Misty Morning Bushy Park

Bushy Park was not open till 8am so we wondered if we would be too late for good atmospheric images but luck was on our side as very soon after parking the car we located a large group of deer ideally placed to take advantage of the mist and the early sunlight showing up the breath. The large group included Red Deer and a few Fallow hines. There were a couple of mature stags, one of which roared a few times for us, and several young males on the periphery. I did not know a lot about the social interactions and breeding cycle of Red Deer so read up the following article which is full of fascinating facts such as it is the hines that choose the group to associate with rather than the stags rounding and protecting the group though this also occurs. 

 Red Deer Breeding Biology | Wildlife Online

Red and Fallow Deer at Sunset

We were very lucky to have a good sunset for our trip to Bushy Park. Here a selection of Fallow and Red Deer taken against the setting sun.

Common Birds in Good Light

I borrowed Ian's lens and converter to compare with my lens which maybe needs a service as it has had hard use over the years I have had it. First a visit to a local pond to field test the lenses. Plenty of activity with Dabchicks diving for fish, Mallard, moorhens, gulls and rooks. No discernible difference in performance - first 7 images with 1.4 converter, last three without. 

Brandon CP in the Rain

Although rain arrived in the afternoon at Brandon, we continued with our exploration of Brandon and found quite a few more fungi to record. There were lots Fly Agarics, but mostly already eaten by slugs etc, and also the Aniseed Funnel, with its amazing jade colour. Other finds were the Yellow Stagshorn, Death Cap and the Purple Jellydisc.

Colours of Autumn

We had a very enjoyable walk with Jonathan round RSPB Sandy woods and heathland. I decided to play with the autumn colours using multiple exposure in camera - here are a few of the results from the vibrant compositions of beech leaves, grasses and bark to the monochromatic images in the pine woods.

Brandon Country Park

Yesterday was our annual CCC fungi photography day at Brandon so a party of 20 members explored the area on a cold and later rather wet day. There were plenty of species there but a lot were damaged or eaten. However, still plenty to occupy the group and some very pleasing clumps etc. I was focus-bracketing (25 shots) with my Fuji X100v, sometimes with close-up filter, at around F4. I did a comparison shot at F4 and F2 (images 7 and 8) and the comparison shows the lens is a bit less sharp wide open though still very acceptable - the toadstools themselves, although in focus throughout from the stacking, are less 'crisp' - a dilemma as I do like the more diffuse background. Images 5 and 6 are shot at F8 and F11 and not stacked