"Wild" Cats!

I haven't had much time to take any photographs lately, so when I was given a list of photographs that work wanted it didn't take me long to get  a little distracted!..

Some of you may already know, but the owner of the BWC, David Mills, is working on a children's DVD and accompanying book series. Series one is now out, and series two is due to be out in time for Christmas this year.  I was asked for a list of photographs a couple of months ago, but summer being so busy, just didn't have time to take them. Having been reminded on a few occasions that these were needed, I spent a little time the past couple of afternoons trying to get what they have asked for.

Having not taken any photographs for myself for a while, it didn't take long for me to make the most of a grumpy wildcat. Macavity, above and below, wasn't really in the mood for having his photograph taken. So I made the most of the situation to get a couple of nice snarling shots... something I am actually quite short on surprisingly!

The light wasn't the best, but then sometimes that can add to the mood, and I am really happy with the photos I got. After waiting for a while, I soon gave up on what was asked for, and went back the next day... both days keeper Meg helped me get the photos, and on this first day I have to say... I don't know who was more grumpy, Meg or Macavity!

So, what was the wildcat shot that was asked for?.. A cat washing...

OK. Difficult... You can't make a cat wash, not humanely anyway, so it would be a case of waiting. Could be ten minutes, could be ten hours. I din't have time for this so we just had to hope. Eventually on day two we got a bit of action, not sure if above is really suitable for a children's book.

Having no joy after half an hour, we tried feeding him. This usually leads to licking lips as above, which I hoped may lead on to something a bit more towards a full wash. No joy.

We then thought that he was distracted by the food, so Meg left me to it. After a few minutes ( I got lucky) he began to start having a full wash. Unluckily though, he was in the shade with the background in the bright midday sun!

Never mind though. He was washing, so I snapped away. Not the best photos by any means, but good enough with a touch of editing for a children's book, and shows off what was needed. 

As with last years shoots for series one book (you may remember I was photographing fallow deer for that) they wanted a mix of shots, landscapes and portraits, close ups and some with more space etc. Just a few posted here.

Another photo on Pip's productions team wish list... A hedgehog in a ball! How do you make that exciting? Anyway, again a variety of crops/compositions were asked for. Above was probably my favourite. 

Whilst we had Timone, one of our hedgehogs, out I took a couple of detail shots of her spines. I am working on a couple of projects, and by working on I mean thinking about but whether they will ever actually get done who knows?!! Any who, for one of these I need a photo like this so took the opportunity.

An even closer up of the spines. Look at the detail in the markings, incredibly beautiful... and makes you appreciate how sharp they can be! Bit of grass in the spines unfortunately, may have to do a re shoot next year, but good enough for now.

Finally, another work shoot for a different reason, but still related to Pip. David was interviewed for a magazine, and they wanted a few photographs of him with the squirrels. Usual stuff. David with one on him, feeding one, looking for one etc etc. All stage and mocked up of course. I won't bore you with them all, but I think this is the main one they went for. Quite a nice one of him actually, and look... he's smiling! This took much prompting and reminding by Liza :-)

Thanks for looking :-)

Samsung NX1

Samsung NX1

A month or so a go now I was contacted by Samsung, through Bright Media Publishing, and asked if I would like to be an "Imagelogger". For this they would send me a brand new Samsung NX1 camera with vertical camera grip and 16-50mm 'S' class lens for me to use and try out for an 8 week period. In return I would upload several images a week to Samsung for them to use, and share across all their platforms to advertise the camera, and in return for this I would be allowed to keep the camera at the end of the 8 week period...

What a deal! I of course said yes... I get a free camera worth just shy of £2,500, they get some (hopefully) good images and the BWC gets some great exposure... Win win!

Samsung Imagelogger - taken by Izzy Coomber

The camera arrived on Christmas eve, but the kit lens was not available... and still isn't... Would of thought they would of had all that side of things organised, but in the mean time and for the rest of the test period Samsung have kindly loaned me two longer lenses which I asked for to help with the wildlife photographs I will be taking. An 18-200mm lens, which to be honest is not too bad at the wider angles but forget about it above 150mm, and the 'S' class 50-150mm lens which I have to say so far I am very impressed with!

As well as myself, 4 other photographers have been asked to be image loggers to make up 5 of us. Looking at their sites I think I am the only "wildlife" photographer... I was surprised to be asked, but their is no doubt I have great access to wildlife models :-)

The eight week period will not start till we have our 16-50mm lenses, which should be fairly soon, but expect a few blogs posts over the next couple of months on this camera.

Me - taken by Izzy Coomber

I have been asked to do at least one blog post a week about what I think of the Samsung NX1, but having planned it all out... eh, I mean... by introducing a little anarchy I will do at least two. My reasoning behind this is I know a lot of you will just the interested in seeing the photos from around the BWC and not care what camera it was taken on, some may just want to see the photos from the NX1 to see what it is capable of. Others will be interested in what I think of the camera from a photographers point of view.

Every Monday, once it all starts, I have to upload my images to Samsung. Therefore around that time I will also upload the images I give them here for people to see.

Then later in the week I will do another post on how I have got on that week, what I photographed/tested etc and my thoughts and opinions... Those interested can then take them how they wish, but I will always be honest from how I use a camera.

Just to warn the photographers out there though... I am not a "camera geek"... I don't mean that in a negative way, all I mean is I don't know all the ins and outs of how a camera works... but I do know how to take a good picture, compose a nice image and get the best out of a camera I use.

Fox
"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

I have to start the first week with an un-boxing, first thoughts post and finish up after the 8 weeks with a full review.

But just to get you interested/excited, here are a few initial test shots. Above, Frodo at the wider end of the 18-200mm.

Wildcat
"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

This is Macavity above, and Elwood below. Both taken with the 50-150mm lens. I am not sure how they will appear on this blog, but I can assure you on my Mac at full size they are pin-sharp!

Otter
"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

So there you go, exciting times. First "Official" post on this will be coming soon hopefully, but if you want to follow how I get on with the Samsung... as well as keep up with my other photos, extra BWC photos and news etc then you can now do so with the following (linked in the titles):

Facebook

This is where I will share photos through out the week I take, and any interesting shots from around the Centre.

Twitter

I don't use twitter, but have linked this account to Facebook. Therefore if you want to keep up with the photos, but prefer twitter to Facebook, this is the place for you.

Google+ 

I have an account on Google + for writing the blogs and youtube, but again only use them to share the blog posts I make. However if you prefer to use Google + to keep up with things, here you go.

Flickr 

My flickr photostream. I share some photos here with the BWC group, and if you are just here for the Samsung pictures... then I have made a "Set" to upload all the Samsung photos too.

500px 

Finally, this is where I post some of what I think are my better images. 

Feel free to follow, like and or share any of the above with anyone you think may be interests. If you have any questions on the camera, feel free to ask, and I will happily answer them if I can.

To see the camera and its specs, take a look here... Samsung NX1 And I will explain more on the first thoughts post.

Thanks for looking :-)

Recent Photos

Wildcat stare

Apologies for the lack of photos recently, work has been busy, but there will be a few more regular updates coming soon with a project I have been asked to help with for a couple of months. More announced soon.

Here are some of my recent photos taken over the last few weeks.

Wildcat

The above two trying something a little different with one of our wildcats Macavity.

Aluco in red light

Catching the lovely evening light with Aluco in one of our tawny owl perches for our owl days.

Highland Cow

We have three new Highland cows, which are being looked after by David (Centre owner). Had to take a simple portrait as they are such lovely looking animals, and then trying to see how friendly they are and how close I could get I of course brought out the fisheye lens.

Donalbain the highland cow

Looks like he is smiling in this one :-)

Malcom the highland cow

Trying the tail end

Member Gary K Mann kindly bought in some mirror carp for the otters for Christmas... Little Buster had a field day with his!

Buster with carp

Buster with carp

Buster

He is coming out a lot more frequently now, and really looking quite handsome.

Chasing on ice

This last one shows Emmy chasing Elwood, one on the ice one below it swimming. Always great fun to watch!

Thanks for looking.

Wildcat Snarl

Wildcat

It has been extremely busy over the past few weeks here, and I have had little time to take any photographs... but when I have, experimenting was what I was doing. I have a couple of photos in my head which I am very keen to get, and am just working out the best way to do it. One is of a wildcat snarl and strike.

Above is the closest I have got, but work is needed. The light was non-existent and finding a background that works in the pen is very difficult. I think it may have to be a snow shot if we get it this year. Two things I have learn't thought are... 1. Use the fisheye lens (as above). The wide angle just didn't give the effect I wanted, but this does make the background harder to get. 2. Wear a glove! :-)

Wildcat

While setting up I took a couple of simple portrait snarl shots.

Wildcat

And a simple one to get the settings right for the fisheye lens.

Pine Marten

Another thing I was experimenting with was the pine martens. They are looking really good at the moment in their longer coats. The tricky things with this are the pens are not too great for photography, and the light is on Bonnie's pen in the morning when they are more afternoon animals.

Pine Marten

We got somewhere though, and I think we found a nice area to work with...

Pine Marten

This spot has potential for something.

Pine Marten

But still needs a bit more work.

Running Weasel

Another experimentation was a running weasel, this had to be done in the run to get a straight head on shot, but is difficult... and I mean really difficult! Above was on f/2.8 and ISO 3200. Even then the shutter was not really fast enough and I will happily admit, that the above was a lot to do with luck! It was very dark though, so with some light I think it is possible.

American Mink

A couple of photos from a few I took of one of our mink. I have never really photographed them before, but Mindy, our female, was out a week ago in the morning so I took the opportunity to get a few snaps.

American Mink

Thanks for looking.

BWC Photographic Day

Red Squirrel

I joined in on one of our photographic days a few weeks a go, and after having rain on the open days I did and dark skies on the owl day I had... both! for the BWC photographic day. It seems my luck was against me, but I still had a great day, got a couple of photos I am very pleased with and for two brief spells we did get a bit off light piercing through.

As always, we started with our red squirrels. The rain was light, and the skies were dark hence the low aperture and high iso obviously visible in the photo above, but I have to confess I really like this one. Also goes to show, push the iso up if you have too! Better to have a slightly noisy photo which is sharp than a blurry photo with no noise.

Fox

We tried the foxes next, but they were having none of it so we had to move on to the wildcats. But since we usual do the foxes second I thought I would show those photos second here too.

This is where the real advantage of a photo day comes to. Having the keeper with you for the squirrels is great, as we can even move them to a certain extent on to logs and branches for natural photos, but with the foxes, wildcats and otters you get to enter the pens with them and not only have a keeper but also avoid the barriers/mesh fencing.

Frodo

This gives you the chance to get some nice portraits, looking straight at you with a little help from a keeper, or off to one side.

Red Fox

The other advantage is being able to get close enough for something a little more abstract.

Fox Running

And if they are up for it, we can always get the animals moving a bit too for some action shots.

Wildcat

Next up is the wildcats. Once again, close up portraits is the obvious advantage, but we can get the cats running and even jumping for some great action shots. I didn't do too much with them during our session, but at the end of the day went back in of the last few minutes and with a brief spell of sunshine to take the photo above... one of my favourites from the day.

Wildcat Yawn

And who can resist a yawn shot when it shows itself!

Harvest Mouse

After the cats and before lunch, we bring out the hedgehogs and harvest mice for some more natural looking photographs on little sets. The mice are usually on teasel or corn and the hedgehog can be placed on the grass, bark or even leaves during the early autumn days.

Tawny Owl

We don't do too much with our owls, so as not to take away from our owl photographic days, but we do perch a tawny owl and barn owl for those who are interested and don't wish to come on one of our owl days. Ironically, this was my favourite photo of a tawny owl our of both our normal day and owl day I joined in on last month.

Blue Skies!

After lunch we start with the deer, and to be honest this is the one animal where there is not much difference to if you attended the keeper talk on an open day, but next is what I think is the best part of the day... going in with the otters. Once again it was very dull, but with a ten minute spell of beautiful blue sky! I just had to put on the wide angle to prove we actually did get a bit of light during this day.

Otter Swimming

With the otters we can get them on the bank, in the water and if they are up for it even a little bit of running. The big advantage here is you can get very low on the ground to get more intimate photos of them.

Otter

And as with the foxes and cats, it really shows the advantage of a photographic day over an open day. The low angle, inside the enclosure, and with a keeper keeping them interested and varying where they are.

Stoat

At the end of the day we finish up with our stoats, weasels, polecats, mink and badgers. You have no extra access with these than you would on an open day, but having the keeper there does help. They can help position the animals a little bit, and make sure they are out for you to photograph. A little bit of food of course helps keep them interested.

Thanks for looking.