Action at Lackford Lakes

A very enjoyable day at Lackford Lakes with CCC Nature Group. I concentrated on two 'projects': macro with wide angle lens (to follow!) and action shots of birds and insects. The Dragonflies and the Hummingbird Hawkmoth were taken at 1/4000th except the first image, at 1/1000th - surprised that there is little difference in wing movement (the Darter was on electronic shutter and shows the bend in the wing). The Migrant Hawkers were hovering for quite extended periods in the strong breeze! The bird were at 1/2000th - I do like the levitating Nuthatch. The Hummingbird Hawkmoth was quite worn around the tail area but was still very manoeuvrable. The eyes are wonderful - I am on an insect vision project at the moment so very useful captures.

Welney Afternoon Sunshine and Slow Shutterspeeds

After a foggy start, the sun made it out with clear skies for an hour or so before it clouded over again at sunset. Spent some time taking slow shutterspeed images -from 1/30th to 1/125th second. Love the way the primaries of the swans record in a blur of motion.

 

Welney Swans in Motion

Another trip to Welney and another sunset but as always different lighting and different behaviour from the swans to the previous visit. There was not so much light spillage after sunset so this time I went for slower and slower shutterspeeds. I like the final image of the day (1/15th second ISO 6400) as it gives the feel of the ghostly squadrons of swans coming in to land out of nowhere.

Creative Imagery

 We had an Aperture group meeting of Cambridge Camera club last night where the topic was the un-image - defined as a picture that does not conform to the normal technical standards that we look for in club competitions etc but where there is a certain mystery that makes the viewer wish to investigate further. We looked at lots of famous photographers and images that have stood the test of time despite being unsharp, overexposed etc etc. I am not sure all of mine fit the criteria, but they are mainly straight-from-the-camera shots without manipulation other than cropping, tones etc

King's Cross Concourse

On the way to Bath, I spent a short time photographing in the King's Cross Concourse. I love the colours of  the roof, this time also reflected in the sides of the escalator. I found a convenient support for the camera and did some slow motion shots - it was rush hour so lots of people hurrying for the trains while others watched the departure boards for platform allocation.

Dogs, Horses and Legs

What an amazing collection of dogs at the Gransden Show today  - they came in ones,  twos and more and always among the feet.

I was also intrigued the way the horses and their handlers ran exactly in step.

Flying Rods

The surface of the River Wensum on Wednesday was a mass of flying 'gnats' and as they changed speed they appeared as flying rods with lots of rotating wings. I have never seen this with the naked eye before. The photos are taken at 1/1000th (not quite enough to freeze wing movement, 1/40th (about what my eye saw) and 1/15th both up wind where they moved slower and downwind with very fast movement. Has anyone else witnessed this - the multiple images seen without the camera were quite new to me.