Wildlife Photography on a Quiet Sunday
It is Monday morning, and the weekend that has just passed was a reasonably typical one for me. There were some regular things we normally have planned, some stuff do around the house, and we had social plans for both Saturday and Sunday, meaning that photography was not likely tto be on the agenda.
However as I type, it is mid-September and there is still some end of summer and early autumn activity going on in nature. Whilst I was having a coffee on Sunday morning, I noticed that there were two or three Red Admiral butterflies in the garden, and they seemed to be working their way round various plants. These plants were also getting quite a lot of attention from bees too, so I thought it would be worth getting my camera and seeing what happened.
Red Admiral Butterflies
The butterflies were very co-operative. Once they landed they stayed in the same spot for minutes at a time, so there was no rush to photograph them. The problem I found when photographing them was getting focus in the right place - if I focussed on the wing, then the face would be out of focus. Also, Red Admirals are not tiny butterflies, and they have long bodies, so getting the whole butterfly in focus proved tricky. Despite them remaining reasonably still, that certainly does not mean that it is easy to get a good photo. I will think about this next time I try and photograph butterflies.
Here are some of the photos i got of the Red Admirals.
Bees
Whilst taking photos of the butterflies, I was surrounded by bees. This does not bother me really, as I know they are not interested in me. I tried to take photos of them, but they were the complete opposite of the butterflies. They are small, fast, and barely stay in the same place for a second. By the time I’d seen one, I tried to locate it through my lens and acquire focus, by which point they had long gone. So I changed my approach. I chose a flower, focussed on that, and waited for a bee to come along. Fortunately I did not have to wait too long. Pointing a big camera and lens up in the air can get uncomfortable very quickly. I only managed one photo that I quite liked, so here it is.
Fox
In the afternoon, my family and I took the dog out for a quick walk, and I took my camera with a fixed 35mm lens in case there was any nice light or appealing scenes. As we walked past a patch of grass, I noticed a beautiful fox laying in the long grass looking around. My dog was on his lead, however because he is a big dog, foxes never stay around too long when they see him.
I tried to get my camera out as fast and as quietly as possible, but the fox had already been spooked. As they were about to disappear into the dense woodland, they paused and had a look round, which gave me a chance to take a few photos.
I was quite a distance away from the fox, and was using a 35mm lens, so it was always going to be a struggle. I had to crop in quite a lot to get anything half decent. This is not the best fox photo in the world, but I am happy that I got it. It reminds me of the day and the encounter and most of the time, that is what my photography is about.
For a weekend with little room for any dedicated photography, it was still worthwhile keeping my camera close by, even if (as in the case of the fox) the lens I had was entirely wrong.
