Deer Rut in Richmond Park

Deer rut in Richmond Park - An Iain Green Photography day. http://www.naturebygreen.com/

Following on the training days I have done at WWT Barnes with Iain Green I decided to go to one of the guided days in Richmond Park to photograph the deer rut. This is a regular event run by Iain and one of his photos from here features on the cover of his book. (Which incidentally I won in the intermediate photography day last year).

We a group  of four and Iain) met at 07:45 on a dull day and immediately saw a small herd of red deer with a large stag keeping order. There was a minor challenge from a smaller stag but a few bellows and a trot towards him from the 'boss' soon put paid to that. The London skyline was just about visible but it was quite murky.

The morning brightened slightly but the skies remained overcast and later on the rain returned. Despite this there were plenty of deer to see and much bellowing echoing across the park.

There was plenty of autumn colour in the trees and bracken, it just needed a bright blue sky to really make the colours stand out.

As the light was low I took advantage of the longer shutter speed to try a zoom burst of the leaves.

We came across several types of fungi were growing up in the grass and dead tree trunks.

The walk finished at 2 P.M. and shortly after that the rain really came down hard so I was glad to be back in the car.

BBC Countryfile Photographic Competition 2012

I have two photographs to submit to the annual BBC Countryfile Competiton. The closing date is Sunday, 22nd July. Full details can be found here..http://www.countryfile.com/countryside/2012-countryfile-photographic-competition.

The entries are of a running pony in the New Forest and a pair of Cornish Sheep.

Nigel Wilson Travel Photography Weekend

I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend learning about all sorts of photography with a group from the JLP photography club and Nigel Wilson. http://www.photographycourses.org.uk/about.php

The Saturday was classroom based and included reviewing our previously submitted pictures, one we were happy with and one were weren't, and discussion about what makes a good photograph.

This is the picture I was happy with, the walker in the red top gives a real focus of attention to the picture and then the eye is drawn down the Long Walk to Windsor Castle.

The picture I was disappointed with was a great subject but I couldn't work out a good composition.

Improvements could be to get higher to see more of the benches or crop the image and convert to black and white; like this...

The main thrust of the session was the thinking that should go into the photographs. "Everyone can take a photograph, not everyone can make one".

On the Sunday we met a location, which cannot be disclosed, to put into practice all that  we had been discussing. What with all the new ideas and a Saturday evening to inspire me I was all set for a good morning of photography. Unfortunately it poured with rain for a lot of the time but good waterproofs and plenty of confidence that my camera wouldn't leak kept me going. The venue was challenging as there was too much to photograph and the time just flew by.

Once back at the classroom we had to pick five pictures from the shoot and present back to the group. The standard, from all the group, was very good and showed we had picked up lots of tips and ideas from the Saturday.

A really good course that improved my understanding of photography and taught me plenty of new ideas too.

Wraysbury on a Sunday morning

As is my wont on a Sunday morning, I took a walk around the old gravel pits and woods close to Wraysbury. The sun was shining but the forecast was for rain later in the day so I wanted to make the most of it. The temperature was quite pleasant so I hoped to see newly emerged butterflies and possibly even damsel flies.
On my circular route I took a more wooded path than normal, I usually keep close to the water. This produced several male Orange tips (only the males have orange tips!) a Speckled Wood and two Brimstone. There was also a small white one which may have been  'Small White' or a female Orange tip (who don't have orange tips!).

Orange Tip

Speckled Wood

Along by the reservoir banks the sheep and lambs were keeping their distance so I couldn't get any particularly good shots but I did try to get a 'little lamb lost' shot.

It is always worth a look for Peregrine Falcons on the electricity pylon close to the rail crossing but no luck this time. In fact it is usually during the winter when they show up here. Hopefully, they are off rearing some young aerial hunters. One thing hoping they wouldn't be too close was a male chaffinch.

Chaffinch

One final weird sighting was a cluster of toadstools growing out of a dead tree trunk - strange for spring but a result of the recent wet weather?

Toadstools in Spring

All in all a very good couple of hours and a good way to spend the best weather of the day.

I was using my Canon 450D with 70-200mm lens.

Scavenger Hunt Report

Well it was a hot day. London was buzzing with tourists enjoying the sights and the weather. Team Slik met at the London eye and on the stroke of 11A.M. we headed off on our chosen route to take pictures to solve the cryptic clues and 'collect' as many places from the Monopoly board (without straying out of the defined area for the hunt).

Our route took us past quintessential sights, starting at the London eye over the Thames, with the Houses of Parliament in clear view. Up Nothumberland Avenue to Trafalgar square, the Strand and onto Pall Mall. We had a stop in the crypt of St Martins in the Fields for a drink and light bite to eat then onwards up Charing Cross Road through Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Soho and our final destination the Crown and Two Chairmen in Dean Street.

Glad to report that out team was first back with all the questions answered. There was time to try to cool off and have a drink (including the 'perfectly drawn pint' which was one of the images we had to capture). There was a great selection of images and prizes awarded for best overall collection and best shot of the Essence of London.

On the way home I called into the National Portrait Gallery for a quick look at some of the portrait phototography they had on show - I have to say there weren't many that really grabbed my attention!

JLPPC Scavenger Hunt 2011

Somewhere in London....

A scavenger hunt is an event in which the organisers prepare a list of specific items or tasks which the participant teams take photographs whilst following a defined route. The goal is usually to be the first to complete the list and return to a secret final location.

The second running (figuratively speaking!) of a scavenger hunt takes place this weekend. I have received meeting instructions and fellow team members. The forecast is for a hot, sunny day so should be good!

JLPPC go to Kew

A very sunny April day at Kew with the JLP photography club.
Having made my my way to Kew via rail replacement bus to Hounslow, then train to Kew I arrived at the gardens just before 10 A.M. Headed to Snake's Head Fritillary flowers and they were in good form but not for much longer as they were starting to go over.

Met up with the group at 10:45 at Victoria gate then headed off around the gardens with Neil, who is recording a year at Kew so he knows a huge amount about the gardens.
There were plenty of people about but not so many as to make it uncomfortable. Took plenty of photographs of the flowers and glass house close ups.

Picnic lunch on the grass outside the Orangery then on via the fritillarys to the lake.

Group split up at 4 P.M. but I stayed on for another couple of hours to take advantage of the improving (less harsh) light.  Found a Golden pheasant deep in the pines near the Redwood Grove.

ACC Q1 DPI Competition

Tuesday 22nd is the first quarter digital projected image competition at Ashford Camera club. I have an entry for all three categories Nature, General and Portrait. These were taken on the Isle of Muck, Isle of Eigg and at the Chinese New Year celebrations for the year of the rabbit in London's China town.

The Nature picture is of a horse on the beach at Gallanach on the Isle of Muck.

This scored 9 out of 10, good points being the mixture of foreground, middle ground and background, the horse looking into the picture and colours in the sea.

The general picture is the photogenic red roofed cottage on the Isle of Eigg but with a hiker approaching to distinguish it from other similar shots.

The judge did say this was a typical 'chocolate box' image and there were probably some more interesting shots up amongst the rocks in the background. He also checked the walker was approaching the cottage as my title was 'Nearly Home'. They do take the title into account. The failings of the picture were also associated with the colours, which were a bit muted and could have done with more saturation in post capture.

The portrait was taken amongst the crowds at the Chinese New Year celebrations in London in February 2011.

This also scored 9 out of 10. The judge liked the 'moment' caught in the shot and commented that these shots can be hard to capture in such a busy scene; he wasn't wrong there. 

So, quite pleased with 26.5 out of 30 on the evening. 

The next competition evening is back to prints on 3rd May.

Ashford Camera Club website - http://www.ashfordcameraclub.org.uk/

ACC Q1 Print competition

The first quarterly print competition took place on Tuesday, 1st February. The normal categories are General, Nature and Portrait. I put in two prints, both printed to A4 size at home (must do a blog entry on equipment used) and mounted on cream card.

The general picture was taken in Camden with the JLP photography club and is of a large soap bubble with pedestrians behind.  The judge scored this at 8.5

The second picture was a nature picture and was my shot of a Mayfly taken at Wraysbury in 2009. This was well received and scored 9. The points against were just that the body was a little dark compared to the rest of the image.

Ashford Camera Club website - http://www.ashfordcameraclub.org.uk/

Ashford Camera Club - Annual Projected Image Competiton.

The annual projected image competition was held on Tuesday, 23rd November.
The categories were

• Nature
• Portrait
• General

I submitted two entries. Bluebell Swirl, taken in Stroude last spring and Sun in Trees, taken in Bala with JLPPC last year. I should have put my Bluebell picture into the general category as the nature category does not allow any manipulation if even this is done by camera movement. It should be a true representation of what was seen. Oh well I know for next time. The picture was scored however and got an 8.

The judge really liked my Sun in Trees picture and gave it a 10,  yay!

Ashford Camera Club – Annual Print Competition

Tuesday, 16th November saw me make my first entries in a print competition at the ACC annual print competition. Having only just joined the club I have missed the quarterly competitions but the format is much the same. Prints can be entered in the following categories:

• Nature
• Portrait – monochrome
• Portrait – colour
• General – monochrome
• General – colour

I put forward my picture of cottages at Cuckmere Haven from Saturday’s annual show and a print of a pigeon in shallow water taken in Nottingham a few years ago.
The independent judge took a quick preview of the pictures then went through each one, displayed in a lightbox, and gave her comments and a score for each. The maximum score was 10 and a few pictures did achieve this.
My picture of cottages only scored 7.5 owing to a lack of recession into the distance over the cliffs and too much foreground in front of the cottages.

The pigeon however did grab the judges attention owning to the reflections and unusual setting. This was awarded 9.5 and so will go forward in the club’s entries for a Surrey Photographic clubs  Association  competition in the new year.

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Ashford Camera Club – Annual Exhibition 2010

The annual exhibition of the camera club took place in the St. Matthew’s Hall in Ashford. I arrived just after 9 A.M. to find a good number of members already in the hall putting up their photos. There was a wide range of subjects from portraits to landscapes and lots in between. There were some prints for sale and I noticed a few of these had scores from previous competitions so it was useful to see some that had scored highly and to try and work out why. I had named five pictures to go up so the name labels were ready and waiting.  These were either pinned or attached using Velcro tabs to the display boards.
The pictures were:

• Jackdaw
• Swans in Black & White
• Sheepdog
• Cottages at Cuckmere Haven
• Birdman

The show opened at 10:30 but there were few visitors in the first couple of hours but around midday a few groups of twos and threes arrived. The hall is off the beaten track so despite the plentiful banners and boards in the high street it is not somewhere passersby will stumble across.
I had to leave at 12:30 to get to Croydon so will find out on Tuesday (next club night) how the exhibition went in the afternoon. It was due to close at 4 P.M.
The morning was a good opportunity to meet and chat to other members of the club and see their work. It is always beneficial to do this to learn and get ideas to try different things with photographs.
The next club night is for the annual print competition so I’ll need to sort out a print or two for that and prepare a digital image (one to display on a projector) for the following week.

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