Comparisons with Richard Ford Wildlife Photographer

I took the lower image and to me there is no comparison ,i have beat him hands down with this one ,mine is clearer,sharper,brighter,relaxed,nicely composed with a clear blurred backdrop.I should of cropped this picture with the bird more to the right as to give a better composition,I also think that the texture of the feathers stand out against a clean backdrop.

The two Little Owls are both sharp but the top photo by Richard Ford although slightly darker than mine (as pictured below) has better composition and the tap is not interfering with the picture ,instead it adds to the picture were mine is sat on a electric cable which spoils my photo.I do like the tap in the photograph as it gives the viewer the scale and size of the owl ie (little owl) .The focal point of each image is the owls eyes,sharp,clear with good colour and the too shots have the eyes spot on and extremely similar.

Here the top photo taken by Richard Ford has a relaxed Robin with good composure and no distractions ,a good sharp image with good colour ,i took the one below which is slightly over exposed on the log on which the Robin was stood on ,but the Robin itself  has a good posture with good colour tones with no distractions and still nicely relaxed.The top Robin has less distractions and has good space to move into and works well with the rule of thirds.

The top Bullfinch by Richard Ford is rather dull with the bird squatting down and looking a little agitated and cautious,it also has a branch at the front of the picture which is a little distracting as it leads the eye away from the subject.The Bullfinch below which i took is a lot sharper ,more relaxed and a more natural look altogether, i did have better light on this occasion and i think i got this one spot on. (but i would say that would'nt i) It looks like we both used the same focal point (its eyes) and the lines on my shot lead you down the slope and contour of the land.Not only is the Bullfinch's feather texture good i also think the grass in the forground has also got good colour and texture,in my shot i have the rule of thirds,texture,lines colour and composure.

The two Chaffinches i have chosen here  were taken in different light conditions,the top one i took and the tones are a lot richer as the light was duller the bottom one was taken by Richard Ford and although he had better light the bird looks duller in comparison,they both look nice and relaxed with good posture but the tones are to me quite different considering the light ,if i had had the same light i think mine would of stood out more as the colours are more richer.

Here are two shots of a Nuthatch,The first one is done by myself and the second one was taken by Richard Ford,I actually prefer my shot as the colours look more natural .The two shots are very similar with the birds stance ,as with the blurred background.The tones in both shots work well and the composure of the two shots are similar with good lines to follow and both images lead you to where the Nuthatch is going next,What i could of done was to give more space at the left side as to give the Nuthatch more space to move into.

Fieldfare comparisons...

This first photo was taken by myself in dull light making the image look quite lifeless, similar to the bottom shot but as you can see the shot below(by Alan Saunders)is much clearer with the birds posture nice and relaxed where mine looks very nervous and the shot below gives a better awareness of the rule of thirds .Also the image bellow has the colour and sharpness that mine doesn't, the eye is sharp and the beak stands out where mine is dull and doesn't stand out at all.If i were to do the shot again i would somehow need to be higher and maybe hidden in a hide so i could use a slower shutter to get more light as the bird below was more settled on its branch were mine was ready to fly away and if the bird was settled you have more time to adjust the settings to get the right result .

Red poll

As i was waiting for the Yellowhammers these little Sparrow looking things appeard so i took them with a usuall f5.6 at1/250sec at400m with an ISO of 320.when i got home i got out my trusted book on British Garden Birds by Collins Nature Guide and low and behold i had bagged my first ever Redpolls .

As i am getting to know more about Cannock Chase i am in awe of just how much wildlife there is there,it covers 26square miles of woods and open land where you will find anything from rere butterflys,snakes,lizards,birds on migration and birds escaping colder weather ,they also have a good head of Red Deer and  Fellow Deer,There are at least 2 visitors centres were you can ask a Ranger for any sitings of any species you are after.Cannock Chase is close to Cannok in staffordshire,you can walk,cycle or Drive when there at your own leasure and is always busy at the weekends.The forestry Commision maintain the Chase at a very high level and are always clearing areas and re planting others.The only safety issues i have on the Chase are to take care when walking through the bracken as it does have a lot of Adders and a bite is not uncommon in the warmer months but thney usually slither away before you get to close.Another issue would be to remember  your way back as you can soon get lost,but if you do go there you will see a lot of wildlife in its natural habitat and its half an hour out of Burton.

For this  last shot i wished i had changed the aperture so both birds would of been in focus ,by changing the depth of field and slowing the shutter speed down the light would of stayed the same but with a sharper image of the second bird.

Yellowhammer

The Yellowhammer,I found this is one the hardest Birds i have photographed,it was extremley shy and very nervous,and with bad light became a real challange.i I sat on the grass in a hedge with a camoflarged net over me for what seemed like hours,Some of the images may appear a bit grainy as i dont like going over 400 ISO as i get noise om my photos and i really struggled here as the birds where hopping all over the place and with any movement they were gone and they didnt rush back.So set at f5.6 at400m with the shutter at 1/200 i managed to get these,what i would of liked though was to actually see them in a tree but i never even seen them approaching they were litterally there one minute and gone the next.

The shots i have selected from my shoot are of good colour with a nice posture,the plumage texture is clear and shows the patterns and lines of the feathers,they might appear slightly under exposed but a little work in photo shop could brighten the shot up but not to much.

After 3 hours i actually seen this one up in a tree and i used the same settings as with the rest.I will be back for them again when the weather is biighter but i might struggle more as yhey will have more leaf cover and an abundance of their own food.

The Dunnock

Here i set up a weatheard log that i have used before as the colour and texture of the log stand out against a dark backdrop,and as the Dunnock landed on the top it it blended well into my picture, with a f5.6 aperture the Dunnock was nice and sharp.

 Here i used the same settings for both shots and as you can see the cloud behind had changed giving 2 different photos , f5.6 at 1/400 at 400m with 320 ISO,I was pleased with the shots as the Dunnock was singing but personally i cant here them as i am tone deaf which is a slight disadvantage when photographing wildlife (especially birds)because i sometimes cant here them.

As you can see the Dunnock does blend in well with the trees and are often mistaken for Sparrows.They are very common in gardens,parks and woods through out the Uk.I particually like the orange eyes with slightly orange legs.

Here i was blessed with better light so i tweaked the shutter speed slighly too 500 sec at f5.6 at 400m with an ISO 320,the last two are my favorites as the appear more natural in their own surroudings with out the use of props or bait.

Bullfinch

p4Male Bullfinch taken at F5.6at 1/250 with an ISO of 250 at 400m.Surprisingly low shuter considering the conditions.

A female Bullfinch again the same settings but i had to change shuttrt speed down to 1/200 sec to get it.

Perfect they have come down from the trees to get some seed that i have scatterd in front of my hide but they were so nervous i had to be quick but i am pleased with the result .The female was taken at 1/400 sec and the male at 1/1000 both at f5.6 at 400m with an ISO of 320.these two shots have to me cosidering the pair were on the ground a good colour and a nice composition as there  are no distractions in the pictures,just the birds that i had set bout to get.

The male here was getting slightly bolder and flew a bit closer but i still needed the full zoom of the lense to get him,this was a rare chance to get him without any branches in front of him.but with a clear sky behind him i managed to raise the shuttrt speed a little to 1/640 .

The skys darkened and this Female tones in nicely with the greyier sky behind her as she feeds on new shoots in the tree,again a change of shutter speed now down to 1/320 sec as the light changed.

This last shot looked stunning as it happened a perfect place to land with a dark background so the male here would stand out , i again slowed the shutter to 1/80 sec ,looking back i could of raised the ISO from 320 to around 800-1000 so i could of used a faster shutter but doing so could of led to a grainier picture which i did not want.

My mission today on the 18/3/11 was to photograph Bullfinches at Cannok Chase,the weather was perfect bright and sunny with little cloud (perfect)The plan was to use my Nikon D300s with a Nikon 80/400 telephoto zoom lense hand held as the Bullfinches are quite nervous and get spooked easily so setting up my tripod and then getting a fix on the birds might of been to long to fire some shots.With good light i could set a fast shutter speed and a low ISO as there was plenty of light.

Guy Edwardes

1. In this photo i like the way the Owl stands out and the meadow flowers and grasses are blurred because of the slower shutter speed which is fine providing the object IE the Owl does not move or that would appear blurred too.

The Damsel flies here Must of been lit from below to capture and highlight the lower wings.I would of tried a lighter background to enlighten the bodies of the damselflys more.

The composition here is spot on for me as the colours of the Gannet stand out well against a clear blue sky.Also the lines are easy to follow

Here the subject was lit from behind which gives a stunning silhouette and the dear seems to appear in 3d

Does the rule of 3rds work here? i can't see it myself but again a stunning backdrop plus an interesting blured leaf at the front.