action photography – Rons life through the lens

Brilliant Catch

I know the little fish got eaten but to capture a shot like this with the 20 frames a second means you don’t miss any action.

hi folks its been a while since i wrote a blog, i had no plan to stop writing but felt it time to return and try and get back to my writing again. I have lots of news but will start with the camera news. My mate and Workhorse Sony A7R4 Died on me about 5 weeks ago with no warning at all. It was out of warranty and after the insurance company messed me about i had no choice but to get a second hand Sony A9.

Loosing half my resolution going from 61mp to 24 is a loss but the speed of the A9 has opened a new world for me, people that follow me know that i love flight shots or any action shots, so the A9 has given me a better hit rate.

The time on site has been very busy and instead of going down to the Hide i have been concentrating on the river for the Kingfisher and up on the moors looking for the Short Eared Owl.

Sitting waiting for hours pays off as other wildlife comes to you without any effort, this will become a big part of the gallery and add some lovely species of bird to my already huge gallery.

Aims this year have been the Kingfisher, Brown Hare and Red Fox and i am glad to say i have met all my challenges spending hours waiting for the image. Together with Bullfinch and Dipper, baby Curlew and many more its been a great season up to now.

Please enjoy the gallery and feel free to ask any questions.

Last Aim of the year is to film the Short Eared Owl and that will make the season complete.

The Silent Hunter

Yes to see the Barn Owl from the front with the big eyes and beautiful face is such a joy. As a photographer I feel its so important to see the bird from all angles, as many people are not that lucky to see one flying never mind film one so close hunting.

I would say yesterday was the closest the pair came to me. It’s very tempting to walk after them as they hunt in fields around me. But I have learned what you miss and maybe it will come up with a vole would be great to capture, staying in the same place has its rewards. The feeling that they are used to me is stronger and as I pose no threat and wear the same cloths everytime I do think they can see me but are at ease with me filming them.

Looking at the Female from the back really shoes off the amazing feater structure, colours and detail. Tail feathers Primary Flight feathers and Secondary feathers can be seen in this image.

I really hope by passing my knowledge on in a simply put way gives the individual a insight into the life of the Barn Owl.

In Amongst Bees

When I snapped my tendon in my ankle last year my ability to get out and film birds was hammpered by where I could go. So Ruth would drive me to locations where I could sit down with my plaster on. On one of these outings we found a cafe and next to it a wild garden full of beautiful flowers.

A new challenge hit me as I looked at all the bees and wasps flying in to collect nectar from the flowers. I made my plan but looking at my lens choice was difficult and I needed something I could get in really close with.

It was then I thought of the Sony 90mm 2.8 Macro lens, a lens they say is the sharpest lens have made. Well the plan was made and with my foot in a protective boot I was dropped off by Ruth and left to find a place where I could film.

Sounds easy but as I wanted to be as close as I could I had choice other than to sit bang in the middle of the plants and shrubs. Then it was a case of watching where the bees came from and left. The moved from plant to plant very fast and it was then that I realised my shutters speeds were going to pushed to the limit if I was to capture the body and small fragile wings all in focus.

Being in amongst nature listening to the high pitched buzzing was just brilliant and at no stage did any insect come near me, sitting in their world. Just shows you that you can invade their world and they don’t feel threatened. I quickly learned this was a challenge that would take a few visits to Nail one in flight.

Using my Birds In Flight techniques I set my shutter speed to 1/3200 and my aperture wide open at 2.8 but this was when I learned to get the whole bee in focus my aperture had to be at least f11 meaning the ISO had to be pushed to enable me to get the bee in focus.

Using High Speed Burst Plus gave me my maximum 10 frames a second and after an hour it looked like I was getting a few in focus so it was time I headed back to look at my images and see where I could improve.

So as the week went on there were a few tings that I came across with this one of hardest challenges to date.

First was the light as most of the shrubs were overhanging so the sunlight never reached the flowers where the bees were collecting nectar. So with light a massive issue I found shrub that had good light on and just waited for the bees to visit it.

Birds in flight.

Using the same principle as I do for birds in flight I used a panning motion to capture the bee in flight but I will disclose that it was frustrating at times as you thought you got the image in focus