Early Morning Paxton Pits

One of those special moments when you arrive on a scene just as the lighting conditions are perfect - a mist had settled over one of the lakes at Paxton as the sun rose high enough to illuminate the scene and what better subject than a Great Crested Grebe in full display plumage. The Tufted Ducks played their part while flying Mallard and Cormorant added to the scene.

Paxton Stalk Balls and Scarlet Elf Cups

Winter Stalk Balls, Tulostoma brumale, are most commonly found on the coast in sand dunes etc but there is a good population at Paxton Pits on the gravel areas. Along with Pixie Cup lichens and Scarlet Elf Cup fungi they make wonderful macro subjects. As previous post, pairs of images - Raws processed with DxO Pure3Raw and  stacked in Zerene stacker in the computer next to in-camera stacks.

Focus-stacked Mosses, Lichens and Flies

We have traded in our Olympus OM-D EM-1 mark ii for another 2nd hand EM-1 mark iii as it has a few very useful features including dedicated exposure compensation and the ability to do an in-camera stack of 15 rather than 9 images. Here a few in-camera stacks of mosses and lichens in our churchyard and a couple of flies. The last image is stacked in the computer with Zerene stacker from the 15 RAW images processed with DxO PureRaw3; this gives a lot more detail than the in-camera jpeg and is obviously the best method for a quality images but the in-camera stacks are excellent for a quick image

Comberton Church Full Spectrum Photography

Full-spectrum photography is great for dark church interiors without a tripod as it picks up all the available light. Here a few cameos from one of our local churches.

Summer Leys Hedgerow Birds

 In addition to the lakes at Summer Leys, the Feeding station with viewing hide is always an attraction and, apart from the lack of Bullfinches, it was as good as ever with lots of activity and species. Sad to see the Chaffinch with the Fringilla papillomavirus affecting its feet (this may be the cause, with avian flu, for the decline in Bullfinch numbers). Otherwise a delightful hour or so was spent watching and photographing their antics, especially the delightful but very aggressive Siskins. There was a Chiffchaff singing loudly and flitting in the trees and a Sparrowhawk whizzed through at water level (no photo!!!) and we think removed one feeding bird.