Noisy Bather
A Cormorant makes a lot of noise and splashing as it takes a bath in the lake.
A Cormorant makes a lot of noise and splashing as it takes a bath in the lake.
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May, 2013Views
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Peer Award
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken in Kelsey Park, Beckenham, Kent. A stunning public park which is just 5 minutes walk from my apartment. Abundant with common British Wildlife such as squirrels, geese, ducks and beautiful floral displays.Time
I usually go to Kelsey Park early in the morning as that's when there's the most activity amongst the wildlife. On this occasion it was around 2pm in July. This Cormorant is regularly seen perched on a log jutting out of the water. On countless visits, I've seen it sitting in the same place, sometimes fanning it's wings and other times just sitting sleeping on the same log doing nothing.Lighting
The Sun was in and out behind the clouds, the day was quite warm, if slightly overcast. I like this kind of light for shooting Nature as there are less shadows to deal with which means less time messing about with the camera settings so I can concentrate on getting the shots I want.Equipment
Although most of the time I use my tripod for fast moving subjects. I wanted to get a different perspective on the wildlife during this visit. Near to where the Cormorant was perched, there is a large bed of reeds so I decided that's where I should position myslef. I trampled on a few of the reeds near the shoreline, flattening them to give me somewhere to lie down, remain dry and get the perspective on the birds I was photographing. I only have the one camera which is my trusty Nikon D90. My lens is a Tamron 70-300mm which I used for this shot and I used my elbows as my tripod, considering that I was so low down at water level.Inspiration
I'd been visiting the same park for a number of years, I've seen this Cormorant on a few of those visits and he's usually in the same place doing the same thing; Nothing. I really wanted to capture it swimming or fishing, I've watched it for hours in the hope that one day I would see it fishing. The day I took this shot, I was photographing other ducks from the same perspective, I could barley see the Cormorant from my position and expected it to stay perched on it's log as it was famously known for (with me anyway) Suddenly I heard a large splash, and from the corner of my eye I saw the Cormorant in the water. A moment I'd been longing for was happening and I was delighted. Like Geese, Cormorants are rather noisy when they splash around cleaning themselves in the water, they slap their wings off the surface and continuously dive and throw water over themselves, they preen and repeat. Such an enjoyable scene to witness and to have the ability to capture the action is a bonus.Editing
With nature, I try to keep the shot's as captured on the camera with very little post processing. I think with this shot, there were just very slight adjustments made to the levels, adusting the blacks and whites ever so slightly.In my camera bag
I don't carry too much but it depends on the location I'm shooting. I've got my Camera: Nikon D90 and a small selection of lenses which include a Tamron 70-300mm, Nikon 18-70mm, Nikon 35mm and a Tamron 90mm Macro lens. I also have a few Speedlights which I use at times depending on the kind of shots I'm after when I go out.Feedback
Indeed. For fast moving subjects it's about keeping the camera steady, if you don't have a tripod, use the environment to your advantage and find a suitable position where you can rest your camera so it doesn't move. For wildlife, I like to try and capture animals at their level so if ducks and geese are swimming, get down to their level whenever possible. If you are new to shooting fast moving subjects, switch your cameras settings to shutter priority and let your camera take care of the other settings. Once you gain more confidence and can shoot in manual mode, you will be able to set your camera exactly how you want for the specific type of shot you are after.
