Hi everyone,
I got back late last night from Wales, I will upload some of the images and some information on how I got on through the whole trip over the next few days.
Plus I did a load of moving image which I will be combining to create a short video of the trip and what I got up to, in practice for the moving image project in my 2nd year at Falmouth studying Marine & Natural History Photography.
Sunday 30 June 2013
Saturday 22 June 2013
Wales: The final week
I'm having a great time in Wales, now into my final week. Once I'm home I'll not only hopefully have some great photos to show you all but also a video of my trip that I am putting together, but to start off here is an image I took yesterday of a Wood Warbler.
Wood Warbler - Phylloscopus sibilatrix
Sunday 16 June 2013
Wales!!
So yesterday I drove up from Horsham to north Wales to the rspb glaslyn osprey project. There is a small visitors centre set up with telescopes and a live feed of the nest, after a chat with the warden I got to know a bit more about the birds and the area, later in the evening I headed off to the caravan which will be my home for the next two weeks.
Today I'm in the hide on the protection site, keeping an eye on the birds and making sure they stay in view of the live feed. Although still about 500 feet away from the nest I hope one of the birds will do a fly past so I can get some photos !!
I will try to keep you all updated although signal isn't great here so I can't upload any photos.
Tuesday 11 June 2013
Back in Horsham
Finally back in Horsham, not for long though. Only till Saturday then I'm off to Wales for 2 weeks as a Osprey conservation volunteer Not long after getting home I was out in the garden and we found the first Stag Beetle of the year, so today I spent some time photographing it. Hopefully over the next few weeks we will be seeing a few more.
Although I would love to be photographing over the next week and all the way through summer I need money and will be spending the next week or so carrying on my search for a summer job.
Stag Beetle - Lucanidae
Although I would love to be photographing over the next week and all the way through summer I need money and will be spending the next week or so carrying on my search for a summer job.
Friday 7 June 2013
Parents down
Great couple of days with my parents down before I head down to Horsham on monday, they arrived on Wednesday and we had a lovely meal over at the Rising Sun in St Mawes before they headed to bed, tired from their long trip down here.
On Thursday the photography began, starting at Windmill Farm (owned by Cornwall Wildlife Trust) we saw a number of four spotted chasers all darting around the pond and some other species but we all seemed most interested when we found a small toad (Bufo bufo) under a piece of fabric.
After Windmill Farm we headed down to Kynance Cove on the coast where we saw some interesting species of flowers including some early purple orchids (Orchis mascula) which were dotted around but not in the numbers we had seen previously. We also found a Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) flying around down a small stream that follows the main foot path to the beach.
Onwards from a nice meal at the cafe we headed back to the car and to The Lizard Point, where we hoped to see the Choughs (Pyrrhocorax) a pon arriving we had the cave they nested in pointed out to us along with some distressing news that over the previous week a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and a buzzard (Buteo buteo) had been in and they were worried that they had eaten the chicks although they weren't 100% sure. Never the less we did seem them flying around and just as we headed back to the car they landed on the ground near by us!
Having been on a recent trip with David Chapman to Windmill Farm and then to North Predannack Downs Nature Reserve I decided to finish the day there, in the hope of finding some Green Veined Orchids (Anacamptis morio) like I had photographed their on the trip with David, after arriving we headed straight to the spot I had found them on the 30th May but unfortunately they had all died, after a little searching however we did find one and I took Dad through the steps in photographing them using grass to blur the foreground and reflectors to light the subject.
The next day I woke up, having previously been using all my own equipment along with a Nikon D7000 and a Nikon 300mm F2.8 that I had booked from the campus photography stores I switched the lens for a Nikon 600mm F4 along with a tripod with a gimbal head to allow me to been the lens steady when photographing. I also booked out a Canon 7D, Canon 10-22mm F3.5-F4.5 and a macro flash kit. Both set ups mainly for tomorrow when I am photographing a filming at the Bioblitz but I took them out anyway just in case.
Our first stop was Kennall Vale as folks hadn't been before, we walked around the main path both me and Dad taking a number of landscapes and close ups to capture the movement of the water under the over handing trees.
From here we headed to Tehidy, a bit of a let down as I hadn't been able to visit since February I was expecting more life but compare to before there was little. However the Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) still covered the trees, now joined by Crows (Corvus) and Jackdaws (Corvus monedula).
The main lack of species seen we believe was down to the now abundance of food in the woods meaning the animals down rely on humans so much as a food source and are able to find their own. So we headed back to the cliffs and to Hell Mouth. Once we arrived we walked to the cliff and along the coastal path back towards Tehidy. On the way we spotted Fulmars (Fulmarus), Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus), Shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae) and Razorbills (Alca torda)all on nests. The Herring gulls and some of the Cormorants even had chicks which we were able to photograph looking down from the top.
After watched the chicks wobble around their nests awhile before falling back to sleep we went down to Godrevy in search for the Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). Going straight to the cove in which they are found we were hoping to saw 6 all floating in the water, every now and then attempting to go ashore then changing their minds at the last moment. This was a interesting behaviour to watch as before I had only seen them at low tide sun bathing on the beach which was now covered by the tide.
From Godrevy we headed to St.Ives for a walk around the shops and some Fish & Chips before headed back to base.
Tomorrow I am filming and photographing the BioBlitz, a 24 hour study of every species of wildlife big or small that can be found on Tremough Campus and at Argal Reservoir. I will be mainly focusing on the wildlife but also trying to capture the locals and students getting handing on and getting to know what can be found on their doorstep.
On Thursday the photography began, starting at Windmill Farm (owned by Cornwall Wildlife Trust) we saw a number of four spotted chasers all darting around the pond and some other species but we all seemed most interested when we found a small toad (Bufo bufo) under a piece of fabric.
Common Toad - (Bufo bufo)
After Windmill Farm we headed down to Kynance Cove on the coast where we saw some interesting species of flowers including some early purple orchids (Orchis mascula) which were dotted around but not in the numbers we had seen previously. We also found a Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) flying around down a small stream that follows the main foot path to the beach.
Onwards from a nice meal at the cafe we headed back to the car and to The Lizard Point, where we hoped to see the Choughs (Pyrrhocorax) a pon arriving we had the cave they nested in pointed out to us along with some distressing news that over the previous week a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and a buzzard (Buteo buteo) had been in and they were worried that they had eaten the chicks although they weren't 100% sure. Never the less we did seem them flying around and just as we headed back to the car they landed on the ground near by us!
Choughs - (Pyrrhocorax)
Having been on a recent trip with David Chapman to Windmill Farm and then to North Predannack Downs Nature Reserve I decided to finish the day there, in the hope of finding some Green Veined Orchids (Anacamptis morio) like I had photographed their on the trip with David, after arriving we headed straight to the spot I had found them on the 30th May but unfortunately they had all died, after a little searching however we did find one and I took Dad through the steps in photographing them using grass to blur the foreground and reflectors to light the subject.
Green Veined Orchids (Anacamptis morio)
The next day I woke up, having previously been using all my own equipment along with a Nikon D7000 and a Nikon 300mm F2.8 that I had booked from the campus photography stores I switched the lens for a Nikon 600mm F4 along with a tripod with a gimbal head to allow me to been the lens steady when photographing. I also booked out a Canon 7D, Canon 10-22mm F3.5-F4.5 and a macro flash kit. Both set ups mainly for tomorrow when I am photographing a filming at the Bioblitz but I took them out anyway just in case.
Our first stop was Kennall Vale as folks hadn't been before, we walked around the main path both me and Dad taking a number of landscapes and close ups to capture the movement of the water under the over handing trees.
Kennal Vale
Rooks - (Corvus frugilegus)
The main lack of species seen we believe was down to the now abundance of food in the woods meaning the animals down rely on humans so much as a food source and are able to find their own. So we headed back to the cliffs and to Hell Mouth. Once we arrived we walked to the cliff and along the coastal path back towards Tehidy. On the way we spotted Fulmars (Fulmarus), Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus), Shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae) and Razorbills (Alca torda)all on nests. The Herring gulls and some of the Cormorants even had chicks which we were able to photograph looking down from the top.
Herring Gulls Chicks - (Larus argentatus)
After watched the chicks wobble around their nests awhile before falling back to sleep we went down to Godrevy in search for the Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). Going straight to the cove in which they are found we were hoping to saw 6 all floating in the water, every now and then attempting to go ashore then changing their minds at the last moment. This was a interesting behaviour to watch as before I had only seen them at low tide sun bathing on the beach which was now covered by the tide.
Seal Cove at Godrevy
From Godrevy we headed to St.Ives for a walk around the shops and some Fish & Chips before headed back to base.
Tomorrow I am filming and photographing the BioBlitz, a 24 hour study of every species of wildlife big or small that can be found on Tremough Campus and at Argal Reservoir. I will be mainly focusing on the wildlife but also trying to capture the locals and students getting handing on and getting to know what can be found on their doorstep.
Saturday 1 June 2013
Update
Sorry for the lack of posts over the last month, I have been working on my university work, making sure it was all done ready for the handin. I am now pleased to say I have finished my first year at Falmouth university with a 2:1 on average. Next year I aim to come out with a strong 1st!!
So what have I been up to over the month? Well to start with I was using medium and large format photography to capture interesting landscapes of the natural world around Cornwall, I have attached one of the images below. Taken on a Bronica camera at Hells Mouth, Cornwall.
So what have I been up to over the month? Well to start with I was using medium and large format photography to capture interesting landscapes of the natural world around Cornwall, I have attached one of the images below. Taken on a Bronica camera at Hells Mouth, Cornwall.
Over this term I have been on a number of dives with Panasonic GX1 camera in a underwater housing and single strobe. During these dives I have seen a Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) , a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops), Velvet Swimming Crabs (Necora puber), Wrasse (Labridae), Common Starfish (Asterias rubens), Spiny Starfish (Marthasterias glacialis) and lots lots more, our coastline is truly amazing. I have included a couple of my favourite images below for more look at my flickr site, please let me know what you think?
Rock Goby - Gobius paganellus
Velvet Swimming Crab - Necora puber
In-between work I signed up for three trips with a local photographer, David Chapman. In these trips we visited Windmill Farm, Bunny's Hill, Bedruthan Steps and Kynance Cove. During these trip we mainly focused on the few flowers that had emerged even with the late spring we have been having, in the trips to Woodmill Farm we were able to also photograph some damselflies and dragonflies. Some of my best images are below.
Lighthouse near Padstow
Early purple orchid - Orchis mascula
Oxeye Daisy at Kynance Cove - Leucanthemum vulgare
Emerging Damselfly
Four-spotted Chaser - Libellula quadrimaculata
Water beetle
Green-veined Orchid - Anacamptis morio
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