BACK TO NATURE (4)
Feb, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this image while on a walk around a small nature reserve called Shinewater Park in Eastbourne East Sussex UK. It is a local reserve to me and it is teaming with wildlife and natural wild flowers.Time
It was taken in winter on 6th December 2012 at 09:45am. Although the swans are around all times of the day.Lighting
When I am out photographing wildlife I prefer to use the natural light as a flashgun is intrusive to the animals and scares them into a panic. The cold winter sunlight made the image as it wasn't too harsh and there were clouds as well to subdue the light. There wasn't any leaves on the trees which helped, especially as it was first thing in the morning and the sun wasn't fully high yet.Equipment
I used my first ever DSLR which was a Sony A390 with a budget Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD DI telephoto Macro lens. I didn't use a tripod or monopod. I was also using my 2 person chair hide at the time. The settings I used were: Shutter 1/250th second ISO 400 Aperture f/5.6 Focal Length 300mm White Balance Auto Wide autofocus with multi segment light meteringInspiration
I love wildlife, nature and the outdoors and I love capturing nature at its best. I had nothing to do as I gave up my business of heavy manual labour due to complications in my spine and this led to a severe bout of depression and I needed to do something so I picked up a camera and started photography to help with my recovery. I can't get out as much now as I am registered disabled with spinal degeneration but I do try to get as much as I can as nature is a healer. I would encourage anyone to go out and sit in a natural surrounding and either look or listen to what is going on as it does and will inspire you to either try the challenge of capture a bird in an image or video or even to just record sound.Editing
I try not to do too much post processing as I like to keep images as natural as possible. but for this image I done a slight crop and colour enhancement. When I do need to do some processing on the images I take I use PaintShop Pro. (Now I use PaintShop Pro 2020). I find the programme does what I need it to and have been using it for years. I do like to try and get the settings right in the camera first but this doesn't always happen and processing is needed.In my camera bag
I have various bits of kit for various jobs. I do like my Sony DSLR though. I now have: Sony A65 24mp Camera Body and Sony A65 24mp Camera Body Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 Di VC USD lens Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 Di VC USD lens Sigma 100-300mm f4 EX APO HSM lens with 1.4x Teleconverter Sigma 150-500mm f5.0-6.3 APO HSM DG OS lens Minolta 28mm f2.8 Prime lens Minolta 50mm f1.8 Prime lens Kenko 2x Teleconverter 2 Yongnuo Flashguns Monopod, 3 Spare Batteries, and loads of SD Memory Cards.Feedback
From my personal experience, the advice would be to just get out there and persevere and keep practicing with the settings and don't be scared to play with the camera settings. If you are wanting to creep up on wildlife that takes a lot of practice and time to find the best way to move around quietly. Sometimes I find a bench and wait for the wildlife to come closer and while sitting there I would listen to the sounds of nature which helps to relax me. Don't be too disappointed if you don't get the shot you want, there is always another day. If I don't get the animal shots I turn the camera onto the Flora and Berries that are around me. The main thing is to just ENJOY yourself.
