Paxton Pits Walk

Last week, Paxton teemed with birds close to the shore but with the water level receding they have retreated further into the centre of the Pits. Trying out the new Fuji camera - very impressed with the focusing and the Precapture works well so a thumbs up there - only problem now is finding a workflow as Adobe Lightroom does not support the file format ( and never will for my Lightroom 6). so these are jpegs from the camera setting - need to tweak this for future use as a bit contrasty.

Lackford Lakes Up Close

A small party of CCC Members scoured Lackford on Wednesday - some hunting the birds while others got their heads down in the foliage to see what stirred. For those at Ian's talk last night, these are processed with Capture One rather than Lightroom and certainly the software has done a good job on the Fuji Files. I exported these via Lightroom and forgot to reduce the Export xharpening so some look a bit over-sharpened!

Testing Macro Kit for Switzerland

 Although the Canon 5D mkiii with Canon 100 mm macro with small flash is an excellent combination for macro photography and served me well in Sardinia, it is heavy to transport and carry. I also no longer have a general purpose lens for the Canon. As I replaced the stolen Canon gear with a range of Fuji lenses, I have been testing to see if I would prefer to take just Fuji to Wengen. I want to be able to carry a long lens for distant insects etc and a closer macro. The first five images are with the Zeiss 50mm Touit lens and in-camera flash with the XT-10. The 6th is with the 40-150mm alone on the XT-1 and the last two with the 1.4 times converter added (with external flash gun). Taken in the evening so ISO3200 for first few. Flash OK as long as not directly onto background!

Lens Workout at Pensthorpe Natural Park

No better place than the Wader Aviary at Pensthorpe to practise bird photography with the Fuji 100-400mm. The lighting was rather variable but generally pleased with the results. For Paul and Dinah, in particular, this is on manual focus with AE-L set to single or continuous focus (jury still out on this one) and highlight peaking on. So I use the AE-L button to focus and then, if time, touch the focus ring which enlarges the image with highlight peaking on to adjust point of focus. With the Bearded Tits relied just on the AE-L focusing and was pretty successful though the mirrorless system makes picking up moving bird difficult (?impossible?). The Ruffs are in full breeding plumage as are the Black-tailed Godwits. The Bearded Tits are always a challenge and great to photograph two endangered species Corncrake and Turtle Dove. Avocets as always a delight.

Fun with Fuji and Beach Huts

Sometimes serendipity can play a part in creativity - here are some very strange images taken with the Fuji X-T1 sweep panorama mode - by mistake moved along the wrong axis!! Not very repeatable but managed a couple more after the first boats one, which is not quite in focus. I also include two 'correct' sweeps though I have gone a bit close at the tops, one image where I moved a bit fast and one multiple exposure image. Last four images normal mode just to show what a beautiful morning it was on Wednesday after the storm.