Author: David Jenkins

Natural History Photographic Essayist

Saturday Evening Post #50: Feeling the Magic

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David DuChemin asked a very important question the other day.
“Do you remember the first time you saw the magic?”

Now for some of us, photography is simply a tool, a necessity, or perhaps a passing phase, or maybe even a distraction from other things.
Some of us use the images particularly us birders, as references, id help, or simply to record our observations.
The technique, the art, the technical challenges are of so little importance as to not be bothered with.
Others, sad to say, I think, use it as a chance to vent on various photo blogs, fb/insta pages on the newest-latest-greatest,-worstest hardware/software that is  is bugging them at the moment. Next month of course, it will be something different. As the ad for a betting app proclaims, ‘Even the permanently offended can use it”

The magic, dear David D., never happens!

Add to that the latest iteration of that amazing must-have piece of technology, the ‘smart phone’, and all the wonders of the AI inspired software, and its plain to see that like slide projectors, and Kodachrome disappearing off the horizon, great changes to the photographic landscape are in the wind.

I once did a presentation at a major photo convention, titled “Riding the Wind of Changing Technologies”. Short version, I addressed the changes that was about to sweep silver halide technologies away like a tsunami and the directions that the digital age might take. Regrettably the discussions afterward were all about the error of my ways, and not about how the new tech could be used to advance our art.
Time as they say, does tell.

Now the Luddite in me {Luddite: Luddites feared that the time spent learning the skills of their craft would go to waste, as machines would replace their role in the industry} might throw up its hands in horror, but the truth is that each change in the technology does not destroy our art. It simply allows it to grow.
In tai chi, one of the old masters wrote against simply doing the same moves over and over again without change. “It is the change that brings depth to the art, otherwise it will die.”

And that as they say, “is the thing”.

Photographs touch us deeply. They allow us to express more than just, ‘oh, I saw this’ they allow us to show how we feel about the subject.

And that is the magic. The ability to allow others to experience what we saw. I’d venture to postulate that the tools we use for that are no where near as important as the passion of the photographer to bring powerful images that create experiences in our emotions and imaginations that we will never forget.

I enjoy looking at photos trying to see not only the image, but the photographer behind. To me that is the magic.

Grey Goshawk (White morph)

 

Saturday Evening Post: #49 An Endless Love Affair

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“Light makes a photograph. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light.
Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the (a) key to photography.”

So said George Eastman. Founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, and  man who went on to amass a fortune at his death that, today would be around $2 Billion.

I wondered for all that, if there was a collection of photographs somewhere taken by a man who Embraced, Admired, Loved and Knew light.
But sad to say he seems to have left very little of a body of work that could be said to be the photography of George Eastman.

Here is a link to an image of Eastman using a Kodak Number 2 camera while on board the S. S. Gallia in 1890
George_Eastman_(F._Church_1890).jpg

He was enamoured with motion pictures and carried a 16mm camera on his travels. From those journeys a number of documentaries of various places were made in the 1920s. He also regularly travelled to Game Hunting Safaris in Africa.
I can recall seeing some book or documentary once, that showed Eastman, the ‘White Hunter’ in suitable garb posing around the bodies of dead beasts, but no doubt the majority of those photos would have been taken by his handlers.
Here is a link to one from the George Eastman House site. 2007-0007-0127-safari-ge-and-villager.jpg

We had been with BirdLife Werribee, formerly and now informally  known “Werribee Wagtails” on a day outing to Ocean Grove.

The group was walking around Blue Waters Lake Reserve and had stopped to see several Nankeen Night Herons in an old willow tree, with its twisted branches and long fringes that made sighting just that bit difficult.

Also flying past down the centre of the lake from time to time were Royal Spoonbills.  They had to sun behind them and looked a treat in brilliant white against the shady far shore of the lake.
I lost interest in hard to see Herons and became enthralled with both the spoonbills and the light so beautifully cascading through the feathers.

Exposure for such scenes is at best fraught with complications. As EE is known to say.  “If I get the feather detail right, the background gets lost. If I keep the surrounds then the contrast takes out the feather details.” Or some combination of those words that expresses the difficulty of backlighting.

No hero lecture here. I choose exposure for the feathers, and will worry about where the background goes when I work out the mood and feel that I want from the moment.  That is a slider thing. I make no apologies.  Give me Photoshop with layers, layer masks, paintbrush, and a Curves setting and  that’s me for post production in the digital darkroom.

How to set the exposure right for the wings?  See my blog sometime back on Dean Collins.

I managed several birds on the day, and at first thought I’d like to have the head and neck showing. But in the end, I selected this one as the shape and curve of the wings is Satur poetic.

Enjoy

 

Moments: Learning (Brown) Patience

Posted in Brown Falcon, The Office, Werribee River ParkTagged , , 8 Comments

At “The Office”, there are a resident pair of Brown Falcon.

(Called the Office, because we spend a bit of time there as in—Just another day at the office—)

One of Brown’s qualities certainly must be their patience. Happy to sit quietly, seemingly disinterested, they take the scene in, work out where the food is, and then strategies to get to the spot, and return with the least amount of energy dissipation.

Not unusual to see Brown, sitting with its distinct upright stance on a post, branch or roadside sign for what seems hours. Passing traffic has little effect on the bird’s demure stance.

We’ve worked with this pair for a few years, and when they are around, its interesting to see them favour one or another perching locations.
I’ve featured this bird several times on the blog over the years, and have called him “Bernie”. Late evening sunshine ‘burnishes,’ his rich mottled chest, and so the name seemed appropriate.  Not that he seems to care it must be said.

He was hunting for small crickets and the like on the edge of the river cliffs.  A large melaleuca bush is one of the favoured perches.  Gives a great view along the cliffs and he can prop into the branches and so be protected from attacks from the rear.  Magpies, mudlarks, other raptors might swing by and attempt to dislodge him, but clever bird that he is, he simply sets back further among the branches and any attack is thwarted by the branches.

We had been working with him for about an hour or so and the light had been good, and as we headed for home, I peeked over the rim and there he was in the bush. But the light had diminished, still it was worth waiting for him to throw as it would have to be toward or at least to the side.

I don’t often shoot multi-burst, but figured that by the time he left the bush and got settled he’d have to stay pretty much in the same focus plane and most of the shots would be sharp (ish). Pity about the light and slow shutter speed.

So EE and I waited.  Things happen slowly in Brown Falcon time. But you’ve got to keep your eye on the bird, as they don’t give a lot of warning that they are going to move.
So we waited.

Brown waited.

It’s one of the reasons why with a long lens we invest in a good tripod, and a Wimberley gimbal head. Takes all the weight off the arms. But, who wants to carry all that heavy gear out just on the off chance it might be needed. So, I was shooting handheld with the 500mm PF. Light enough, but after 10 minutes my aching muscles needed a rest.  And then there is always the risk that is the moment the bird will throw.

Waiting.

Another round or two of holding until the muscles cramp, and then releasing.
Waiting.

I was just regrabbing focus and had the shutter half-pressed, when with barely a feather ruffle Bernie took to the air, straight toward me, and I ripped off a sequence.
“Oh No,” I heard on my right.  And it was just at that moment EE had taken a muscle relief stretch.  Sympathy doesn’t cut it.  Gloating is not part of the process.

Here are all the frames from the sequence.  I thought it was interesting  how the wings are deployed to get him out of the bush, and turned for the run along the grass.

{EDIT} It wasn’t until I re-looked at the shots here on the blog that it shows that on the upwing strokes the rocks his legs forward pendulum like, on the more powerful down stroke, the legs go  back to close to the body.  Just like a kid on a swing. Brown, you always amaze me.

Enjoy

Bernie arriving at the bush. I shot this one earlier in the day, and you can just see the edge of the river cliff in the bottom of the frame.
Snug, safe and on the alert

Typical Brown Falcon flight. Ground hugging radar in action
This is a close flyby from earlier in the afternoon when the light was good. Go Bernie

Saturday Evening Post #48 Studio Werkz: The Moment

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I usually reserve “Studio Werkz” for bird portraits.  Photos where I’ve been able to spend some time with the bird, try a few different backdrops, and have a few options on lighting, and also find ways to bring out the character of the subject.

Sometimes it might mean several trips back to the area, and spending the time to allow the bird to accept my presence.

Long term readers will recall the “Studio Werkz” story  of a couple of years, ago, and I associate it with making the very best environmental portraits that I can achieve.

Little backstory to bring everyone else up-to-date.

One of my first pro photo opportunities was with a long established studio. Wedding groups were very much ‘traditional’, as befits the market, and always done in a long studio, suitably decored, or interior decorated, or setup to enable full length portraits, bride by a mirror, and seated formals.
Actually if you looked at the deb photos, the business shots and the kiddie shots, and the prize-winning dog shots, you’d probably have noted a similarity in both decor and ‘style’.

Till, the new studio on the block opened up, and were doing, ‘gasp’ environmental wedding groups in the local park. -Hope it rains on them!!! 😦

Slick of marketing, and low on photoskills, they did, it seem, dominate the business very quickly.

Which is what led me to a lifetime study of outdoor environmental portraits. A trip or two through the workshops of people like Dean Collins, and Don Nibblink, set a style that I’ve always honed to improve.

Which is where Studio Werkz was born. Several young hungry photographers with great ideas and little cash. I don’t think we got beyond the first planning session. And went our seperate ways. One to work for a multi-national, another to do band photography before it was popular, another to free-lance for local magazines, and yet another to roam around the world and never be seen or heard of again. And me.

Which is why, if you are still reading—And well done if you are—Studio Werkz is my nod to those bygone days of outdoor portraits. Nuff said.

I was just this week, working on the various AF settings on the D500 camera, trying to work out the best one to ‘instantly’ grab Snipe in flight.

Sitting in the backyard, trying out each setting and seeing which were fast, slow, or unpredictable.
When on a sudden, a New Holland Honeyeater landed on the fence metres from me.
Good chance to try my technique eh?

So  point camera near bird, press shutter, hope that I pick up focus… and when mirror flopped back down, the fence was empty.

Oh, well, missed a chance thought I.

Tai Chi pigeon came down and was much more co-operative, and I discovered the subtleties of the AF system.

When I later downloaded the images, I was taken aback, by the one and only New Holland Honeyeater shot of the day.

Good enough for Studio Werkz, I declared.
Portraits need to bring out not only the best expression, but also allow us to explore the character. And there in one frozen frame, with 3/4 side light on the whirring bits, was a New Holland Honeyeater.

Enjoy

Saturday Evening Post #47 :Priestly Hue of Dawn

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Lavendar roses,
Incarnate fragrance,
Priestly hue of dawn,
Spirit unfolding.

Deng Ming-Dao

The thermometer said, 0.2C.
It was a still, cold, dark, morning, pre-dawn, as I pulled on my walking boots, tucked my scarf around my neck and set out for my morning walk in the muted darkness.
A tiny sliver of a crescent moon hung in the early morning sky, a new moon was but a day away.
I like to walk in the pre-dawn.  The crispness, the unbroken day, the offering of so much to look forward to as the sun shakes itself loose from the horizon.

I don’t normally carry a camera in the morning, truth is I’d just rather enjoy the moments as they come.  There is a blackbird at the moment who sits on a tv antenna and sings. I wish I could understand his song, but no doubt he has lots to tell his neighbours.

Two magpies yoddle at me from their perch above a street light. Soon they’ll be hunting on the wet grass below.

Deng says, that even on the road to hell, flowers make you smile. 🙂 You cannot, he says, force them to submit to your will.
I feel the same about light.

I reach the turn-around point of my walk. At the moment, it happens that sunrise is about that same time, so I walk out in the part darkness, and return as the light begins to play its magic over the shapes, form, tones, colour and patterns of the landscape.

It was so cold, that not only was there a frost, but a wonderful emphemeral mist rising from the river.
And so I stopped.  Took out the ubiquitous phone, and wrestled with a composition over the chain wire fence at the river weir.  Its been many months since water ran over the top, but the rains of the past couple of weeks have given the river a new lease of life, and as the water cascaded over the edge small clouds of mist added their own character to the moment.

As Deng says,

We should take the time to appreciate beauty in the midst of temporatily.

Until next time.

 

Little Journeys: The Inner Eye is its Own Reflection

Posted in Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Werribee MansionTagged , , 4 Comments

Last Saturday Evening Post #46 broached the subject of awareness, mindfulness or appreciation of the around.
I recieved some great comments on the post, and also several followup emails.  Thanks for your input, it helps define the greater bubble of creativity a little more.

Little did I know that the following morning, like a cycle of karma, I’d be recalling my own words.
Instead of walking all over looking for birds, we (EE and I), found a pair of Purple-crowned Lorikeets that were also enjoying their time together in the sunshine.

A sunny Sunday it was, and so, for once, we changed plans and headed on down to The Office, (Werribee River Park for new readers).

As we walked down from the winery carpark off K-Road, we soon heard the sounds of Purple-crowned Lorikeets at work among the leaves high above.

Then, on a whim, I turned off the main track followed a little used path along the rivers edge, and came up a pair of them brushing up their feathers.
They were down low, and it wasn’t that hard to move around them to get the best of the light, the angle and the action. After nearly an hour of watching them, with a head toss, a chirrup, and a wing turn, they were gone.

Here they are as a gallery.  Click on an image for a larger view

 

Saturday Evening Post #46 :Pattern and Creativity

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Den Ming-Dao quotes a Taoist thought
“Pattern and Creativity
Are the two poles of action”.

When I read that,  I was struck by how true it is of photographic pursuit (I didn’t say photographic achievement 🙂 )

In this day an age of Facebook, Twitter-twadle, self-obsessed selfie takers, and all encompassing media bombardment it is sometimes hard to find the quiet of the moment to hear the wind in the tree, or feel the warmth of a rock in the sunshine.
And I’m not the only one, a clever Subaru ad, I saw the other day has as its theme a small child enjoying the moments. Such a tying shoelaces correctly for the first time. I remember that too. (If you get a chance to see the ad, don’t miss the closing scene)

It is to be recalled, that I’m a photographer first and a bird observer secondly.  I have several friends who are always on the look out for the next ‘new’ bird. Seeing 400 species in a year is their thing.  Me, I’d be happy to see the same bird 400 times.

Neither is the right appoach it is simply different expressions of pattern and creativity.

Den Ming-Doa goes on to comment:
Followers of Tao use patterns when planning. They observe the ways of nature, percieve invisible connections, matching patterns with goals. When the unpredictable happens, they change immediately.
The spontaneous creation of new patterns is their ultimate art.

I’ve always considered myself blessed by the  number and variety of my mentors, who, among other things made me work at establishing a love of light, its form, quality and direction. Each element plays an important part in both the choice of subject, and the approach to bring out the right theme or mood.

Each encounter with light, soft, harsh, bright, moody, rich, or colourful, sets in motion opportunities.
And just occassionally, when the unpredictable happens… It offers the opportunity for a new pattern in my work.

It was a day—as so many have been of late—of overcast, grey, lowering, porridge skies.  High ISO, slow shutter speeds, difficulty in seperating grey/white subjects from grey/white backgrounds.

I’d found—to be honest, it wasn’t lost!— a Black-shouldered Kite, resting in a tree. Probably worn out from hunting for mice in a drenched paddock. I sat down on a rock and watched.  Took a few frames, just to keep my shutter finger warm, and waited.  Perhaps it would fly and hunt.

When on a moment, the cloud changed, and a small breach opened up to let through sunlight that, like a “Super Trouper” Syncrolite spotlight drenched the scene. Directed, on schedule, on cue, and on time to the Kite, and leaving the surrounds in theatrical darkness.  —Just like a script 🙂

And the Kite awakended by the light perhaps, like an actor on a stage, rose to the warmth and opened its wings for stretch relief.

Two frames, and the light, again on cue, was cut from the scene as the clouds regained their strength.

Sometimes, its seems the we plod, but we perservere and prepare, go out hoping, if not dreaming, of finding the birds and the light and the setting, striving to bring our vision of the world back home on a memory card.

As Deng Meng-Doa concludes:
If we nurse our plans through good times and bad, our plans will eventually succeed with the inevitability of fish being caught in a net.

Have a great weekend.
Keep takin’ pictures, we do.

Little Journeys: Meet Spot the Harrier

Posted in Spotted HarrierTagged 9 Comments

It has to be said.  They are indeed magnificent creatures.
Totally efficient at what they do, and with an sense of total air control.
We had the good fortune to find one out on near the RAAF Base at Point Cook just recently.

“There,” she cried. And across the paddock in the distance, the familiar wafting flight of a Spotted Harrier rose and fell as it diligently seached the paddock. Anything of interest was re-examined by a turn of the great tail and a flap or two of the wide wings to bring the bird into the best position.

We waited.

Can’t do much more than that with these birds. One of the field guides describes their action as “Languid”.  And it’s safe to bet they are not in a hurry to carry out their meticulous work.

I’m not sure what fascinates me most about them. The wonderful body patterning, or the wing patterns that look like spiderweb, or the stern, but interesting facial mask, or perhaps it’s simply the ease at which they maintain station over the field. We don’t see them often, but the few times we do are alway memorable.

Slowly Spot made its way across the paddock. Would it come close enough, or shy away. They are another bird that I think has the area mapped in great detail. Anything out of the ordinary is either possibly food, or it to be avoided.  Dudes waving cameras about fit in the the latter catergory.

So we stood, nailed to the spot, and waited for Spot.

Must have been a slow food day, but eventually those awesome wings carried the bird in our direction. It sailed along the fenceline on the other side of the road, and… was gone.

Enjoy.

Saturday Evening Post #45: Risk Assessment

Posted in "Australasian Gannet", Saturday Evening Post, UncategorizedTagged , 12 Comments

I saw a warning sign on the tool chest in the back of an RACV Roadside vehicle the other day.

Warning before beginning work have you made a Risk Assessment.

Good advice I thought for someone working on car repairs on the side of the road with cars, buses and trucks speeding by, each driver totally self-obsessed in their own world of radio, wifi, facebook and family troubles.

Good advice, I thought too for your average photographer at work on the beach. 🙂

We had spent the morning, in the sunshine—let it be said, around Point Cook. We had arrived at low tide, and around this area the tide recedes in some places out as much as 100 m or more exposing lots of interesting little rock pools and seagrass beds and rocks that mark the edge of the shallows.

Normally terns, cormorants and gulls are the usual suspects.  And occassionally when the wind is right, strong winds coming inshore, Australasian Gannets that patrol up and down, just out of camera reach.
However on this day, with a strong off-shore wind, the gannets were working along the area just out beyond the farthest exposed rocks. I don’t know for sure, but hazard a guess they were going down to around the Werribee River mouth, turning north and the gliding past us, about midway to their turn around somewhere near Altona, at the Kororoit Creek outlet or Jawbone Park.  Just a guess.  About a 15 min and 10 min turn around time.

So after watching several passes and buckling on the TC1.4 Televerter for a bit of extra gain, I pondered, I could walk along the dry sand/mud, step on a few stones and be close to the action.

That would work.

So I set out. Ever alert as a big wave might squash my plans, or perhaps the tide would turn and maroon me out on the dwindling dry ground around the rocks.
As I stepped over one puddle to another, it was apparent that the tide was indeed turning, as the little riverlets of water were heading in to fill the pools near the beach.  Risk Assessment time.

I ventured on to the far rocks and waited 10 minutes and of course the gannets didn’t turn up on time. Look behind me, ok, dry land all the way. Wait.
10 more minutes and the first gannets begin patrolling down toward me. Still a bit too far out for great results.  They disappear up the bay. Wait.

15 minutes later, and a look behind indicates that I’m running out of time. And the birds appear.  Remember that TC? Well at 700mm focal length, the closest bird overwhelmed the frame.  Quickly take off TC, balance on rock, hope not to drop expensive optical devices on the rock or worse into the salt water. Risk Assessment zero!

Another 10 minutes and the birds are patrolling again. Not as close as the first pass, but I’m running out of options.
Look behind. Water is beginning to fill in some of the lower pools and its all a few minutes from joining together and wet feet slog home.  Risk Assessment.
Retire now to survive for another day.

Australasian Gannets are interesting in Port Philip Bay.  They roost on several of the navigational structures around the bay and on a man-made island called, “Pope’s Eye” near Queenscliffe.
Some reseach, indicates that the birds that fly up and down the coast line on the western side are primarily males.  In other areas it’s pretty much a 60% female, 40% male mix.

I also discovered the link to a web cam on Pope’s Eye.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on in a gannet colony, and you wanted to avoid getting wet, travelling to Portland, and the smell, then this is well worth the few minutes to view. Solar powered it only functions in good weather.
It cycles a pre-recording if the live feed is off.  Bet you can’t wait for tomorrow.

Here it is.

 

And here is the quick Fly By.

1908-16_DWJ_0969_NX2

Moments: Rainy Days and Sundays

Posted in Black-shouldered Kite, Chestnut TealTagged , , 8 Comments

The Carpenters may have sung about Rainy days and Sundays, all those years ago, but the past couple of days have made a tremendous change on the countryside around us.

Many paddocks that were dry and barren, or had a blush of winter grass on them, are now shiny, polished lakes, with several cms of water covering the lower surrounding areas.

Not much fun for our favourite pastime, so EE and I have been a bit housebound of late.

It’s not so much the rain. I’ve been wet before and understand the process, in much the same way birds do.  You get wet, and then you dry out. No point in arguing with the obvious. As my long ago bushwalking leader used to  say, “If you want to stay dry, STAY home.”

It’s the wind.  Hurts the eyes, makes the cold colder, drives the rain through the best wet weather gear and is just plain uncomfortable to stand around in peering through a wobbling viewfinder.  Not to mention the(lack of) wisdom of taking expensive camera gear out in those conditions.
And don’t even think of hiding under trees in such weather.  The news has had to cover several unfortunate incidents regarding uprooted trees.
So better to stay at home, drink warm cacao in hot almond milk, and dream of better days.

But you can, as EE says, Only take so much indoors.  We looked at the weather, and as she has an arrangement with several pairs of birds at the moment, it was time to go see if the rain had washed out their hopes of an early clutch.
First casualty we found was a pair of Masked Lapwings that had taken up a nesting site on the lawn of a nearby shopping centre.  The sheen of water across the nest site, and lack of parents anywhere pretty much confirmed the worst for that pair.  Not that they’ll be setback.  She’ll be back as soon as the water recedes.

But all the birds with tree based nests were ok it seemed.  One small area of trees, that used to surround a small wetland is quite the maternity centre at the moment, and there are lots of anxious males sitting around wondering what to do.
Ravens, magpies, Pacific Black Ducks and Chestnut Teals, Black-shouldered Kites. A pair of White-faced Herons, although to give full disclosure, its hard to say they are actually sitting at this stage.

One of the more interesting sightings was a Fan-tailed Cuckoo pair.  They are giving a pair of Red Wattlebirds shivers. Lucked out trying to find the nest, (if its there yet), but the Cuckoos seemed to be relentless in the area, and the Wattlebirds were seriously aggressive, but really couldn’t see off the determined Cuckoos. Be interesting to see what happens.

Here is a visual diary of the morning out.

Australasian Pipit.
They nest in the grass. Apparently they will nest anytime season is conducive.
Proud Dad, waiting, waiting, waiting.
Another male, hoping to lead me away from his brood
With plenty of time on his hands—paddles, he is practicing his one legged stand
Another ‘busy’ Dad
One of a pair that were eager to appear as if they were feeding off the fence, but most likely they were watching a pair of very nervous Red Wattlebirds.
A Black-shouldered Kite, contemplating taking up diving lessons to find mice.

Saturday Evening Post: #44 Peace

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The white dove occurs in the legends and stories of many cultures as a symbol of peace.

Over the past several weeks, a number of family, friends, acquaintances and their families have had to deal with a range of challenging circumstances.

Details aren’t necessary, but a moment to pause and reflect and to reach out is.

In times of emotional or physical hardship, it’s easy to feel hopeless so for all people who are struggling with life-altering challenge.

 

May healing and peace come on swift wings.

Saturday Evening Post #43: Don’t Look Away

Posted in Uncategorized11 Comments

We had located a bird, not a ‘lifer’, but one that we see so infrequently.

Problem number one, was, it was ensconced in a old dead bush. Probably a melaleuca or a prickly wattle.  And there the bird was, happy in its quite secure ‘fortress’.

Take a shot or two, just for the record. Walk about a bit, nope, no clear shot that side either.
Bird flys.

Hey, it’s out in the open with a rolling hill behind for a soft backdrop.  Hmmm bird photography is so easy.  Approach, secure a nice frame. Now to wait for a lift off for wing details.
The light goes. Deep clouds gather and the shutter speed drops. Deceivingly low.
Oh, of course the Vibration Reduction, (IS or VR), will take up the slack. But, that is never the case.

Maybe crank up the ISO. Well there goes the feather detail.
So I wait, slowing shutter speed, dwindling light, and hoping the bird will fly.  Watching.  Watching.
Watching.

Light goes to porridge. Shutter speed splutters to a slow crawl.

Time to make some adjustments.
And.

As I pulled the camera down to :
(A) Reset the ISO up a stop,
and
(B) bring the shutter speed up a half stop.

The bird, without warning dropped of the perch and to the frantic warning cries of honeyeaters and thornbills took off along the treeline.

I’d not even rotated the dial yet.

I’ve quoted Ming Thein before, but just in case you missed it.

From Ming Thein

“If you are waiting for something to happen to get a shot, you must be hyper vigilant at all times until you can no longer stand it or have your concentration broken for you: because the minute you turn away, decide to take a pee, sneeze, or pack up for the day…what you’ve been waiting for will happen”

Wise words Ming.

There is so much to be said for having confidence in the camera and the setting I’m using.  Not needing to think, “Oh, I’ll try this or that, or perhaps do this.” I rarely chimp, most I’ll do is check that the exposure is close to where I want it.  If its a touch on the light side when I glance at the LCD then I’m happy.  Any changes are what the sliders in the photo app are for.

For the same reason, I don’t use auto ISO. I just can’t predict where the shutter speed will go.  (Aperture is always the one variable I don’t vary)

Yet, I got in the mail the other day another mail about another ‘Artificial Intelligence” (AI) software that will turn my images into
“Stunning views of your subject”.  Yep, I was stunned.

Can’t imagine how AI is going to be there at just the right moment when the bird unfurls the sails and floats away.

I waited for this Black-shouldered Kite.  No changes of settings.
Just waited.
And eventually, it looked, and lifted off.
Who said Bird Photography was hard.

1906-25_DWJ_6749
From the EXIF 1/3200 @f/5.6 ISO 400. Yep, that’s what I’d have expected

Moments: Territiory and its Defence

Posted in Eynesbury, Long-billed Corella, Sulphur-crested CockatooTagged , 8 Comments

We were at Eynesbury.  Looking, as usual for Flame Robins, and finding none, we had moved our endeavours to Jacky Winter.  Now Jacky is not in nesting mode at the moment, and range a bit wider across the forest it seems.  So we waited around some of the usual haunts.
I noted off on the far side of the open area, an old Grey Box, now a skeleton of its former self, and no doubt with some good nesting hollows hidden among its wide branches.

A lone Long-billed Corella has sat in the sunshine for quite a few minutes and just seemed to be enjoying the warmth.

When on a turn of fate a small group, mob, gang of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in full cry happened past.

For reasons, I can’t figure, one of them dropped down out of the flock and headed straight at the erstwhile Corella.  Who to its credit decided that being pushed from its perch was not going to happen without a struggle.

However in the end, the bigger bird won out and the Corella took to the air.

After a few proud crest flushes, and a loud calling session, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo departed to catch up with its mates.

Here is how it panned out.

 

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Saturday Evening Post #42 “I’m Not a Lifesaver”

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No doubt you will have seen as the credits in a magazine, newpaper or book for Photo by AFP.

AFP is a noted news service that goes all the way back to 1835. AFP are the initials for “Agence France-Presse”.

They currently have over 400 photographers-photojournalists at work on stories in war zones, policitcal events, and just about everything in between that is newsworthy.

One of their photographers has recently come to my attention.

His name is Aris Messinis, a Greek photographer.

The image that has created my interest in his work, and his life, and his compassion, was  a photo taken in March 2017 in Iraq, in Mosul, at the time of the ‘libertation’ of the township from the oppression of Islamic State, (ISIS).  I don’t have access to the image, and below is a quick copy from a magazine in an iPad display.  I don’t normally put other photographers work on this blog, but none the less, to explain it would be much to difficult. And I can’t locate a reference site to give it full credit.  The copyright is the work of Aris Messisnis.  His work is worth more than a second glance.

What caught me with the power of the image, built around the smoke, dust and haze behind the couple, that cover, yet hints at the destruction. While the glace behind is both protective and fearful.  The touch of the family belongings in the single yellow plastic bag holds both their possessions and the centre of their life away from the misery behind.

In October 2015 on the Island of Lesbos (Lesvos), he covered the story of refugees making the prerilous crossing of the Mediterranean looking for a new start to life.

During this assigment, Aris crossed a line that many of his peers feel must never be broken. He put down his camera and helped the people he was sent to photograph. Several photos of him helping children, and babies to safety through the surf surely testify to his involement as more than just a observer of the human condition.  He called out his fellow photographers for not helping a boat that had capsised and plunged its overloaded passengers into the water, “You could take all the pictures you needed, and then lent a hand to help. Why didn’t you?’

The response.  “I’m a photographer, not a lifeguard.”

This is a photo by Petros Tsakmakis. The photo is not one of those ‘set’ for the moment, Aris carried a number of children that day. Petros took quite a number of Aris carrying in young children

Here is a link to a full story by Aris. https://neoskosmos.com/en/33347/aris-messinis-afp-photographer-blog-refugee-crisis-lesvos/

Please be aware, that there are, as they say on the tele news, “Some quite confronting images on the site”.

 

Aris says, “I respect the need to be objective, but in our personal time, when we are not working, we are human.”

 

Thank God he was human.

Photos shared on the site are the work of Aris Messinis and Petros Tsakmakis. I acknowledge the copyright to be theirs or their associated companies.