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Sep, 2019Views
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Top 10 rankSame photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Breen Oakwood, a National Nature Reserve in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland.Time
Early morning. I have spent many hours in this wood, dressed in my Ghillie Suit, with a few branches draped over me, watching & taking photographs of Red Squirrels & Jays mostly, but having seen the Jays mess around with young Sparrowhawks I decided to stake myself out by a fence that they often sat on. As luck would have it, I was only in situ for about an hour when this young Hawk zoomed in & landed right in front of me & after a moment raised one leg & sat there quite contentedly for a few minutes. As you can see she was so close to me that I couldn't actually fit her all into the shot. In fact, I was afraid the shutter noise was going to startle her, so I calmly waited for the right pose.Lighting
As a hobby wildlife photographer I have never used lighting, relying instead on taking full advantage of those 'Golden Hours' we all love so much.Equipment
My camera & lens are a Canon 7D & a trusty old Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L. Yes, I know it is not what many consider perfect, given that it's not fully waterproof & has no IS, but boysadear can it give you gorgeous images. My wildlife images are all hand held shots, so with the 400mm lens I always need to be leaning on or against an object, for stability, unless taking in-flight shots. For landscape & other shoots I do use a lovely wooden Berleback Mini-Tripod with levelling, which is so handy as it just straps onto my small backpack.Inspiration
I have always been fascinated by Sparrowhawks. I worked full time as a Falconer for a while & looked after Birds of Prey for a while in Twycross Zoo & as a young Gamekeeper I even hand reared four young Sparrowhawks whose parents had been shot by the Headkeeper & the young just left to starve to death in the nest. They are such exciting birds to watch, often visiting our gardens for only seconds at a time & their capturing of prey is often spectacular. A mature male has to be one of our most beautiful UK birds, so what's not to like.Editing
I had no cropping to do as the bird was so close & as I'm mostly looking for as natural an image as possible I have never used photoshop or Light Room. I just tweak my images as little as possible in iPhoto on my Mac computer.In my camera bag
My go-to gear for bird shots is my Canon 7D & 400mm lens, but when in my garden bird hide, when the birds are fairly close, I often put my Canon 70-200 f2.8 lens on my 7D body & use my 400mm lens on my Canon 5D body.Feedback
To obtain this image, what I needed most of all was patience & the ability to sit motionless for long periods at a time. Of course, when it comes to wildlife photography, apart from having 'Lady Luck' on your side, knowing your subject is vitally important, so my 60+ years of Birdwatching, from the age of 7, as well as having kept & bred numerous species of birds & countless hours of watching them closely, helps me to anticipate their movements, which helps when I'm trying to get them looking as relaxed and as natural as possible, with the best profile.
