South Florida and the Everglades: Part 1

I have very recently arrived back from a two week trip to florida. My time was spent exploring the natural history of the south.
It truly is a remarkable place to visit if you get the chance. This is the first of several uploads to come, so watch this space!

Double crested cormorant

Tricolored heron

Sunrise over the Everglades

Burrowing owl at first light

American alligator 

Anhinga 

Anhinga plumage 

Pied-billed grebe

Raccoon wading through the swamp

Red shouldered hawk

Reddish egret with fish

Least sandpiper

Eye of a cormorant 

Hope you liked them!

High resolution images can be viewed with the following link:-

http://www.timhuntphotography.co.uk/untitled/recent-images/album/southfloridaandtheeverglades?p=1

Off to the sunshine state, see you in two weeks!

This is my last post for two weeks as I am traveling to Florida with my good friend and fellow photographer Liam Marsh for some well needed photography. Stand by for images!

In the meantime here is a frog from the other day.

A mixed bag of images and a Highly Commended!

A great start to the previous week as I found out that I had been highly commended in the Mammal Society photographic competition with this image of the surfing seal taken at Godrevy in Cornwall.

A boisterous sheep rears up before head butting the closest one. All these sheep had taken a liking to head butting one another.They suddenly took off  across the field in a stampede. Always worth stopping the car when you see something different. 

The friday just gone really felt like the first day of spring. All the birds were singing and it had that smell in the air. The evening sky was very dark and with the last minutes of sunlight these two trees were illuminated and showed up beautifully against the moody sky.

The last of the snow came down just under a week ago. Its weird thinking that the next time I will see it a whole year will have passed.

Ive always had a fascination with bubbles. With good light the colours that you can get are really impressive.

Fantastic fulmars

I have spent the last two weeks back in Cornwall and during this time I have spent several days on the north coast photographing fulmars.  

This one has already started the foundations of its nest. I watched it as it  picked up tiny stones and positioned them neatly around itself 

Many of the fulmars will make use of the holes and burrows on the cliff edge making them a perfect spot to shelter and raise their young.

In flight their broad and almost parallel wings set them apart from other seabirds.

You can watch them glide and swoop up and down the cliff edge. They seem to have a circuit which they repeat over and over again by flying up and along the side of the cliff, down back over the sea, then back up to the cliff again.

The ever changing weather on the coast shows thick fog over the sea to perfectly clear blue skies over marram grass covered dunes.

Cold weather is always welcomed

I have been waiting so long for some real winter weather. For the last few years I have always been in falmouth at university at this time of year, and lets face it winter that far south usually results in rain and lots of it. Whereas back home in Worcestershire you can wake up to those fantastic crisp mornings with frost covered landscapes.
Here are a few from the other day. 

Watching ducks land on ice is always amusing as they slide along with their feet going in all kinds of directions. It also impressive seeing displays of their wings acting as air brakes just as they land.

I have also been back to visit the dead tree. Im still finding ways of improving this particular image. Different weather conditions tend to show the structure of the tree in a different light.  I find that really cold clear nights work best, its just a shame about the light pollution in the right corner. 

The light pollution all comes from the Barnt Green Inn which is always lit up like a Christmas tree all through the night.

Burrowing owl affection

When I took these images of these burrowing owls in Florida 2010 I left them unedited as I rendered them worthless as I never really liked it when body parts were out of the frame. 

Looking back on them I feel differently as they show behaviour which is a nice change from the classic species portraits that I have been showing for a long time.

Once upon a dull day...

I was lucky enough to be back in Dorset for a few days whilst visiting family over new years. In which time I was able to get out and explore with my camera.
Dorset is truly a place of wonders but to unlock its secrets you really need to spend the time exploring.

There are parts of the River Stour that I visit in order to get a glimpse of the kingfishers and otters that thrive there. But you really need to spend days down there to get the shots that we photographers lust after.

This kingfisher is often seen perched above where the otters are exploring hoping to take advantage of prey that are disturbed by the otters. 

An adult otter here is carrying an a fish to the river bank where it is to be consumed.

This is one of the two otter cubs that are always seen with their mother. You always know they are about about as they make a high pitch squeek so there mother doesn’t lose them. 

I always find these log piles appealing to the eye. The overcast lighting meant I was able to get an even exposure throughout the image. Dappled sunlight often can create hot spots all over the bases of the logs which is not really welcomed. 

I still need to identify this, but I believe it to be some sort of puff ball. 

 Recent Images: Dorset

Canon 1D Mark IV for sale

My Canon 1D Mark IV is up for sale. Check the link below if you are interested!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-EOS-1D-Mark-IV-16-1-MP-Digital-SLR-Camera-Black-Body-Only-/190775798356?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item2c6b1faa54

Beast of burden

This Dolomedes fimbriatus aka Raft spider is show here carrying an egg sac. If you look carefully you can see a very fine strand of silk at the base of the abdomen which is also attached to the egg sac for extra protection.

They are one of my favourite subjects to photograph.I cant wait to see what 2013 holds!

Recent images:Dorset

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Life in Cornwall

Living in Cornwall for the last four years meant that I spent most of my time exploring the coastline and seeing what I could find. The great thing about the coastline is that there is always something to photograph all year round and in all weather conditions. Sometimes its just the luck of the draw with what you will get.

This whitethroat was taken just meters from the cliff edge on the Lizard Peninsula.

These are some images that I have recently pulled out of the dark depths of my hard dive. All were taken one and half years ago when I spent most of my time a Godrevy working for my final major project. I was unable to get round to processing all my images I had taken as there were only so many photographs of seals that the markers of my work would want to look at. Had it been a study on seals that it would have been a different story.   

Seal are very affectionate creatures and can often be seen showing signs of affection.

This shag on its nest (below) was snapping at a cloud of flies that were hanging over its head. At first I wasn’t sure if it was some sort of display it was putting on, as it was mainly moving its head from side to side with it beak wide open.

With the cliff ledge covered in excrement and smelling of fish one could only image the hell of having to sit there day after day being plagued by flies.

Recent Images: Cornwall

Outdoor Photographer: In the Spotlight

A couple of months ago I was interviewed by Nick Smith of Outdoor Photographer magazine.
I recently discovered that its being show in the January 2013 issue of the magazine, which is on sale now.

Be sure to check it out.

Carrion crow

This carrion crow was rummaging through the dead leaves that had collected on a ivy covered gate post. It selected individual leaves and tossed them away from the ivy. This particular image appealed to me because of the head on perspective eyes. You can really see how the eyes are positioned facing more forward than most birds.

Its fantastic to be able to get close encounters with wildlife to see the how they go about the business. This particular crow was searching for fallen berries.

Recent images: Dorset

Godrevy

Even after spending several years visiting Godrevy I still felt that I have never really captured a really good landscape of the place.
To me, landscapes are one of the more challenging areas of photography. I feel unless you really dedicate yourself to it then your wasting your time.
I took this image of the lighthouse a couple of weeks ago. Due to the low tide I was able to access this rock pool (below) which helped to add another feature to the image. I made a nice change to the images of the lighthouse and sky images that I have been taking for too long.  

It doesn’t take a lot to grab my attention. I took an interest in the foam that the waves were creating. The sun was about to go below the horizon and made the textures come alive. Considering that the foam wasn’t very think, the angle of light gave it a lot of dimension.

Recent Images: Cornawll

A woodpeckers favorite spot

After fourteen months this woodpecker still visits this tree and lands in exactly the same spot. This latest image (colour version) was taken in October 2012 and the black and white was taken in August 2011. The only thing that has changed is my perspective.

Sanderling

This is a bird that I don’t see that often let alone photograph. They are relatively small (between robin-blackbird) and can be seen running backwards and forwards with the swash and quickly burring their beak into the sand in the hope of catching a quick meal.

Their size makes them a challenge to photograph as you need to be quite close even with super telephoto lens. They also run at a good speed so action shots are very tricky to get perfect.

This one was on its own during a grey day at Godrevy.

Another attempt with otters

This was exciting behaviour to see. One of the adult otters was carrying a cub up river. I noticed it because of the sound the cub was making. At first I couldn’t make out where it was coming from and then I saw one of the otters dive under with something in its mouth. It surfaced again revealing that it was carrying a cub. I managed to take a single photograph before it disappeared up river.

Sifting through old images

As we get more into winter Im finding fewer things to photograph. Which means i have plenty of time and no excuses to not be cleaning up my hard drives.

I struggle some times to see through un-processed images. Shooting flat RAW images  means that you don’t see the potential strait away. The images I edit first are the most memorable ones from a shoot, leaving many sitting un-processed for a long time.

The great thing about programmes such as Lightroom and Capture One Pro is that you can play with the images whilst they still remain in a catalogue rather than opening them all individually in Photoshop.

I took this image on the way down from Pikes Peak. The light was going pretty quickly so it was a rushed shot taken handheld. This is where image stabilised lenses really shine.

Canon 5D MK II with 70-200mm

1/125 sec
f5.6 
ISO 800

These shots were taken in a canyon in Natural Bridges National Park, Utah. The trail was three miles long and ran through a miniature paradise. Full size trees grew in the at the base of the canyon. I chose to include a walker (aka my dad) to give a sense of scale.

There was even remains of ancient Anasazi Indian buildings (Ancestral Puebloans) hidden under overhangs in the rock. It’s just a great place to sit and just image what it would be like to live in such a place.