Todays shoot was to continue with my Gastropod assignment and for this wanted to try something a little different to last time, by trying to photograph my subject matter in a completely different perspective. To do this I thought I would photograph the snails from underneath a plate of glass. Like the first shoot I was using a white backdrop and my lighting set up was the same (scroll down to past posts for more information). The reason for using white is to help you appreciate the detail of the creature, along with converting the image to black & white so there are no distractions from the colours. My intention was to focus on a series of lines that can be found underneath a snails body but as nature is so unpredictable, I ended up photographing the snail opening its mouth and closing as this is something that I have never seen before and I'm sure many others haven't. I just simply couldn't believe how alien it seemed to look through the glass. I have spent a lot of time photographing and watching these snails, So I thought I believed that I had seen everything and it wasn't the first time I had seen the lips showing as I have photographed them eating before but to see the mouth and tongue was a great surprise. The reason for choosing the studio was to focus on the characteristics of the snails and to show they're interesting details. Such as the shell, eyes, lips, mouth and texture of the skin. I feel that I have achieved this today and will continue to photograph them in the studio environment to see if I can capture anymore surprises like today, along with looking at different perspectives in which to bring creatures that are often looked upon as dull into the spot light. Work will be added at the end of the assignment in the Marco/microscopy section. For todays shoot I went to Tehidy Woodland, which is a lovely nature reserve and perfect for me to continue with my assignment on Gastropods. For this shoot I decided to photograph the Snails when they are most active and this is when they can feel moisture in the air which is caused by the water. Snails are also very active when its dark as they are nocturnal creatures but I am still in the middle of planning that shoot for the nearby future. When walking along the river bank I was looking for a good place to set up my kit, when I saw this branch that was across the water. I instantly thought this would be good location for what I was trying to achieve. The kit I was using today was a Nikon D600 (24. Mega Pixel Camera) and a 24-120mm lens, not my usual kit but the macro lens I began using wasn't giving me the shots I Pre visualised. Another important piece of kit I used today was my new waders so I would be able to get a low perspective and of course to avoid camera shake I used a tripod. Before introducing the snails, I played around with setting to get the effect of the water moving, to do this I had to use a slow shutter speed. I didn't want it to be too slow because then I may catch the movement off my subject matter. This was my first shot I took of the snail and one I feel is the most effective as it shows the snail well in its environment and surroundings. Work from todays shoot will be added shortly to the wildlife section of this site, including shots of Squirrels, Rooks and Blue Tits. This evening I got to see a great variety of photographs and talent from many young photographers like my self. The exhibition was by the universities institute of photography society and for the first exhibition they wanted people to sent in their favourite picture that they have ever taken. Of course like many others I sent one of my pictures in of a recent photograph I took at the RSPB Nature reserve. The photograph was titled "the jewel of the estuary" and was of my favourite bird the kingfisher. A close friend of mine also send in her wonderful photograph of a Kingfisher, Katie managed to capture the stunning bird just as it flew out of the water, this was also Katie's first exhibition so it was nice to see her work put up. Other photographers from our course had their work up and I must say there were some pretty impressive landscapes. I also really liked a lot of the black and white photographs and there were also some photographs that showed great talent in photoshop/editing. Here is a quick snap shot of myself standing along side my print and someone else's lovely photograph of a sunset in swan pool. If you would like to see "the jewel of the estuary" there are a few shots in the wildlife section of my site. If you would like to see the exhibition for your self details are above. Overall it was a great to see other photographers work and I hope that there will be many more in the future. Today I worked in the studio for the first time in a long while and my reason for doing so was to focus on Gastropods or much more commonly know Snails. I have begun to photograph them in their natural habitat and environment but using a studio I can take away all the other distractions that environment may bring so you can focus on the detail of the subject matter. This is done by using a white backdrop so that all the other colours will stick out more, this can also be done using a black or grey backdrop but in this case I used white. My idea for this was inspired by one of my favourite photographer Charlie Hamilton James who recently bought a part of the rainforest and to catalogue all the species he found he decided to photograph them in a studio setting similar to this. I was also inspired by "Meet Your Neighbours" which was founded in 2009 and is a photographic project to show people the wildlife around them by giving the animals/creatures the celebrity treatment. The reason I chose snails is because they are often over looked, so I am hoping through my photography that I could possibly make people pay more attention to what's around them and to appreciate how wonderful this small creature is up close if you give your self the time of day to stop and admire. I used a variety of garden snails (Helix Aspersa) of all sizes and also tried to photograph them interacting with each other. It seems snails can be quite a social creature and enjoys climbing onto the other snails shell, which was about to happen in the photograph here but then they soon seem to loose interest and move away. The shoot went quite well today, I used a Nikon D810 with a 105 mm Macro lens, along with a studio light system 5000 on a shooting table which is used for this type of macro photography. Here is the set up I used below: ( Three lights, two using barn doors and one with out) Having one light above meant I could highlight the top of the snails shell, along with one of the left and right to light each side of the snail or snails in some cases. It also helped having a shooting table because that also lit up underneath but not as powerful as the rest. Overall I feel todays shoot went well but there is still more to try out and develop on with this on going assignment. Work will be added shortly to the Macro/Microscopy section of the website. And I arrived in the beautiful sea side town of St.Ives, I was only walking around five minutes before a very friendly Turnstone decided to introduce him self. I have photographed turnstones here before and its always a joy to be able to get close to such a lovely looking bird, along with the rather tame starlings which I manage to photograph later in the day. The weather was a mixture of sunny and windy with a shower of rain thrown in every now and then. For this shoot I used the Nikon D810 (36 mega pixels) with a F.28, 70-200mm lens, these both have to be some of my favourite kit I like using because of the amazing quality they help produce in your images. Today I didn't just get to photograph birds such as Turnstones, Starlings and this years Juvenile Gulls. I also got to photograph a very curious seal from the end of the pier at hight tide but he didn't stay around for long but when he did pop up I managed to get a few shots, although when I got a good look he seemed to have a very swollen eye but lets hope he get better and won't get into anymore fights if that was the case. As for the starlings they just seem to get more and more tame each time I visit...is this a good thing? Well, in a way YES for wildlife photographers like my self can get close up photographs of this stunning bird but watching them today they almost looked and acted domestic, as if they were a family pet waiting for a treat. Something about this just didn't seem right and I understand that reason why they are not afraid of humans is because they are becoming the source of their food and overall survival but surely this will make them more fundable to predators. Overall today was a really enjoyable day for photography and the fact Wales won in rugby against Fiji, 17 v 13! (A little unprofessional I know) Photographs will be added shortly to the wildlife and landscape section. Tomorrow I will be continuing my on going assignment on gastropods and will be working in the studio. Today I went to a very interesting and inspiring talk by Doctor Wendy Darke a marine biologist, who is the first woman to be the head of the natural history unit for the BBC in its 56-year history. She is in charge of BBC earth, which is home to all the shows we all know and love, such as Attenborough's Programmes e.g. Life Story (which is currently playing on Thursday Nights on BBC One) Spring Watch, Autumn Watch ,Winter Watch , Deadly 60 and many, many more. It was fantastic to watch a promo for the upcoming 2015 series based on the world sharks and I can tell you know its going to be an another jaw dropping series, it was also great to hear her talk about the 2017 based on the Oceans. Wendy said that the BBC has not filmed a series just on the ocean since Blue Planet. Film cameras have really advanced since then considering that Blue Planet was shot in film, so like Life Story and Africa it's really going to have that cinematic feel to it. Wendy also talked about her career and how she got where she is today and how she was also inspired by Sir David Attenborough's shows at the age of 14 but it took many letters to the BBC and hard work to get to be the head of the programme but she encourage us not to give up and to take every chance possible, something I am sure everyone in that room today already knew! Overall I really enjoyed the talk and I hope this won't be the last I will see of Wendy as my career grows because I am determined as ever to photograph, film and educate people about the natural world around us. Early rise this morning to visit Bissoe's Nature reserve, I had not been before so I didn't know quite what to expect. On arrival the sun was golden as it began to rise over the misty stream, there were also the sound of birds in the surrounding trees. And as I stood looking at the beautiful scene before me, I had a feeling of great joy because it was one of those moments when I knew this is what I love about nature photography. For this shoot I was again using the Nikon D810 with a 24-70mm lens. Having the lens at 24 mm meant I could get a good wide shot of the landscape, although I did have the fisheye lens on me for once in a long time it wasn't really needed for this particular picture I wished to create. To make sure I got the mist in focus I switched the lens to manual focus. There was also plenty of birds to see at Bissoe such as Buzzards, Robins and Gold crests but I seemed to focus all my attention on landscapes today, along with some macro photography on some fungi. All in all it was a lovely morning, photographs will be added to the landscape sections shortly: Today I began my independent project, which is focusing on gastropods but are formally known as Snails. I had high hopes that todays shoot was going to go well because I had the subject matter and the kit (Nikon d810 and 105 mm Macro lens). The weather was very changeable today, one minute I was getting caught in a rain shower and the next there were sun rays bursting out of the clouds, this always becomes a bit of a pain with exposure but nothing that can't easily be changed. Having the occasional rain shower was quite good for the snails because they like the moisture, which seems to make them more active and easier to get the shots you want. The main focus of todays shoot was simply to try and begin to photograph the snails characteristics such as their eyes, shell, slime, etc. Which I did successfully do but I am still not happy with the outcomes... As this is the first shoot there is no need to be to critical on my images but I think the only way I can get the images to the standard I want is to try the technique of image stacking. This will then allow me to get the subject matter completely in focus, which will help show the amazing details this creature has. Unlike today when the macro lens only allowed me to get certain focal points in an image. I may also have to consider using a macro flash to help bring my subject matter out. Overall I think today was a good start to the project and I am looking forward to see what will become of it. P.s. a quick note to all photographers out there, its great to have passion and enthusiasm for what you love doing. And I know we all go the extra mile for that perfect picture but be mindful of your safety because you may not have someone to get you unstuck. Loud explosions going off in every direction can only mean one thing...Bonfire night. One of my favourite times of the year because there is nothing better than gathering around with a few friends to admire the colourful spectacle of the fireworks. I haven't photographed fireworks in a long time, so I took the chance to do so tonight. For this shoot I used a 10.5 mm fisheye lens on my favourite camera the Nikon D810. The reason for using such a wide angle lens was to capture as much of the display as possible. When photographing fireworks it is best to use a shutter speed of a few seconds, for example I used a shutter speed of "2.5" seconds. Having my shutter speed at only just over 2 seconds meant that the photographs wouldn't be blurry when hand held as I didn't have a tripod with me. But it was long enough to capture more than one fire work at a time. I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the wonderful fireworks tonight or sometime this weekend but if not, photographs from tonight will be added shortly. |
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January 2016
AuthorI believe that I was born in the wrong century and should have been born in the golden days of exploration I am also wildlife enthusiast. Find Out more on the home page. Categories |