Red Sea 2013 - Taster Blog

Hi Everyone I'm Back,

Now where to begin.......in a word it was amazing. I was in the water everyday and saw some amazing fish species in a variety of different shapes and colours, each as eye catching as the next. From swimming above the coral to swimming along side Green Turtles. It was amazing over the next few days I will be putting together a full blog post of all that I got up too, so think of this as a little taster into what is to come!

Below are just three of the images I took on the trip, don't worry there are many, many more to come and I can't recommend highly enough how much I suggest you all plan your trips there.

A family of Humbug dascyllus

Squaretail Coralgrouper

Porcupine fish 

Back in Horsham

I got back to Sussex from Cornwall on Saturday and straight away on Sunday I was setting up shots from my shoot at Rangers Lodge Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre where I was photographing two of their rescued Hedgehogs in scenes which show one of the threats that they face in the wild.

While there I photographed them next to a fork, with slugs and slug pellets and more. I will be editing them all over the next day before I go to Egypt on Wednesday so keep an eye out for more of these images and take into account the threats that these wonderful creatures face in the wild and more importantly from us.

Today I was out at Park Cameras where I have invested in a GoPro strap from the Red Sea, before I left Falmouth I borrowed a GoPro Hero3 white edition from a friend. This will be my first time using one so could be interesting and take some time to learn about the gizmos on it to capture some great footage of me snorkeling when I'm away.

After Park Cameras I headed too Arundel Wetland Center, just outside the center you go down a road with a stream down each side as we drove down there I said to Dad, I have never seen any Water Voles down here even though we always see them at the center. Just after making that remark I spotted one and we quickly pulled over and got out and started photographing the little guy. As he seemed so quite friendly I wanted to try taking some with a flashgun. Below is one of the results.

After we took some photos of the Water Vole we moved on to the Arundel WWT where we made our way around the reserve to see what we could find. The main thing we were looking for were the Water Rails, which eventually we found and one that swam right in front of us and into the reeds before we could get any photos. Our other "targets" lets say included Snipe, Kingfishers and the Bittern which of the three we saw two, the Snipe and the Kingfisher sadly both too far to photograph from the hide.

Tomorrow I will be packing for Egypt and if I have some time photographing a Hyperlapse of my car so I can practice ready for doing some when I'm abroad.

Below are two links to my favorite time-lapses that I have found so far:

One of the desert:
http://vimeo.com/14352658

Probably the best time-lapse made to date:
http://vimeo.com/76440793

Hedgehog Photograhy

This afternoon I was back at Mawnan Smith Hedgehog Rescue to photograph their hedgehogs. For those of you who don't know I have had a slight accident with my arm meaning it is in a sling at the moment until it sorts itself out. This meant that I needed a helping hand with my photography today so asked two of my house mates Dan and Ferne to come with me and help me photograph the hedgehogs and set up some scenes.

Below is one of my images from the afternoon showing a Hedgehog in a Bonfire, I will point out now before anyone get concerned for the hedgehogs safety that I created the bonfire and put him in place and photographed him then put him back before taking the shot again with the smoke which was created using burning paper.

Diving

Had a great dive today off Pendennis Point, swimming out to the wreak off the coat and capturing some great images using the wide angle lens. This allowed me to capture some interesting shots of the starfish that I found on the wreckage.

Unfortunately the dive had to be cut short due to me having an asthma attack and not being able to breath so well through the rig. Thankfully I was near the shore and able to get out the water quickly and all good now as if nothing happened. Just want to get back down there and dive again!

Richmond Park

On Thursday me, Dad and Dan left early and headed over to Richmond park for opening, in the early morning sunlight we were able to capture some amazing shots. While there I was mainly using a Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 300mm F2.8, while using the equipment I noticed some of the images appearing slightly blurred. I put this down to me being used to using Canon kit and the screen being slightly different, but when I got home I found out that 99% of the images had focused about a foot behind where the focus point was really pointing. I straight away notified the Uni and they had suggested I used manual focus until I bought it in on Monday and they can check it out.

While there I used a Nikon 600mm F4 which seemed to be producing great images, below is one shot I took laying down taking a shot of a Great Crested Grebe on one of the many lakes at Richmond deer park.

I will try and save as many as I can and hopefully be uploading more soon.

Other posts to look forward too include my trip to the wildlife rescue center and a trip to London where I visited Billingsgate Market and Borough Market before wandering around photographing the spectacular buildings that create London.

Diving - Tuesday 5th November

On Tuesday I had a great dive at Pendennis Point, while down there I saw some great creatures and captured some of my favorite images I've ever captured, below I have attached some of these images.

Leach's Spider Crab

Nearer the end of the dive Dan (my Buddy) was in the sea weed photographing some blemmies and so I went off to find my own subject, I soon came across a cave and stuck my head in as I shone my light around from left to right as it move to the right I suddenly realized the next to move getting closer was the largest Lobster I have ever seen, it's claws bigger then my hands. I quickly moved out f the cave took a few photos before getting Dan and showing him the huge creature. 

Godrevy at rough seas

A quick trip to Godrevy yesterday lead to an amazing site as they waves smashed against the rocks. Before I'd left the house however I came across of a major issue, probably the most stupid thing I've done this year when it comes to photography!! I left my Nd and Polarising filters inside a bag I hired with a camera from the photography stores last week when I was photography the tide at Swanpool beach. I quickly went and reported my stupidity and am now in wait in hope who ever has the bag notices and is honest enough to give them back.

But back to the shoot itself down in Falmouth it was a bit windy but nothing compared to what we were met with when we got to Godrevy. We could feel it from the car as it hit the sides, when we looked out at the sea the waves were crashing hard against the rock in which we normal stand to photography to lighthouse, even the surfers which normally coat the beach weren't in sight. Most people watched it from the cars, upon arrival we got out the car and had only a short about of time before our lens were coated in water and we were unable to photograph anymore.