial injury.  Having decided to become a freelance wildlife photographer he had a lucky break when an old school friend, who was the editor for a newspaper paid him for picture of a child at the zoo standing beside an elephant seal, the Daily Dispatch paid him the sum of two guineas, he was on his way?

In 1937 he lost the sight of his left eye, this was done while climbing into a hide in Wales, he was clawed by a Tawny Owl and lost the sight in his left eye.  The future looked very bleak but after learning that Walter Higham, a bird photographer whose he admired had only one eye , his sprinted lifted.  Twenty four hours after leaving the hospital, he climbed back into the same hide , where the incident had happened.

This is a Tawny Owl similar to the one that took Eric's left eye sight.  One Eric's wonderful photographs.


Throughout the 1930s he supplemented his income with pictures for the press, lectures at schools, clubs, and social evenings.  He was not averse to photographing weddings and children for a time he helped Marcus Adams, by taking his 'outdoor' commission whilst the 'master' worked in the studio.  There was even a request from the Duchess of York to photograph her daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Margaret Rose.


As he honed his skills, building his library and his reputation as a wildlife photographer grew, he battled with the problem of slow panchromatic emulsion.  In 1935, he was the first photographer to experiment with the Sashalight flash bulbs and in the following year he took the first ever flash photograph of an owl with its prey as seen above.


It was not until 1963 that he made his decision to work with 35 mm format only.  In 1974 he changed to Olympus using the evolving system right up to the time of his death at eighty one.


As his reputation grew his ability to take photography's soared and the quality got better and better.  Having photographed virtually every bird in Britain, he was invited by the big names of ornithology to join them on major expeditions throughout the world.


Images from his massive library, spanning  six decades, are still in great demanded and, thankfully, his son David is a chip of the old block.  You can be sure that when the21st century photographers are reviewed , then Hoskings name will right up their with the best.


These are some of Hoskings Black & White photo's.

These are some of the images that Eric Hosking's have produced these I have downloaded.  There are more but these are protected and to make them any bigger will not give them the justice they deserve.