WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE GARDEN SNOW
Although I have always had a deep interest in the wildlife that surrounds us, I don’t claim to be a nature photographer. It is a branch of photography about which I know little, and so I have great respect for those who achieve beautiful pictures of wild animals. But I still love photographing birds in the snow.
PHOTO DRAMA OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN WINDOW
No, my ‘prey’ has mostly been of the human kind – capturing people unawares in the street or in moments of drama or joy.
That doesn’t mean that I will miss easy opportunities to take pictures of the wild birds and animals I’m so fond of.
During this terrible cold spell, we’ve been putting out on the lawn the remaining, rather bruised, cooking apples that have been stored in our shed. The Blackbirds, Robins and Thrushes love them. A couple or three Blackbirds can polish off a large cooking apple in about 15 minutes at this time of year. I’ve counted at least 20 blackbirds at one time.
This morning, however, the regular garden birds were inundated with a flock or fieldfares – that’s when the fun began. Among the Fieldfares were some Redwings. The Blackbirds fought back to protect their food source. This was a real battle for survival on one of the coldest winter days I can remember.
WIMP PHOTOGRAPHER – PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS
I had to photograph the scene, but being of a wimpish disposition, there was no way I was going to sit outside to take pictures. Not in this weather. See, I told you I have respect for wildlife photographers, a proper one would have been out there braving the elements. I opted for a camera position behind the double glazed kitchen window.
NO PICTURE PRIZES
I know the pictures won’t win any prizes, but I enjoyed taking them, and hope you enjoy seeing them. The session gave me another insight into the behaviour of our wild birds and made me aware of just how beautiful are the Fieldfares and Redwings that visit us each winter.
- I used a Nikon D700 with a 70-200mm Nikkor f2.8 lens
- Exposure compensation +1
- ISO 400
- Aperture priority mode
- F5 which gave me a shutter speed of 1/2000th sec
JOIN PHILIP DUNN ON A 121 PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE IN SHROPSHIRE
Dear Philip
Great to here from you.I think your pictures are excellent.
I have also had a garden full of birds,like you I stored apples
over winter and these have been gratefully accepted along
with peanuts and bird seed.
I will be in touch with you in the near future
Kind regards Eddie Dewhurst Please note my new email edew1887@yahoo.co.uk
Dear Philip
Great to here from you.I think your pictures are excellent.
I have also had a garden full of birds,like you I stored apples
over winter and these have been gratefully accepted along
with peanuts and bird seed.
I will be in touch with you in the near future
Kind regards Eddie Dewhurst
Thanks Eddie,
Good to hear from you, too.
As I said in the post – I don’t pretend to be any great shakes as a wildlife photographer, but I did get a buzz from photographing those birds in the snow.
Hope to see you again in Shropshire at some stage.
Philip