Fish-Eye Lens

Otter on Ice - Highly Commended, BWPA 2012

I have a few different lenses for my camera, of which my 70-200 is by far my favourite. If I could only keep one lens, that would be the one, and is on my camera by default. However I do have a soft spot for my fish-eye lens.

The fish-eye lens seems to have a mixed reaction. Some like it, some don't and some really don't. Personally I love it!

When I first heard about the fish-eye lens, I asked a few people what it was and had the same reaction... Quirky little lens, no good for wildlife... after that I wanted to prove them wrong, and did with the photo above..

The photo of this otter, Lilly, is still my highest awarded photo being Highly Commended in the Animal Portrait category in the BWPA back in 2012.

BWPA 2012 Gallery - Taken by Izzy Coomber

Of course I had to have the obligatory cheesy photo taken with it in the Mall Gallery in London... I know what you're thinking, good to see he smartened himself up for the award ceremony!..

It was great to see my photo displayed alongside so manny other truly amazing photographs of British wildlife, and alongside other great amateur and professional photographers.

Badger through Fish-Eye

The fish-eye lens is a bit hit and miss. By this I means it doesn't always work... due to it's uniqueness, it is quite a niche area of photography, and of all my lenses I use it is the one I have the lowest success rate with. But then when it does work, I think it really works well to create something a little unusual, quirky and different.

HEDWIG!!!

Perhaps the most fun can be had with quirky portraits. You can see above with the badger and snowy owl, it really distorts the proportions. The closer you get with the lens, the more distorted the photo is, and you can get within an inch with it still focusing.

British Fraggle Centre - 2014

The keeping team of 2014.

Harvest Mouse

The photo above is not the best, but it shows how the lens works. You can see with the sky how it really distorts and bends the picture at the extremities.

Fallow Deer

It is all about how you tilt the lens. Tilting it down slightly will give you the effect of a upwards curve on the horizon, as it the animals for example is on top of the world. You can see this slight effect above, and more extreme on the otter at the top of this post.

Bungalow Foundation Digging

Keeping the camera level gives you a level horizon... it will still bend the extremities, you may be able to see this in the trees on the right and the chalk line at the bottom of this photo, but it is less obvious in the sky where there is nothing to show the curve.

Incidentally, this photo is of the foundations being dug for my bungalow. I was standing only a couple of feet away from the chalk line, so you can see how wide the lens really is, almost taking in 180 degrees!

Deer Paddock in Autumn

Tilting the lens the other way, upwards, you get this downwards curve of the horizon...

Deer Paddock

... and of course the more you tilt, the greater the effect as above. All this means I get some funny looks while taking photos with this lens, as most often it looks like I am pointing the camera in completely the wrong direction!

Fallow Grazing

When ever I do a shoot, I always try to get the fish-eye lens out for a bit unless it is obvious that it really won't work. The one above and below are ones from the fallow deer shoot I did a month or so back now for David.

Fallow Deer

The first a true quirky portrait, and the one above a much more subtle use.

Harvest Mouse

And my most recent fish-eye portrait that I am fairly happy with. A harvest mouse on a sprig of corn. Looking at the harvest mouse photos, I have an idea for a great fish-eye portrait, but it will take a bit of setting up. If I get it, I will post it.

Thanks for looking.

Common Dormouse

Common Dormouse, Muscardinus avellanarius

The Common Dormouse, also known as the Hazel Dormouse, is on of our most asked about animals in terms of photography. Unfortunately though we can not offer them as part of our itinerary on our photo days. Our breeding ones, in our outside enclosures, we leave well alone so as not to disturb them while they are hopefully breeding and rearing young... and so of course this means we don't wish to wake them during the day just to be photographed. This leaves our educational dormice, but they live in our nocturnal house. Although they are awake during the day, it is dark in their enclosure and we feel it is unfair on them to bring them out in to daylight for half hour or so and then put them back in the dark again.

All this means that I have rarely been able to photograph them myself, and usually when I do it is of one curled up in a ball while sleeping/hibernating if we are moving or checking up on them. A couple of weeks ago though, as we were changing the hazel in their enclosures, one of them was up and about and so I made the most of it and spent twenty minutes photographing her before putting her back in her pen with some nice new fresh hazel!

Peeking

Considering time was limited, the area we did it was not ideal and the conditions and light were far from perfect, I am really pleased with the photos I managed to get.

This one above of her peeking through the leaves I possibly my favourite of the shoot.

The Set

You can see from this photo where we were. Literally in the double door bit of the breeding pens. Very tight, not much room, but we had to stay somewhere completely safe in case she decided to jump from the hazel.

She was good as gold though, and was happy to explore a bit and sit and pose. A nice steady hand from Lucy obviously helped.

Common Dormouse

The biggest obstacles, apart from it being so dark, was the backgrounds. It was very tricky to avoid showing the wire mesh.

Common Dormouse

Or the wooden support beams of the individual beams. Still, I think they are blurred enough to get away with... especially for use at work.

Stay True

Then when I did manage to avoid these, of course she sat behind a small sprig on the branch while looking straight at me. Beautiful pose... oh well.

Common Dormouse Portrait

I managed to get a few varied shots with the limited time.

The Feet of a Dormouse

This one was taken to show off her feet and does so well and the adaptations of their toes in particular.

Beautiful Whiskers

And this one is another of my favourites, showing off their whiskers which are truly incredible!

In the Light

Eventually the sun moved round in the sky enough to fall on half of the double door bit. I like this one above, but to be honest preferred the ones in the shadows. She was also getting a little tired and so it was time to put her back.

Me with Dorris - taken by Meg Buckland

She was very relaxed throughout though, and spent a bit of time on my back. Meg was on hand to take some snaps.

Disappearing Down the Pocket - taken by Meg Buckland

At one stage even decided to take a breather and hide out in my shirt pocket!

Hiding Out - taken by Meg Buckland

Seemed quite comfortable there, but Lucy had finished redecorating her home so it was time for her to go back.

Edible Dormouse, Glis glis

We do have another dormouse in this country, the Edible Dormouse or Glis as they are often known. Edible dormice have been introduced to the UK, and are now spreading and causing  a lot of trouble. They are so different to our British common dormice in both looks and behaviour.

Edible dormice can be quite aggressive, noisy and bite hard. They cause a lot of disturbance where you find them and are considered a pest. The common dormouse on the other hand is quiet, very rarely bites, docile in nature and no trouble at all.

Our British Dormouse, the Common (Hazel) Dormouse

In terms of looks, the edible dormouse is considerably bigger as you can see from the two photos above, and grey in colour. The common dormouse is much smaller and a glorious golden colour.

Incidentally, fuchsia background in this photo and the one on the BWC blog was simply done by hanging a towel of that colour up behind the dormouse while photographing them. The dormouse above only has half a tail, and is one of our educational dormice now found in our nocturnal house... These are old photos.

Pre Hibernation

And I love this photo, the angle makes it appear much bigger than he really is, but this is right before hibernation when he would have been at his heaviest and fattest... plus I believe she is in one of Katie's little hands :-)

Thanks for looking

Animals in the Bluebells

Tawny Owl Flying over the Bluebells

Hello to visitors new and not so new. For those that have come for the first time from the BWC Blog, or any other link, this blog is to share more photos from around the British Wildlife Centre. Photos that may not necessarily be linked to a story on the main blog, or just extra photos that I thought some of you may like to see, but I didn't want to clog up the main blog with for those that didn't.

Firstly, for those that are new, have a look back through the archives and you will see a few photos of all seven British owls and the earlier post this week with some fresh water vole pics taken a few days ago.

For everyone who has been visiting, thank you for the support, this blog has got of to a flying start and in only 3 weeks of being active is already averaging over 50 independent hits a day! I really am surprised, but very pleased, that so many of you want to see more BWC action! I am sure this will continue to increase over the weeks, especially today when I officially announce it on the main blog.

OK, enough rambling, the most requested photos were for some I took in the bluebells earlier this year. I am sure you can imagine I took many, so have included a few here...

Above is Florence flying over the bluebells, I took one similar a few years a go which became very well known, I have included it below, but this one above has shown how far I have come personally in my photography. The newer photos definitely have a style to them... but then I still find it hard to chose which I prefer out of the two.

Hedgehog in the Bluebells

This is one of our hedgehogs called Timone. I love bluebells, just the blaze of violet across the woodland floor contrasting beautifully with the vivid green. I always feel I need to make the most of it, and do some photography, but have to have an animal there to make it worth while. This usually means owls, as they are easier to take down to the woods and are trained. It would be impossible to take one of our foxes down there for example. However, one of our friendly hedgehogs can easily be moved, and they seem to enjoy the enrichment of exploring the woods.

Barn Owl in the Bluebells

Big Pete on the edge of the woods.

Little Owl in the Blubells

Little Scrappy, almost completely lost in the bluebells.

Scrappy in the Bluebells

And one a bit more isolated, with just an impression of colour in the background.

Long Eared Owl in the Bluebells

Archimedes, one of our long eared owls, very sleepy during his shoot... could barely open his eyes.

Larry!

By coincidence, a tawny owl chick was bought in on the afternoon I was heading down to the woods. So we took him with us while we were waiting for the local rescue centre to come and collect him.

Eagle Owl in the Bluebells

Ethel the eagle owl... not very natural, but a pretty picture.

Lucy and Ethel in the Bluebells

A lot of the photos I take for work can be done on my own, but some I do need help. Mainly for the owls if there is no where to tether them... To be honest, I highly doubt they would fly off, they are well trained, but it is best not to take the risk. Above is Lucy in the bluebells with Ethel.

So, they are a pick of ones I took earlier this year. You may have seen some already on the BWC website. Below are a few from the years...

Harvest Mouse on Bluebells

I mentioned the difficulty of mammals above for the bluebells... I once took some badger cubs down to the woods to photo in the bluebells, but didn't really make the most of the chance. It was the first year I had a camera, and I didn't really know what I was doing.

Above is a harvest mouse. Easy to perch... but very difficult to find a bluebell strong enough to take his weight. Surprising since they only weigh as much as a two pence coin!

Peeking Tawny in the Bluebells

This is Florence peeking around a tree taken last year. This is one of my favourites, and one of a few I submitted in to the BWPA this year... it didn't get short-listed though.

Florence in the Bluebells

Portrait of Florence in the bluebells.

Winged Assassin of Bluebell Wood

And lastly, the one I took of Florence flying over the bluebells a few years a go. Different to the first, and I am not sure which one I prefer, but this was one of the first photos that really got noticed by people other than visitors to the BWC. It made it in to three national papers on the same day, and has sold a few prints over the years too... all proceeds of which I donate to the good work we do here at the BWC.

Thanks for looking

What to expect...

Grinning Fox

Welcome all to my new blog, "Matt's Photos". I am looking at this blog as a sister blog to the BWC Keepers Blog, and as a place to share some more of my photos. For more about this blog click the link above. There are also links above to find out more about me, the camera gear I use and links to the BWC blog and my photo sharing sites etc.

For this first post I thought I would just show you ten photos from over the years. These will give you and idea of what to expect on this sister blog. Hope you enjoy.

Above is a photo of Flo our friendly fox, taken with a wide angle lens which gives it an almost comical feel. This was the first photo I took which I was REALLY pleased with. It took a while to grow on me, but is now one of my favourites. It is a lovely portrait, but a little different. Not taken with a remote trigger as many think, I was actually behind it at the time.

Winged Assassin of Bluebell Wood

Above is Florence flying over the bluebells. I have been lucky enough to have many photographs in the papers over the years, but this is possibly the most famous.

Day Old Badger Cubs

Working at the BWC I am lucky to see many unusual or very rare sights. Above is not a great photo, but it is something I like showing people. It is of two, one day old badger cubs. Even from day one you can see that they have the classic black and white striped face!

Lucy Flying a Barn Owl

I have a very hard working and dedicated team of keepers, that work hard to maintain the high standards of welfare and presentation we have at the Centre. It is like photographing them in action, and if possible unaware, to get more natural poses. It is good for the records and as souvenirs. It is a shame the barn owl was moulting above and so had half a tail, but you can only work with what you have got.

Dance of the Adders

Different behaviours are always fascinating to me, and arguably my most anticipated every year is the "Dance of the Adders". This is one I took in the first year I had a camera, and still possibly my favourite. Taken from outside the enclosure, and so shows the great opportunities you can get here even with out the exclusive access of our photo days.

Fox Smelling Daffodil

My favourite fox, Pickles, sadly non longer with us. Sniffing the daffodils. This is the first photograph I took that got noticed and encouraged people who have never been to the Centre to follow my photography.

Autumn Hedgehog

 I love using the light, and backlight in particular. I also love colour, and the above shows both nicely.

Fisheye Otter on Ice

I was once told that a fisheye lens is good, but you can't use it for wildlife. After this I was determined to prove them wrong. I love my fisheye lens. It takes great quirky portraits, but can also be used well in other ways. The above is my most highly awarded photo, being Highly Commended in 2012's British Wildlife Photographer of the Year. It was amazing to see it in the gallery alongside other great amateur, and many amazing professional photographers work.

Beautiful Bonnie

One of my first, and still one of my favourite, of all photos. Showing Bonnie, the pine marten, off to her beautiful best. It is not the best technically, but still I love it and that is all that matters.

Vole's Eye View

The editing I do is minimal, and tends to only be slight tweaks in levels and cropping. Apart from the obvious photoshopped images for fun, I could probably count on one hand the number of images I have actually "manipulated". The above is one of the ones I did manipulate, it is also a little soft and not of high quality. But it is unusual, different, and so one of my favourites.

Thanks for looking.